Turntable Talk #33 – One More For Under The Tree

Once again, it is time for Turntable Talk, our monthly musical topic hosted by Dave from A Sound Day. Most readers are familiar with this feature. Dave gives some of us musical bloggers a topic and we write about it. This month, he asked for our help in creating a holiday playlist.

Per his instructions: “Because of the time of the year, we’ll keep it simple – One More For Under The Tree. Just pick a favorite Christmas / holiday season song of yours and tell us a wee bit about it and maybe why you love it. If it’s a ‘standard’, old or new, pick the favorite version of yours and we’ll make a nice little Christmas playlist of sorts.”

A couple years ago, we did something similar. As someone who loves Christmas music, it is difficult for me to chose just one. I will try to keep it to no more than two. Maybe three. Surely, not four….

The song I want to feature is one that has never really been classified as a “Christmas” song. It is not one that you will hear often (if at all) on the radio in December. You will find it on a few 1970’s Holiday compilation albums, though. It was first released as a B-side of a single and released again as a posthumous single.

It Doesn’t Have To Be That Way

Jim Croce’s It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way was on his 1973 Life and Times Album. It was the B-side of One Less Set of Footsteps. He died in a plane crash in September of that year. It was in December that his label rereleased the song as the final single from the album. The song paints some wonderful images of winter and Christmas for the listener. Perhaps this is what the label was hoping to take advantage of when it was released again.

I was introduced to this song by a gal I was dating in the late 1980’s. I had never heard the song before and she had told me it was one of her favorites. From the opening guitar work and Jim’s vocal, I was hooked. The song is melodically beautiful. As beautiful as it is, however, it is a sad song.

Anyone who has ever gone through a break-up around the holidays will tell you how difficult it is. The festive decorations, the warmth and happiness of the season, and the overall feeling of love can really cause depression. No one wants to be alone at Christmas time.

The singer reveals himself to be a man who has recently ended a relationship. As the holiday season approaches, the Christmas atmosphere in his town is evident nearly everywhere. The lyrics attest to that. As he experiences his surroundings, he begins to wish that he and his lover could reunite. He professes that it was a mistake to end their relationship and that it can easily be rekindled.

The song ends in mystery. In a bold move, the man says he will be stopping by his old lover’s place to “get it together.” “It’s only right” for them to start the relationship again according to the song. We never do find out what happens. Perhaps the “happy” chimes at the end of the song elude to a happy ending.

The songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote over 70 hit songs together. They wrote songs in the 1950’s for The Coasters, Wilbert Harrision, Big Mama, Thorton, and Elvis Presley. One of those Elvis songs was the one that opened his first Christmas album…

Santa Claus is Back In Town

Elvis’ Christmas Album was released in 1957. It contained twelve songs – six on each side. Side A contained the more contemporary cuts like Blue Christmas, White Christmas and Santa Claus is Back in Town. Side B contained the more religious and sacred songs like Silent Night and O Little Town of Bethlehem.

For years, I was only familiar with his versions of Blue Christmas and Here Comes Santa Claus. You know, the ones that played on the radio. In 1994, I picked up the compilation “If Every Day Was Like Christmas.” It included early Christmas songs as well as his later songs. I first heard Santa Claus is Back in Town on this album.

The song is a basic twelve-bar blues song with three verses. I have always wished that Elvis would have recorded an album of all blues songs. The genre (and the mixing of blues and rock) is one that allows him to shine. This song is a prime example of this. It is a raunchy, raw, and dirty blues song that is misleading from the beginning.

The song begins a group singing the word “Christmas” three times. You get the feeling that you are about to hear this beautiful holiday song. Suddenly the drum kicks, Elvis growls his first lyric and the blues begin!

Elvis howls his was through the verses as “Santa Claus,” who has no sleigh, but a black Cadillac instead. He also tells his pretty baby to expect him to come down her chimney later that night. The chorus begs her to be a good little girl because Santa is back in town. Naturally, the lyrics and the song itself are meant to have that “double entendre” and “innuendo” to it.

Many people have covered this song, including Dwight Yoakam, Foghat, Billy Idol, and Joe Perry. Even Kurt Russell performed it in the Netflix special, “The Christmas Chronicles.” These versions never seem to live up to the energy and the grittiness that the Elvis version has. None of them have ever given me goosebumps when I hear it either. The Elvis version does. His version is the best!

The question I pose now is a simple one. Is it possible to make this song sound even better? Personally, I think so. When the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra accompanied Elvis on a Christmas album in 2017, it brought it to an entire new level! It is still gritty. It is still bluesy. It is still raunchy. But now, you’ve got this fantastic horn line that takes it up a notch. Mix the orchestra parts with the original arrangement and you have a much fuller and fresh sound. Now, there is a raunchy “sparkle” to it.

Dave, thank you for again asking me to be a part of this feature. To my fellow music bloggers and you, I wish you and your family a Happy Holiday season. May you and yours have a blessed and Merry Christmas! Here’s to an amazing 2025!!

Turntable Talk #31 – Hit The Road Jack

It is time for another edition of Turntable Talk, hosted by Dave from A Sound Day. There seems to be no shortage of music topics for him to present. This month the topic is a bit different. Here are his instructions:

It’s time to Hit the Road, Jack … you’re invited to take part in a sort of magical road trip… but with a few restrictions. You can go to any music location you’d like to see, and if it is long gone, we can assume it was still there for you to see (or that you could go back in time to see it). Studio, concert venue, house, record store, you name it! Wanna see Graceland (or see it again if you’ve been) – boom! You’re there.

As I began to think on my musical place, I became depressed. This is because there are so many places that I have never been to. Yes, I have been to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Yes I have been to Graceland. Sadly, despite the 90 minute drive from where I live, I have never visited the Motown Museum!

Next I began to think about concert venues. I looked up “Greatest Concert Venues” and it is quite a list. Surprisingly, Pine Knob Music Theater (in Clarkston, MI) is one I have been to numerous times! It’s a great place to see a show. I couldn’t believe that it was counted as one of the “greatest” among some of the others.

In the cartoons, it meant you had made it if you played The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. It was always a big deal if an artist is playing Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall or Madison Square Garden in New York. As many times as I have been to Nashville, I have never seen a show at the Ryman Auditorium. Outside of the US, it is big to play the Syndey Opera House in Australia or Royal Albert Hall in London.

There are so many great places on the list, but one stood out. It is a venue that I truly hope to see a show at some day. Many artists have recorded albums or videos there. They include, the Grateful Dead, Joe Bonamassa, U2, Barenaked Ladies, Stevie Nicks, The Dave Matthews Band, and even John Tesh! That place is the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison Colorado.

