On this day in 1977 – a King died. The King of Rock and Roll.
On this day in 2018 – a Queen died. The Queen of Soul.
Both were musical royalty. Did you know they both have a musical group in common? Both have “recorded” with the world famous Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Imagine what some of their songs might have sounded like with an orchestral background! Never mind. You don’t have to, because there are albums you can check out.
Here are a couple of my favorites from those albums (with some bonus cuts and artists later on)
Elvis
A Big Hunk o’ Love
Can’t Help Falling in Love
Steamroller Blues
In the Ghetto
Aretha Franklin
Respect
Natural Woman
Think
Until You Come Back To Me
Elvis has two albums with the RPO and a Christmas Album. Aretha has one. But there are other artists whose song’s have been reimagined by the RPO. The first being The Carpenters. Honestly, many of their songs already had some sort of orchestra background, but these new arrangements are neat to hear.
The Carpenters
I Just Fall In Love Again
We’ve Only Just Begun
The oddest pairing in my opinion is the RPO and the Beach Boys. Orchestral Surf??
Wouldn’t It Be Nice
Sloop John B
My favorite cut is this one – Fun, Fun, Fun
My favorite collaboration (besides Elvis) is the RPO and Roy Orbison. Wow! What an album! Simply amazing.
In Dreams
Crying
It’s Over
Only the Lonely
Running Scared
I have always loved Mean Woman Blues by Roy. However, I think the version with the RPO takes the original and beefs it up with some cool horns and makes it even better! My favorite cut!
Mean Woman Blues
So today we salute a King, a Queen, and some artists that would be considered music royalty – with a “royal” musical group that they all have in common. I hope you enjoyed listening. All of the Royal Philharmonic Albums can be heard on YouTube!
When I moved in with Sam, a year or so before we got married, the first neighbor I met was Dale. He came over and introduced himself. He was friendly, told me a bit about the neighborhood and the neighbors. He really made an impression on me.
I remember telling Sam that I had met him and she told me just how great a neighbor he was. He had a riding mower and mowed her grass for her every time he mowed his. He told me that when I needed it, to come and get his mower and mow the grass. When I got my zero turn mower, I returned the favor and mowed his grass if it needed it. When his mower was down, he’s borrow mine and vice versa.
He was the neighborhood watch in a way. The first night I was there, Sam had to work. My car was in her driveway and he texted her to let her know there was a strange car in her driveway. That meant a lot to me. It was nice to know that someone was aware of what was going on in the neighborhood.
One day (long before I had to re-deck the porch), he saw me out trying to fix the steps that led to the porch. He told me to wait a minute. He ran home and grabbed some scraps of the stuff they used to re-do his deck. It wasn’t wood, it was that plastic-type strong deck board. We cut a few to size with my saw, and he had his impact drill with deck screws and fixed my step in about 10 minutes. He is just that kind of guy.
Whenever he had some sort of back yard party, we’d always make sure our driveway or back yard was available for his guest parking. If I ever needed a garden tool, or his big roller to roll my yard in the spring, or help moving something – he was there to help. He is just one of the great neighbors we have in our neighborhood. Sadly, he is moving away this week.
He and his wife are moving to Florida to take care of their parents. The neighborhood won’t be the same without Dale and his family. I know I will miss those chats out in the yard while we are both working on stuff. I will miss the positive advice and support he always freely gave. I will miss having him around for sure.
I wanted to publicly say thank you, Dale. You have done so much for my wife, me, and my family. You have been such a wonderful neighbor and I truly will miss you guys. We wish you all the best in your new home. Your neighbors will be blessed to have you!
May God bless you and your family. Take care, my friend, and please keep in touch! You know where we live!
Drive careful and remember, in Florida, it is some sort of state law that your blinkers are to remain on at times!
It’s Monday and there is finally a bit of normalcy back in our life. It was a crazy weekend for us.
Thursday, Andrew had his surgery. It went better than expected and we were grateful that many of the “possible” surgeries were not needed. This time the recovery went a bit better than the last time. When he woke up from his last surgery he had what they called post op “delirium” and he began pulling the IV out and was just a bear! This time, they gave him something that let him sleep a bit more and he woke up much more calm.
On Friday we were home. He seemed to be doing well. He was eating a lot of soft foods and popsicles. He seemed a bit more like himself, but we knew he wasn’t 100%. On Saturday, we had a scare as he just didn’t want to eat or drink. We even took him out for ice cream in hopes that would work. Naturally, a trip back to the ER and what does he do? Drinks and eats.
