Musical Memories - Trope

My theme is Musical Memories:  The Memories that music brings rushing back.

No, it's not a group or a song.  Just a word, that defined by Merriam-Webster means:  a word, phrase or image used in a new and different way in order to create an artistic effect.  I sometimes do this with secular songs.  I hear the lyrics to the songs and I find myself thinking what could make me feel this way and the answer I come up with is God.  And then, as I listen I begin to worship him.

I know in church, many times I've seen a band or group take secular music and overlay Christian verses.  Did you know that the words to "Amazing Grace" will fit perfectly into the tune, "The House of The Rising Sun".  It makes a very dramatic effect.  And as a teen I heard them take the Coca Cola theme song, "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" and do the same thing ending it with "He's the Real One, What the world needs today.  A song of Hope that echoes on, and never goes away."

A few years back, Bubba called me out to his truck one night and said listen to this.  It was a song he had on a copied CD called "My Time With You" by and area artist named Ramsey Red.  I adored it!  The guitar was so clean and haunting in the song.  And although towards the end he sang,"Girl my time with you..." Bubba and I looked at each other and almost at once said it could be about God.  I have a copy of that on every device I own.  And it is always God to me when I hear it.  (Unfortunately, as much as it would thrill me to share that version with you, I can't find it anywhere online.)  Later on Bubba told me he had heard it either started as a Christian song or others had made it into one.  Getting ready for this post, I have searched and searched, but can't come up with the story on the origin of the song.    So, all I can offer you really is this artist's Christian spin on the song.
  

I found a couple on Spotify. This version is no where near as good as Ramsey's, but the guitar is more similar to the one on his and this artist has a strong vocal, which Ramsey also also has.

Then there are the secular songs written to be about God. Take George Harrison's (my fav Beatle) "My Sweet Lord."




He may have written it with Krishna in mind, but when I hear it, my heart and my soul worships Christ as the Everlasting Lord.  The full choir backup and Harrison's exceptional guitar work make it a beautiful, uplifting peace.  I'll often listen to it 2, 3, 4 times in a row.  Complete with Holy Hands lifted up! 

And then there the songs that no one ever meant to ever relate to God.  But somehow, for me all or part of them has me worshiping.   For instance, "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration" by the Righteous Brothers.  When they come to the chorus, "You're my soul and my life's inspiration, you're all I need to get me by. You're my soul and my life's inspiration, without you baby what good am I, what good am I?"  I sing it with Jesus in place of baby. At one time I had words worked out for the verses that fit my version as well.  

So, to sum up, if you hear me jamming down at a red light, I may actually be worshiping in my own peculiar way. 

Have you ever heard a totally secular song that led you to worship?

Have you ever heard either of the versions of Amazing Grace to different music that I mentioned?

What about My Sweet Lord, does it bother you it was written for Krishna?

Musical Memories - Songbook of Mama's

My theme is Musical Memories:  The Memories that music brings rushing back.

Mother grew up in the 1920's and 30's.  Living in small town East Texas, there were few entertainments.  They'd have taffy pullings (where they would cook the candy, then butter their hands and pull it between them until it was the right consistency to set.  And they'd have josey parties.  Which were similar to square dances.  I still have Mama's josey party dress in my cedar chest.  I wore it one year on Halloween in high school when I wanted to be a gypsy.  

Or they could go to the movies.  Mama, together with her friends, would remember and record the words to the songs in the films in a blue bound book.  Then, they'd get together and sing them.  She would get out that old book and sing with me.  And many days, when little, she'd rock me to those old songs.  Then I had first one child and then another, and I sang those old songs to them when they were little and then taught them to sing them with me.  

Four of them stick out to me. And I share them here with you in this post.   The first, was a comical, funny song about a fellow that went off to join the fight in WWI, "Long Boy".

 If you go to the link, you can flip through the sheet music and read the whole song.  The chorus, was "Goodbye, ma!  Goodbye, pa!  Goodbye mule with the ol' hee haw!  May not know what the war's about, but I bet by gosh, I'll soon find out.  And oh, my sweetheart don't you fear!  I'll bring you a king for a souvenir.  Get you a Turk and Kaiser, too, and that's about all one fellow can do."  We'd always make the actual hee haw sounds when we sung it, as Daddy had a jenny he plowed his garden with for most of my life.  