I am in awe of this truly amazing place. The venue is approximately ten miles southwest of Denver. The venue is best recognized by its two massive monoliths. They are named “Ship Rock” and “Creation Rock”. There is also the smaller “Stage Rock”. All of them together flank its 9,525 capacity seating area and naturally form the amphitheater.

Imagine seeing your favorite band on stage, while enjoying the breathtaking scenery! It is on my bucket list!

The experience that a concert viewer would have is incomprehensible to me. Go back to the first photo and scroll down. Think about the various changes in light, the beauty of the setting sun, the lights up on the rocks, and finally night fall. Wow!

I would think that this has to be an extraordinary experience for the artists, too. While their view is a bit different than the audience, it still is pretty amazing.

I believe that I am the last contribution before Dave wraps up this topic. I can’t help but wonder what the other bloggers have chosen. Did they chose a venue? A recording studio? A musical museum? By the time you read this, you will already know – and so will I. Right now, however, I am excited to find out what they chose.

Thanks again to Dave for asking me to participate in this feature. I would also like to thank him for his understanding. I chose to run my Share Your Nostalgia Feature right around the same time as Turntable Talk. He did some shuffling and made it work for all of the writers involved. Should I do another topic, I will check with Dave and make sure the schedules are good for everyone.

Thanks for reading!

Share Your Nostalgia

This week I’ve been featuring guest bloggers in the series, “Share Your Nostalgia.” The idea was one that was proposed to me be some of my blogger friends. Many of them contributed to this series. The topic for this feature is “The Toy of Your Life.” Was there one toy that you considered the “best?” When you think of yourself as a child, what is the toy that immediately pops into your mind? What was the toy that you brought to Show and Tell or took with you everywhere?

The idea of having guest bloggers is not a new one. As a matter of fact, my next writer has been doing something similar for a couple years now. I am talking about my good friend Dave Ruch. Dave’s name should sound familiar if you visit my page often. Dave is the host of Turntable Talk, a monthly music feature that appears on his blog, A Sound Day. You can find his site here: https://soundday.wordpress.com/

Dave is another one of those great people I met through music and music bloggers. Dave’s blog features musical writings on many genres of music, music history, and artist info. Dave has also authored a couple books. The Mockingbird Speaks was published in 2014 and deals with two things of importance to him. First, appreciating wildlife (and in particular birds) and second, looking at things in a positive light. Another book is Thank Goodness! 101 Things to Be Grateful For Today. It is a collection of personal accounts of good things that often go unnoticed that can bring happiness.

Admittedly, this feature is a blatant rip off of Dave’s Turntable Talk. The only difference is that his topic is musical and mine is nostalgic. Although, now that I think about it, those two things can easily be the same thing. I need to apologize to Dave here. When I decided when this would run, I didn’t think about my feature and his bumping into each other. My bad. It won’t happen again, I promise.

I can’t help but wonder what Dave’s favorite toy was. I know he’s a big baseball fan. Is is sport related? Let’s find out, shall we?

Don’t Walk Barefoot

Thanks Keith, for inviting me to take part in this forum and relive a few fine childhood memories in the process! “The Toy Of Your Life” is a great topic and it seems most of us have at least one that pops into our head and calls up moments of fond reminiscing.

Growing up in the ’70s, I see I had some things in common with people who’ve already contributed. I think most of us grew up in decent homes, but weren’t Richie Rich clones nor spoiled. I had a good number of toys to play with when young, but my closet wasn’t busting at the seams and I sure was taught young that I couldn’t get anything I wanted just by throwing a tantrum. Typically, outside of a few small dollar-store style toys, if I wanted something major, I’d ask for it and if lucky, it might appear on my birthday or under the Christmas tree. That helped teach me patience, and to save up my little allowance to buy things I really wanted months away from those times. For me, that was largely records, but at times it might be a special toy.

Paul’s Soccer (Football) game was new to me, but reminded me of a table hockey game I had for years – about a yard-long hockey “rink” with little players who slid around when you moved the metal pulls they attached to and would “shoot” the little puck, or try to block it. Like Paul’s game, it came with players in two uniforms (Toronto and Montreal I believe) but you could interchange them and there were other sets of players in other team uniforms available. Eventually I think I had 12 teams, which if memory serves, might have been the entire NHL back then. I liked it, and would sometimes play my older brother (who liked to win – a lot) or even my mother, but it wasn’t my favorite by any means nor something I could do by myself to keep me occupied when alone. The same goes for the several board games like “Monopoly” and “Careers” I had… I liked the latter one more, it seemed more creative and interesting and gave your player choices as to what they wanted to do – go to college? Get into environmentalism? Try to become famous? It was up to you.

Christian already wrote about small cars like Hot Wheels and Matchoxes, and I had quite a few of those and really liked them… in fact I wrote about the Hot Wheels once before! You can read that piece here: https://everydavelife.home.blog/2024/07/26/flashback-foto-friday-fun

They were something that I had a lot of fun with and valued for years, but they still wouldn’t necessarily take my “favorite” title. When I thought about it, there was only one real option for me – Lego.

I imagine nowadays everyone is familiar with Lego. It’s a multi-million dollar industry across varoius ends of commerce, including of course movies. You can now buy Lego kits to build realistic-looking flowers and much of their product line is now branded – Star Wars for example. It actually dates back to 1949, when a Danish carpenter came up with the idea of interlocking blocks (with the little “studs” on top that lock into the “tubes” underneath to make them sturdy when connected. He called it “Leg godt”, or “play good” which got shortened to the familiar brand name when patented in 1958. It was inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame (yes, there is such a thing – part of the Museum of Play in Rochester, which sounds a fun place to visit – in 1998. But back when I was a kid, it was a rather different kind of thing, and I dare say, better.

That’s because while you could get some actual “kits” to build specific things (I seem to remember having this little firehouse kit, or at least the vehicles shown):

Mostly, it was just sold in big boxes of mixed blocks. There were white ones, red ones, probably some black ones too. Some were rounded so you could build a turret or cylindrical building if you wanted. Plus there were little doors, windows, blue ceiling shingles… all still connected with the blocks, plus a few less 3-d interlocking features like little trees, or wheel sets. Instead of following an Ikea furniture-like instruction sheet to build the kit to specification, we just used our imaginations and build what we felt like. To me that is a much more creative and ultimately satisfying toy, as much as I did like building a few scale models of real trucks in later years and have them look like the picture on the box.

I had a very large box of mixed blocks and house accessories like windows, and a case that had extra ones from smaller kits I’d been given. I mostly loved building little houses with it. The blurry picture at the top shows me (on right) at probably three or four years old, with my older brother and some of our Lego creations. You can vaguely make out a little white house with blue roof I’d built, in front of me. And as an added bonus, don’t miss that early-’70s orange wall color! I had hours of fun building the houses, making each one look a little different. Sometimes I’d even draw a sort of floorplan for a house – bedroom here, living room there, door here – on paper and try to build one with Lego. When done, I’d maybe keep it on my desk or a table for awhile, then carefully take it apart and build something new. Every once in awhile, for a change, I’d take the base board that I usually built the individual house on and would stack up blocks into little skyscrapers and create a sort of city skyline, viewed from afar. And the wheels allowed me to change it up and build little cars or vans from my imagination too.

