In 1955, Johnny Cash released the hit “Folsom Prison Blues.” Shortly after that, he became interested in recording a performance at a prison. The idea was always on his mind, but it wasn’t until some changes in personnel at his record label that the idea came to fruition.
It was on this day in 1968 that Johnny walked on stage at Folsom Prison and recorded the album that would revitalize his career.
Cash was backed by Carl Perkins, June Carter and the Tennessee Three for two shows. The record label barely promoted the album, but that didn’t matter. The album went to #1 on the country chart and reached #15 on the national album chart. The first single released was, of course, Folsom Prison Blues, which put Johnny in the Top 40 for the first time since 1964.
(From songfacts.com): Bob Johnston, famous for his work with Bob Dylan, produced the album and arranged for the prison performance. According to Johnson, he told Cash to “just go out and say who you are” when he took the stage, so Cash opened the set with what became his catch phrase: “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash.”These are the words he used to start every episode of his TV series The Johnny Cash Show, which ran from 1969-1971.
The most famous line in this song, “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die,” Cash said he wrote while “Trying to think of the worst reason for killing another person.” He added, “It did come to mind quite easily, though.” He came up with the line after watching the 1951 movie Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison while serving in West Germany with the US Air Force.
Last Thursday would have been Elvis Presley’s 91st birthday. Believe it or not, that’s not why I picked today’s movie – Honeymoon in Vegas. I actually chose it because the soundtrack is loaded with some great Elvis cover songs.
Take a look at the talented folks who contributed to the album! Offering up their versions of Elvis tunes are Billy Joel, Amy Grant, Bono, Travis Tritt, John Mellencamp and today’s birthday boy Ricky Van Shelton.
I first heard Ricky when I worked at my first country station. He had plenty of hits, but many of them were cover songs. He covered Statue of a Fool, From a Jack To a King, and He’s Got You. For the Honeymoon in Vegas soundtrack, he covers “Wear My Ring Around Your Neck.”
The song was written by Bert Carroll and Russell Moody. It was recorded and released by Elvis in 1958 and only made it to #2 on the pop chart. Prior to this song, Elvis had a string of 10 consecutive #1 songs. Wear My Ring broke the streak.
Ricky’s version of the song was the first single release from the soundtrack. It didn’t do as well as Elvis’, but it did reach #26 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.
In May 2006, he announced that he would be retiring from touring to spend more time with his family. Since then, Shelton has been sort of a recluse. He has almost disappeared from public life. He does keep busy, however, focusing on painting and writing children’s books.
I hope he is enjoying his retirement and that he has a very Happy 74th Birthday!
For 50 years now, the Lake Superior State University has published a yearly list of words (or phrases) from the past year that are “banished” for their “misuse, overuse and general uselessness.” Throughout the year, they took submissions from the US and around the world to create this year’s list. In total, they received over 1400 suggestions.
A LSSU representative said, “What began as a whimsical New Year’s Eve party idea in 1976, has grown into a global reflection on the words that wear out their welcome. The entries continue a tongue-in-cheek commentary on language, catchphrases, and corporate jargon.”
Here are some of them, along with their reason for adding it to the list:
6-7
“’There are six or seven reasons why this phrase needs to be stopped,’” says Paul E. from WI. The volume of submissions for this one could have taken up the whole list, at least slots 6-7. The top banishment this year, Scott T. from UT adds, ‘It’s time for ‘6-7′ to be 86’ed.’
Cooked
“‘Hearing it…my brain feels ‘cooked,’” groans Zac A. from VA. Parents and guardians led the charge on this one, with some feeling this isn’t enough. James C. from WA suggests a ban of ‘all forms of the word cook,’ hoping that hearing them will become rare.”
Massive
“‘Way overused! (often incorrectly),’ exclaim Don and Gail K. from MN. This word’s massive overuse has secured its place on this year’s list.”
Full stop
“’For the same reason ‘period’ was banished…redundant punctuation,’ explains Marybeth A. from OR.”
Perfect
“’There are very few instances when the word actually applies,’ notes Jo H. from CA. Often heard during customer service interactions, Char S. from OH wonders: ‘How do they know it’s perfect…what does that mean?'”
Gift/gifted (as a verb)
“’I found this on the 1994 list, but it will make me feel better to recommend that it be included once again,’ reveals James S. from OK. Another case of a noun being used as a verb.”
My Bad
“In the 1998 banishment, Elizabeth P. from MI suggested, ‘students and adults sound infantile when using this to apologize.’ The phrase hasn’t matured in credibility since then. Andrea R. from OH shared, ‘It does not convey much meaning in the way of an apology.’