Then there was "Red Wing", which, as a little girl I found so poignant. It was sung by the Duke (John Wayne) himself in several westerns.  From one of his earliest, "In Old Oklahoma", to "The Comancheros" and ending with his last film, "The Shootest".  Mother may have gotten this song from elsewhere, as it was written in 1907, and she was grown and married by the time John Wayne ever sang it.  It's very hard to find recorded with the words.  For that I offer you this gentleman's rendition from YouTube.




Another favorite of mine was the song of two little girls who had a fight, called "I Don't Want to Play in Your Yard".  A few years ago, Hannah and I practiced singing it together, made up motions to go along with it and sung it to family  gathered over at my sister's house for Christmas.  You can sample this tune, too. 

The last song I'd like to share with you from that old song book, I don't know the title too.  And searching all the lyrics I could recall, yielded no results.  But it was such an amusing little ditty and I want to share with you anyway, some of what I can recall.  

She was fat and he was skinny,

He had freckles and red hair.

...spooning in the merry month of May.

...I heard him say.

Will you love me when my radiator's ruined?

Will you love me when my taillights fail to shine?

Will you love me when my brakes they need adjusting?

Sweetheart, will you let me call you mine?

Will you love me when my differential's ruined,

...the frame is bending too.

The nuts and bolts are falling, 

the old junk yard's a calling.

Will you love me when my little Ford is through?

If anyone out there, knows this one, and can give me a title or a link, I'd be pleased as punch.

Are there any special songs from you childhood?

Have you ever actually heard any of these before?

Do you have memories of your mother's voice as she sung?

Musical Memories - Extra!

In my post for letter R, The Record Rack, in the A to Z Challenge, I asked a question:
  

Do you know who on my playlist was born in Beaumont and returned to live here? 

I had one person hazard a guess, and it was a very good one!  Sue McPeak from Collect in Texas Gal.  But, alas, that was an incorrect answer.  Although Janis Joplin did hail from Beaumont, TX, she never returned there to live before her untimely death.

The answer is, this Beaumont native:

Barbara Lynn

Barbara hit number one on the R&B charts with her first release, "You'll Lose a Good Thing" in 1962.  She co-wrote the song.  This talented lady was a singer/songwriter and guitarist.

She returned to reside in her hometown a couple of decades later, but continued to tour. She was honored with a special birthday celebration for her 70th in Beaumont in January of 2012 and even performed herself that evening. 

Musical Memories - The Record Rack

My theme is Musical Memories:  The Memories that music brings rushing back.

Today, my memories are about a place.  A place I found too late in life and a place I helped kill.  A place that was a treasure and will be missed by those who knew her.

The Record Rack opened in Beaumont in the 1950's.  But I didn't meet her until the late 70's.  I was from a small town to the North of Beaumont.  And when we did come to Beaumont it was usually to big chain stores or the mall. And that's where I'd buy my records in my mid to later teens. But all too often, the big chains let you down in one way or another.  For one, when a new release was really hot it could take several trips to manage to score a copy.   And, if you had heard something ten, twenty years older you had fallen in love with, you could just hang it up.

I don't even really remember just how I came to learn of her.  But I remember my first time through her doors like it was yesterday.  The shop was cram packed everywhere you looked.  There were notes stuck all over the front counter. People were coming in and out conversing with the woman behind the counter like she was family.  And while that may have been charming, the clincher was the rows of bins, all organizer and enticing. Filled with gold, silver and platinum. And a whole section dedicated to Motown!  Oh, my gosh, overall that was the best music ever made! Spector's wall of sound is awesome even today.  And Cadillac Records gave us some of the best vocal talents. But for a total package, delivered constantly, Motown was the epitome'.  The first thing I looked for was "If I Were You're Woman" by Gladys Knight and the Pips.  I had only heard it once or twice, but adored it.  And she had it!  

I went on to find many treasures in that store.  And if they didn't have it they'd get it for you pronto 

Now, I enjoy music on a stick and I adore having Spotify, but if you never walked into a store dedicated to music and found a treasure you had searched high and low for, if you've never slipped vinyl out of a crisp pressed paper cover and lay a needle to  it,  then you've missed a treasured experience.  

In honor of her, I share this playlist with you:

Were you fortunate enough to ever visit a Mom & Pop Record shop like this?
Scroll through or play the playlist above and tell me one of your favorites and why.
Do you know who on my playlist was born in Beaumont and returned to live here?  (No googling allowed!)

Musical Memories - Queen & "We Will Rock You"

My theme is Musical Memories:  The Memories that music brings rushing back.