Not sure why he felt the need to grab a winter hat for ice cream, but he did.
That night my wife caught a very cool picture. Let me set this up for you. When I put him to bed, I will lay him in his bed and turn out the lights. I will say prayers with him, cover him up, and turn on his sound machine/night light. Then I’ll put on my reading glasses, grab my mini-flashlight and read my book where he can see me. He will eventually close his eye, knowing that dad is right by him, and go to sleep.
While in our bed that night, he grabbed his sunglasses and put them on. He grabbed his Paw Patrol flashlight and one of the books my wife and I plan on reading. He said, “Wook, Mommy! I Daddy!!”
Little by little – he is acting like himself.
We were home just in time to watch the sunset yesterday. Before the rain, the kids saw fire flies lighting up the back yard. So they ran around trying to catch them. Both were successful!
It’s been years since I’ve chased fireflies, but I have vivid memories of doing so. I hope they will never forget doing it.
I was having a discussion with some radio buds from the past on Facebook over the last couple days. It reminded me of the Andy Bernard quote from The Office finale:
“I wish there was a way to know you’re in ‘the good old days’, before you’ve actually left them.”
That got me thinking more and I remembered a fantastic quote from the great Sid Caesar that I wanted to share:
“There’s a now, a was, and a gonna be. Now is now, and after now is a was. And what comes after the was is a gonna be. It hasn’t happened yet. It’s gonna happen as soon as the now is over. But if you have a good now, you’re bound to have a good was and a good gonna be. But after the bad now comes a bad was. But if you have a bad now and dwell on it, you’re going to have a bad gonna be and you’re going to have a bad cycle.
If you learn from the bad was, you can turn the bad gonna be into a good gonna be. The only way you can change the cycle is after the was. If you carry the bad wases around with you, they get heavy and become should’a could’as – I should’a done this, I could’a done that.
If you learn from the was, you’ll have a great now; you won’t repeat the same mistakes. It will bring you to a good now, which changes the cycle to a good was, and a good gonna be. You need to learn from the wases. It’s all about changing your attitude.” – Sid Caesar
I wanted to thank each of my readers who said a prayer or sent positive thoughts our way for Andrew’s surgery. All went well and he is home recovering.
We will need to follow up with ENT in about 6 weeks. We also will follow up with sleep/neurology in the weeks ahead.
He was such a trooper. We’re happy he is home. The plan is to take it slow and easy this weekend.
Welcome to my 17th contribution to Turntable Talk. Dave Ruch from A Sound Day has once again presented his “music folks” a monthly topic to write about. The topic this time is an easy one – Sum Sum Summertime. In his instructions, he says, “Just pick a song that really signifies ‘summer’ to you. It could be an obvious one about summer, or for that matter about school and end of summer I guess, or just one that either sounds very summery or brings back some great summertime memories for you.”
There are plenty of those “summer” songs to choose from! Off the top of my head:
In the Summertime – Mungo Jerry
A Summer Song – Chad and Jeremy
Hot Fun in the Summer Time – Sly and the Family Stone
Summer of ’69 – Bryan Adams
Vacation – The Go Go’s
Summertime Blues – Eddie Cochran
Cruel Summer – Bananarama
The Boys of Summer – Don Henley
Soak Up The Sun – Sheryl Crow
Summer Breeze – Seals and Croft
Pretty much ANY Beach Boys song
When I thought about Dave’s topic, I could have picked any one of the songs listed above. Then when I began to think about songs that brought back summer memories, there was only one that came to mind – Music Box Dancer by Frank Mills. They played it to death on the radio when we would vacation at my grandparents place up north. But even that one didn’t seem “summery enough for me.
I began to think about when I worked at Honey Radio in Detroit. Every summer, we’d add certain summer songs to the playlist, much like stations do with Christmas music around the holidays. We would play It’s Summertime by the Jamies, Here Comes Summer by Jerry Keller, Wonderful Summer by Robin Ward, California Sun by the Rivieras and so many others that got less airplay outside of the season.
As we focused on the “first decade” of rock and roll, we played music from 1955 (and a bit earlier sometimes) to 1965. Those early years would often feature Bill Haley, Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Dean Martin, Chuck Berry and Perry Como. It was a big variety. There was one song that was added to the Honey playlist that I loved playing and it was not by a rock and roller. To me, it wasn’t summer until I got to spin the seasonal song from Nat King Cole – Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of summer.
