Turntable Talk #47 – Baby Come Back!

This piece was originally published on the A Sound Day website as a part of the feature: Turntable Talk.

My thanks to Dave from A Sound Day for inviting me to take part in his monthly feature, Turntable Talk. This is the 47th round of the feature and once again he has given us a great topic. This time around he is calling it “Baby Come Back!”

Dave’s instructions this month: “I’d just like you to pick an artist you enjoy that had a great comeback; whether it’s one you have come across historically or one that you loved in real time, thought had disappeared but happily – boing! – they were back and great again.”

When Dave reached out to us, I had just written about the passing of Neil Sedaka. He certainly falls into this category. I didn’t want to feel repetitive, so I opted not to write about him again. Instead, I chose someone who I have written about a few times and definitely saw his career take off – stall – and then have a resurgence. Today, I shift the spotlight to “The Big O,” Roy Orbison.

Roy Orbison is a rock and roll legend. I refuse to debate this. It is a fact. The Beatles and Elvis Presley (both legends in their own right) have stated on record that Roy was a major influence on their music. Roy’s music was different – it had its own style and a certain darkness to it. My first exposure to Roy Orbison was when I was about 4 or 5 years old.

I distinctively remember my dad having an album of Roy’s Greatest Hits. My favorite song as a kid was Dream Baby. I didn’t know that was the name of it at the time. I do know, however, that when I asked him to play it, I would ask for it by singing the opening bass line: “Daddy, play ‘boom boom boom, bum bum boom.’” I remember the first song on the album was Candy Man, which started with a harmonica. Coincidentally, that is the instrument Roy asked his parents for as a kid.

When asked he wanted for his sixth birthday, Roy told his parents he wanted a harmonica. Luckily for the music industry, his father bought him a guitar instead. While some stories differ, most biographies claim that Roy learned how to play from his father Orbie Lee Orbison. Some sources say that he learned from his Uncle Charlie, Orbie’s brother. Either way, he was taught how to play by family.

After graduating from high school in 1954, Roy enrolled at North Texas State College. His original plan was to study geology so he could secure work in the oil fields if music didn’t pan out. In his first year, he became bored with the course and switched to history and English.

While in college, Roy played music with fellow students Billy Pat Ellis, Dick Penner, and Wade Moore. They called themselves the Wink Westerners. Penner and Moore had written a simple, catchy rockabilly song, called “Ooby Dooby.” The song impressed Orbison, and he started looking into how he could make a recording of it. He heard that his schoolmate Pat Boon had been signed to a record deal, and it further strengthened his resolve to become a professional musician.

While playing a New Year’s Eve dance in 1954, Roy and the Wink Westerners had mostly played country and western swing music throughout the night. A decision was made to end the night by playing Bill Haley & The Comets’ song, “Shake, Rattle and Roll.” This would be the thing that caused the band to switch to rock and roll music.

The band began playing “Ooby Dooby” in their shows and because of their success, they got their own radio show on station KMID. In 1955, the band got their own TV show and artists came to play and sing on it. Among them, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash.

Roy pulled Johnny aside and asked for advice. He wanted to know how to get a record released on the radio. Johnny suggested that he call Sam Phillips over at Sun Records in Memphis. Johnny gave Roy the number and sure enough Roy called. I am sure he was not expecting what happened. Sam Phillips answered the phone and after a brief conversation, Sam hung up on him, but not before telling Roy, “Johnny Cash doesn’t run my record company!”

In an ironic twist of fate, Roy eventually found a place to record and recorded “Ooby Dooby” with his band, now called the Teen Kings. The song was released in 1956 and Roy took it to a well known record dealer named Cecil “Poppa” Hollifield. He heard the song and immediately called a “connection” he had in Memphis and played him the record over the phone. His connection asked for a copy of the record, and three days later he called Poppa up to tell him he wanted the Teen Kings in Memphis in three days to record in his studio. That connection was none other than Sam Phillips of Sun Records!

His record deal put him out on tour with the likes of Johnny Cash, Faron Young, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Horton among others. In 1958, Roy was asked to tour with the Everly Brothers. During the tour, the Everly Brothers told Roy they needed a new single and asked if he had any songs. He picked up his guitar and sang the song Claudette. They liked it, and asked him to write down the words and chords. The song was the B-side of All I Have To Do Is Dream. Roy had some of his other songs recorded by artists like Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, and even Ricky Nelson.

In 1959, Roy was signed to an independent label called Monument. It was on this label that so many of Roy’s big hits were released, starting with Uptown. That was followed by Only The Lonely (which reached #2), Blue Angel, and I’m Hurtin’. What followed was Roy’s first #1 song, Running Scared.

Roy had hoped to change up the “pop” sound and try something different. They recorded the song twice and he was disappointed with the two takes, so they cut it again. Instead of using a falsetto voice, Roy sang the high natural A and nailed it. The accompanying musicians were awestruck and had never heard anything like it. Producer Fred Foster said “Nobody had ever hear anything like it before!”

What followed was four solid years of top 40 hits. Those hits included Crying, Candy Man, Dream Baby, Working for the Man, In Dreams, Pretty Paper, Leah, Blue Bayou, Mean Woman Blues, and Its Over. His success got him a spot opening up for some concerts in England. He was the opening act for a few guys who were known as The Beatles (they had yet to become a big thing in the US). The tour sold out in minutes, and on the first night of the show, they say that Roy played 14 encores before the Beatles ever got on stage!

In 1964, Roy recorded what is probably his biggest hit, Oh Pretty Woman. It would be his last big hit while at Monument records. How it came about is a story in itself. Touring hurt his personal life, and his wife Claudette began having an affair. One day while writing with songwriter Bill Dees, Claudette entered the room and said that she was going to Nashville. Roy asked her if she had any money, and Dee’s replied, “A pretty woman never needs any money.” With that phrase, and about 40 minutes, they wrote Oh, Pretty Woman, which went to number 1 in almost every country in the world.

The success of Oh, Pretty Woman was followed by a string of tragedies. In 1966, Claudette was killed when a pickup truck pulled out in front of her and she hit the door. She died instantly. Two years later, Roy was on a tour in England and he received a call that his home had burned down. As if that wasn’t enough bad news, he was also told that his two oldest sons were killed in the fire. He tried to cope by keeping himself busy with work. He starred in the film The Fastest Guitar Alive, which ended up being his only lead role. After that, Roy seemed to slip away from the spotlight.

