More Musical Memories

Music is such a wonderful thing.  It helps us feel good, wallow in our sorrows, feel better, think about stuff, and a wide variety of other things.  Music can even take you back to specific moments in time.  Thought I’d share more of my musical memories with you.  Maybe they’ll trigger some of yours, too.  Will list them by song title and the artist most famous for performing them:

• Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash) – Ah, the “Down, Down” song.  That’s what my kids called it when they were around 3 years old.  We’d get in the truck and they’d want to hear the “Down, Down” song.  They pretty much liked all of Mr. Cash’s songs, but usually asked for this one in particular.  Could tell they were going to have a real appreciation for music;
• Sir Duke and Over the Rainbow (Stevie Wonder/Judy Garland) – Marching band, freshman year of high school.  Enjoyed my four years in the band, but will always think of this one as the best.  Had some real characters that year, and we were pretty good if I have to say so myself.  Can still see a fellow trombone player flipping over backwards cuz he was trying to play real loud during one performance.  Good times…;
• Piano Man (Billy Joel) – Saw him in concert during his Nylon Curtain tour.  My bud Jimmy and I were sitting about halfway up in the balcony at the back of the arena.  Jimmy said he was amazed cuz Billy was making the harmonica sounds with just his mouth.  Pointed out he was actually using the harmonica he’d put around his neck.  The lady sitting next to me let us borrow her binoculars to confirm it.  Purty funny.  And, yes, we were completely sober.  Really miss talking to Jimmy.  He’s still alive.  Just don’t get to talk to him;
• Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd) – You may remember listed this last time.  But, have another memory associated with this song, too.  One morning when Mr. Mayhall was late…again…was listening to this with Ronnie, Jud and Sean in Ronnie’s car.  When the little piano plink representing the pin prick played (wow, look at that alliteration), Jud reached up and flicked Ronnie on the ear.  I know, an odd thing to remember, but it’s in there;
• Bridge over Troubled Water (Simon and Garfunkel) – Was listening to this song on the radio and had to get out before it ended.  Drove me so crazy not being able to hear the ending had to go buy it on tape.  True story;
• Wild, Wild West (Kool Mo Dee) – This song may shock some of you.  But, used to listen to it when I would go out onto the Wesley Foundation balcony to watch the nightlife on the Tuscaloosa strip.  Saw some purty wild things…Also listened to Bon Jovi, Stevie Wonder, and several other bands while out there;
• Riders on the Storm ( The Doors) – Was listening to my walkman radio while writing a paper one night in college.  This song came on and swear could feel raindrops falling on the back of my neck.  Pretty eerie feeling which was cool all at the same time.  And, yes, again, was completely sober;
• Photograph (Def Leppard) – First real heavy metal song I ever liked and among the earliest music videos can remember seeing on MTV when we first got it.  Still remember the air band competition from high school.  The dudes that did this song won the whole thing and deservedly so;
• Cult of Personality (Living Colour) – Saw them on Saturday Night Live.  Still see Corey Glover slinging his braids around during the guitar solo every time I hear it on my iPod.  Awesome song wrapped around a pretty good history lesson.  Almost bought tickets to the Stones concert just to see these guys open for them;
• Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd) – Way back when I was in school, they used to play this before every Bama home game.  May still do.  I don’t know.  Anyway, the entire student section would keep the beat with our shakers.  An awesome sight for this Tide fan;
• Jump (Van Halen) – Chicago Cubs baseball back in the 80’s.  Every time I hear it still expect Harry Caray to come on and say,”Hello again, everybody!  It’s a great day for baseball!” when the music fades away;
• I Melt with You (Modern English) – Can see that couple dancing in the video every time I hear that song.  Still haven’t been able to figure out if the blonde guitarist in the white shirt was male or female;
• Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana) – Have always liked the song even though have never understood the lyrics.  Can hardly figure out what Kurt Cobain is singing but they still don’t make much sense when I read them.  Finally figured out a couple of weeks ago they’re not supposed to make sense cuz the teenage mind quickly jumps from thought to thought, at least it did when I was one.  That’s what I think, anyway.  Only took me 20 years to come up with that theory.  I’m such a gueenius…

Well, hope this list triggered some memories in you, even if you thought of some different songs.  Will probably be a part three sometime.  The hard part will be picking the soundtrack for this blog.  Too much to choose from…

Y’all have a good one.

