Tune Tuesday

Happy 76th birthday to Bob Cowsill of the Cowsill.

Wikipedia says: The band was formed in early 1965 by brothers Bill, Bob, and Barry Cowsill; their brother John joined shortly thereafter. Originally Bill and Bob played guitar and Barry played the drums. When John learned to play drums and joined the band, Barry began playing bass. After their initial success, the brothers were joined by their siblings Susan and Paul along with their mother, Barbara. A seventh sibling, Bob’s fraternal twin brother Richard, was never part of the band during its heyday, although he occasionally appeared with them in later years.

Between 1967-1970, the band released 5 albums. In their career, they chatted 8 singles that made the Hot 100 chart. They never had a number one song, but came close. Hair and The Rain The Park and Other Things both made it to number 2.

The Rain, The Park and Other Things was the breakthrough hit for the group. The song is known to many as “The Flower Girl.”

The Cowsills were the forerunner of The Osmonds, a group that would appear on the same record label a few years later. Unlike the Osmonds, the boys’ mother Barbara also features on the recordings. The Cowsills also made many television appearances during the late 1960s and the early 1970s and they were an inspiration for the Partridge Family.

Studio musicians were brought in for the recording, a practice that continued until 1969, when the Cowsill family were allowed to play their own musical instruments. (No, the Wrecking Crew did not play with the group.)

Olivia Newton-John recorded an upbeat version of this song for the 2011 movie soundtrack A Few Best Men. The soundtrack album is all cover songs recorded by Newton-John and mixed by various producers.

Sources: Songfacts.com, Wikipedia

Movie Music Monday – Goldfinger

Sir Sean Connery was born on this day in 1930. He has had so many wonderful roles in the movies. I loved him in The Untouchables, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and The Hunt for Red October (just to name a few).

Connery nailed it as Agent 007 – James Bond. He played Bond in 7 films: Dr. No, Never Say Never Again, From Russia With Love, Thunderball, Diamonds Are Forever, You Only Live Twice, and Goldfinger. He was the tallest actor to portray the character.

Shirley Bassey was asked to sing the theme to the movie. On Shirley Bassey’s website, she says about Goldfinger: “John Barry wrote the music. We were touring in England at the time and he was conducting for me. One day he said, ‘There is this new song for the James Bond film Goldfinger and we’d like you to do it. I know your rule that you will never listen to a song unless there are words. There are no words, I must warn you – there’s only the music, which I have done. And we’re waiting on the lyric.’ And because we had such a wonderful relationship on our tour I said to John, ‘Well, I’ll listen to it. I’ll break my rule.’ And thank God I did, because the moment he played the music to me, I got goose pimples, and I told him, ‘I don’t care what the words are. I’ll do it.’ And fortunately the words were great.”

Songfacts.com says: John Barry worked long into the night on the music. According to an article in the London Times, the next morning over breakfast, he played the opening three notes to his flatmate at the time, Michael Caine. The actor said bluntly, “It’s ‘Moon River.'” Barry swiftly added the three-note brass line to disguise the similarity.

Bond producer Harry Saltzman hated this and he took a lot of convincing to use this as the film tune. John Barry explained in his interview with NPR that Saltzman called it “the worst song he’d ever heard in his life,” but because there was no time to change it, he had to live with it.

I can’t imagine there being a better song for the film. It wound up being Bassey’s biggest hit!

Vic Flick, who was one of the top session musicians in England in the 1960s, played guitar on this track. He told the Daily Mail that Shirley Bassey originally struggled with this song: “Barry wanted this long note held,” he recalled. “He said to do it again, and she said she couldn’t. But then there was a rustling noise – and suddenly this bra comes over the top of the vocal booth. And then Shirley really let it go.”

Happy Heavenly birthday to Sir Sean Connery. Try not to be distracted by the voice of bra-less Shirley Bassey!

Sunday Funny

The world’s leading expert on European wasps enters a record store. He asks the assistant “Do you have ‘European Vespidae Acoustics Volume 2? I believe it was released this week.”

“Certainly,” replies the assistant. “Would you like to listen before you buy it?”

“That would be wonderful,” says the expert, and puts on a pair of headphones.

He listens for a few moments and says to the assistant, “I’m terribly sorry, but I am the world’s leading expert on European wasps and this is not accurate at all. I don’t recognize any of those sounds. Are you sure this is the correct recording?”

The assistant checks the turntable, and replies that it is indeed European Vespidae Acoustics Volume 2. The assistant apologizes and lifts the needle onto the next track.

Again the expert listens for a few moments and then says to the assistant, “No, this just can’t be right! I’ve been an expert in this field for 43 years and I still don’t recognize any of these sounds.”

