“Jesus said the meek shall inherit the earth, but so far all we've gotten is Minnesota and North Dakota.”
- Garrison Keillor
It wasn't a conscious thing on my part, visiting all fifty states, but I realized recently that I almost have. I'm missing two - Hawaii and North Dakota. Those are different places in the extreme. We'll see if I get to either one. Kendra flys in and out of Fargo now and then. She has good things to say.
Fargo, the movie, is for sure in my top fifteen favorites of all time. It's in the top five of my favorite Coen Brothers' movies. That tells you how I feel about them. This is the 30th Anniversary of the release of Fargo. As with most Coen Brothers films, it doesn't beget ambivalence. Like anchovies, it's a love or hate thing with people. Obviously, I'm the former. The dark comedy, masterfully told, casted and acted, deals with themes of good and evil, selfishness, courage, treachery, and the chain-reaction of a bad decision. Police Chief Marge Gunderson, (Frances McDormand) is one of cinema's all-time greatest heroines. Every police force needs a Margie.
Though the movie bore its name, none of it was shot in or around Fargo. Most scenes were filmed in Minneapolis and other parts of Minnesota. It was an unseasonably warm winter during the shoot, so scenes that required wintery weather and heavy snow were moved to Grand Forks, ND. North Dakota is the least visited state in the U.S., but if you do happen to go, try to stop in at the Fargo-Moorhead Visitor's Center to see the infamous wood chipper used in the movie. I might just visit the state for that specific purpose.
Like Montana, there are over twice as many cattle in North Dakota as there are people. The pool to draw musicians from is small. Lawrence Welk is the best known musician to come out of that state. For people of a certain age, his name alone can bring up feelings and memories of childhood trauma. Many a kid growing up in the 60s and 70s suffered psychological damage from forced-watching by their elders of the terminally uncool Lawrence Welk Show. If you are one of the unfortunate, I don't need to explain. If you're lucky enough to have escaped it, be grateful.
How about other music from the state?
Best Band: Like Iowa, I'll have to cheat a little bit here. Corin Tucker was born in Eugene, Oregon, but raised in Grand Forks. She is a founding member of the the band Sleater-Kinney, dwellers in the sub-punk genre of the “Riot Girrrl” category. They formed in Olympia, Washington in 1994 and as far as I know, they're still out there thrashing around, just maybe not with the same dexterity. Peter Buck of R.E.M. called them his “favorite punk band ever.” That's pretty good validation. So, while technically not from North Dakota, without Corin Tucker they probably wouldn't exist, so there you go.
Best Solo Artist: It doesn't seem like Johnny Lang should be 45-years old, but it is so. We share a birthday, but I'm just ahead of him a bit. He was born in Fargo in 1981 and started playing guitar when he was 12. His father took him to see one of the few blues bands in Fargo and from that moment Johnny was hooked. Before long he was playing in that very band. He was signed to a record contract less than two years later and released his biggest selling hit ,Lie to Me, when he was 14. SHUT UP! Clearly he's a gifted guy. He along with Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Derek Trucks, John Meyer and Joe Bonamassa are some of their generation's top axemen. Johnny Lang, Fargo's favorite son for good reason.
Wildcard: I'm gonna go with country singer, Lynn Anderson, born in Grand Forks in 1947. To give you an idea of the electricity she brought to things, she got her big break when in 1967 she was cast on…The Lawrence Welk Show. She hit the big time with her crossover hit, Rose Garden in 1970, a Joe South cover. It was emblematic of that saccharine product that Nashville was churning out in those days - slick and shiny, heavy with strings and brass, replacing more traditional instruments like fiddles and steel guitars. It became known as the “Nashville Sound” or “Countrypolitan," and she had several hits with that style. But by the mid-70s, it had run its course. That was when Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, et al. came to the Music City, scruffy and rebellious and set about removing the glossy sheen from things. Still, Lynn Anderson had her day and, no doubt, North Dakota is glad to claim her.