It was a great way to spend a rainy or snowy afternoon, building houses, or little castles or whatever I fancied, having something to show for it and then, best of all, it was reusable. Of course, I guess any really incredible creations could have been preserved, but the basis of the toy snapping together and coming apart meant you could use the same set endlessly…which perhaps was why they turned to more specialized kits later. From a commercial standpoint, a toy you only have to buy the child once and they keep using perhaps limits the market potential a little.

It’s a cliché but it’s also true – it was a simpler time. And, I say, for a kid growing up, a better time. I look back on those Lego creations, and Hot Wheels and model trucks with a lot of affection. I can hardly imagine today’s six year old in 50 years looking back fondly on playing a video game for hours or texting the kid next door all night. Thanks Keith for reminding us of this!

Turntable Talk #30 – The Most Fab of Them All

It’s time again for my contribution to Dave from A Sound Day’s monthly feature Turntable Talk. If you are keeping track, this is round #30! Way back when we started this, he asked us if the Beatles were still relevant. This time we circle back to the Fab Four and Dave wants us to write about our favorite Beatle. He is calling this round The Most Fab of Them All.

I have struggled in the past to narrow down what song or artist I am going to write about, but never like this. It shouldn’t be hard to pick one guy out of four, right? For me it is, believe it or not. Frankly, and I mean no disrespect to Dave, the topic is unfair. To me, a musical group or band is the coming together of people, each contributing something unique. Like a puzzle, when all the pieces come together, you have something amazing. To have to choose one is a daunting task.

Let me start by saying that if you had asked me as a kid, without a pause, I would have chose Ringo. This may be because I was so familiar with the Beatles cartoon and Ringo always made me laugh. I also really enjoyed the almost all of the songs that he sang lead on. He went on to have some solo hits post-Beatles, too.

There are times I might have picked George Harrison, but probably not because of his Beatles stuff. Don’t get me wrong, he wrote the amazing song “Something,” which even Sinatra said was a beautiful love song. I also loved a lot of the early songs he sang on. Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby is one of my favorites. George really gained my respect as a musician and songwriter post-Beatles.

John was a quick wit and always made me laugh when I saw him in those early interviews. You cannot deny the songwriting power that he had both solo and with Paul McCartney. He really wrote some deep songs. To me, it is interesting to look back and see how he put much of his hurt, suffering and confusion into a song.

John was also a guy who wasn’t afraid to take a stand for something. Many of his solo songs are still as relevant today as they were when they were released. If only the people would listen to the lyrics of Imagine, maybe we’d see a change? Every Christmas I hear War is Over, yet every day when I go to MSN, there is some new story about Putin and World War III. Obviously, Give Peace a Chance is not something any of the world powers wants to do.

Then, there is Paul. I don’t have to really say much about his songwriting abilities. As a matter of fact, if you look at the output of the Lennon-McCartney machine, you cannot help but be in awe of the volume of work they put out. As a musician, he really was the greatest talent of the group. Before you get up in arms, let me prove it to you.

We know that he was best known for playing bass guitar for the Beatles. Growing up, his first instrument was the trumpet (given to him by his dad). He also knew how to play the piano, and did so on Beatles songs like Slow Down and Ob La Di Ob La Da. While it is a simple tune, you can hear Paul’s drumming skills on The Ballad of John and Yoko. As a matter of fact, he can play over 40 instruments including mandolin, cello, harmonica, harpsichord, and the ukulele. Watch his video from 2020 for Find My Way and you will see him playing many (FYI – it’s not my favorite McCartney song, but it is a good illustration).

While many songs had both John and Paul listed as writers, many were “all Paul.” Yesterday, Hey Jude, Blackbird, and Here There and Everywhere, just to name a few. Paul said once that the last one was the only one that John had ever complimented him on. John said in an interview that it “was all his” and was “one of my favorite Beatles songs.”

So why am I picking Paul? Honestly, if it wasn’t Paul it would be Ringo for the simple fact that they are still around. Both are still touring and in the public eye. I love watching Paul do interviews. He is fun to watch, tells great stories and isn’t afraid to be a part of something a bit silly.

One of my favorite McCartney moments was when Chris Farley interviewed him on SNL for the Chris Farley Show bit. How Paul kept a straight face through that still amazes me. Farley asks him, “Remember when they said you were dead? That was a hoax, right?” and Paul simply says, “I wasn’t really dead!” That always makes me laugh. How Paul keeps a straight face through the bit is beyond me. I wish there was a better quality clip…

There’s another great SNL bit where he and Martin Short and doing something for a Christmas Pageant. Martin says that he and Paul are a team but he is the only singer because Paul “cannot sing.” Paul plays the triangle in the bit. He misses cues and Martin screams at him through the whole bit. Paul is hilarious. The bit ends with Martin leaving and Paul asking, “Can I sing now?” Walls move and Paul walks onto the stage to sing Wonderful Christmastime, as himself.

Paul was fantastic on the Letterman show reminiscing about being there on the Ed Sullivan show. During the interview Dave says that they have been trying to get him on the show for years. He asks why it took so long to get him there, to which Paul says with a straight face, “I don’t like the show, David.” But THE highlight for me was to watch him do a rooftop performance of Get Back. I want to say that he wound up doing about a 40 minute concert from up there that night.

Another great Paul bit is when he shows up on James Corden’s show and does his Carpool Karaoke. The first song they sing together is Drive My Car and he’s having a blast doing it. The conversation between the two of them as they drive around is moving at times. Paul and James stop at Paul’s boyhood home and shares some great stories. The kicker is that they go to a pub that McCartney used to play at and he and his band surprise the patrons of it with a concert. It is worth a watch on Youtube –

As I write this, I have no idea what Beatle the other contributors have chosen. I am guessing that many of the pieces will be very music related. While I feel mine is also a bit music related, I also feel that what made Paul stand out to me was Paul being Paul. Paul, years away from the Beatles, talking about those days, the music, the memories, and the rest of the band. Paul, looking back at those early days that influenced and brought him to where he is today.

Not too long ago, country singer George Strait said he was done touring. George is 72. Sir Paul is 82 and still out there playing for sold out crowds for hours at a time. He is an artist who is always trying something new, while never forgetting his roots. He has a passion for the music and for his fans. He just seems to be that guy who’d be fun to hang out with.

Thanks to Dave for asking me to be a part of Turntable Talk. Thanks for another great topic. I love writing for it and love to see the responses from the other music lovers. Until next month … Thanks for reading.