The song was the title track from Nat’s 1963 album which included summer themed songs. The song was written by Hans Carste, but it was originally written “Du spielst ‘ne tolle Rolle”, with German lyrics by Hans Bradtke. It was first recorded under the German title a year earlier in 1962. When Nat recorded the song in 1963, it was recorded with English lyrics written by Charles Tobias and was a Top 10 record for Nat. It reached #6 on the Hot 100 Chart.
It was the opening track on the album. To me, it is the perfect song to open the album and it starts with no musical intro – it’s Nat deliberately prolonging the opening line: “Roll – out – those …. (uptempo music kicks in) lazy-hazy-crazy days of summer!”
From the moment the music kicks in, you can’t help but feel happy. It’s a bouncy nostalgic sound that just makes you feel good. Besides, it features a banjo AND mentions hot dogs and beer! Lawrence Welk, Tex Williams, and Lou Rawls all covered the song, but Nat’s version is the superior version.
Have a great summer!! Sing along and enjoy!
Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer Those days of soda and pretzels and beer Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer Dust off the sun and moon and sing a song of cheer
Just fill your basket full of sandwiches and weenies Then lock the house up, now you’re set And on the beach you’ll see the girls in their bikinis As cute as ever but they never get ’em wet
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer Those days of soda and pretzels and beer Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer You’ll wish that summer could always be here
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer Those days of soda and pretzels and beer Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer Dust off the sun and moon and sing a song of cheer
Don’t have to tell a girl and fella about a drive-in Are some romantic movie scene Right from the moment that those lovers start arrivin’ You’ll see more kissin’ in the car than on the screen
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer Those days of soda and pretzels and beer Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer You’ll wish that summer could always be here
You’ll wish that summer could always be here You’ll wish that summer could always be here
Today is National Book Lover’s Day! Incidentally, it is totally a coincidence that I have a couple books to share with you. With all that’s going on this way, I haven’t really planned that much ahead. I recently finished two books that I really enjoyed and wanted to share with the other book lovers who follow my blog and often recommend books to me.
Nine Lives – Peter Swanson
Nine Lives is the second book I have read by Peter Swanson. The First was Eight Perfect Murders. I wrote about that one here:
I really enjoyed this book. Much like Eight Perfect Murders, the basic idea is what interested me. Here is the Goodreads synopsis:
Nine strangers receive a list with their names on it in the mail. Nothing else, just a list of names on a single sheet of paper. None of the nine people know or have ever met the others on the list. They dismiss it as junk mail, a fluke – until very, very bad things begin happening to people on the list. First, a well-liked old man is drowned on a beach in the small town of Kennewick, Maine. Then, a father is shot in the back while running through his quiet neighborhood in suburban Massachusetts. A frightening pattern is emerging, but what do these nine people have in common? Their professions range from oncology nurse to aspiring actor.
FBI agent Jessica Winslow, who is on the list herself, is determined to find out. Could there be some dark secret that binds them all together? Or is this the work of a murderous madman? As the mysterious sender stalks these nine strangers, they find themselves constantly looking over their shoulders, wondering who will be crossed off next….
The book itself was actually very good. I want to say so much about the story, but every thing I want to mention would be a spoiler, so I will just leave you with the above synopsis and hope that it peaked your interest as much as it did mine.
No Rest For The Dead – Various Authors
This book is one I got for one reason and one reason only – the amount of authors involved. Take a look at the cover. There are some really big authors involved in this book. Each wrote a chapter or two for the story.
Before I even opened it, I wondered just how this would flow. Then I began to wonder if they all got together in a room to decide the story line and who would write what. I mean, really, it is hard to write one entire book, but at least if you are in total control of it – you know where you are going with it. Did they write the ending first? Did each author read the pervious one’s chapter and write from there? I still don’t know.
What I can tell you was that it flowed pretty well. I never got the sense that a different author was writing this chapter or anything like that. As a bonus, the story was actually one that came together nicely.
Here is the Goodreads synopsis:
When Christopher Thomas, a curator at San Francisco’s Museum of Fine Arts, is murdered and his decaying body is found in an iron maiden in Berlin, his wife Rosemary Thomas is the prime suspect. Long suffering under Christopher’s unfaithful ways, Rosemary is tried, convicted and executed.
