The Day The Music Died

THIS POST IS INSTALLMENT #1 of a new series. In my current state-of-mind over the current state of affairs I'm searching for ways to find footing, forward-thinking, with a bit of escaping. So far, my tools include:

• Prayer -- prayers of lament and thanksgiving

• Exercise -- the kind for meditation, balance (both mental and physical) and flexibility (both physical and mental)

• Socializing -- stepping outside my very narrow and brittle comfort zone

• Substance Abuse -- I am treating myself to dark strong coffee drinks, frozen yogurt, peanuts, dark chocolate, and the occasional high-quality cheeseburger

Now I'm adding to the list of coping mechanisms a deeper immersion in the arts. I'm practicing my drums more. I'm even practicing the piano. I read an article that piano practicing is good for arthritic fingers because of the movement. "Motion is lotion," the article said.

I'm also going back to the greatest hits of my First Coming-of-Age, in the late 60s, when we had a president of questionable integrity and motives, and were stuck in a needless and seemingly unending war.

Those songs helped by giving a way to look at the zeitgeist. The power of poetry delivered with new, creative, culture-shaping music. So, for a few posts here on the old blog I'm going to remember and recommend some of those treasures that are serving again today in my Second Coming-of-Age to help me navigte the unrest and blurriness. Now, for the first installment, two tunes that are on my mind and heart and greatest hits list: Stairway To Heaven and American Pie. [Yes, I know I said songs of the 60s and both of these are of the 70s, but that counts too. It's my blog and I'll cry if I want to.]

members of led Zeppelin: john paul jones, robert plant, jimmy page

There's a video I've watched over and over; it's still moves me. It's an episode from the Kennedy Center Honors. You can watch it HERE:

In the video the band "Heart" is giving a tribute to the living members of Led Zeppelin by covering their song "Stairway to Heaven". The drummer playing with the band is Jason Bonham, son of the late John Bonham, drummer for Led Zeppelin.

jason and john bonham

Now when I watch the video it breaks my heart because the beauty marked by the Kennedy Center Honors is now gone--because the Kennedy Center is no longer the "Kennedy Center". It has been unworthily renamed by the illegitimately self-appointed chair of the Center's handpicked committee. Now the center is being shut down for "two years". And the words of Don McLean ring in my head:

A long, long time ago
I can still remember how that music
Used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while
But February made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died...

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn't play
And in the streets, the children screamed
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died...

They were singin' bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin', "This'll be the day that I die."

--selected passages from Don McLean’s American Pie

MAKING MUSIC

"The more I read the papers, the less I comprehend
The world and all its capers and how it soon will end."

I FEEL SORT OF GUILTY writing something about fun and funny given the horror and heartache boiling in our world. It's important to pay attention. It's appropriate to feel disgust and fear. It's vital to remember that goodness, truth and beauty exist.

So, that's my justification, now here's what's on the lighter side of my mind.

I love music. Maybe you've played that silly game, "Would you rather...?"

Here are a few examples, I borrowed from a quick search:

1. Would you rather have the ability to see 10 minutes into the future or 150 years into the future?

2. Would you rather have telekinesis (the ability to move things with your mind) or telepathy (the ability to read minds)?

3. Would you rather be forced to sing along or dance to every single song you hear?

4. Would you rather find true love today or win the lottery next year?

Sometimes, the game can turn dark with a question like: Would you rather lose your hearing or your eyesight?

At seventy-something, I'm fortunate to still have both, although some may say my hearing is selective or that the TV volume is set higher than it used to be. Two of the men I admire most, lived with the plague of a degenerative eye disease. They handled it with a grace that I should learn from. I love being able to see, read, drive and take walks by myself. But, not being able to hear music? I can't imagine.

never too young for a music appreciation class

I have a nice Hi-Fi system, and a collection of vinyl albums, some of which I purchased in high school and college. I have an Elton John album that I distinctly remember being the first album that My Amazing Missus and I purchased together as newlyweds, 50+ years ago. It's memorable because it would have been a big expense for our budget. We weren't loaded with disposable income, but My Amazing Dairy Farmer's Daughter's father kept us stocked with beef. So, all we had to buy was an occasional box of Hamburger Helper.

Over the years I've had amazing opportunities to hear really good musicians and to play drums in a variety of settings: studios, orchestra pits, parade routes, high school dances; here and abroad. Today, I play alone, on my drum kit in our master bedroom. Sometimes I wear headphones and play along with Diana Krall or The Beatles. I still try to play the 5/4 beat of Dave Brubeck's "Take Five", usually unsuccessfully.

I can spend lots of time watching a certain genre of YouTube videos. There are musicians, aspiring and accomplished that make YouTube their main performance Venue. A few of my favorites: Mona Lisa Twins, twin sisters from Austria, named (you guessed it) Mona and Lisa. Their covers of Beatles music and their ability to play so many instruments is inspiring. Another is Mary Spender, a British singer-songwriter. I love her guitar style. One of my favorite videos of hers is a duet with a kid named Josh Turner. They are playing "Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits.