Friday Photo Flashback

Tuesday was National Radio Day! This is not to be confused with World Radio Day which is celebrated on February 13th every year. On Facebook, many of my radio friends posted old photos and listed the call letters of all the stations that they worked at. I did the same, but neglected to do an entire blog about it. I think the reason for that is that I have written a lot of blogs about radio, radio mentors, radio friends, and radio listeners. If you are new to this blog, I will share a link or two after today’s photo, which ties into “radio.”

I have never really grasped just how lucky I was to land my first few radio jobs in a major market. I spent a lot of time on the airwaves in Detroit. One of those stops was at WWWW-FM (W4 Country). Many remember that this was the station Howard Stern worked at in the early 80’s. It played rock at the time, but so did a few other stations in the market, so they switched format to Country. They actually wanted to call him “Hopalong Howie!” You know the rest of that story.

When I worked there, I was there in a part time capacity and had a lot of fun.

The above picture was taken while I was out at a station appearance. I believe one of my listener friends took this photo of me. This must have been taken around 1997. I was still wearing glasses, so I had yet to have my Lasik surgery. I am also much skinnier!

I loved the station apparel we got to wear. The station logo on that yellow always seemed to “pop” to me. I wish that I had thought like some of my other radio friends and saved something from every station I worked at (logo items). I think some stuff got lost in a move or went to Goodwill. I may still have station coffee mugs somewhere!

I don’t want to sound egotistical, but this is one of my favorite radio pictures. I don’t recall if this was an a concert (which it probably was) or at some type of remote broadcast, but I like it. I haven’t had a goatee since I got married to Sam. She loves my full beard (and I love that I don’t have to shave every day). The beard here is much darker than it is today. There’s a whole lotta grey in there now!

The baseball cap is one that I bought at the ballpark. It was the only one that I ever owned that was fitted. What a difference between those and the ones with the snappy things on the back. It fit SO good. I loved that hat.

I can’t help but laugh at the size of my eyebrows! I once told a joke on the air that my eyebrows had their own Facebook page! I did create one (Keith Allen’s Eyebrows), but deleted it some time later after it had brought about as many laughs as I could milk out of it.

I also have to laugh at the “Nokia” banner behind me. Why? Because at the time, me and half the world had THAT Nokia phone!

Even though Covid forced me into “radio retirement,” I still look back at those days with many memories. You can read more of those memories below. First a compilation of a few radio blogs here:

A “Best of Radio” Blog

Shortly after that one was published, Dave from A Sound Day asked me a few radio questions that I answered here:

Interview with Dave from A Sound Day

Finally, after many blogs praising one of my favorite bosses and mentors, I was shocked to hear of the passing of one of them. Here was my tribute to Richard D.

A Voice Silenced. A Friend Lost. A Legend Remembered.

I suppose this was a lot for a simple “Photo Flashback,” but radio is and will always be in my blood. It is something that I love to talk about and always brings about so many memories…..

Turntable Talk #25 – A Novel Idea For a Song

It’s time once again for another submission of Dave Ruch’s Turntable Talk hosted by A Sound Day. Every month he presents our musical blogging community with a musical topic and I have been lucky enough to have participated in every one of them.

This month’s topic was difficult for me, because there were just SO many songs I could choose from. Our instructions for A Novel Idea for a Song were to “pick a novelty record you like. Or else one you love to hate if you don’t have any favorites. I’ll let you decide what exactly is a “novelty” record but I look forward to seeing your picks and maybe having a laugh or two. And maybe a cringe or two as well!“

I want to say that the first novelty song I remember hearing as a kid was Ahab, the Arab by Ray Stevens. This led to the discovery of an album that had all kinds of silly songs on it. The tracks included Mr. Custer, I’m a Nut, Hello Muddah Hello Faddah, and more. What kid doesn’t love a silly song? I began to search for more silly songs. During my search I was introduced to Stan Freberg and his amazing satires, Weird Al Yankovic and various other novelty song collections.

In the late 1980’s, the Doctor Demento Show aired on a local radio station and he played many novelty songs that were completely new to me. The songs he played were recorded anywhere from the 1920’s to the present. I had no idea that novelty songs were something that went back that far. The Dr. Demento show was where I heard Monty Python for the first time and where I was introduced to another artist – Tom Lehrer.

I read where Tom celebrated his 96th birthday this week (April 9), and that is what led me to my song for Turntable Talk. All in all he only recorded about 50 or so songs, and I could have picked one that may not be so …. controversial, however, of all his songs, it was THE one that stuck out to me. More on that in a minute, but first, here’s a bit about him.

According to Wiki, Tom is “an American musician, singer-songwriter, satirist and mathematician, who later taught mathematics and musical theater. He recorded pithy and humorous songs that became popular in the 1950s and 1960s. His songs often parodied popular musical forms, though they usually had original melodies.” His early stuff featured songs that were kind of dark like “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park” and “I Hold Your Hand In Mine.” His later material was a little more topical.

So what led Tom to record this dark and humorous songs? The story goes that Tom had been playing some of these songs for friends and was convinced to record them. According to Wiki, “he paid $15 (equivalent to $171 in 2023) for some studio time in 1953 to record Songs by Tom Lehrer. The initial pressing was 400 copies. Radio stations would not air his songs because of his controversial subjects, so he sold the album on campus at Harvard for $3 (equivalent to $34 in 2023) while “several stores near the Harvard campus sold it for $3.50, taking only a minimal markup as a kind of community service. Newsstands on campus sold it for the same price.”

This was followed by “More by Tom Lehrer” and a live concert version of those songs on a album called “An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer.

In 1960, he basically retired from touring in the US, but he was employed as the resident songwriter for the U.S. edition of That Was The Week That Was. TWTWTW was a satirical TV show and he was responsible for a song per show.

For the show (and the album of the same name), he wrote songs about political and topical events. There were songs about education (New Math), race relations (National Brotherhood Week), the ecology (Pollution), and the military (Send the Marines). What are the two things people aren’t supposed to talk about – politics and religion, right? Naturally, Tom had a funny take on a religious news event.

The Second Vatican Council took place in the early to mid-1960’s. A spoken introduction describes The Vatican Rag as a response to the “Vatican II” council—which, among other things, broadened the range of music that could be used in services. Tom humorously proposes this “rag” as a more accessible alternative to traditional liturgical music of the mass.

Before I go on, I want to say that I was born and raised Catholic. I am a Christian who no longer practices Catholicism (my choice). I did not pick this particular song as one to offend, but it may very well do so. Humor, they say, is subjective. That being said, while the song mocks some of the Catholic rituals (confession, the rosary, and more), it is the fact that it is a rag that makes it so ridiculous. You can imagine, howeverm that many people of that faith considered it blasphemous at the time.