Despite all that was going on in his life, Roy continued to make music in the 1970’s. It was during this time that his career really slowed. It was around this time that he started to wear his hair straight, instead of combing it back. He would wear it like this for the rest of his life. He did see some success when his single “Penny Arcade” was number one in Australia for many weeks and “Too Soon to Know” reached number three in England.

He continued to tour, but played to mostly empty auditoriums. This was the case with the concert at Cincinnati Gardens that he played on his 40th birthday in April 1976. This was a new low for Roy. In his book, Roy Orbison: Invention Of An Alternative Rock Masculinity, Peter Lehman stated that Orbison’s absence was a part of the mystery of his persona: “Since it was never clear where he had come from, no one seemed to pay much mind to where he had gone; he was just gone.”

In 1977, Roy was not feeling well, so he decided to spend the winter in Hawaii. Once there, he checked in to a hospital where testing discovered that he had severely obstructed coronary arteries and was lucky to be still alive. He underwent open-heart surgery on January 18, 1978. His medical history stated that he had suffered from duodenal ulcers since 1960 and had been a heavy smoker since he was young. The surgery was a success and Roy said that he felt great. His weight would continue to fluctuate, however, for the rest of his life. He also continued to smoke cigarettes, despite the advice of his doctor.

A decade later, in 1987, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Bruce Springsteen was there to do the induction honors. Bruce concluded his speech with a reference to his own album Born to Run: “I wanted a record with words like Bob Dylan that sounded like Phil Spector—but, most of all, I wanted to sing like Roy Orbison. Now, everyone knows that no one sings like Roy Orbison.” Roy was so touched by the speech, he asked Springsteen for a copy of it. He would go on to say of his induction that he felt “validated” by the honor. After the awards, Orbison signed with Virgin Records and began preparing to record an album of new songs.

Following his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, Roy recorded a concert that would go air on television as a special. He had always wanted to do one and this special included some powerful special guests: Elvis Costello, k.d.Lang, Tom Waits, Bonny Raitt, Jennifer Warrens, Jackson Brown, and, of course, Bruce Springsteen. The special was called Roy Orbison and Friends – A Black and White Night Live. It was aired on cable and released on video and became one of Roy’s greatest concerts.

Roy had begun working with Jeff Lynne of ELO, who would produce his next album. Lynne had just completed production work on George Harrison’s Cloud Nine album. The three of them ate lunch together one day when Orbison accepted an invitation to sing on Harrison’s new single. They subsequently contacted Bob Dylan, who, in turn, allowed them to use a recording studio in his home. Along the way, Harrison made a quick visit to Tom Petty’s House to get his guitar; Petty and his band had backed Dylan on his last tour. By that evening, the group had written “Handle With Care.” The song and all that went into it led to the idea of recording an entire album together. They called themselves the Traveling Wilburys.

When Jeff Lynne described the recording sessions, he said, “Everybody just sat there going, ‘Wow, it’s Roy Orbison!’ … Even though he’s become your pal and you’re hanging out and having a laugh and going to dinner, as soon as he gets behind that [mic] and he’s doing his business, suddenly it’s shudder time.”

For the Wilburys album, Roy was given a solo track. The song was “Not Alone Anymore.” In reviews of the album, Roy’s contributions were highly praised by critics and fans alike. Because of this, he decided to pursue his second chance at stardom. He expressed amazement at his success: “It’s very nice to be wanted again, but I still can’t quite believe it.” He lost some weight to fit his new image and the constant demand of touring, as well as the newer demands of making videos.

In November of 1988, Roy put the finishing touches on the Mystery Girl album. It was co-produced by Jeff Lynne. It was set for release in 1989. This would be the “Return of Orbison!” There was to be a world tour to support the project. No one could have known that Roy would not be around to enjoy his comeback.

On December 6, 1988, Roy went to his mother’s house and chatted with his son Wesley. He went to the bathroom but did not return for 30 minutes. He was found collapsed on the bathroom floor and rushed to the hospital by ambulance. Roy never regained consciousness and passed away at age 52 of a heart attack.

I was still a senior in high school and I was going to WKSG to rip news and type up stories for the news director. I would stay till 6am and then head to school. I remember going to the Associated Press wire and seeing the “URGENT” breaking news that Roy had died. We were an oldies station and this was big news. I can still remember when we broke the news. It is one of those moments I will never forget.

You Got It (from the Mystery Girl album) was released after Roy’s death and reached the top 10. One of the coolest tributes to Roy was when the Traveling Wilburys released the song End of the Line. In the video, the group is on a train singing. When Roy’s vocal comes on, the camera is on a rocking chair in which Roy’s guitar is sitting. Next to it, is a framed photo of Roy. That scene will always give me chills.

One can only wonder what might have happened if Roy hadn’t passed away. Would the world tour have led to further chart success? Numerous new albums and singles? Perhaps another #1 record? The world will never know. However, Roy never really was forgotten.

On April 8, 1989, Orbison became the first deceased musician since Elvis Presley to have two albums in the US top five at the same time, with Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 at number four and his own Mystery Girl at number five.
In the early 1990s, Rodney Crowell and Roy’s friend and occasional songwriting partner Will Jennings wrote the lyrics to a recording of a melody that Orbison had made before his death. They titled the resulting song, which was recorded by Crowell and released in 1992, “What Kind of Love.”
In 2014, a demo recording of Orbison’s “The Way Is Love” was released as part of the 25th-anniversary deluxe edition of Mystery Girl. The song was originally recorded on a stereo cassette player around 1986. Roy’s sons contributed instrumentation on the track along with Orbison’s vocals.
On December 4, 2015, the studio album One of the Lonely Ones, recorded by Orbison in 1969, was posthumously released. The album, which Orbison recorded surreptitiously in the aftermath of his first wife Claudette’s death in a motorcycle accident and the death of their two sons in a house fire 2 years later, was long believed lost.

One of my favorite posthumous Orbison recording were released in 2017 and 2018. In 2017, the album A Love So Beautiful was released. It features archival vocal recordings of Orbison accompanied by new orchestral arrangements by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. I believe that these “new” recordings only add to the beauty of these hit songs. The addition of strings to In Dreams, Crying, It’s Over, Running Scared and Love Hurts only deepens the meaning and emotions of the songs. The addition of a horn section to Dream Baby and Mean Woman Blues only makes them sound more vibrant and full. A second album, Unchained Melodies, with the Royal Philharmonic was released in 2018.

