If you've ever had the good fortune to spend some time in dive bars in and around the Quarter in New Orleans this one should one should put a tear in your beer.
Old Man and His Horn
. . ''stone that read rest in peace, I tried but it sho was hard''. .
It’s really hard to compare us though: I’m doing “slice of life” stuff, figuring out things, but you’re actually trying to do real journalism but with an edge in a region totally evacuated by traditional media. I don’t know that people know what to do with you, whereas I think I’m not threatening. I love that you bring that reporting edge, but you just tell it like it is. I think the readership needs to learn what to do with a unique voice like yours.
No Sada Baby on the list huh? Welp. When I think of Michigan songs that my dad played it’s that Canadian guy talking about the churchbells ringing 29 times because they couldn’t even sail a boat across a lake without killing every soul on board.
Hey I like that Cat Stevens on your list tho. I’m a big fan of Miles from Nowhere from ol yusuf
Lovely post--the music additions were a nice plus. So fun to have a soundtrack going while reading your post! When it comes to my dad, I always think of Bruce Springsteen & Neal Diamond.
I spent a lot of time in my dad’s truck in the 80s and 90s, in between basketball games or tagging along as he went to his different job sites. I owe my introduction to and love of Heart to him, but what was also on heavy rotation in that cab was Dr. Hook. My sister and I can still sing every word to “Cover of the Rolling Stone”, and used to laugh at the part about “getting our old, grey-haired daddy driving our limousine”. (Side note: We saw Ray Sawyer at a local dive bar about 15 years ago, and if it was 1 middle-aged bra that was flung on the stage, it was a 100. Wild.)
You're absolutely right that songs impact us. I've got a list of them. All for different reasons and when I hear them I'm taken back to why. For my dad and I, it's I Believe in You by Don Williams. When he married mom, and I came along in the deal (although he used to joke he wanted a daughter and mom came along in the deal), he would turn on the record player and play a few of his favorites. This song would come on and he'd grab my hand and dance with me in the living room. I was a teenage girl and was mostly embarrassed by it, but I hold on to those memories now. When it plays through my iPod I immediately think of him. I like to think it's him giving me a hug when it comes on.
After enduring brain surgery with the drama leading up to and following it, I remember laying on the rust colored living room carpet, sun shining through the white Lacey curtains singing to the tops of my lungs. No one was home, the volume was as high as it would go and John Denver and I sang together joyfully
Sadly enough, my parents only listened to Lawrence Welk on the boob tube.
My sister was my first music influencer. She would play albums and 45s. Stuff from The Beatles, Beach Boys, Chicago, Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin and Elton John.
When I used to get in trouble, my parents wouldn't send me to my room. They'd make me sit and watch tv with them...and they'd watch Lawrence Welk. It wasn't until I was an adult that my Mom admitted they were punished as much as I was.
The song I’m sharing today is one I still listen to with joy, for the music itself but also because it takes me back to a time when my love for my father was easy and pure and unadulterated by the difficulties that later drove us apart.
I could have written those words myself for a couple of songs. Springsteen's My Hometown, and Paul Simon's Diamonds on the Souls of her Shoes.
The sound of my infancy, right up until I managed to leave home. My parents also had a huge record collection. But my dad rarely ventured outside of Paul Simon (also Simon and Garfunkel), Bruce Springsteen, or Cat Stevens. (I have a tattoo of Cat Stevens on my arm).
Even now these are also the three musicians I listen to more than any other, and Paul Simon never fails to evoke strong emotional feelings inside me. I'm basically back with my dad, before his alcoholism had taken the essence of him away.
Thanks for sharing, Tom. We're all not so different, are we?
If you've ever had the good fortune to spend some time in dive bars in and around the Quarter in New Orleans this one should one should put a tear in your beer.
Old Man and His Horn
. . ''stone that read rest in peace, I tried but it sho was hard''. .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-39Ld7pGMHU&ab_channel=GeneWatson-Topic
That’s a new one for me, thanks Lew
I grew up listening to Gospel music. But Thanks for sharing.
you get so much interaction on your posts i’m jealous. maybe i shouldn’t write about such weird shit lol
It’s really hard to compare us though: I’m doing “slice of life” stuff, figuring out things, but you’re actually trying to do real journalism but with an edge in a region totally evacuated by traditional media. I don’t know that people know what to do with you, whereas I think I’m not threatening. I love that you bring that reporting edge, but you just tell it like it is. I think the readership needs to learn what to do with a unique voice like yours.
seger always put out heat.