Lehrer never submitted the song to the show That Was the Week That Was, as he felt they would edit all the satire out of the song. Instead, he debuted the song at a California nightclub called the Hungry I. At one performance, actor Ricardo Montalban was in the audience and it is said that he approached Lehrer and told him “I love my religion. I would die for my religion.” Lehrer reportedly responded, “Hey, no problem, as long as you don’t fight for your religion.”

At this point there are a couple of Tom Lehrer quotes I want to share with you before you listen to the song:

“You can’t be satirical and not be offensive to somebody.”

“The people who came to hear me perform or to buy my records were not the type who would be offended (by the song The Vatican Rag). But I gather that there were other people who were offended.”

About the song, he says, “Well, I wasn’t really attacking the religious beliefs, I was attacking the formality of the rituals of the Catholic church; however, people took it wrongly.”

With all of that being said, I hope this one song I picked doesn’t stop you from checking out some of his other stuff. For example, The Elements is a fantastic song that literally just lists all the elements. It is a fan favorite. Lehrer fan Daniel Ratcliff (Harry Potter) actually sang it on The Graham Norton talk show from memory (this is what led Weird Al Yankovic to pursue Ratcliff to play him in his recent movie).

Tom Lehrer’s fans consider The Vatican Rag to be one of his best compositions. So without any further ado, pull up a pew and give it a listen.

Lehrer has said, jokingly, of his musical career: “If, after hearing my songs, just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend, or perhaps to strike a loved one, it will all have been worth the while.” In October 2020, Lehrer transferred the music and lyrics for all songs he had ever written into the public domain. In November 2022, he formally relinquished the copyright and performing/recording rights on his songs, making all music and lyrics composed by him free for anyone to use, and established a website (https://tomlehrersongs.com) from which all of his recordings and printable copies of all of his songs could be downloaded. His statement releasing all his works into the public domain concludes with this note: “This website will be shut down at some date in the not too distant future, so if you want to download anything, don’t wait too long.”

Thanks again to Dave from A Sound Day for a great Turntable Talk Topic. Hopefully, after my choice, he will invite me back next month. Maybe I should have just went with The Curly Shuffle, instead?

Turntable Talk #24 – This Woman’s Work

For two solid years Dave Ruch from A Sound Day has been hosting a monthly feature called “Turntable Talk.” Each month he provides a topic to me and other musical bloggers to write about. I have been honored to have participated in every one of them. Each of the participants look forward to not only writing our piece, but anxiously await reading the other contributions.

As I stated in a previous blog, this month is International Women’s Month. Dave offered us an easy topic to write about this month. His instructions state “we’re going to turn our tables and sights to the women of music. Pick one you like and write about her. Whoever you want (that might sound creepier than I intended it), singer, songwriter, band member, the lady on the ‘Breakfast in America’ cover, whoever.”

I wrote a blog that teased this topic earlier in the week. In that post, I said, “I really struggled to pick one (female singer). I even posted on Facebook asking my friends to offer up their three favorite singers. I guess I hoped that they would offer up someone that I hadn’t considered (and they did). The results surprised me. The singers that came up the most were (1) Stevie Nicks, (2) Etta James, and (3 – tie) Pink and Karen Carpenter. Etta was the only one that was in my list of considerations. After looking at the list (and the suggestions) I finally chose who I am writing about and NO ONE mentioned her.“

Along with Etta James, I featured a song from my other considerations: Ella Fitzgerald, Alison Krauss, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Dusty Springfield, Sarah Vaughn, Diana Krall, Norah Jones, Linda Ronstandt, Pat Benatar, Peggy Lee, Jewel, and Keely Smith in that blog. So how did I finally come up with my choice?

My friend, Dawn, from high school actually helped me make my decision. She said, “There are so many talented vocalists, I’d have a hard time picking. if you’re going to write an impactful piece, I think you have to go with somebody you admire because they knocked down boundaries or overcame obstacles. That’s how I’d pick my vocalist.” That really struck me. Now, I am not saying that the ladies I mentioned already did not knock down boundaries or overcome obstacles – heck, Jewel was living in her van before she made it big!

My featured female singer is a talented woman named Diane Schuur.

I was introduced to Diane Schuur back in the late 80’s. I was talking about music with a gal I was dating at the time. We started talking about jazz singers and she asked if I had ever heard of Schuur. I hadn’t. If memory serves me correct, she loaned me a cassette (or maybe a CD) with some songs on it and I really enjoyed it.

One of her biographies online says this: “Diane Schuur is as eclectic as she is brilliant.” In my opinion, this statement could not be more true. While many of her songs would fall into the jazz category, she could easily be filed in the blues or pop categories, too. While preparing to write this, I picked a playlist on YouTube and it was fun to hear the different sounds of each of the songs.

My friend Dawn said to pick someone who “overcame obstacles.” Diane certainly has done that! She was born prematurely in 1953. She has been blind since birth because of Retinopathy of Prematurity. This disorder affected premature newborns who received high-oxygen therapy during neonatal intensive care. This was a standard practice until 1954.

She learned to play piano by ear. She would listen to Dinah Washington songs and began to pound out the melodies at age 3. Dinah was a big influence to Diane as she began singing her songs as a toddler and worked on her own vocal style. She once stated, “As far back as I can remember, singing was in my blood. My parents loved music, and I loved to sing. I was scatting at an early age.” She scats right up there with Ella and Mel Torme’! She also has perfect pitch!

Blindness was not her only obstacle. When she was a young adult, she began drinking and struggled with alcoholism. She also battled an eating disorder. Those obstacles were so much that she actually contemplated and attempted suicide. Thankfully, her brother-in-law stopped her from jumping out a third-story window. She got help and has been sober for several decades.

Diane got her big break when she was 22 years old. She auditioned for drummer/bandleader Ed Shaughnessy (of the Tonight Show Band) after he finished a concert with Doc Severinsen. Ed said, “this young blind girl comes in and sits down at the Fender Rhodes keyboard and starts singing the blues. Well, my hair stood on end!”

He hired her to be the vocalist in his orchestra. This led many other musicians to hear her. Those included Dizzy Gillespie and the great Stan Getz. Stan was so impressed that he became an advisor and coach to her. She stated that it was Stan who taught her that “less is more.” This was important because she had many critics that said she often “oversang” when she first started out. Stan once said, “She’s just like Sarah (Vaughn) or Ella (Fitzgerald) to me. She’s taking from the tradition, and what comes out is her own conception and advancement of the tradition.”

In 1985, she met B.B. King at a music festival in Tokyo. The two really hit it off and later made an album together entitled “Heart to Heart.” It was released in 1994 and it entered the Billboard Jazz Charts at number one!

In 1988, Frank Sinatra asked her to sing with him at a benefit concert when Liza Minnelli was unable to perform. She was a guest at Sinatra’s home and also performed at a concert with him and Quincy Jones. Frank gave her an abstract oil painting that he had created for her afterwards. When Frank passed away, Schuur recorded a tribute album for her late friends (Frank and Stan).