To me, Roy Orbison will always be a legend. His music was one of a kind. Colin Escott wrote an introduction to Orbison’s biography published in a CD box set: “Orbison was the master of compression. Working the singles era, he could relate a short story, or establish a mood in under three minutes. If you think that’s easy—try it. His greatest recordings were quite simply perfect; not a word or note surplus to intention.” His style was like no one else. In the 60’s he said, “I’m not a super personality—on stage or off....People come to hear my music, my songs. That’s what I have to give them.” His vocals were indescribably beautiful, haunting, and amazing. Elvis Presley stated Orbison’s voice was the “greatest and most distinctive he had ever heard.” I would have to agree.

Thanks again to Dave for hosting another great round of Turntable Talk. I cannot wait to hear what we’re writing about next month. Thanks for reading!

Turntable Talk #46 – Love Is In The Air

Here we go with another month and another Turntable Talk topic from Dave at A Sound Day. For the 46th round, Dave has picked quite a broad topic – love. Dave has called this “Love is in the Air”. He asks, “Has there been any topic that inspired more songs than “love”? I doubt it. So this time out, I just hope you can pick your favorite song with “love” in the title and write a bit about it. It can be romantic, sexy, or of course the opposite.”

When I worked in radio, we’d get requests for songs that led to interesting phone calls. “Can you please play that song by that one singer? You know, the one about love?”

I asked Google a single question, which led to some interesting facts. I asked “approximately how many songs have the word ‘love’ in the title?” The response:

While an exact total for every song ever recorded is impossible to track, it has been estimated that over 100 million “love” songs have been recorded throughout history. The word “love” and its variations appear in more No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits than any other, with 117 such songs reaching the top spot between the 1960s and 2022.

Did you know that Elvis Presley had 66 songs with “love” in the title? Did you know that the Beatles used the word “love 613 times across their catalogue, with 76 instances in “All You Need Is Love” alone? Google also states that studies indicate that 57% to 67% of songs generally contain themes of love. So how in the world do you pick just one with so many great ones to chose from?

I mean, with Elvis “Can’t Help Falling in Love” is a good one. If I choose the Beatles, perhaps “Can’t Buy Me Love.” I then thought about my Rat Pack standards like “Everybody Loves Somebody” from Dean Martin and “What Is This Thing Called Love?” from Frank Sinatra. How about “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” from Queen or “Baby Love” by the Supremes? There are countless possibilities to choose from!

I decided to pop in a flash drive with music on my way to work in hopes that one would stand out. I was barely out of my driveway when the drive finished indexing and the first song played. It is a song that we played often when I worked at Honey Radio and it is one that may be new to you. I’ll triple Dave’s instructions and play a song with “love” in the title three times – Love, Love, Love from the Clovers.

The Clovers were formed in 1946 at Armstrong High School in Washington DC. Originally a trio, the group would add members to broaden their sound. The group recorded one song in 1950 for Rainbow Records in New York. They caught the ear of Atlantic Records and were signed to that label in 1951.

Their biggest hit would be Love Potion # 9 in 1959, but it took a few years to get there. In 1952 they had hits on the R&B charts with One Mint Julep and Ting A Ling. 1954 brought Your Cash Ain’t Nothin’ But Trash and Lovey Dovey. In 1956, they started to break out with Devil Or Angel (covered in 1960 by Bobby Vee) and Love, Love Love.

Love, Love Love was recorded in March of 1956 and was a top ten R&B hit by June. The song, however, would not crack the Top 40 chart, bubbling under it in August of that year.

The song always tested well with our oldies audience and I always loved hearing it. It has a fun bouncy sound to it with the vocals mixing with piano and baritone saxophone. It’s hard not to feel good when you hear it. The Beatles said “All You Need is Love,” and the lyrics of the song tell just how love can change the way you feel.

There ain’t nothin’ in this world for a boy and a girl but love, love, love
Love, love, love: love. love, love
There ain’t nothin’ in this world for a boy and a girl but love, love, love
And that’s the only thing I’m thinkin’ of

Love can make you happy when you’re feelin’ blue
If the one you love is in love with you

Love can pick you up (love can pick you up)
When you feel low-down (when you feel low- down)
Love can make you smile when you’re wearin’ a frown

I want it, I need it, fill my cup with lo-ove, lo-ove, lo-ove
Lo-ove, lo-ove, lo-ove: lo-ove, lo-ove, lo-ove
Let me drink till my head goes ’round and ’round with lo-ove, lo-ove, lo-ove
So come and be my, be my turtle dove

And because you know since my favorite singer cut the song on his 1965 Houston album, I have to include Dean Martin’s version. He sounds like he is having a blast singing it.

There are so many songs about love that I think I may feature a love song every week on my blog, who knows. Thanks to Dave for the invitation to participate again in this feature. It is a perfect topic for Valentine’s month. I’m sure that like past topics, there will be a nice variety of love songs from the other writers.

AJ McLean said: “Music is love, love is music, music is life, and I love my life.” I like that. As we listen to words of love set to music this month, I suggest we take it one step further. I encourage you to share the love with those you come in contact with this month – and every day.

Turntable Talk #45 -“That’s New”

This is the 45th Turntable Talk that I have been lucky enough to participate in. Thanks again to Dave from A Sound Day for offering up a new and interesting topic each month. I am happy to see new contributors and always look forward to reading everyone’s post.

Since this month kicked off a new year, Dave’s topic is “That’s New.” His instructions to us were to “dig back into your memories and recall one artist you heard that was unknown to you but made you instantly react with a ‘Wow! That’s good!’ . It might be someone you discovered as a kid, could be someone you just found out about this month, could be a first release or could be some old, established artist you didn’t know about… just something that was new and exciting to you.”

Ask any Texan who Lyle Lovett is and they’ll know all about him. However, for a 19 year old kid from Michigan, I didn’t know him from Adam. He began his career as a singer-songwriter and became very popular as an acoustic artist in Texas. After sitting in with a house band (David Sloan and the Rogues), he began to appreciate how songs could sound with more musicians playing.

Sloan liked what he heard and offered Lyle some time to record in his studio. He recorded almost 20 songs, some of which wound up on a demo tape that led to his first record deal. He released his first album (Lyle Lovett) in 1986 on MCA Records. He second (Pontiac) was released in 1987. It was his third album, however, which caught my ear.

Lyle is primarily associated with country music, but there is much more to him than that. His music will often incorporate R&B, Swing, Jazz, Gospel, Folk, and Blues music. His third album (Lyle Lovett and His Large Band) actually has a bit of a big band sound on some tracks. It is that sound that led me to buy the album.