So, I'll be the first to admit I was never really a big "Queen" fan.  I don't even have a song of theirs on any of my playlists.  But I did grow up and go to high school in Texas.  And here, high school football is king.  And "We Will Rock You" made an awesome anthem at games...especially if you were seated in aluminum bleachers.  Hundreds of feet stomping on the metal in time with the music made for a sound that would rout any army!

As a six year old, I watched football with my daddy on TV.  I saw Johnny Unitas play.  I witnessed O.J. when he killed them, instead of being a killer.  I saw Roger Staubach execute the shotgun on many occasions.  You get the picture.  I was raised to be a staunch football fan.  

So, when Jr. High came and we had a school team, I was there every game, A and B strings.  I met friends there.  Sat with "boyfriends" there.  I cheered. And a part of me wished I could be out on the field with them.

High school rolled round.  By now, Mama was buying season tickets every year.  Many games, me or me and a friend would sit with her.  Her seats were very close to the student section in the Old Kirby Memorial Stadium.  But more and more often the older I got, I sat in the student section with my buddies.  My "besties" were in the band...so we never could be together.  But there were always plenty of other girlfriends to hang out with.  And always and often there was Randy A. popping up.  To aggravate, tease, and share a snip from the Crown Royal bottle he always had tucked in his FFA jacket.  

We went to state while I was in High School!  Playoff was in the Astrodome, and I was there.  We didn't win, but that doesn't mean there weren't some very talented guys among the ranks.  

Some of my fondest memories of French class was Derrick Shelton, Artie Shankle, William Graham and others staring a rhythm and singing.  I kept a scrap book of the year we went to state that had every newspaper clipping.  It was beautifully done, all old school.  On the black paper.  Comments made in white liquid embroidery.

My senior year, Mary Lou had graduated and married and we made all the out of town games.  We were there no matter how cold or no matter how much rain fell.  I screamed and cheered until my voice was hoarse on many a Friday night.

Then college came and I just didn't find the game as exciting there as I did in high school.  The Lumberjacks never excited me the way the Tigers did.  Though I did clean up the stadium after home football games one year with my sorority, Gamma Sigma Sigma. 

Back in high school, I'd miss dances and evenings out with my friends to stay at home and watch football games.  Mama would let me have the living room, and I'd talk out loud and comment on the games like Daddy was still right there.  It made me feel closer to him.  

Then at college, I'd watch games as well.  But they started messing with the rules and changing them. It frustrated me and made me mad.  The last player I followed closely was Willie "White Shoes" Johnson. At first I adored him.  Then I came to despise him for grandstanding.  

When I came home from college in 1981, I stopped watching football.  The game had changed.  Daddy was gone.  And it was time to move on and use all that time for other things.

Were you, or are you, a football fanatic?

What is your favorite level, high school, college or pro?

Do you remember any traditions from you high school football games?

Musical Memories - Pete & Barbie

My theme is Musical Memories:  The Memories that music brings rushing back.

Pete and I.  Me and Pete.  Barbie and Petey Pete.  Toasted and doomed to failure by many when we first hitched up. Then surprising and shocking the naysayers by weathering life's storms together for over thirty years.  One of us yearning to kill the other one minute, then rushing to their side to support them or protect them from outside forces the next. 

I swear straight out, Pete brings out both the best and the worst in me.  And I am willing to concede that I probably do the same for him. 

For most of our lives together, he did what it seemed he wanted and I did what I thought I should.  Now days it seems he does what he can and I try to do what I should. Sometimes he just can't do enough, and I'm learning more and more every day that neither can I.

  

And in this yen and yang, I identify with all the songs that were written for us.  About us.  Or at least it seems that way when you listen to them.

Mickey Gilley and "You've Really Got a Hold on Me."  We'd sing along with it when we were dating:

  

"I don't like you but I love you

Seems that I'm always thinking of you
Oh, oh, oh, you treat me badly
I love you madly

You really got a hold on me
(You really got a hold on me)
You really got a hold on me
(You really got a hold on me)

Baby, I don't want you but I need you
Don't want to kiss you but I need to
Oh, oh, oh, you do me wrong now
My love is strong now"

Then there were oodles of nights and jeep rides when we'd sing along at the top of our lungs to one another, Hank William's:

And there has been many a day I've listened to Phil Collins singing "That's All" and thinking I know exactly what he's talking about.  