Reach Out
“First banished in 1994, this saying has strayed from the positive message it once intended to deliver. ‘What started as a phrase with emotional support overtones has now become absurdly overused,’ asserts Kevin B. from the United Kingdom.”
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I am happy to say that I have never used the phrase “6-7” in conversation and I don’t even care to know what it means. When it first started slipping into conversations, news services would have stories on the website, “What you need to know about 6-7,” “Here’s what 6-7 means and why your child should not use it,” etc… Everything I had seen about it offered up possible explanations, but never really a solid one. I’m thankful my kids haven’t come home saying this.
If I am being honest, this is one of the weaker list of banished words. There are three that have appeared on previous lists. There had to be better suggestions, I’d love to see a “runner up” list.
What do you think? What was missed? Is this accurate? Tell me in the comments.
It seems that I am reading faster than I can write recommendations. I’ve read at least four books that I want to write about, and will get to them. I know some blogger friends write about 4 or 5 books in one post, but I’d rather do them one at a time. I appreciate your patience.
The title of the book is what peaked my interest – How the Penguins Saved Veronica.
When my wife and I got married, we went to an aquarium in Tampa. They had a penguin exhibit and for a few extra bucks, we got to see them up close and personal. My wife loves penguins, so she was in heaven.
That experience is what came to mind when I saw the title of the book, so I had to read it. Here is the Goodreads synopsis:
A curmudgeonly but charming old woman, her estranged grandson, and a colony of penguins proves it’s never too late to be the person you want to be in this rich, heartwarming story from the acclaimed author of Ellie and the Harpmaker.
Eighty-five-year-old Veronica McCreedy is estranged from her family and wants to find a worthwhile cause to leave her fortune to. When she sees a documentary about penguins being studied in Antarctica, she tells the scientists she’s coming to visit—and won’t take no for an answer. Shortly after arriving, she convinces the reluctant team to rescue an orphaned baby penguin. He becomes part of life at the base, and Veronica’s closed heart starts to open.
Her grandson, Patrick, comes to Antarctica to make one last attempt to get to know his grandmother. Together, Veronica, Patrick, and even the scientists learn what family, love, and connection are all about.
This was truly a heartwarming story. You really wouldn’t know by the way it starts off, but it is a book about family. It is a story of dealing with the past and how time in nature can lead to healing.
Veronica is a “set in her ways” kind of character. There is an issue in her past that she has avoided almost all of her life. Her time with the penguins brings her to the point where she trusts someone enough to talk about her past. Through this, the reader comes to understand why she is so set in her ways. The reader also comes to understand how strong she is because of her past.
The story is an uplifting one about finding family and healing personal wounds. It lived up to the praises I read about it prior to reading it.
Every now and then I read something that hits the nail on the head. That is the case with this blog from Earthly Comforts.
It seems to me that the industry forgot that a sitcom is a “situation comedy.” Do yourself a favor and watch an old episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Honeymooners, The Jack Benny Show, I Love Lucy and countless other classic shows. As you watch you will see characters in hilarious situations, caught up in funny misunderstandings, and ridiculous extremes. Oh, and you WILL laugh.
What follows in a blog from Earthly Comforts to brings out the sad truth of “sitcoms” today.
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please comment below and tell me what you think.
A reflective look at why genuinely funny televised sitcoms feel increasingly rare, exploring humour, ageing, creative fear, and what comedy seems to have lost along the way.
Yesterday marked the 100th birthday of one of my comedy heroes – Soupy Sales. My dad introduced me to Soupy and his humor when I was young. He grew up watching Soupy when he did a lunch time show in the Detroit area. I was lucky enough to be around when The New Soupy Sales Show hit TV.
I watched it all the time and laughed like crazy. Then in 1986, he had a syndicated show called “The Soupy Sales Moldie Oldies Show.” It featured oldies music, comedy bits and each week he featured a “Joke of the Day.” In honor of his centennial birthday, I thought I would once again share some of my favorite Soupy jokes:
Size 16
A stockbroker is suffering from a recurring ringing in his ears and he goes to the doctor who recommends that he have his tonsils removed. He has them removed, but it doesn’t help. He goes to a second doctor who advises him to have his teeth pulled. This too fails and the ringing continues.
He goes to a third doctor, a specialist, who says, “I’m sorry to tell you this, but you are suffering from a rare disease and at best, you have six months to live.”