It was 1989. I had been at the local record store looking through the albums. I recall their being a turntable (and later a CD player) near the cashier where they played new music. They’d put the album on a wooden podium under a “Now Playing” sign. They had just put on Lyle’s album and the opening track, “The Blues Walk” started. I immediately stopped and listened. It was a saxophone heavy groove that led into a swinging jazzy instrumental. It reminded me of music that might play as an announcer presented the main artist of the evening at a concert.

I found out later on that the song was actually a hit for trumpeter Clifford Brown and Max Roach. I love the sound of a group of saxophones playing in unison then breaking into harmony. I really loved this tune. But I thought, “Should I spend money on the album for just one song?” The next song started and I remembered that they were playing the whole thing.

The next song, if you want to call it that, features Lyle speaking ridiculous thoughts, much like “Deep Thoughts” from SNL. Each spoken part is followed by a bluesy/gospel chorus. It was bizarre and cool at the same time.

After hearing that, I didn’t know what to think. It was just so … out there. But immediately after that, “Cryin’ Shame” was the next cut and I was hooked. It was a swingy/bluesy/gospel cut that sealed the deal.

I grabbed a copy of the album and took it home. It would go on to win the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance that year. I had to laugh at the review from the New Yorker:

“Lovett reveals his weird splendor in a schizophrenic jumble of smoky jazz and twangy country that revives whole swaths of neglected popular American music.”

That album was my introduction to Lyle Lovett. He was so cool he would be mentioned in Mary Chapin Carpenter’s “I Feel Lucky,” and would go on to act in some big movies, including Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. He would pop up on TV as well in shows like Mad About You, Dharma and Greg, and recently on Blue Bloods.

Since 1989, I have grown to appreciate Lyle as an actor and musician. For me, his music kept me guessing. I wondered what was next and found myself surprised at what I heard. He has recorded a dozen albums and is out touring right now.

In 2006, Esquire magazine said of Lovett: “The secret of Lyle Lovett’s endurance comes down to the three C’s: class, charisma, and consistency… In the studio and on stage with his giant orchestra, he’s spent two decades gracefully matching genuine songcraft with A-list musicianship” I think that sums him up nicely.

I want to thank Dave for once again hosting this feature and inviting me to take part. I can’t wait to hear what we’ll be writing about next month.

Thanks for listening and thanks for reading.

Turntable Talk #44 – That’s What Christmas Means to Me

It is time once again for Turntable Talk, our monthly feature hosted by Dave at A Sound Day. This is round #44 and with it being December, his topic is “That’s What Christmas Means to Me”. Our instructions this month: This time, just think about Yule time and pick a song – Christmas-themed or not – that sums up your feelings for the day and season. Happy, loving, hopeful, stressful, over-commercialized, religious reflection… you pick it and give it a mini-soundtrack!

I had a hand full of songs that I thought about choosing. Ultimately, I always felt that there was something in the lyric that really didn’t fit the theme. At one point, I almost went through and picked a set of lyrics from one song and more lyrics from another thinking I could piecemeal something together. So I went back through my hard drive of Christmas songs….

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. If you go back over the many blogs I have written for my page, I think you will find the majority of them are Christmas related. There is something magical about Christmas especially if you are a child. That’s why I almost picked 364 Days To Go from Brad Paisley who sang:

Don’t you get the sense tonight
That for now the world is right
And as another Christmas ends
My mind drifts and once again
I’m thinking like a six year old
Only 364 days to go

Another song I almost chose is one that I wrote about a couple of years ago. At that time, Frank Sinatra’s Christmas Memories really hit home for me. As he ends the song with the line, “Funny, but comes December, And I remember every Christmas I’ve known.” It hits home. As the Nostalgic Italian, I find myself looking back at pictures of Christmases gone by and can remember bits and pieces about each one.

Instead, I chose another Sinatra song to explain part of what Christmas means to me. Before I go into the details, let me be clear that Christmas remains a very special day for me. I enjoy watching the kids ripping open their presents and shouting with excitement. I love our tradition of having homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast. There is an energy and feeling like no other on Christmas morning.

But all too often, I will find myself drifting off in memories of what Christmas used to be like for me. Those old feelings that I attempt to capture, but cannot because the “cast” has changed or disappeared. That is where Frank Sinatra’s “Whatever Happened to Christmas?” comes in.

Whatever Happened to Christmas can be found on the 1968 album, “The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas.” The song was actually released as a single and became a Top 10 record, peaking at number 7 on the Hot 100 Chart.

I must say that the song is deep and reflective. It is far from the “jolliness” of Jingle Bells or Let It Snow. But there is a sort of lesson there. I’ll post the song in a paragraph or so, but for now, look at the lyrics:

Whatever happened to Christmas? It’s gone and left no traces,
Whatever happened to the faces or the glow,
Whatever happened to Christmas, to Christmas way of living?
Whatever happened to the giving, the magic in the snow?

Remember the sight and the smell and the sound,
And remember hearing the call,
Remember how love was all around, whatever happened to it all?
Whatever happened to Christmas, bells in the streets were ringing,

Whatever happened to the singing, the songs we used to know.
Whatever happened to this Christmas, and when did it disappeared from view,
Where was I, and whatever happened to you?
Whatever happened to Christmas and you?

The song is about loss. It is also about change as we get older. “The Christmas way of living” from our youth is very different from it today. The snow was magical then, but a pain to shovel now. Just walking around town or in a store, there was the happiness and love that was felt by every one. When did the bells stop ringing? When did the singing stop? Where is the Christmas that was “just like the ones I used to know” (to quote Bing Crosby)?

This song connects to a reflective time long after Christmas morning is over and I get a moment to myself. There is a sense of sadness as I think back to my childhood and the innocence of it. I think about the possibilities and creativity that new toys brought my way. I think about the people who were key players in those special Christmas memories who are no longer here. And yet, while there is sadness, there is the lesson.

The lesson can be summed up in a quote attributed to Dr. Seuss: “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”

So let me try to take this “downer” and bring it up a bit. When it comes to Christmas, there was (in the past) and is (in the present) a wonder to it all. That wonder, that magic, and that feeling is something that was worth celebrating then, and is worth celebrating now. When you celebrate, remember the past, but don’t let it control the present.

Thanks again to Dave for asking me to participate. I hope that this contribution doesn’t stop him from asking me to take part in next month’s topic.

To those of you who celebrate Christmas, I wish you and yours a very Merry and Blessed Christmas. For those who do not celebrate, I wish you a very happy holiday season. I thank you for reading and hope to see you next year!

Turntable Talk #43 – Spooky Tunes

It’s time once again for Turntable Talk. This is the 43rd round and since it will begin around Halloween, Dave from A Sound Day asked us to “pick a song that you like that is either about a scary story or person, or just sounds kind of spooky or scary to you.” What do you choose?