Ten years later, Jon Nunn, the detective who cracked the case, becomes convinced that the wrong person was put to death. Along with financier Tony Olsen, he plans to gather everyone who was there the night Christopher died and finally uncover the truth about what happened that fateful evening.
Could it have been the ne’er do well brother Peter Hausen, interested in his sister’s trust fund having got through his own; the curatorial assistant Justine Olengard, used and betrayed by Christopher; the artist Belle who turned down his advances only to see her career suffer a setback; or someone else all together? No Rest for the Dead is a thrilling, page-turning accomplishment that only the very best thriller writers could achieve.
I would like to take a moment and thank each of you who commented, reached out via email, or texted me regarding my last blog. Your love and support means a lot to me and my family. Knowing that so many folks are thinking about us truly warms my heart. I will be sure to at least post an update when I can.
The Joke Was On Me – But The Water Wasn’t
Sam was asleep because she had worked the night before. I laid the kids down for a nap and jumped in the shower to get ready for work. I grabbed my cup and razor, filled the cup with hot water and put shaving cream on my head. I began shaving when the water pressure got suddenly low.
I started to question whether I had put clothes in the washer. Nope. Did I start the dishwasher? Nope. As I pondered these things, the water stopped completely.
I stood there waiting for a minute and no water ever came. At this point I growled a few choice words and shaved the remainder of my head (Thank goodness I had water in the cup to rinse my razor!). I got out of the shower mumbling and cursing. I knew that I could pack a bag and shower in one of the patient rooms at work, so I gathered up everything and tossed it in an overnight bag. I walked into the bedroom and told Sam we had no water and I didn’t know why.
Of course, I had a very good suspicion. I threw on shorts and a t-shirt and took all my stuff to the car. The construction workers were digging down the road and I figured they were responsible. As I began to walk down to them angrily, I saw a truck from the city driving down the road.
The passenger window was down and as they passed me, I shouted to the passenger, “What happened to my water!?” They stopped the truck, got out and said that the morons working on the street had once again hit a water line. They apologized and said they’d get right on it.
For the record, they have hit the gas lines three times and this is the fourth time they have hit a water line. We are once again under a “Boil water” advisory. I can only hope that this will be the last time we have issues, but the truth is, they are not even halfway done.
Now that I think about it, I should have went outside in a towel with shaving cream on my head to cuss those idiots out … but I like my neighbors, so I didn’t.
Andrew’s surgery was schedule to happen in late September. Sam woke up this afternoon saying that the ENT office had called and wanted us to call back as soon as we got the message. They had mentioned a while back that they may want to move the surgery up a little.
They hadn’t called back by the time I left for work today. Sam called me as I pulled in to tell me that they indeed had moved it up … a lot. She posted this earlier today:
Got a phone call today from Andrew’s surgeon that he went over recent testing Based on that, plus the increase in choking and aspiration, it was no longer safe to wait for surgery. So Thursday this sweet boy will go in for yet another surgery. This surgery is a big one, with a whole bunch of scary things. But we are going in with faith that this will be the surgery to fix his little throat completely!
We have no idea how long he will need to stay in the hospital. They informed us of the many possibilities that he/we could be facing. Very scary possibilities, indeed. However, we will be praying that all goes well and that he heals up quickly. This weekend will be very stressful.
If you wouldn’t mind sending some positive vibes, good wishes, or prayers our way, I’d appreciate it.
I was asked recently by Nancy at The Rhythm Section blog to write a musical piece for their “Be Our Guest feature. I picked a song that I may have written about on this blog mainly because I love it and it holds a special personal meaning. You can read the post here:
Obviously, this put my writing and my thoughts in front of some new readers. You always wonder just what they may think about your post. There were many positive comments, and one in particular left me feeling quite humble.
“Keith, you obviously have the ability ( natural, I believe) to weave informative elements with storytelling; following the thread of your words becomes an action similar to the ritual of listening to a vinyl record.
It should not come as a surprise from someone who uses Nostalgic at his blog-o-sphere name … (Si, Nancy…Italian, also).
A most excellent opening for Be Our Guest.“
Thank you for your kind words, Nick. They are much appreciated. Thank you, Nancy! I’m already working on my next tune for you.
It’s always neat to connect with bloggers who share your interests. Maybe they share yours. Be sure to check out both Nancy’s and Nick’s blogs and give them a follow if you wish.
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 