Cory Graves
Breaking Bad Creator Vince Gilligan Admits It: The Old 97's Inspired His Series' Finale.
After five seasons of groundbreaking television, AMC's Breaking Bad officially ended its run back in September. Still, after investing so much time in Walter White, hardcore fans have yet to move on. To that end, there was even a real funeral held for the character in an actual Albuquerque cemetery just this past weekend.
And, even though the series ended nearly a month ago, different theories on the symbolism and significance of events from the final episode are still a fairly oft-discussed topic. The most obvious parallels, of course, are those to Marty Robbins' '59 gunfighter ballad “El Paso.” Even if Walt hadn't listened to a cassette tape of the song a few times during the episode, the episode's title, “Felina,” would have been a pretty huge clue to that effect.
In a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter, though, series creator Vince Gilligan says it wasn't necessarily Marty Robbins, per se, that inspired Breaking Bad's finale. Reveals Gilligan, it was actually the Old 97's' cover version of the tune that he played on repeat while penning Walt's final moments.
Speaking of tragedies: In exactly one month, Dallas will commemorate the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination. And other cities are getting in on the action, too. The Brooklyn-based indie label Norton Records will be releasing its commemorative Tragic Tales From The Grassy Knoll LP with a pair of events scheduled for November 23 — the day after the official anniversary. That afternoon, Dallas' own Homer Henderson, who contributed to the compilation, will be performing songs such as his JFK-centric cult hit “Lee Harvey Was a Friend of Mine” at Top Ten Records in Oak Cliff.
The record shop, which is located near the Texas Theatre where Lee Harvey Oswald was apprehended, is not only said to be the place where Oswald purchased a ticket to Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars concert the morning of the assassination, but also the site of the payphone that police officer JD Tippit is said to have used minutes before he was killed.
Later in the evening, Henderson will join Norton Records founder/Cramps drummer Miriam Linna and other special guests at Lee Harvey's for more JFK-related performances.
Moving on: We're about a week removed from Marked Men offshoot Radioactivity's coming out-party. Already, the band's appeared in several national articles, and even debuting its first single with VICE's Noisey music blog. Just yesterday, the band also began offering up a stream of its self-titled debut LP — due out October 29 — on that site and revealed that it has already begun recording a sophomore effort that'll be released sooner rather than later. That's certainly good news for fans of Mark Ryan and Jeff Burke's trademark brand of lo-fi rock. The album, which the blog called “so good that you want to listen to every song at the same time through two different stereos at once” can be streamed in full here.
Also coming out on the 29th will be the latest LP from another locally-tied performer who has been receiving his share of national press as of late. Ahead of next week's album release, Botany has released the second single from Lava Diviner (Truestory) via The Fader. “Quatic,” which he says was “inspired by the concept of a religious sect waiting for a volcano to erupt.” can be streamed here ahead of next week's release.
Lastly: Calhoun released its Paperweights EP today, and the blog Beats Per Minute is hosting a stream of the thing in full here. From the handful of reviews we've seen of the EP thus far, our prediction from earlier this summer that the record would change every thought listeners ever had about the band is holding true. Ditching its country-like twang and acoustic-driven singer-songwriter fare in favor of shimmering, synth-driven pop will do that.
Got a tip for White Noise? Email us!