There are many songs that come to mind. Because my piece will be toward the end of the contributions, I am avoiding the obvious ones: Monster Mash, Werewolves of London, Purple People Eater, Witch Doctor, Thriller, Ghostbusters, etc… I am sure by the time this publishes, at least one or two of these will have been chosen.

I have chosen to go with an odd tune that you may not be familiar with. It was actually a movie song from the 1936 film, Pennies From Heaven. The film starred Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong. He was hired for the film at the insistence of Bing Crosby, Bing was a lifelong student, friend, collaborator and admirer of Armstrong. When the film came out, Armstrong got his own credit during the main titles, making him the first African-American to get featured billing alongside white actors.

According to the Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong, Louis was “playing a bandleader who is hired by Crosby to perform at his nightclub, Armstrong’s “role, as written, makes one cringe,” according to Lawrence Bergreen. Bergreen quotes an exchange between Armstrong and Crosby in the film, comedically playing on the ignorance of Armstrong’s character, who asks for seven percent instead of accepting Bing’s offering of ten percent because his is a seven-piece band, “And none of us knows how to divide ten percent up by seven.

Bergreen writes that this banter dwells “on black inferiority and subservience” but what he doesn’t mention is that Pops (Armstrong) legitimately loved this scene, quoting it in front of friends on one of his later private tapes. One of his last television appearances was made with Crosby on the David Frost Show from February 10, 1971. During the interview portion, Armstrong talks about how much fun they had making the film and though 35 years had gone by. Armstrong quotes the entire “percent” scene, line by line, as it originally appeared in the film. Thus, it’s easy for a white critic to “cringe” while watching Pennies From Heaven but for Pops, funny was funny and he cherished the gags he was asked to deliver.

The lone song that Armstrong has to himself in the film is called “The Skeleton in the Closet.” As you watch this clip, I hope you appreciate the story telling and acting by Armstrong. I love watching him in this. He is completely enjoying himself while performing this. That is why I want you to see the movie scene first. The recording is good, but you certainly lose out by not being able to watch him.

The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong says this about the recorded version: “The “spookiness” of the record gave the arranger the license to use all sorts of unusual harmonies and nonchord tones, things that would sound pretty modern ten years later, but just convey a haunted house spirit when used as they are on this record. ” Give it a listen.

Here are the lyrics:

There’s an old deserted mansion on an old forgotten road
Where the better ghosts and goblins always hang out
One night they threw a party in a manner a la mode
And they cordially invited all the gang out

At a dark, bewitchin’ hour when the fun was loud and hearty
A notorious wall flower became the life of the party
Mmm, the spooks were havin’ their midnight fling
The merry makin’ was in full swing
They shrieked themselves into a cheerful trance
When the skeleton in the closet started to dance

Now a goblin giggled with fiendish glee
A shout rang out from a big banshee
Amazement was in every ghostly glance
When the skeleton in the closet started to dance

All the witches were in stitches while his steps made rhythmic thumps
And they nearly dropped their broomsticks when he tried to do the bumps
You never heard such unearthly laughter, or such hilarious groans
When the skeleton in the closet rattled his bones

A Halloween classic? Probably not. However, it is a fun song that fits right in with Dave’s topic this month. I really hope that you enjoyed it and aren’t upset that I passed on “the usual” hits. The thing I love about Dave’s feature is being exposed to songs that are new to me.

Thanks again to Dave for hosting my favorite monthly feature to write for. I look forward to the next topic.

Thanks for reading!

Halloween Repost

I know that this may step on the toes of Dave over at A Sound Day as his feature Turntable Talk this month will feature write ups about “Spooky Hits.” What follows is a piece I wrote about DJing Halloween Parties and the “must have” songs.

It shouldn’t ruin Dave’s feature much, as all I am doing is listing songs. So be sure to be on the lookout for Dave’s Spooky edition of Turntable Talk starting today.

(This post was originally from October of 2022.)

I have DJ’d countless Halloween parties. This year I had to turn down one of my favorite ones. For the past few years a local daycare throws a big party and kids and their parents dress up in costumes and it is always a blast. Due to my current work schedule, I was just not able to be there this year.

I always had to have a variety of “haunted” hits to play at these parties. In case you are looking for musical ideas for your Halloween party, here is a starter list.

As much as I hate this record, you have to play Bobby “Boris” Pickett

You’ve also gotta play Michael Jackson’s Thriller. (Love Vincent Price’s narration in this!)

A personal favorite is from the Classics IV – Spooky

I always loved Jumpin’ Gene Simmons version of Haunted House

A favorite of the kids – This Is Halloween from The Nightmare Before Christmas

Speaking of nightmares, DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince offer up Nightmare on My Street

A great one from The Eagles – Witchy Woman

Kid Rock sampled this one for All Summer Long – Werewolves of London from Warren Zevon

You gotta play Clap for the Wolfman from the Guess Who

How about the silly song called The Blob by The Five Blobs?

The Hocus Pocus movie brought this one back, but the original is the best version – I Put a Spell On You by Screaming Jay Hawkins

How about some Rockwell? Somebody’s Watching Me

Be careful who you run around with …. Van Halen – Runnin’ With the Devil

Another favorite of mine – Santana – Black Magic Woman

It’s a very rare occurrence to have a full moon on Halloween, but this song works all year round. Bad Moon Rising – CCR

The moon causes the Shadows in the Night – Pat Benatar

Beware of the walking dead …. Zombie by the Cranberries

Another overplayed Halloween Song – The Purple People Eater – Sheb Wooley

I suppose you have to play Ray Parker Jr. – Ghostbusters

Going back to the 50’s for a couple crazy songs …

The Mummy from Bob McFadden and Dor

From Chipmunk creator David Seville – The Witch Doctor

Grab a bite with a vampire – Dinner With Drac from John Zacherle

Three Devilish songs now –

Devil with the Blue Dress – Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels

Sympathy for the Devil – The Rolling Stones

A classic from The Charlie Daniels Band – The Devil Went Down to Georgia

Alice Cooper did this one in Wayne’s World – Feed My Frankenstein

Speaking of Frankenstein – how about the Edgar Winter classic instrumental..

