This blog post about music and movement...

Here's a photo given to be by my cousin Mary Lou and her husband Mike that is from the Wiley family archives. You can read here about some other photos from old family pictures of BOB McKNIGHT and his band at this link. Lots of interesting comments were made on the blog page following this post and this is an apparently similar publicity photo given out to fans. This one is of a group that probably played on local radio in Memphis or Nashville and was in range of listening by my kinfolks living in Arkansas and Tennessee along the Mississippi River. This band what am a band is called the Argotane Entertainers.  

Now I know all you pickers out there, most of ya'll drinking beer as I write this have show biz dreams of grandeur. I know I certainty have had those but a life that has been spent busily playing music on street corners and flat bed trailers in the woods, in country bands, at church at 9am in the morning, making cigar box guitars, community concert bands and now a currently developing brass quintet project that rock and roll is not always what it's cracked up to be. Like singer song writer Todd Snider says a song you are writing sometimes turns in to a song about a song you are writing. 

Maybe the Arotane Entertainers felt a little like this. They certainly look to be dressed for success and I think dressing like you are with the band as they say is very important. The chick singer has what appears to be a Martin guitar, probably a pre WW2 model and one of the best with her name "Billie" in mother of pearl inlay on the neck. The block inlay on the other guitarists instrument is impressive and the banjo looks fancy too. I would guess the lobby of a radio station or a publicity appearance at the grand opening of some new business is the occasion. Not exactly a rock and roll decadence location. On the right behind the band is a painting of a sailing ship and on the left you catch a bare glimpse of what might be a repo of Whistler's Mother but as I say, I have played on flat bed trailers way out in the woods before. 

The internet does not give up anything on the Argotane Entertainers. I did find out what Argotane was. It's a laxative. As I say, the music business is not always what you expect and I have played in a few bands that seemed a bit constipated. Singer song writer James McMurtry admits to being a glorified beer salesmen. This band was sponsored by a laxative company. At least Billie got a Martin guitar out of the deal

  Here's a photo I found of the product.

This packaging is believed to be about 50 years old so the band photo is older Looks to have a new York and Memphis connection from the fine print on the label. Ingredients are extract of ox bile, P. E. Cascara, Papain and capsicum. Cascara is a folk medicine from a tree bark used as a natural laxative. Not good in cases of intestinal blockages or chronic intestinal diseases it was banned as an OTC product in 2002. Papain is from the papaya tree and seems to have some healing, inflammation reducing and digestion benefits but there are some dangers to diabetics and those on blood thinners. Capsicum is pepper. Yeah, I want that in my laxative, sure, why not? Ox bile is ox bile. Funny, I don't see feces from Bulgarian peasants mentioned anywhere as an active or inactive ingredient. 

I sum all this up by saying if you have a gig no matter what it is it's a good thing. I see the product Argotane as kind of like a tuba or a big closed back Fender amp. It will get the job done.