Dancing Outlaw; Jesco White; His Family. Have You Seen This Stuff?

Jesco is mentioned in a couple of threads but I couldn't find a dedicated one. So ... what's your opinion of "sloppy, slimy eggs?" Do you agree with Hank III's observations? I've watched both films several times. Always leaves me scratching my head. There's even a band called Ponty's Camper. If you're from West Virginia do you wish these films would just go away? Have you ever had a "double super buzz?" And how the heck did Dweezil Zappa ever get involved?

So many questions. So many quotable quotes. So many jail sentences.

And what would they think of these films in, say, Albania or Uzbekistan?

The entire thing seems a pretty good argument against huffing gas. And finally ... ELVIS?!?!?!

 

Absolutely. When his videos were for sale I worked at a VHS duplication facility and duped the tapes from a Betacam master provided by the producer.
Later on, I had a friend that took a trip to W. Va. and met the Man himself.

 

Stumbled upon "The Wild and Wondeful Whites of West Virginia" documentary and couldn't believe my eyes or ears. The things that are discussed regarding this family's history in the first ten minutes would fill HOURS of an average documentary (I don't wanna give spoilers)! Endlessly quotable dialog ("I'm the sex symbol of the family," "He blew my face off," "Dennis is THIS!"), unbelievable characters, jaw-dropping behavior, tragedy and comedy; it's like extra-real real life! I've always said if you made a drinking game out of taking a shot every time a gun/rifle shot is heard on the soundtrack, you'd be blotto before the film was over.

Bought the DVD and "The Dancing Outlaw" DVD after seeing the "WWWWV" doc on Showtime. I highly and strongly recommend both; the bonus footage is almost as good as what made the finished films ("I went back to get my costly sunglasses.") Amazing, unbelievable stuff!

 

I've watched so many bits of these documentaries that certain lines have embedded themselves in my subconscious. Notable quotes:

Derek White: "Ya'll wanna hear the Boone County mating call?" (Shakes prescription bottle of OxyContin) "Come 'n git it, baby!"

Mamie White: "I chopped the son-of-a-bitch up and threw him in a goddamn mine shaft, up here in the garbage bag. I got three mine shafts up this holler.

Jesco White: "I took the butcher knife and put it up to her neck. I said if you wanna live to see tomorrow, you better start fryin' them eggs a lil' bit better than what you're fryin' em. I'm tired of eatin' sloppy, slimy eggs!"

 

Threads like this are just one reason why the founding fathers incorporated the 5th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

I plead the 5th.

 

Man you certainly nailed it! There is just so much wacky stuff on these vids. When Jesco is actually invited to Hollywood to appear on the Roseanne show, Ms. Barr discovers that Jesco has a swastika tattoo on his hand. She completely freaks out (rightly so!), and insists that Tom Arnold take him to a tattooist to get the offending image covered up. Jesco willingly complies and apparently had no idea what the swastika even represented. I swear ... you can't make this stuff up!

 

yeah White Lightin

 

Especially when combined with Xanax, shotguns, blown head gaskets, velvet Elvis paintings, and ... TAP DANCING!!!!!

 

I saw Dancing Outlaw years ago. Growing up in KY I can say it wasn’t that surprising.

 

here is a fictional adaptation of the Dancin Outlaw. Its pretty raw, but life is stranger than fiction. I liked the documentaries on him better.

White Lightnin' (2009) - IMDb

 

If ever a truism existed, it's this one. Imagine living in a mobile home with Jesco recording Elvis covers on one side and Ronnie and Kenny making the water turn black on the other.

 

I once found myself in a situation almost as crazy as that in the Appalachians. It was all good fun though.

 

Just watched TWWWOWV yet again. In the very beginning of the documentary, when the filmmakers show a sequence of comments about the Whites by the mayor, police chief, and various other folks in official positions, one thinks, "This is some overblown hyperbole."

Then the Whites themselves take over the film and one realizes that, if anything, all those opening comments were just the tip of the iceberg! Jesco, Mamie, Kirk, and all the rest far exceed anything that one could imagine.

And again ... has anyone ever read or heard an interview with Dweezil about his experience with Jesco and what he thought about the whole thing?

It sorta makes weird sense that Hank III would gravitate toward this maelstrom of dysfunctional behavior, violence, and substance abuse ... plenty of material for songs that fit right into Hank's own odd world-view.

But ... the Dweez?

Personally, I don't think I could have survived a week with Jesco White and his LARGE family at the height of their insanity. What a bizarre picture of hidden America these films reveal.

 

I stumbled across the trail for "The Wild and Wonderful...." when it was released. I had heard of Jesco and seen clips from "The Dancing Outlaw" on youtube before, but WOW!!! Nothing prepared me for this.! I was hooked. I bought a copy for a friend too. We both couldn't stop watching it. I was obsessed with this for at least 6 months. Loaned it out to people at work too. Most came back equally blown away by it. Crazy, crazy stuff. I don't think this was played up too much for the cameras either. I follow Jesco on facebook but I haven't seen anything posted in a long time. Hope he's alright.

 

I wonder what, exactly, a double super buzz entails.