Need some cowbell?? Don’t Fear The Reaper – Blue Oyster Cult

A song I have blogged about in the past – Superstition – Stevie Wonder

Demons – Imagine Dragons

Trick or Treat … I Want Candy – Bow Wow Wow

Another 80’s flashback … Dead Man’s Party – Oingo Boingo

Lots of requests for Enter Sandman – Metallica

All good lists need a cut from Frank Sinatra – Witchcraft

I’ve never really understood how this is a Halloween song, but everyone wants to do the Time Warp from the Rocky Horror Picture Show

From another film (Rain Man) The Delta Rhythm Boys -sing about Dem Bones

Now, some kid favorites which had me searching YouTube a lot ….

Spooky Scary Skeletons

I sang this in music class when I was in elementary school and kids are still singing it today – Witches Brew

Then you can fill in with various Theme songs from films and TV …

Scooby Doo

Tales From The Crypt

The Twilight Zone

The Munsters

The Addams Family

The X-Files

Whew!!

Watch for my Turntable Talk pick in the days ahead on Dave’s sight (and eventually here). It is a song that I don’t mention in this blog!

Turntable Talk #39 – Bands? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Bands!

Dave at A Sound Day just wrapped up his monthly feature Turntable Talk. It was an interesting topic this time around and there were a lot of surprises as to who everyone chose to write about. This was my entry to the feature, which originally posted on Dave’s site on Monday:

It is time once again for Dave’s feature Turntable Talk. Dave features this every month on his site A Sound Day. This is the 39th edition, and he continues to come up with fantastic topics. This month is a fun one: Bands? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Bands! Dave’s instructions were simple: This time around, we’re looking for artists who left popular bands to go solo and did well (either commercially or else in your own critical assessment.)

I am sure that I did exactly what the other participants did when the topic was presented – I Googled. I was actually surprised at just how many artists moved from a group to become a solo artist. Off the top of my head I can list Diana Ross, Sting, Lionel Richie, Eric Clapton, Gwen Stefani, Ricky Martin, Peter Gabriel, Rob Thomas, Steve Perry, Lou Gramm, and Justin Timberlake. There are SO many.

In all honesty, I had my choice almost immediately. However, as I began to write about him, there was another artist connected with him that became more interesting to me. It was an artist who had solo success for a short time, and then a sad ending.

If I mention The Drifters I am sure you can name a few of their big hits. Under The Boardwalk, This Magic Moment, and Up On The Roof are just some of them. The Drifters were formed by my choice artist in 1953. His name was Clyde McPhatter. Let’s go back a couple years to see how it all came together.

Like many artists, Clyde McPhatter began singing in the church choir at his father’s church. In 1950, he was working at a grocery store. He entered the Amateur Night contest at Harlem’s Apollo Theater – and won! Afterward, he went back to working in the store.

One Sunday, Billy Ward of Billy Ward and the Dominoes heard Clyde singing in the choir of Holiness Baptist Church of New York City. He was immediately recruited to join the group. Clyde was there for the recording of their hit “Sixty Minute Man,” which was a number one song on the R&B chart for 14 weeks in 1951.

My original pick for this round was Jackie Wilson. Jackie was hired by Billy Ward in 1953 to join The Dominoes. That same year, Clyde left the group. He coached Wilson while they were out touring together. Wilson would leave in 1957. Apparently, Ward was not pleasant to work with. Wilson said, “Billy Ward was not an easy man to work for. He played piano and organ, could arrange, and he was a fine director and coach. He knew what he wanted, and you had to give it to him. And he was a strict disciplinarian. You better believe it! You paid a fine if you stepped out of line.”

Atlantic Records saw a Dominoes show and noticed that Clyde was not with the group, so they searched for him, found him and wanted to sign him to a record deal. Clyde agreed to sign on one condition – they allow him to form his own group. That group was the Drifters. While known as Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters, they released songs like Money Honey.

Elvis Presley covered Money Honey in 1956. In researching for this piece I was surprised to find that McPhatter and the Drifters did the original of another Elvis hit – Such a Night.

In late 1954, McPhatter was inducted into the U.S. Army. He assigned to Special Services in the continental United States. This allowed him to continue recording. After his tour of duty, he left the Drifters and launched a solo career. The Drifters continued as a successful group, but with many changes in personnel, and the group assembled by McPhatter was long gone by the time their greatest successes were released after he left the group.

It would take two years, but Clyde would finally get his first solo #1 R&B hit when he released “Treasure of Love” in 1956. It would top out at #16 on the US Pop Chart. I love his vocal on this one.

His biggest solo hit would come in 1958 when he recorded and released a song written by Brook Benton. A Lover’s Question would reach #6 on the Pop Chart. If I had to pick my favorite Clyde song, it would be this one. There is so much to love about this song. That acapella bass line being sung throughout the song is very catchy.

McPhatter would leave Atlantic Records and bounce from label to label recording many songs, but not having much success. His last top ten record would come in 1962 with a song written by Billy Swan. Lover Please was first recorded by the Rhythm Steppers in 1960. It was the title track from Clyde’s 1962 album of the same name. It would reach #7 on the Pop Chart.

Clyde did manage to have a top 30 hit in 1964 with “Crying Won’t Help You Now,” but when it fell of the chart, he turned to alcohol for comfort. He would record every so often, but nothing ever really did well on the charts. He always had a decent following in the UK, so in 1968 he moved to England.

He wouldn’t return to the US until 1970. Outside of performing on a few Rock and Roll Revival shows, he lived a very private and reclusive life. In 1972, Decca Records signed him and they were planning a a big comeback. That never materialized as Clyde passed away on June 13, 1972 of complications from liver, heart and kidney disease. This was brought on by his alcohol abuse years earlier. He was only 39 years old.

His legacy consists of over 22 years of recording history. Clyde was the first artist to be inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, first as a solo artist and later as a member of the Drifters.

In 1993, Clyde was honored with his own stamp by the US Postal Service.

His career had ups and downs, and his hit songs were an important part of Rock and Roll history. Vocalists like Marv Johnson, Smokey Robinson and Ben E. King are all said to have patterned their vocal styles on Clyde’s. Others have cited him as a major influence as well. In the book “The Drifters” by Bill Millar, he says:

“McPhatter took hold of the Ink Spots’ simple major chord harmonies, drenched them in call-and-response patterns, and sang as if he were back in church. In doing so, he created a revolutionary musical style from which—thankfully—popular music will never recover.”

Thanks again to Dave for hosting another great round of Turntable Talk. I cannot wait to see who the other writers have picked and look forward to Round #40 next month.

Thanks for reading and thanks for listening!

Turntable Talk #37 – Turn It On Again

This was first posted on the A Sound Day blog hosted by Dave Ruch:

Once again, Dave from A Sound Day has invited me to participate in his month Turntable Talk feature. I truly appreciate the fact that he always comes up with great topics. Some of those topics are a bit more difficult to write (like last month), and some are quite easy. This month’s topic falls into the latter category.