Other inspirations to Schuur include George Shearing, Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles who are all blind as well. She has said that one of her fondest memories was performing with Ray Charles in 1998 for a PBS concert (some of which is available on YouTube).

Her career has brought her two Grammy awards – both for Best Jazz Vocal Performance (1986 & 1987). She is still recording and touring today. She says, “For the future I plan to continue my reading of American song, paying respect to celebrated writers and polishing the gems in the jazz tradition.”

I’ve never had the chance to see her in person, but there are some fantastic live albums available.

All About Jazz says, “Ms. Schuur surely is among the very best jazz vocalists, and she exemplifies, if not redefines the “diva” category with her warm, often humorous and relaxed interactions with the audience and the musicians. Her mere presence is enough to make for a memorable evening.” I hope to be able to see her perform one day.

I will include just a couple of my favorite cuts at the end of this blog, but before I do, I want to again thank Dave for hosting this monthly feature. I hope that you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. I love that with each topic, I am not only enjoying old favorites, but I am introduced to new songs and singers. Perhaps this blog is your introduction to Diane Schuur?

Here is a classic – Come Rain or Come Shine

Another favorite – All Right, OK, You Win!

I just love her take on Moonlight and Shadows

One more – Her swinging version of I Can’t Believe That You’re in Love With Me

Thanks for reading!

Turntable Talk #23 – The Soundtrack of Our Lives

Once again, Dave Ruch from A Sound Day has offered up a gem of a topic for his monthly Turntable Talk feature! This month it is a topic that I have been hoping he’d get around to. Per his instructions:

“This time around, let’s look for THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES ! Pick a great movie soundtrack and talk a bit about it. It can be from a great movie or a dog of one (or anything in between), one made specifically for the film or one assembled from existing tunes as long as it’s one that works for you!“

There are certainly many fantastic soundtracks to choose from. Movies that are known for being a great film and also their great soundtracks include American Graffiti, Smokey and the Bandit, The Wedding Singer, The Sting, and Forrest Gump. Those aren’t even considered “musicals!” When I think about musicals, wow, that list is a long one.

Plenty of movie (and TV) soundtracks can be found in my collection. When I worked in radio, I would often buy soundtracks so I could uses some instrumental tracks as voiceover beds (music that plays underneath your voice as you are doing a bit or talking to a listener). I used a variety of cuts from Napoleon Dynamite, Stripes, The Three Amigos, Dragnet, and movies that were box office bombs! My pick comes from a movie that was far from a bomb. It was one of the biggest films of the 1980’s.

The one soundtrack that has always been a favorite for me (and it doesn’t even contain all the songs featured in the film) is The Blues Brothers. It has some fantastic cuts from Belushi and Aykroyd as well as musical legends like Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and Cab Calloway.

I had this soundtrack on vinyl and I played the heck out of it. Many of the songs were featured on my “driving mix tapes” when I had my first car! While the album contains 11 great tracks, the film included many other classics that I wound up searching for to add to my collection. The music doesn’t follow their chronological appearance in the film for some reason.

She Caught the Katy

The album opens with this Taj Mahal song. The Blues Brothers version has a lot more sound to it. It is so much fuller with the horns and guitars of the band. It is the song that the starring credits roll under. The opening guitar lick leads to the first big horn stab (and we see Belushi) then you have another horn stab (and we see Aykroyd) and the third big horn stab hits as we see the movie’s title card.

Belushi’s vocal on this is perfect. I like his vocal on this cut more than any other song on the album.

Peter Gunn Theme

This is the first of two TV themes on the album. This instrumental plays as the Blues Brothers are driving back to Elwood’s place. There are some really great shots of the city of Chicago in this scene. As you listen to this one, you can hear the talents of Tom “Bones” Malone, “Blue” Lou Marini, and “Mr. Fabulous” Alan Rubin. If I had a dollar for every time I used this as background music to introduce a wedding party I could fly to Italy!

Gimme Some Lovin’

Best known for being a hit for the Spencer Davis Group (and a young Steve Winwood), the soundtrack features the full song. In the film, the band begins to play this song at Bob’s Country Bunker (a country bar) and the owner shuts the lights off on them. If I had to choose between the two, I’d pick the Spencer Davis version over this one, but it is still a great jam.

Shake a Tail Feather

Originally done by the Five Du-Tones of Chicago in 1963, James and Bobby Purify had a bigger hit with it in 1967. This version tops them because of one man – the great Ray Charles. In the film, he owns a music shop and the band is buying new instruments. Ray is asked about a keyboard and Murphy Dunn tells him that the “action” of the keys is not that great. Ray sits down and says, “I don’t see anything wrong with the action on this piano” and launches into this song.

As Ray plays, a crowd gathers outside the store and dances along with the song doing all the dances mentioned in it (the monkey, the jerk, the boogaloo, etc…). This song is fantastic.

Everybody Needs Somebody To Love

The song was written by Solomon Burke and recorded by him in 1964. Wilson Pickett’s 1966 cover is probably the best known version. This song is featured at the Blues Brothers’ big concert toward the end of the film. Over the intro, Elwood (Aykroyd) speaks to the audience and thanks “the members of Illinois law enforcement” who are present and waiting to arrest them. We get to hear a big more of Aykroyd on this track.

The Old Landmark

When you mention the Blues Brothers to someone, they will often quote “We’re on a mission from God.” This song is performed by the Godfather of Soul, James Brown who plays a preacher. Jake and Elwood are attending this church service and it is a pivotal moment in the film (and what sets them off on their “mission from God.”

The Old Landmark is a gospel song written by Dr. William Herbert Brewster Sr. back in 1949. It has been recorded by the Staple Singers, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick and many others. James Brown takes this to a whole new level. It’s hard to imagine anyone performing this. He performed/recorded this one live on set.

Think

The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, performs this one as she is telling off her husband Matt “Guitar” Murphy. The song was a hit for Aretha in 1968. For the film, they bump up the tempo and add some dancers. This track is SO good! ”Blue” Lou Marini grabs his sax midway through the number and really jams through the end.

This was one of the harder songs to do in the film. Aretha had recorded the song and found it difficult to lip synch to her vocals as they filmed. It was a scene that needed many takes to do. This version is far superior to her original version.

Theme From Rawhide

The second TV theme on the album takes place in that country bar. After the lights go out they band has to figure out something that the audience will like. They wind up performing this one. Aykroyd’s vocal is just awesome here not to mention the “call and answer” between him and Belushi. Add in a whip and you have a real country hit on your hands!

This scene always makes me laugh because they perform on a stage surrounded by chicken wire. Why? Because the crowd gets so excited they throw beer bottles at them!