"Why does it always seem to be

Me lookin' at you, you lookin' at me

Its always the same its just a shame that's all

Turnin' me on, turnin' me off

Makin' me feel like I want too much

Livin' with you is justa puttin' me through it all of the time

Truth is I love you, more then I wanted to
There's no point in trying to pretend
There's been no one who makes me feel like you do
Say we'll be together til the end"

But over and above all else there is Orleans with "Still The One".  It captures and embodies the best of us.  Why it is, after all these years it is still Pete and Barbie against the world.

"We've been together since way back when

Sometimes I never want to see you again

But I want you to know

After all these years

You're still the one

I want whisperin' in my ear

You're still the one

I want to talk to in bed

Still the one

That turns my head

We're still having fun

And you're still the one

I looked at your face every day

But I never saw it 'til I went away

When winter came

I just wanted to go (wanted to go)

Deep in the desert

our love started to grow

You're still the one

That makes me laugh

Still the one

That's my better half

We're still having fun

And you're still the one

You're still the one

That makes me strong

Still the one

I want to take along

We're still having fun

And you're still the one (yes you are)

[Musical Interlude]

Changing, our love is going gold

Even though we grow old, it grows new

You're still the one

That I love to touch

Still the one

And I can't get enough

We're still having fun

And you're still the one

You're still the one

Who can scratch my itch

Still the one

And I wouldn't switch

We're still having fun

And you're still the one

You are still the one

That makes me shout

Still the one

That I dream about

We're still having fun

And you're still the one

You're still the one

Yeah, still the one

We're still having fun

And you're still the one"

What song/songs personify you and your spouse's relationship?

Are they Still the One?  Would you do it all over again?

    

Musical Memories - ReO Speedwagon

My theme is Musical Memories:  The Memories that music brings rushing back.

Yeah, I stretched this one a ways to get it.  REO Speedwagon.  And I centered on the O.  The first time I ever heard REO Speedwagon was at a carnival on the SFA campus.  Not sure what the event was all about.  I was out there selling helium balloons for my sorority,  Gamma Sigma Sigma.  I ran across a young man operating a ride who asked me to tie a couple of balloons up to his gate.  He said the balloons would help business.  

I consented and off and on throughout the day we visited. He had an REO Speedwagon cassette blaring over the speakers connected to his ride.

He asked me to promise to come back at the end of the evening.  I did.  And there began my brief dating history with a carny. 

I found that after hours, everything you paid for all day was free and for the taking for carnies and their friends.  Why waste it?  We relaxed and chilled over beers and everyone swapped tales from the day.  When the carnival cranked up the next day, I found I had a free pass to every ride!  And each and every operator would run it to the max if I was on board.  Being a ride groupie at that age, it was an exhilarating thrill!!

The boy, got my number and swore anytime he was any where close to me, he'd call.  And true to his word, he did. I began meeting the show anywhere they set up.  It was amazing to watch them set up!!  The hydraulics that lifted the heavy arms of metal from an 18-wheeler to standing tall in the Texas sun.  The simple cotter pins that held the swinging metal seats on the rides!  Everyone alert and sober for set up.  No one wanting anything but a high good time for the show.  

Ah, but once the show started, there'd be impromptu breaks beneath the massive rides where they'd chill and relax.  Drink a beer.  Pass a joint around.  Then break was over and it was back to business.  

When you are a carny or you date a carny, it's just a totally different experience than the average carnival goer experiences.  Everything is free.  Everyone wants you engaged in their ride or their game.  Everyone wants to feed you. It's like a big traveling family!

Once, he asked me to meet him in Galveston for a gig. That I did.  But as I arrived, hurricane warnings shut the show down.  So, we booked a hotel and as the hurricane blew in, we cruised the streets of Galveston in my 1979 Mustang Cobra with his best friend and his girl.  And the tune that rode us through the storm was Hurricane by Leon Everette.

The local radio station played it over, and over and over.  It was the only song of the evening!!  It was a blast and an event I will never forget.

A few months afterward, an incident happened while I was visiting the show that I just couldn't get past.  He hadn't stood up for me the way I was taught and raised a man should.  So, without malice, I let our relationship die and wane away. But I'll always remember my summer as a Carny's girl. 

   

Have you ever dated anyone from a vastly different lifestyle?
If this was me dating on the wild side, what was the wildest dating relationship you ever had?
Have you ever dated anyone where the relationship came with special perks?