Dave is calling this month’s round –Turn it on Again! His instructions are very easy: “tell us about your favorite music video, or the one which impresses you most, and why you love it.” As a child who grew up with MTV, I had many that came to mind.

At this writing, I don’t know what the other contributors have chosen to write about. Has someone picked Michael Jackson’s Thriller? What about Take on Me from A-Ha or Buddy Holly by Weezer? I also wonder about Fatboy Slim’s Weapon of Choice, Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer and Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit. Each and every one of them stands out and have appeared on many “Best Music Video” lists.

I’m not sure that my pick would be considered my “favorite.” I also wouldn’t say it “impresses” me most, but I do enjoy watching the craziness of it. I suppose readers may be surprised at my choice, as I don’t really write about many “rock” songs. I suppose that this song wouldn’t fit into that category, but the singer qualifies as a rocker (at least most people think so).

“The band as you know it is over!” That is what Eddie Van Halen told Rolling Stone in mid-August 1985. This confirmed the rumors of division in the band with David Lee Roth. Eddie also made sure to add that “Dave left to be a movie star.” With that, Dave went on to explore a solo career. In late 1984, Dave released a cover of the Beach Boy’s California Girls. He followed that with another cover song (medley actually) from the great Louis Prima.

In 1956, Prima took the song Just a Gigolo and paired it up with I Ain’t Got Nobody. He used the song in his 1950’s Las Vegas act with Sam Butera and Keely Smith. The success of that act gained Prima a recording deal with Capitol Record, which hoped to capture on record the atmosphere of his shows. The first album, titled The Wildest! was released in November 1956, and opened with “Just a Gigolo”/”I Ain’t Got Nobody.” It became Prima’s signature number and helped relaunch his career.

Roth’s version is really almost a note for not copy of Prima’s record. By itself, it’s just an ok cover song. However, with an entertaining video that features celebrity look-alikes, beautiful women, and Dave being … Dave, it becomes something much much more.

The video for the song begins with Dave asleep at a news desk as his video for “California Girls” plays behind him on the monitor. The crew calls his name and he wakes up. After his talk, the freaky crew members begin to speak to him. They are right in the camera, so the viewer sees this from Dave’s perspective in this sequence. It’s actually kind of disturbing. The intro to the video is almost two minutes long before the song actually begins.

When it does, Dave is off dancing through the studio. We see him showing up at a talk show, walking through the backstage area among Vegas showgirls, astronauts, pimps, pirates, monsters, cheerleaders, hula dancers, and the police. All of this happens before you really get to the “meat and potatoes” of the video.

It is there that Dave begins parodying videos from Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Billy Idol, Richard Simmons’s “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” videos (Davercize!), Willie Nelson, and Boy George. As he appears in each of the videos, he winds up wrecking them. It is almost like watching a cartoon. It’s utter chaos, but a fun chaos (unless you count the priest who has a heart attack because of Dave’s dancing.)

The video is like a snapshot of the 80’s. It’s funny to imagine Dave crashing into a Willie Nelson or Cyndi Lauper video. As the “Nostalgic Italian,” I appreciate the nostalgia that the video presents. It is more powerful now than it was in 1985.

Eventually, MTV edited the 2 minute intro out, and just played the song portion of the video in rotation. I think that is how I first saw the video. When I searched for it to post in this blog, I found the full video. I honestly had forgotten all about the intro, but seeing it again was a hoot. Watching Dave do his “over the top” announcer made me think of so many of those DJ’s on the radio who literally puke every thing they say.

Back in one of our first rounds of Turntable Talk, we discussed music videos and whether they hurt radio. To me, I love the fact that a music video can convey the story of a sad song or add a whole lot of fun to another. With this video, Dave pokes fun at other videos, which only makes his more enjoyable to see.

I could be wrong, but it is possible that Weird Al Yankovic looked back to this video as inspiration for his UFH video. In Al’s Video, (in between clips from the movie) he pokes fun at Guns and Roses, Prince, George Michael, Peter Gabriel, ZZ Top, Billy Idol, The Beatles, INXS and the Talking Heads!

Thanks again, Dave for asking me to take part in this feature. I know that I really look forward to your topics and enjoy writing my response to them. I am already looking forward to next month.

Thanks for reading!

Share Your Nostalgia – Round 3

A while back, I asked some blogger friends if they’d want to write a piece for my Share Your Nostalgia feature. In the past we have looked at Favorite Childhood Toy and Favorite Childhood Book. Today, we go back to Saturday mornings. This was when we sat in front of the TV with our favorite cereal and watched hours of cartoons. So I asked my guests to write about their favorite cartoon or cartoon character growing up.

Today’s guest blogger is no stranger to readers of this blog. He is my friend, Dave, from A Sound Day. He has been hosting his monthly music feature Turntable Talk for 3 years. I have been lucky enough to write for every topic. He is also the one who encouraged me to host a feature of my own, which is this one. I have used his presentation as a blueprint for my feature. I appreciate Dave’s support on this. I probably would have never started it, had he not encouraged me. For that, I thank you!

I’m excited to see what Dave’s thoughts are, so I’ll turn it over to him….

Thanks to Keith for inviting me back to this round of his super “Share your Nostalgia”. I love the idea and the picks for toys and books were pretty simple for me. But this round is a bit different. Keith mentioned that I challenged him a little in the last round of my Music round-table, Turntable Talk, with a tricky topic. Well, I think he’s going tit-for-tat here; I had to think some about this one – a favorite childhood cartoon.

I loved cartoons as a kid, but it’s odd. I loved music then too, and I seem to have an almost photographic (or is it audio tape?) memory of the music I heard back then. It seems like I could close to pull a top 30 chart from the early-’70s out of my head and it would be fairly close to accurate; I can hear a few bars of a song from that era and usually I’ll identify it if it was on radio back then, even if I’d not thought about it for a couple of decades. Not so the cartoons though! My memories of the ones I watched are now a bit fuzzy.

Reading Christian’s column earlier this week, it occurs to me I could have gone for Peanuts and A Charlie Brown Christmas. I loved that show then, love it now and I likely have seen it each and every December since I was a kid, so I remember it pretty clearly! But even though it was animated, it somehow seems more like a “special” than a cartoon for me.

I do remember, as many others here will probably comment on too, that it was a different world back then. The Flintstones and Jetsons (both of which I liked) were something of a different breed, half hour cartoons with a full story line, and they played Monday-Friday when I was young. They were like a sitcom made via animation and the forefunner of The Simpsons, which for years as an adult in the ’90s was a weekly “must see”.