Minnie The Moocher

This was a song that Cab Calloway had been singing for decades! He was the “Hi-De-Ho Man.” I just love this version of the song. The rumor is that Cab wanted to do the disco version of the song that he had recorded in the past. They insisted that it needed to be the jazz/big band sound.

The song itself send you right back to the 1940’s. The full sound of the band, the horn section, and the amazing trumpet solos by Alan Rubin. Without a visual, it is still fantastic. Watching it in the film only enhances the experience.

They band is on stage waiting for Jake and Elwood to arrive. The crowd is getting antsy. The band is dressed in street clothes and look sort of shabby. Cab asks if they know the song and the band says they do. He yells, “Hit it!” and the curtain opens. Out struts Cab in a white tuxedo backed by the band, wearing black tuxes and looking sharp. The stage now has an backdrop of famous 40’s places with neon signs and a sweet looking band stand.

As a trumpet player, I can’t NOT mention the spectacular trumpet playing of Alan Rubin on this one!

Cab was a scat singer and his call and answer with the audience is just priceless. I’m not sure how old he was here, but his vocals are right on! He was a legend!

Sweet Home Chicago

This is the longest track on the soundtrack. The original version was done by Robert Johnson in 1936. This is the second song the band plays at their big concert (and the one where they make their escape, hence the long instrumental ending). As they intro it, they dedicate it to the late, great Magic Sam (who was from Chicago) who recorded it in 1967.

This is such a fun song to listen to and to watch in the film. The looks that they give John Candy’s character and the other folks who have been chasing them always make me smile. The song serves as the background music as we transition from night to day and the ultimate finale of the movie.

Jailhouse Rock

Movie Spoiler: The entire Blues Brothers Band gets arrested at the end of the movie. Naturally, the final song of the movie is Jailhouse Rock, originally done by Elvis Presley. Trivia: In the film, the first “prisoner” to jump up on the tables and dance is Joe Walsh!

On the soundtrack, the song is a bit different than in the film. You have a complete cut on the album, while in the movie each band member has a little solo as their name appears in the credits. In the film version you also get a line or two sung by James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and more. It’s a perfect capstone to wrap the soundtrack.

I have played the songs on this album over and over again on vinyl, cassette, on my iPod, and YouTube. It remains one of my favorite soundtracks of all time! What disappoints me is the many songs that were featured in the film that didn’t make the soundtrack. They are worth finding and checking out!

Of course, I can’t tease those without listing them, so here goes:

Somebody Loan Me a Dime – Fenton Robinson (Plays while Jake is escorted from his prison cell)
Shake Your Moneymaker – Elmore James (Plays while Jake and Elwood visit with Curtis at the orphanage)
Soothe Me/Hold On, I’m Comin’ – Sam and Dave (Plays on the 8 track in the Bluesmobile while Jake and Elwood are driving and get pulled over)
I Can’t Turn You Loose – The Blues Brothers – Originally done by Otis Redding (Plays while they drive through the mall and as they take the stage at the Palace Hotel Ballroom concert)
Let the Good Times Roll – Louis Jordan (Plays on the record player in Elwood’s place)
Anema e core (Until) – Ezio Pinza (The piece is playing the apartment that Tom Malone and Lou Marini used to stay – the “Are you the police?” scene)
Quando, Quando, Quando – Murph and the Magictones (Plays in the Holiday Inn scene)
Just the Way You Are – Muzak version of the Billy Joel song. (Plays in the Holiday Inn scene)
Die Romantiker (The waltz that plays at the Chez Paul restaurant)
Boom Boom – John Lee Hooker (Plays as the Blues Brothers are going to meet Matt “Guitar” Murphy)
Mama Lawdy/Boogie Chillen – John Lee Hooker (Plays when Jake calls Maury Sline and on the way to Bob’s Country Bunker)
Your Cheatin’ Heart – Kitty Wells (Plays as the Blues Brothers enter Bob’s Country Bunker)
Stand By Your Man – The Blues Brothers (Plays at Bob’s Country Bunker)
I’m Walkin’ – Fat’s Domino (Plays as Jake and Elwood and the orphans promote the concert)
Ride of the Valkyries – Richard Wagner (Plays as the Nazis are chasing the Blues Brothers toward the end of the movie)
The Girl from Impanema – Muzak version (Plays, naturally, in an elevator as the Blues Brothers go up the 11th floor with the tax money)

The Blues Brothers may or may not have been the first movie of “mine” that I made my wife watch with me. I’m sure that she made me watch one of her tear jerking chick flicks to get back at me afterward. To me, this movie remains a classic. As far as the sequel – not so much. It did have a decent soundtrack, but that is about it.

I have been wanting to write about this album for a long time and am glad that Dave finally gave me a reason to indulge myself with this blog. I am also excited to see what the rest of the bloggers have chosen for their soundtrack.

I’m already looking forward to next month’s topic! Thanks for reading!

Turntable Talk 22 – Instrumental In Their Success

They say “out with the old and in with the new,” but I’m glad that an old feature continues! I am, of course, talking about Turntable Talk hosted by Dave Ruch from A Sound Day. For 22 months, he has proposed various musical topics for our group of music lovers to write about. Not only do I love writing for it, but I love reading the other submissions.

This month we go “wordless.” Dave says, “…let’s look at INSTRUMENTAL IN THEIR SUCCESS. Share with us all an instrumental tune you like a lot, and a few words about why.”

I write this, knowing that I am one of the last contributors, so I have no idea what has already been featured by other writers. As far as the topic, there was no shortage of songs to choose from. I began a list of instrumentals on a post it note pad. Each song made me think of another. About 20 post it notes later, I knew I had to stop and pick one. The problem was, which one to choose.

I LOVE instrumentals. I have countless CD collections featuring instrumental hits. One of the best was a series from Rhino Records called “Rock Instrumental Classics.” It was a 5 CD series that featured instrumental hits from the 50’s, the 60’s, the 70’s, surf hits, and soul hits.

Time Life Records had a series called “Your Hit Parade,” which featured music from the 1940’s all the way through the early 1960’s. That collection featured many instrumentals, too. There are SO many to pick from. My list included:

Green Onions – Booker T & the MG’s
Bumble Boogie – B. Bumble and the Stingers
One Mint Julep – Ray Charles
Kokomo – Asia Minor
Topsy Part 2 – Cozy Cole
Classical Gas – Mason Williams
Java – Al Hirt
Yakety Sax – Boots Randolph
Popcorn – Hot Butter
Axel F – Harold Faltermeyer
No Matter What Shape Your Stomach’s In – The T-Bones
The Theme From Sanford and Son – Quincy Jones.

That last one led me on a rabbit trail of TV Theme songs. There were plenty that were hits: Peter Gunn, Bonanza, Mission: Impossible, Theme from SWAT, Miami Vice, Route 66, Dragnet, The X-Files, The Rockford Files …. and finally, my pick for this month’s topic.