Since the guy has no relatives to whom to leave his money, he decides to spend every cent he has. He books passage for a trip around the world. He goes to the best tailor in town and orders twenty handmaid suits. He finds a shirt maker and has twenty shirts made to order.
The shirt maker starts taking all the measurements and says, “Thirty-four sleeve. Sixteen Collar.” The stock broker says, “Excuse me, that should be fifteen.” The shirt maker responds and says, “Sixteen collar, look here at the tape measure.” The broker says, “That can’t be. I’ve always worn a fifteen collar and THAT’S what I want!”
The shirt maker replies, “Ok, but you’ll get a ringing in your ears!”
A Newlywed Joke
A young husband just married a couple of weeks comes home from a really hard day at the office. And as soon as he comes in, he falls down on the couch and he is just exhausted.
His bride comes in and looks at him very sympathetically and says, “My darling, you look so tired and so hungry. How would you like a nice steak smothered in onions, vegetables, baked potato, and some delicious pie a la mode?”
The weary new bridegroom looks up at his wife and says, “Not tonight, honey, I’m too tired to go out!”
It’s All About the Money
A guy is at a bar after office hours and he says to his friend, “Boy, I just have to have another drink before I go home. My wife is on my back from the moment I get home till I leave the next day about money. She’s always nagging me about money. Last week she wanted two hundred dollars. The day before yesterday, she wanted a hundred dollars. This morning, she asked for another hundred and fifty dollars!”
And his friend says, “Wow! That’s awful. What could she possibly do with all that money?”
And the guy says, “I don’t know, I never give her any!”
.
A Heavenly Funny
There’s a bus loaded with women and they’re returning from a church worker’s convention. There is an accident, the bus overturns and all the women are killed. Now they all go to heaven and St. Peter greets them at the pearly gates and explains that heaven is full and that he’s going to have to put them up in hell until the new subdivision is completed.
Three weeks later, the devil frantically calls up St. Peter and begs him, “PLEASE! Take these women off my hands!!”
St. Peter says, “I can’t I’m still waiting for them to finish this subdivision. I’m still having housing troubles!”
And the devils says, “Troubles?! You don’t know what trouble is!! With all of their cake bakes, bingo games, rummage sales and bazaars, these women are only forty dollars short of air conditioning this place!”
A very cool rendition of Soupy done by artist Greg Joens.
I admit that our state had high hopes for the Lions after last season. Even though the season ended without advancement to the playoffs, there is still a sense of pride in our team.
Last year, the Home Bakery in Rochester, MI created a life-size replica of Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown doing a headstand. The headstand was in celebration of his scoring a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers in November of last year. Well, this year they have done it again.
This year they unveiled a life-sized cake of Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs striking his “Spider-Man x Superman” pose, and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown hurdling over him. The St. Brown part of the cake is positioned with his arm appearing to go through the front window of the bakery. Tthe cake is modeled after the pose from Gibbs’ Oct. 20 touchdown celebration against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Talk about an amazing piece of work …
The creation of this cake took four hundred hours, 65 pounds of fondant, eight cases of Kellogg’s Rice Krispies treats and four sheet cakes! Heather Tocco, who owns the bakery, said the bakery has also done cakes for the “Barbie Movie,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Wolverine” and “Deadpool.” The consistent production of life-sized cakes makes them “pretty well-known for over-the-top window displays.”
I’ve seen some pretty amazing cakes on the show “Is It Cake?” on Netflix, but these life-sized ones “take the cake!”
I’ve been meaning to write a little recap of post-Christmas happenings, and I just haven’t had a second to do it. So here are just a few highlights.
The boys and me. That Three Stooges poster behind us was a complete coincidence.
My boys and I got together the weekend after Christmas. The Christmas holiday was spent with their mom, so we got together for lunch.
They are now both living together in an apartment and sharing the responsibilities. I hadn’t seen their new place yet, so I met them there. It’s really a nice place. Two bedrooms and two bathrooms as well as plenty of room to entertain guests. After the tour of their place and some time in conversation, we decided to go to lunch.
There is a place right down the road from them. Nice place with a nice atmosphere and good food. They both grabbed boneless wings and an order of garlic parmesan French fries (delicious), while I grabbed a good burger. It was fun to just sit and laugh with them. They aren’t little boys anymore and it was surreal to be having adult conversation with them. We’re hoping to make it a point to get together more.
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New Year’s Eve was pretty quiet. Ella stayed at Sam’s mom’s house, so it was Sam, Andrew and me at home. How did we celebrate the new year? Andrew decided to have a date night with us and chose to get some Mexican food.