I remember seeing the Flintstones a lot during my school lunch breaks … the public school was just five doors up from our house so coming home was easy and I often had my sandwich while enjoying Fred and Barney’s antics. But otherwise, cartoons were pretty much just a Saturday morning thing. No Cartoon Network or round-the-clock programming with cartoons then, so they were a special treat. Many a Saturday I’d be up before my parents and crept into the living room (no TVs in our bedrooms back then either) and turn on the big old console TV quietly and laugh my head off at the cartoons.

Now, it’s tough to really pick a particular favorite but what I recall well is that there were essentially two diffferent cartoon streams. There was Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbera. The first two were technically separate but by the 1940s had pretty much merged and were interchangeable. They were the dominant ones that played week after week, hour after hour it seemed. There were shows like Looney Tunes and the Bugs Bunny & Roadrunner Show. They were, I guess, the “stars” of the cartoon world – Bugs Bunny, Roadrunner and Coyote, Tweety bird and Sylvester the Cat, Porky Pig and of course, everyone’s favorite sexually abusive skunk, Pepe le Pew. There were endless numbers of the short cartoons featuring those characters and while I enjoyed them somewhat, they didn’t really grab me all that much.

Bugs Bunny actually bugged me somewhat – he was too smug, too arrogant. Looking back, I think it was indicative of my upbringing. Both parents rather stressed “don’t brag. Don’t show off” to me, and while even though my Dad wasn’t British (my Mom was) they both rather exuded that British “stiff upper lip” persona. As such, that smug, show offy rabbit got under my skin … though not as much as it did Elmer Fudd’s. Same goes for Tweety, as much as I love birds. And the Coyote, he I sort of felt sorry for. But even now recall wondering “why does he keep buying stuff from Acme when it always backfires on him?”

I much preferred the Hanna-Barbera ones, though I didn’t see them nearly as much. They likely weren’t as popular overall. I guess Yogi Bear was the most famous of their Saturday morning characters, there were shows which incorporated Yogi into the title. I found Yogi, Booboo and their never-ending quest for a pic-a-nic basket kind of funny. But the real stars to me were some of the minor or secondary characters who’d have their own little bits now and again. Specifically, Auggie Doggie and Huckleberry Hound.

Huckleberry Hound was a laid-back blue dog with a southern accent apparently designed to sound like Andy Griffith. He’d try various jobs, like dog catcher or even ancient knight, usually not too well and was often outsmarted by local crows. All the while, his love was playing on his old banjo, singing “My darling Clementine” rather off-key. It was the first animated show to win an Emmy by the way, going back to 1960 when it won Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Programming. When I found this old clip of him on Youtube, it made me smile and think back again.

Auggie Doggie was a little dachshund pup who adored his father, Doggie Daddy. Auggie just wanted to make Dear Old Dad proud and Doggie Daddy doted on his son (in his Jimmy Durante-like voice) and together they took on a number of adventures… usually with unexpected consequences. For instance, in a review of the first season of its clips, storylines included Auggie creating a flying saucer and taking off into space and “Good Mouse Keeping” where the pair “try to get rid of an annoying mouse from their home” with the mouse always getting the upper hand.

I liked those three dogs a lot, and perhaps even more because they weren’t as omni-present as the Merrie Melodies crew. Looking back, there was a sort of innocence and naivete about them perhaps lacking in the competitors which were a little mean at the core. Its a child-like quality that seems entirely welcome in shows for small children and something that, my very limited experience suggests has long disappeared from 21st Century cartoons. Those are usually better drawn or computer-animated and more action packed but lacking in storyline or morals. It’s nice to think back to a simpler time and simpler childhoods and watching a few of these old cartoons helps me do that, so thanks Keith for the topic. I hope you all have similar recollections or trips back to happy times of your past with the others’ picks too.

Turntable Talk #36 – One More For The Road

I want to thank Dave from A Sound Day once again for the invitation to participate in Turntable Talk. He continues to come up with great monthly topics for this feature. This round brings us to the three year mark for this feature. It continues to be one of the features that I love to write for.

This time around, Dave found inspiration for our topic from the reunion tour that Oasis announced recently. Our instructions were to “pick an inactive act, solo or group, that you’d like to see back. Tell us who, why and what…one last tour? New album? Both?” There were some limitations – you could not resurrect someone who passed away for example. I wanted a bit more clarification and asked it health issues would rule out a choice. In other words, if an artist is not active because of some health problem, are they available? He said that would be ok.

That was important to my choice, as they currently are unable to sing. However, I would love for her to be able to do one more thing. I am talking about Linda Ronstadt.

It was 2011 when Linda announced her retirement. Two year’s later, she announced that she had Parkinson’s and could “no longer sing a note.” According to the Washington Post, her diagnosis was subsequently re-evaluated as progressive supranuclear palsy. The illness brought about the end of her singing career.

Linda was one of those artists who could do almost any genre. She made her mark in rock, country, Latin, pop, adult contemporary, and even opera! Her music is not limited to a specific genre and she has had great success with all of them.

She has won eleven Grammy Awards, three American Music Awards, two Academy of Country Music Awards, an ALMA Award and an Emmy Award. In 2014, Linda was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That same year, she she was awarded the National Medal of Arts and Humanities. She also won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.

So to answer Dave’s question, I would love to hear another new album from her. At 78, I doubt a tour would be feasible. If I am allowed to ignore her voice issues and allow her the ability to sing again, I think an album that is a combination of all of her different styles would be an amazing send off.

The album could contain cover songs or originals. There have been some amazing songs that I could easily hear her singing. She could record some sweet ballads or songs with a little country flavor. I would love to hear a couple more from the Great American Songbook or a nice jazz piece. And if her voice is up to it, a few pop/rock songs.

If you have a problem with me healing her voice, I still think an album would be possible. She’s recorded over 30 albums. There has got to be some songs that she recorded that didn’t make the cut for them. I can only imagine the songs that are locked away in a vault somewhere just itching to be heard. The album could be like the one they did of Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “vault” music after he passed away.

When I listen to Linda’s recordings, I find myself getting lost in that voice. It could be angelic, sultry, fun, seductive, gentle, hypnotic and mellow. That voice remains one that forever captivates me. It saddens me that her voice has been silenced and I would love to hear just one more album from her.

Thanks again, Dave, for asking me to participate. I look forward to reading the other writer’s contributions. Until next month, I will quote Linda from her Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind Album – “Adios.”