More Thoughts

More thoughts inspired by the iPod:

• Funny how Van Halen is primarily known for Eddie's awesome guitar skills, but, their two biggest hits on the charts are "Jump" and "Right Now," both which feature Eddie on the keyboard.
• Apocalyptica's remake of Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" is very haunting in an awesome kind of way. They remade it using nothing but cellos. Pretty awesome, and that's one of my least favorite Metallica songs.
• Jerry Clower can really tell a tale. Ray Stevens is pretty funny, too.
• Sting don't sound nowhere near as much like me as he used to. He's about a quarter octave higher now. Used to sound just like me when we sang "Every Move You Make" and "Wrapped Around Your Finger."
• Hard to believe U2 has been around almost 30 years. "New Year's Day" is just as good as it was when it first came out in the early 80's.
• Wonder if Extreme's "Hole Hearted" is really about a spiritual journey? The lyrics will make you think.
• Seems odd to me that the Doobie Brothers opened their concert with "Rockin' Down the Highway" and ended with "Listen to the Music" rather than the other way around.
• Night Ranger's "Sister Christian" always makes me think of Joel Riggins, a friend who died after a car wreck when we were in high school. He was a big Night Ranger fan and that song was just becoming popular when it happened.
• Still regret not going to see Living Colour when they came to town. Didn't go cuz could have cared less about the band they were touring with, some band called the Rolling something or anothers.
• Wonder if the person who wrote "Whiskey In the Jar" almost 300 years ago could have ever imagined a band like Metallica would eventually remake their song?

Still have the blog about some of my travels kicking around in me head. Been having connectivity problems so haven't been able to get it onto paper, so to speak.

Have a great day!

Music's Best Of (to me anyway)

Have had the opportunity to do a lot of driving this week, which has led to a lot of iPod time (playing through the stereo, of course). It's made me think of a sort of "best of" list of musicians, and thought I'd share it. These are just my opinion. It would be hard for anyone to come up with "the" absolute list. Anyway, here it is. Oddly enough, most of these folks are on my iPod. Strange indeed...

• Best Voice - One Elvis Aaron Presley. He had the most pure voice I've ever heard. It's hard to picture him ever hitting a sour note, even if he had the flu.
• Best Guitarist - Jimi Hendrix. Man's been dead almost 40 years and he's still way ahead of his time. There's never been a sound like his and probably never will.
• Best Guitar Solo - David Gilmour, "Comfortably Numb."
• Best Guitar Duet - Joe Walsh and Don Felder, "Hotel California"
• Most Influential Band - The Beatles. Single-handedly changed music with their lyrics, music producing, and many other things. You can still hear their influence in a wide variety of musical genres today.
• Second Most Influential - Nirvana. Changed rock forever by introducing grunge to the masses. Can still hear their influence, too, though not as widespread. Hard to believe it's been almost 20 years since Never Mind came out.
• Best Rock Lyricist - John Lennon. His lyrics were so deep the accompanying music had to be relatively simple so the masses (myself included) could follow them.
• Best Country Lyricist - Hank Williams, Sr. He could tell a story like no other before or since.
• Close Second - Alan Jackson. Actually think "Midnight in Montgomery" is more than just a song. Hank must have disappeared onto that bus with him.
• Best Good Time Band - Van Halen. Just have to rock out whenever you hear one of their old songs. Eddie might not like to admit it, but Dave's wish that they play music he could dance to really helped them rise to the top. Eddie's not bad, either.
• Best Musician/Composer - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Can't listen to his music without seeing the story in my head, even the ones without lyrics, which I can't understand anyway. Man wrote all of his operas, etc., in his head and then put them down on paper without making hardly any mistakes. Remember one of his manuscripts selling a few years ago. It was about 2 inches think and he only had one measure scratched out in the whole thing. That is simply amazing. Often wondered if it sold for so much because it was his or because of the mistake. Heard that was what made it so rare.
• Most Eclectic Artist- The Man in Black, Mr. Johnny Cash. How many other 70+ year old men would know a Nine Inch Nails song, much less remake of one of their songs?

With the exception of Mozart and Nirvana, all are on my iPod. Would have Mozart on it, too, but cannot listen to just one of his songs. (Sort of like Lay's potato chips) Have to listen to the whole CD. Since I keep my iPod on shuffle, makes it hard to do that. Can't really explain why I've never purchased anything by Nirvana.

Sometime in the next day or two, I'm gonna talk about some of the things I've seen over the years while driving throughout our vast country. Some have been more interesting than others...to me, anyways.

On a different note, was sad to see Karl Malden died recently. Most of my generation would know him as the American Express guy from the TV commercials he did in the 70's. One of his greatest performances was of Gen. Omar Bradley in Patton. To me, that part summed up Malden's entire career. Bradley was a great general who was so down to earth you just never noticed how great he really was. The same could be said for Karl Malden's acting abilities.

Thanks for indulging me and making it to the end! Talk to you again soon!