What was left of my chimichangas!
Then we made a trip to Meijer! Yeah, we really hooped it up! We stopped to pick up a prescription and then walked up and down the toy aisle with Andrew. Now, instead of having us take pictures of toys to add to his Christmas list, we add them to his birthday list!
Selfie in the toy aisle at Meijer
We were in bed and asleep long before the new year arrived.
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My dad made the drive up to give the kids their Christmas gifts this past Saturday. I had taken the kids to Home Depot that morning to do the kids workshop. They built a tow truck. My dad was already in the driveway when we got back home.
Due to schedules and such, we don’t get to see him as often as we’d like. The kids really were happy to see him. They both got remote control cars and watches that have games on them. Both of the kids had to show him what Santa brought and they talked his ear off. At one point, Ella just crawled up on the couch and started snuggling with him. It was so cute.
Ella and Papa discussing the Glinda doll he brought her.
I was so glad to get time with him.
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On Sunday, Ella had a play date with a friend. So Andrew and I spent the day together while Sam slept before work. We went to the Barnes and Noble because he wanted to look at books. We spent a good chunk of time there and had a about an hour to kill before going to pick up Ella. Knowing how much he loves tools, we made a stop at Harbor Freight.
I don’t think there was one thing that didn’t fascinate him. He thought vices were cool. He marveled at the many types of drills on display. His eyes were wide when he saw the amount of flashlights on the wall. Cement mixers, generators, hammers, crowbars, and even a bicycle pump all had his attention.
At one point, his love for the Three Stooges came out as he showed me what “Moe hit Larry with”…
That’s a big wrench! I was waiting for him to say, “Spread out!”
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Sunday night was a challenge. They had to be back in bed at their normal time because they had to be back to school. They were not too happy (or awake) when I woke them up. Honestly, I wasn’t happy or awake either!
The legendary Earl Scruggs was born on this day in 1924. Even people who don’t listen to bluegrass music have probably heard him. Have you ever heard the theme song to the Beverly Hillbillies? If so, you’ve heard him.
Photo from earlscruggscenter.org
He was a master banjo player. He is responsible for what is referred to as the “Scruggs style” of playing. His three-finger style of playing was radically different from the traditional way the five-string banjo had previously been played. according to wiki this new style of playing became popular and elevated the banjo from its previous role as a background rhythm instrument to featured solo status. He popularized the instrument across several genres of music.
He started playing in Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys. Bill had a heck of a touring schedule and Earl needed to slow down. He retired from the group. Lester Flatt also resigned from the group and teamed up with Scruggs.
They recorded Foggy Mountain Breakdown in December 1949 and released in March 1950. Thanks to the movie Bonnie and Clyde, it became a hit again in 1967. It also received two Grammy Awards.
Here it is the first Monday after the holidays. The kids are back in school and it is back to work for us working folks. It is not an easy day for much of the country.
With that being said, it is appropriate to pick a song that fits the mood. So it is back to 1947 we go…
“Stormy Monday,” originally “Call It Stormy Monday,” (not to be confused with “Stormy Monday Blues”) was written and recorded by T-Bone Walker in 1947 and released as a single on the label Black & White. Like many blues songs, it’s about a guy who wants his gal back. Needless to say, every day of the week he’s hurting.
Many artists were influenced by the song. Van Morrison covered it in 2017 and said the song has had a connection with him for a long time.
(From songfacts.com:)
“That would be 1963 when I first heard that. Bobby “Blue” Bland. I never heard the T-Bone Walker version until later. Hearing that song was a pivotal moment for me. There was a black GI who brought a 45 over from America. He was in the army and he played that song for me. It was one of those Eureka moments. It probably changed everything.”
BB King said it was the song that inspired him to play electric guitar:
“My greatest musical debt is to T-Bone …’Stormy Monday’ was the first tune. ‘They call it Stormy Monday’, sang T-Bone, ‘but Tuesday’s just as bad’. Yes, Lord! The first line, the first thrilling notes, the first sound of his guitar, and the attitude in his voice was riveting. I especially loved ‘Stormy Monday’—and I still sing it today.”
(From Wiki:) “Stormy Monday” is one of the most popular blues standards, with numerous renditions. As well as being necessary for blues musicians, it is also found in the repertoires of many jazz, soul, pop, and rock performers. The song is included in the Grammy, Rock and Roll, and Blues Foundation halls of fame as well as the U.S. Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry.
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 