The assistant apologizes again and lifts the needle to the next track.

The expert throws off the headphones as soon as it starts playing and is fuming with rage.

“This is outrageous false advertising! I am the world’s leading expert on European wasps and no European wasp has ever made a sound like the ones on this record!”

The manager of the shop overhears the commotion and walks over.

“What seems to be the problem, sir?”

“This is an outrage! I am the world’s leading expert on European wasps. Nobody knows more about them than I do. There is no way in hell that the sounds on that record were made by European wasps!”

The manager glances down and notices the problem instantly.

“I’m terribly sorry, sir. It appears we’ve been playing you the bee side.”

August 23, 1969

Today would have been my parents 56th wedding anniversary. They did get to celebrate 37 of them together. My uncle/Godfather was the best man and my aunt was the maid of honor.

I remember my brother and I were fascinated by their wedding album. It was fun to see our grandparents looking much younger. There were pictures of mom getting ready at my grandma’s house. Mom and dad didn’t smash cake into each other’s face, either. As a matter of fact, almost every picture seems to have a seriousness to it.

I’m guessing the photographer left after dinner, because there are no fun candid photos. I always remember hearing stories about how fun it was to go to weddings around this time. I know they had a live band that played music, but there are no pictures of any dancing – not even the bridal dance. There are, of course, a few family photos and a picture of people lined up at the buffet line.

Despite all of that, there are some really good pictures of my mom and dad. In most of the photos, my mom is not wearing her glasses. There are a couple of her in glasses, and this is one of my favorites.

They both are so happy here! I was blessed with wonderful parents.

Friday Funny

While reading blogs today, I came upon my friend Nancy’s blog. She presented the fact that snails can sleep for up to three years! You can read it here.

The blog reminded me of one of my favorite jokes:

There is a man who is relaxing at home after a particularly hard day. A knock on the door disturbs his relaxation time. He goes to the door and opens it and sees no one. He slams the door and returns to his favorite chair. He barely gets settled and again there is a knock on the door.

Frustrated, he gets up and opens the door again. He sees no one in front of him. He looks left and right and sees no one. He again returns to his chair. He hears a more persistent knock this time, and he has had enough of this nonsense. He jerks open the door and looks around again.

Once again he sees no one, but as he turns to slam the door he notices a snail. It is on the porch near the bottom of the door. He thinks, “Well, there is no way that this snail is responsible for this!” He scoops up the snail and throws it as far as he can.

A little over a year later, the guy hears a knock on the door. He opens it to find that same snail looking up at him. Before the guy can do anything, the snail says, “What the heck was that all about?!”

Friday Photo Flashback

I love when I find a thumb drive I forgot I had. This week I was looking for a drive that had some sleep presentations on. I wanted to review the Power Point before speaking to an EEG class. What I found was a drive with some pictures of my oldest son. It was a series of pictures that we took for possible senior pictures.

Toward the end of the shoot, both of my older boys were just hanging out. There are some great candid shots in there. The one I love is this one:

I love that they were caught laughing at something. This would have been just before Covid and not too long after Sam and I were married. The divorce was tough on both of them. There were a lot of times where we had deep talks about what was going on. Those conversations were probably more than any kid their age needed to process. To see them laughing makes me smile.

Five years later, I don’t see them enough. Both now have full time jobs and lives of their own. My oldest will call more than his brother, but that’s ok. They are actually talking about finding a place where they can both split the rent. They’ve come a long way from beating the snot out of each other growing up. I truly hope that they remain close. Those sibling relationships can be such a wonderful thing.

Kindergarten Poem

Thank you to a teacher friend who read my blog yesterday and sent me this:

First Day of School

I gave you a little wink and smile
as you entered my room today.
For I know how hard it is to leave
and know your child must stay.

You’ve been with them for five years now
and have been a loving guide,
But now, alas, the time has come
to leave them at my side.

Just know that as you drive away
and tears down your cheeks may flow
I’ll love them as I would my own
and help them learn and grow.

So please put your mind at ease
and cry those tears no more
For I will love them and take them in
when you leave them at my door.

“Time Moves Slowly, But Passes Quickly.”

You would think by the third time, I would be able to handle it. Nope. No amount of preparation helped me at all. Last week, we had Ella’s open house to meet her kindergarten teacher. She was so excited. We were excited for her.

I held it together pretty well for this. We walked around the school, found her classroom, explored the library, strolled through the gym and met the teacher and principal. As we walked out of the building, I could feel the tears, but they never came … until Monday.

