Today on "What is it...?" we ask the question "What is Americana?"
Professor Jeffery Landphil, a leading cyclist from Oxford and author of The Lewis Collins dictionary of String has this to say :
"Essentially, in today's money, Americana can be seen as a long soft tube of toast-like material, often accompanied by 'yodalling' (the incessant quoting and mimicking of Yoda from the Star Wars films).
It is sometimes mistakenly applied to musical groups, most notably The Flat Chested Marys from Crewe (a very clean group, admired as much for their punctuality as for their efficient self grooming regime) and The Forebeards (a trio of Mexicans from Surrey).
The word 'Americana' was first used by Will.i.am Shakespeare in his "Ode to a Spring Summer's Morn". Owing to the Ode's unpopularity, the word was not used again for another 417 years when it was heard uttered by a strangly bearded woman of confused decent, on board a whaling ship bound for glory via Hull. The word was released again for the download market, down the road from the actual market where many a fruity word was moaned of a morn.
Since then, several attempts have been made, but few have been as susscessful as Shirley Collins' stylus breaking folk album "Up Yours, Pauline", at capturing the nature of what it is to be a cowboy in Roachford (popular British singer of the late 1800s)".
If you are still unsure, it is probably best not to.
Insult your doctor before and after.
For further, see also :
Alfred Hitchcock's "South by Southeast" (now available on VHS)
"Canadacana : The Diary of Celine Dion", (paperless edition, oot now!)
Arthur Askey "The Americana Years" (Sello Records & Tapes)
Peter Gabriel "My World of World Music from The World" (World Music Records, Bristol)
Dennis Waterman's Old Trout (original paperback)
"My Old Trout" by Dennis Waterman (revised edition, boxed with actual Trout)
Gary Barlow "My Americana Hell" (this week in Hello! Magazine).