This actually started back when Fats Domino controlled the music charts and Elvis was more of an upcoming prince, rather than The King.
Fats was teaching us young guys about the beauty of Blueberry’s Hills, Jerry Lee Lewis was pushing Great Balls of Fire but Elvis was closer to our actual experience with Heartbreak Hotel. Yeah, you want to talk about mixed messages for young teen age guys, that’ll do it! Those days it was hormones in an uproar with no place to go -- no practical use for them.
We could meet any gal we wanted at the local high school dance or the Friday Night sock-hop at the Rollerdome. Problem was, most guys were too shy to ask someone to dance, so many of the guys stayed on one side of the place and the gals on the other. I played in one of the lead-in bands of the day and so didn’t get to dance much; but I was never shy and danced with as many of the girls as time allowed.
Fast forward 50 years and there’s almost a complete reversal. If I play music today, it’s on a radio and probably only danced twice in the past 20 years -- and then with an 80 year old lady because it was her birthday and I had the bandfolk play something nice for the occasion.
But, that was then and this is now. Tonight, Dancer was playing some old tunes on a computer next to me and “happened” to mention that, “you don’t dance, do you”? Well . . . ahem . . . anyone can probably now correctly guess that it’s likely that I will be dancing again sometimes soon! Lucky for me, though, Dancer likes slow dancing and I’m sure I’d like to handle some of that with her.
Digging around in my closet, Dancer came upon a couple stringed interments hidden way in the back. One is a fine old tenor banjo given to me by a very old lady in California back about 1967. The woman was a music teacher in the LA area and had actually brought that banjo to LA from New York City via wagon train when she was a young woman.
The problem is, Dancer also found a special type of electric Hawaiian guitar hidden away that is still perfectly useful. I purchased that new about 1959 and it’s quite obvious that it has been played a lot. Dancer, you see, is a musically oriented artistic type person who can play a few instruments.
Well -- and y’all are going to have to take my word on this one -- I maybe neglected to tell Dancer that I sort of played in a rather popular band for a few years, way back when, and also really enjoyed music. I even sang a few of the tender love songs, back then, but my voice is so deep and mellow that I was always very limited on what I could sing properly so that was seldom advertised.
Anyway, I sort of forgot to tell her about that little sideline career and where we went with it. Although, lately, she knows that I know the music and words to more then just a few songs from that era. For instance, I might have backed up a few known personalities back then on their recordings. . . . After all, playing in the band, and being a studio boy in Nashville, available for back up, was a large part in how I financed my college education, but really has little to add to who I am today.
None of these are things I think about much anymore. After all, I had a whole career as a researcher after that and never played anything during that whole time. Well, maybe I did, in fact, get up and sing a song or two from time to time, if I was visiting a country joint with a friendly band. So, I was truthful when I stated that I have never “played” an instrument in over twenty years. My voice, to me anyway, sounds somewhat like a bull moose during rutting season and I only use it musically when coerced or threatened. Well . . . maybe those few times that I was offered free drinks for the evening, too.
Other than the MoTown people, there were many good musicians from my era who later became popular on the charts. For the most part, I didn’t really like the style of their music, but we are friends nonetheless. Some guys I played with went on to make music their career and have done quite well with it. I still see them from, time to time but it’s somewhat of a culture-clash nowadays. You see, I’m not into smoking that stinky stuff and stepping out on a break with them is to be surrounded by that wacky-tobacky, which seems to always head my way so I go back in smelling like a pot-head.
Ah well . . . I’ve been found out, I guess. I’ve never lied about it, just intentionally downplayed it over the years. Even so, many of the musical professional guys e-mail me regularly, and Dancer sees most of my mail, but she hasn’t noticed yet. Of course, sometimes the names are changed to protect the guilty, but that’s understandable. Mostly, though, she doesn’t know the names yet. All that will be worked out at a later time when she has an opportunity to meet some of these people in person. So, meanwhile, I’m not talking much. Besides, my involvement in their careers was zilch, except that we played professionally together a few times a half-century ago.
Could be, though, that I’ve got some ‘splaining to do later. . . . Thanks YouTube!
~ DbnDon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw-ZBookLRM&feature=PlayList&p=A6D539E3F2AE279B&playnext=1&index=4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl5hknXqXps
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