My goodness, I cannot fathom that she is really in kindergarten. I have no doubt that she is going to totally rock it! She has been waiting for this since preschool ended. My little girl is not so little anymore.

The school drop off is a lot different from when my boys were in school. There is a line of cars waiting to drop off. When you drop your child off, a teacher/staff member opens the car door so they can get out. They walk into the school and you drive away. Apparently, this makes it easier for the child and for you.

Sam was crying before the door even shut. My tears came a bit later. It’s weird because you want them to go to school and to learn. You want them to take on the world. You want them to grow into amazing adults. You want them to excel at everything they take on. But you don’t want to let go just yet.

Good luck, sweetheart. We are so very proud of you. You are going to do so well this year! Be a good friend. Keep smiling and take kindergarten by the horns! We love you!

Tune Tuesday

Happy 56th birthday to country music’s Clay Walker!

Clay was one of the nicest guys in the business. I never felt rushed when he was doing a Meet and Greet. He was always happy to sign something or record a line for me. He was the same way with listeners. Someone would come out and tell folks “One picture and one signature per person,” and Clay would sign everything a listener brought back for him.

Clay had his share of ballads over the years, but A Few Questions is one that really struck a chord with people.

It was released in April 2003 as the lead-off single and title track from his album of the same name. It peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hit Country Singles & Tracks Charts.

When the song was just hitting radio, Clay said, “‘A Few Questions’ is touching people the way it touched me the first time I heard it. The choruses come right out of the Book of Job. When I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis back in 1996, the Book of Job is part of the Bible I read over and over, trying to understand what I needed to do. And every time I sing the song, it lifts up my own spirits as much as it lifts those of others. My favorite line in the song is “When you look down on me, can you see the good through all the bad.” That’s a powerful thought.” He told Country Weekly “It’s a very deep song to me. It really relates to me in a lot of ways, because I think everybody has questions in life.”

During an interview with CMT, Clay revealed that philosophical songs like “A Few Questions”, “The Chain of Love” and “It Ain’t Pretty”, are not his favorite form of songs when he said, “Those kinds of story songs are the ones that choke you up. I’m not a person that tends to listen to those songs a whole lot because they are deep. I like something with a little more vocal range in it. But those three songs really do make me think. It takes great songwriters to write them because they’re totally lyric-based. They’re not standing on production. They’re standing on the story and the words.”

As a man of faith, I can tell you there is a lot of stuff that I don’t understand. All I know is that while I don’t know the answer, God does. When people come to me and tell me of their struggles, I will often tell them that. It’s not in the easy times that people question God, it’s during the tribulations we go through.

I remember when my Grandpa died. I was 11 and standing on the driveway crying. I looked up and asked, “Why did you have to take him? Why do good people have to die?” I had no idea, but He did. If you have ever found yourself questioning “Why?” then you will be able to relate to this one.

Happy Birthday, Hoss!

Movie Music Monday – Dirty Dancing

Today would have been Patrick Swayze’s 73rd birthday. So it’s only fair to focus on his movie hit – She’s Like the Wind from Dirty Dancing.

“She’s Like The Wind” is featured in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing in the scene where Patrick Swayze says goodbye to Jennifer Grey after their summer fling. He tells her, “I’ll never be sorry.” Her reply: “Neither will I.”

Swayze doesn’t sing it on camera, making it a rare case where the star of a film soundtracks his own scene.

Songfacts.com says that this wasn’t written for Dirty Dancing. Swayze wrote the song with his friend Stacy Widelitz for a movie he was shooting in 1984 called Grandview, U.S.A.

Swayze had the basic chords and the opening lyrics (“She’s like the wind, through my tree…”). They hashed out the song over the next few days, but it was rejected for the film. Two years later, Swayze was working on Dirty Dancing, and he played the demo of the song for the producers, who gave it the green light. They recorded a proper version with Michael Lloyd producing, and the song became a big part of the soundtrack, which sold over 30 million copies and spent 18 weeks at #1 in the US. It was the first song Patrick Swayze released.

The song was the third hit from the movie soundtrack. The film itself was released in August of 1987. The first single, “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” hit #1 US in November. The next single, “Hungry Eyes” reached #4 in February, and “She’s Like The Wind” landed at #3 later that month.

Songfacts.com says that Patrick Swayze was big into music, but there was far more demand for his acting than his singing. He did a duet with Larry Gatlin called “Brothers” for the soundtrack of his 1989 film Next Of Kin, and has two songs on the soundtrack to Road House, another film his starred in that year. His 2003 film One Last Dance also featured two Swayze songs on the soundtrack, but “She’s Like The Wind” was his only hit, making Swayze one of the more high-profile one-hit wonders.

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Patrick!