No Sada Baby on the list huh? Welp. When I think of Michigan songs that my dad played it’s that Canadian guy talking about the churchbells ringing 29 times because they couldn’t even sail a boat across a lake without killing every soul on board.
Hey I like that Cat Stevens on your list tho. I’m a big fan of Miles from Nowhere from ol yusuf
I had to look up Sada Baby ... hmm, he’s my son’s age! The Michigan people I’d put on my childhood playlist are Bob Seger and crazy man Ted Nugent.
Lovely post--the music additions were a nice plus. So fun to have a soundtrack going while reading your post! When it comes to my dad, I always think of Bruce Springsteen & Neal Diamond.
Can’t go wrong with Bruce and Neal. And I do like me a soundtrack.
I spent a lot of time in my dad’s truck in the 80s and 90s, in between basketball games or tagging along as he went to his different job sites. I owe my introduction to and love of Heart to him, but what was also on heavy rotation in that cab was Dr. Hook. My sister and I can still sing every word to “Cover of the Rolling Stone”, and used to laugh at the part about “getting our old, grey-haired daddy driving our limousine”. (Side note: We saw Ray Sawyer at a local dive bar about 15 years ago, and if it was 1 middle-aged bra that was flung on the stage, it was a 100. Wild.)
Heat is well loved around the Seattle area. Dr Hook though ... I’m going to go listen to some of that to jog my memory.
You're absolutely right that songs impact us. I've got a list of them. All for different reasons and when I hear them I'm taken back to why. For my dad and I, it's I Believe in You by Don Williams. When he married mom, and I came along in the deal (although he used to joke he wanted a daughter and mom came along in the deal), he would turn on the record player and play a few of his favorites. This song would come on and he'd grab my hand and dance with me in the living room. I was a teenage girl and was mostly embarrassed by it, but I hold on to those memories now. When it plays through my iPod I immediately think of him. I like to think it's him giving me a hug when it comes on.
Aw, that’s a nice memory! I love that Don Williams song, it’s on my Twang playlist.
After enduring brain surgery with the drama leading up to and following it, I remember laying on the rust colored living room carpet, sun shining through the white Lacey curtains singing to the tops of my lungs. No one was home, the volume was as high as it would go and John Denver and I sang together joyfully
“I want to live, I want to grow,
I want to see, I want to know,
I want to share what I can give,
I want to be, I want to live,”
If only you and John Denver and Pete Carroll could all be in the same room …
Sadly enough, my parents only listened to Lawrence Welk on the boob tube.
My sister was my first music influencer. She would play albums and 45s. Stuff from The Beatles, Beach Boys, Chicago, Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin and Elton John.
So you were one of those Lawrence Welk families? I also wondered who those weirdos were (other than my wife’s grandparents).
When I used to get in trouble, my parents wouldn't send me to my room. They'd make me sit and watch tv with them...and they'd watch Lawrence Welk. It wasn't until I was an adult that my Mom admitted they were punished as much as I was.
Amazing the shared human experience.
The song I’m sharing today is one I still listen to with joy, for the music itself but also because it takes me back to a time when my love for my father was easy and pure and unadulterated by the difficulties that later drove us apart.
I could have written those words myself for a couple of songs. Springsteen's My Hometown, and Paul Simon's Diamonds on the Souls of her Shoes.
The sound of my infancy, right up until I managed to leave home. My parents also had a huge record collection. But my dad rarely ventured outside of Paul Simon (also Simon and Garfunkel), Bruce Springsteen, or Cat Stevens. (I have a tattoo of Cat Stevens on my arm).
Even now these are also the three musicians I listen to more than any other, and Paul Simon never fails to evoke strong emotional feelings inside me. I'm basically back with my dad, before his alcoholism had taken the essence of him away.
Thanks for sharing, Tom. We're all not so different, are we?
No so different at all ... right down to the Paul Simon. I still love his stuff.