Hawaii Five-O was a long-running police procedural drama (1968-1980) about detectives Steve McGarrett (played by Jack Lord) and Dan “Danno” Williams (played by James MacArthur) who worked the Hawaiian islands beat. The theme was composed by Morton Stevens, who started out as an arranger/conductor for Sammy Davis Jr. and became director of music for CBS on the West Coast. The theme song won Stevens two Emmy Awards (in 1970 and 1974).

The song was recorded by the Ventures, who were instrumental (pun intended) in popularizing the electric guitar throughout the 1960’s. Their first hit was Walk, Don’t Run in 1960. The quartet charted 14 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and have sold over 100 million records making them the greatest instrumental band of all time.

The Venture’s version of the song was a Top 5 record, peaking at #4 spending 14 weeks on the chart. There were many session musicians who played along with the group including guitar player Tommy Tedesco of the famous Wrecking Crew.

I read somewhere that the Hawaii Five-O theme is the unofficial fight song for the University of Hawaii. This is one of those songs I wish we had played when I was in band. As a matter of fact, being a former band geek is probably why I love this song so much. I can listen to it 4 or 5 times in a row and focus on different things in the song. There are so many cool musical things in it. Allow me to illustrate with words and then listen to see if my wordy description makes sense.

Right from the get-go that drum crescendo into the tympany grabs me. (In one of my many listens to this song, I actually thought about making a list of great “tympany songs!”). Then you have the guitar and trumpets come in with the main theme doing a call and answer type thing with that flute-y instrument for the first verse. Another drum/horn crescendo to take you to the second verse with more guitar and now the flute answer is more of a counter melody.

A minute in and you get another drum/horn crescendo and a repeat of the melody. This time, you have some horns and trumpets on the answer. At 1:15, you get that fantastic staccato trumpet stings that take you to the final 30 seconds of the song. Now we’re at the big build to the grand finale. Here, you begin to hear what our band director used to call “pyramids.” You have one instrument, then another, and another and another building on each other until that final bit. There is a fast short pyramid from 1:27 to 1:30 between the horns and trumpets. Then at 1:35 the big build happens, followed by another bigger pyramid until the final trumpet stabs and guitar tympani ending. The song is an almost 2 minute masterpiece that always makes me feel good.

Ok, I know my description was a bit much. However, this is the perfect illustration of what I tend to do when listening to music. One listen I focus on the guitar and the next listen I check out the drum part. I tend to pick it apart and then appreciate how it all comes together.

It is interesting to know that there are actually a couple vocal versions of the song! I won’t post links here because we are focused on instrumentals. It should be no surprise that Don Ho did a vocal version. HIs version starts fast and turns into a ballad (“You Can Come With Me”). Then, Sammy Davis Jr, who composer Morton Stevens worked for at one time, did a version called “You Can Count on Me.” Both versions are on YouTube.

Thanks again to Dave for asking me to take part in this feature and for hosting it. I look forward to the next musical topic.

Thanks for reading.

Turntable Talk 21 – Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

Once again, Dave Ruch from A Sound Day has offered up an interesting topic for this month’s Turntable Talk. I see it as being a way for each of us writers to offer you a bit of ourselves. I mean, any time I write something, it usually has something that gives the reader a glimpse at who I am. In some blogs I read, there are a lot of facts and not much of the author. I’ve come to “know” many of the participants through their past submissions, but this month I feel we’re going to get a bit more personal.

This month, Dave presented us with the following instructions:

It’s almost time for Christmas dinner (even if you aren’t necessarily prone to celebrating Christmas, play along) and there’s one more seat at the table. Because of the magic that is Christmas, you can invite any one musician (or person from the music world) to be your guest. Even if they’ve passed away, they can be at your table for a meal, and a few stories. So, who would you invite? And any little musical gift you hope they might possibly come with?

As with past topics, one possibility jumped out immediately. I decided to think a bit more before I made that final decision. Oh! The list of names that I came up with! It was a long one that included Elvis Presley, Mel Torme’, Nat King Cole, Bobby Darin, Roy Orbison, Doc Severinsen, Louis Prima, Frank Sinatra, Paul McCartney, Tony Bennett, Reba McEntire, Michael Buble’, and so many more! In the end, I stuck with the first name that came to mind – Dean Martin.

To this day, Dean remains my favorite singer. His laid back, carefree, and effortless approach is part of the charm that makes him so likable to me. So many of his songs hold special memories for me.

I imagine him showing up dressed to the nines in his staple tuxedo, knowing he is the guest of honor. However, I also picture him as a humble man who gets along with everyone.

Naturally, on Christmas I’d make the dish that was always served by my grandma – Ravioli. I’d be sure to make the homemade sauce for him. I’d always seen pictures of him and John Wayne eating pasta together. I’d love to hear those stories.

I feel like we could easily talk about the similarities between his folks and my grandparents (both from the old country). I know he was a fairly private guy, but I would enjoy hearing his stories about growing up in that Italian family.

The conversation would naturally turn to music. I’d have so many questions for him. The recording process has always fascinated me. On some of the newer releases they’d include some of the in between take studio chatter. Dean always seemed to be joking around and I bet he’d have some great stories about that.

Not to mention all the stars he personally knew and hung out with. I bet he could have wrote a book full of Sinatra stories! If you look back on the guests who were on his TV show, on the TV roasts, or actors who were in movies with him – it is truly an amazing group. How could he just pick one or two stories to tell when he knew so many people!?

I certainly wouldn’t want to pressure him, but I think it would be very cool to be sitting around the table and for him to give us a few measures of a Christmas song. I remember watching how people often just sang with each other back in the day. Would Dean duet with me on Marshmallow World? Who knows?

As someone who really stinks up the golf course, I’d probably bug Dean for a few golf tips. He was SO good at it, I’m sure just one little piece of advice on my grip, my stance or my swing would help me tremendously!

I’m not sure what musical gift I would hope for him to bring, but I would certainly love to get my hands on one of two things. He once had his own brand of golf balls! I’d never use them, of course, but I would love to have a box!

I would also like to have a bottle of his spirits. At one time he had a few types of his own booze!

I don’t really drink, but I think it would be awesome to have these sitting on a bar.

I suppose I’d only have one more request – a photo with him. That may be pushing the limits, so I might just have to have the camera lying around so that someone could snap some candids of the the two of us together.

I’m sure he’d be the one to want to cut the evening short. “Look, pallie, I’d love to stay and answer all your questions, but I have a 7 o’clock tee time in the morning ….” I’d totally be ok with that.

Thanks to Dave for a great topic! I cannot wait to read the guests that our other writers come up with!

How about you? Who would you picki?

Wishing you and yours a VERY Merry Christmas and a blessed 2024!