Josh Turner is another YouTuber that is so prolific. He performs, usually in his apartment, with different musicians and friends. In thinking about which of his videos to recommend to you, I thought, you know what? It's cool outside and Hobby Lobby thinks it's time to start the Christmas season, so how about this one? CLICK HERE to watch Josh Turner and friends.

Often, I'll go to her sewing room and say, "Come quick, I have another amazing video for you to watch!" As it concludes, I usually say, "I wish I had a few friends I could jam with like Josh and his friends."

Then one day I discovered "Bryan and Friends" and reality hit hard. I realized that it's probably best if I don't gather a few friends for fear we might actually turn on a camera and post publicly. But, way to go Bryan and your friends. Rock on! CLICK HERE to watch Bryan and Friends.

For me, I'm holding out to just simply sit in the corner of a studio and watch miracles like this happen. CLICK HERE to watch Tony [RIP] and Diana.

In time the Rockies may crumble
Gibraltar may tumble
They're only made of clay
But, our love is here to stay

Tony bennet and diana krall

"Love Is Here to Stay" is a popular song and jazz standard composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin for the movie The Goldwyn Follies (1938).

PLAY FAVORITES

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[NOTE: Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology was not used in the writing of this essay, only Pops' dubious human intelligence and questionable emotional intelligence (EQ).]

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THE MORE CIVIL AND POLITE POSITION, when it comes to playing favorites seems to be: don't. Remember those teachers or coaches that "played favorites"; or so it seemed. I was apparently not teacher's pet material. Heck, in the opinion of most of grade school teachers I didn't even "work up to my potential." As a school boy I was certain that the first criterion for that esteemed position was to be a girl. Why, I don't know. They seemed to me to be fussy and whiny and tattle-tellie. Not all; but those that seemed to make good teacher's pets did.

I can't fault the teachers. I had my own list of school days favorites--friends with common interests, and girls who were out of my league. Even to this day, I ease the pain of that reality with an excuse: I went to school in Jenks--a small community with a giant school district. The Jenks school district even extended across the river into South Tulsa where we lived. There was a girl named Karla who topped my favorites list, but she lived in town, I didn't. Being geographically challenged plus shy to a fault, and having a football-playing rival made wooing her a hurdle too high. Is there any pain like the pain of the unrequited love of a kid?

No regrets though; when it really mattered, Providence carved paths that led me to meet a beautiful girl, who was most certainly out of my league and who went to our rival school: Bixby (Home of the Spartans). That was over 50 years ago and she is still my FAVORITE and still out of my league.

When it comes to things like breakfast cereals, movies, sitcoms, seasons of the year, and sports teams, having favorites seems like a good thing to me. It helps us explore things, to define ourselves, to know ourselves a little better. For example, let's talk about favorite places to visit. Some people love warm, exotic, beachy places. If someone told me I could go on an all-expenses paid vacation, I would choose from my favorites-- places I've been and enjoyed: Great Britain, New York or Chicago.

While we're there; favorite pizza? For me Chicago-style is best. I love a slice of NYC pizza, but Chicago wins that one along with best hot dogs. Favorite burger? Hands down it's Sid's in El Reno, Oklahoma.

If pinned down for an opinion on things like raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with strings, frankly, these are not on any list of favorites I might have. Although, I am curious about what's in that package.

Having favorites simplifies life. I don't have to stand in the grocery aisle staring at the Pop Tarts®, trying to decide. I'm grabbing the unfrosted strawberry every time. Paper or plastic? Paper. I just like paper sacks. There's something nostalgic about them. You never know when you might need to make a book cover or wrap up a package and tie it with string. Plus, while I'm not a raging, ranting environmentalist, I hate that every fence row along the way is littered with plastic bags from Wal Mart and Dollar General--two of the stores near the top of my unfavorite-places-ever.

All this thinking about favorites started as I was listening to a lot of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young following the passing of David Crosby. I mentioned that the original CSN album was in my Top 5 albums of all-time. Someone asked, "What are the other four?" Contemplating that question made me realize that there are at least a baker's dozen in my Top 5. Here they are in no particular order:

Carole King, ‘Tapestry’ SONY, 1971

Miles Davis, ‘Kind of Blue’ COLUMBIA, 1959

The Beatles, ‘Rubber Soul’ PARLOPHONE, 1965

The Beatles, ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ CAPITOL, 1967

Bob Dylan, ‘Highway 61 Revisited’ COLUMBIA, 1965

The Beatles, ‘Revolver’ APPLE, 1966

The Beach Boys, ‘Pet Sounds’ CAPITOL, 1966

Marvin Gaye, ‘What’s Going On’ TAMLA/MOTOWN, 1971

Blood, Sweat & Tears, 'Blood, Sweat & Tears album' Columbia, 1968

Crosby, Stills & Nash, 'Crosby Stills & Nash' Atlantic, 1969

Simon & Garfunkel, 'The Graduate' Columbia Masterworks, 1967

Jars of Clay, 'Jars of Clay' Essential, Silvertone, 1995

Diana Krall, 'Live In Paris' Verve, 2002

As I was curating this list, the first consideration was: PLAYING FAVORITES--the albums I tend to play over and over--the ones I never tire of. Next, you have to consider the album as a whole. There are a lot of albums out there that have two or three great songs, but these albums are non-stop quality music, which for me means superb songwriting--wonderful lyrics, memorable melodies, rich harmonies and chord progressions that give you goosebumps. They are wonderfully produced and stand the test of time. They are groundbreaking.

When I use the word album, I'm speaking literally of the vinyl record and cover jacket. My love of music was deepened by bringing home a new album, putting it on the record player and reading all of the album notes and looking at the pictures while the music played. It was an experience that only an album can give.

Obviously, I still favor the music of the 60s and early 70s. Eleven of the thirteen are from that era. Back then being able to buy an album required weeks of saving my allowance, doing extra chores, and begging. I had to make sure this album would be a favorite before laying out the hard-earned coin for it.

I still have many of those albums that I bought over 50 years ago. They are that special to me. I don't play them on my turntable these days. They are too worn and scratched. My turntable has a cartridge (needle) that costs more than my stereo did back in the day. So now I listen to high-quality digital versions of my favorites. But often, I still pull the album from the shelf and look at it as the record plays.

I love playing favorites.

BEHOLDER'S EYE

A FRIEND ASKED ME, "Do you think maybe you've already read your favorite book, heard the best song you'll ever hear, seen the best movie you'll ever see?"

At 70-something, I would say there's a good chance that I will never read a book better than those in my top 5 or so. I'm pretty sure the best music that can be written has been. Of course all of this is subjective and choice of best movie ever is even more a matter of taste and my tastes are apparently way outside the mainstream. For example, browsing through the list of the 100 Greatest Movies of All Time , you have to get all the way to number 43 to find one in my top 10. That one is "To Kill A Mockingbird". Then it's all the way down the list to number 83, "The Graduate", to find another of my all-time favorites, and those are the only picks of mine in that list of "greatest".

Music selections from Rolling Stones Top 500 confirm it: I'm out of touch, overly opinionated, and convinced that those under 20 have little idea of what really good music is, unless they are lucky enough to have a Pops that will play the greats for them, like Otis Redding's "Sittin On The Dock of the Bay"; The Beach Boys', "God Only Knows"; Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On"; The Beatles', "My Guitar Gently Weeps", Neal Young's, "Southern Man"; Crosby, Stills & Nash's, "Suite Judy Blue Eyes"; Bob Dylan's, "Like a Rolling Stone".

I'm not totally stuck in the 60s. For example, I'm pretty sure Diana Krall holds a place with the jazz greats of all time. Adele is magical. Brandi Carlile deserves a spot in the best of the best. Even two of my favorite Christmas songs are by young artists: "Snowman" by Sia and The Bahamas arrangement of "Christmas Must Be Tonight".

Can you believe that "White Christmas" didn't make the Rolling Stone magazine's list of 500 best songs ever? "I Can Only Imagine" by Mercy Me didn't either.

Will a song like "Silent Night" ever be written again? Could it? Several years ago I wrote a piece for an online magazine called "The Curator". It was about my favorite story--one I've heard all of my life, and about that song and it's power. You can click on this title: A Fear Not Story, if you would like to read it.

Just for fun, let's talk about one of the favorite childhood Christmastime books of Baby Boomers: "The Sears Christmas Wish Book". It was our Amazon. Between the time it would arrive in our mailbox until Christmas Eve I would rifle through that book trying to decide between an Erector Set, Lincoln Logs, a Chemistry set, or Johnny Unitas football helmet.

As I "shop" for our Grandkids, I wonder, is there any thing out there these days that would bring as much happiness and fun as a Mr. Potato Head, or a Slinky, or a plastic egg full of Silly Putty? Have the best toys already been made? If they reached into their stockings and found an assortment of nuts, an orange and a few pieces of hard candy, would they look at me like I was playing some kind of cruel joke. I already have a book for each of them. Maybe a book, a warm hug and a round or two of UNO and hot cocoa will be enough. It will have to be. Just as I'm out of touch with current movies and music, I'm clueless about the kids' taste in toys. Anyway, I'll be retired in a few days and My Amazing-Missus and I will be on a "fixed-income". I'm sure that answer will satisfy our little wide-eyed flock in their matching pajamas.