I was perusing the Facebook Live app..and saw some youngish guy sing ” With a Little Help from My Friends”….his voice wasn’t anything remarkable  but his southpaw guitar work was really good….

Then I realized why he was playing it….the Beatles album ..Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band is about to turn 50….and all the fanfare that will go with it. Spotify has a remastered, two disc version of the classic LP for streaming….and PBS has a special on the making of the album…and all the rock journalists will pontificate the meaning..and the baby boomers will once again embrace a memory from their musical culture.

I like Sgt. Pepper…but I don’t love it…the album cover is cool..(although Alistair Crowley’s face creeps me out) but I rarely listen to the album…the opening two songs get a lot of airplay on Classic Rock stations..and the Lennon/McCartney classic “A Day in the Life” is a bit overplayed..(when Taylor Hicks screeched the song on American Idol about ten years ago, it meant it was time to retire the song)..

As a personal preference…the album “Abbey Road” is my favorite..from start to finish..although “Rubber Soul” is close behind…I listen to those a whole lot more than “Pepper”…

To be fair…compared to Usher’s “DJ’s got us falling in Love Again” or The “Weekend’s , “I Can’t Feel My Face”…”Pepper” is close to Shakespeare…

I’ll never forget when I first hear Sgt. Pepper from start to finish…It was in the mid 1980’s….John Denver’s career was in a record low..;he had put out two albums that did absolutely nothing for me…and as a die-hard fan, I felt lost for a time….(even started listening to James Taylor for awhile..but that faded too)

I was in high school…probably about 15 years old…went for a weekend visit to Miami Beach with a group called Young Life. I loved this group..with a message of Christ’s love being open to all…and allowing kids to have fun at the beach..what’s not to love? Still, the weird thing about this trip was all the music I was exposed too..Midnight dances on the beach to Buddy Holly…Daytime volleyball games to Whitesnake (I still love the song “Slow and Easy” all these years later)..and then Beastie Boys “License to Ill” playing randomly…(I still love “Brass Monkey” too)…

So after a memorable weekend…we all piled into a couple of vans and prepared for the three hour drive across Alligator Alley from Miami to Fort Myers….and Robert Passcato pulls out his boom box….I tried to get Robert’s attention all weekend…He was easily the cutest guy on that whole trip…and yet, I got nowhere…but his music collection was great….

Robert’s boombox played the Sgt. Pepper album all the way home….and I liked it..but didn’t really get it…I loved “Getting Better” and “She’s Leaving Home”..was totally confused by “Within You Wthout You” and delighted to hear the original “When I’m Sixty-Four”…(John Denver had a great cover of it..I was familiar with that one)…and adored “Lovely Rita”….the rest of the album didn’t grab me…and I didn’t really seek to own it later…I loved the Beatles at the time, but I liked their earlier stuff…

I would get sidetracked in my Beatles love, when I heard the Kingston Trio for the first time in 1987….and that would send me on a musical journey that brought joy…and tight family relations for years to come…that still thrive today…

I would give Sgt. Pepper another shot a few years ago..and found that “Within You and Without You” and “Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite” to be super groovy tunes..and quite possibly my favorite…..although “Lovely Rita” remains a favorite..simply because of one line that I interpreted to be a bit dirty…and that made me smile…

—–“Got the bill and Rita paid it

took her home and nearly made it”

All these years later, that line still still gets me…So, the album that came out 50 years ago still means something…and for me, it means a time capsule to the mid 1980’s..when life was a lot simpler and less scary…and less sad….Young Life still thrives…Robert Pascatto is either a CPA or lawyer…I can’t recall…so we never did connect on any level….and I moved to Minnesota and live in one of the greatest cities in the world…and dream of going to to the Kingston Trio Fantasy Camp….

..and life flows within you and without you….and the music still lives…so shall we close this out with a bit Paul McCartney doing a version of Lovely Rita..

 

 

 

It’s a misty Sunday evening here in my NE Minnesota city….the kind that can darken the soul….I don’t really need that…as my soul has been a bit grey lately…

It’ll be three weeks this coming Tuesday….and I am finally ready to blog about this….

On May 2nd, my friend of 19 years, David Ruiz del vizo, passed away….in his sleep at the age of 61…It was a sudden turn of events in his life. I talked with him earlier that day..He seemed tired and had a cold..and wanted to sleep the evening away…so he could be ready for his first day of work after orientation.

I have wondered for three weeks what to say about my friend. I’m still at a loss but something needs to be written.. and part of me knew this was my way of saying goodbye…something I wasn’t quite ready to do….As far as I know, there will be no service…..as finances restrict what some in his family can do for him….Still, no matter what happens to David’s remains, his spirit really does live on…and I know he is in Heaven right now…

It all started with one post…from me…I posted on a guestbook for the Kingston Trio  saying I was a 26 year old girl who was a fan of the group and wanted to visit San Francisco one day to see the origins of my beloved group.

That post resulted in two emails that would change my life…One from George Grove, the banjo player for the group..(I wound up purchasing his awesome solo album “Middle of a Life”-life changing in that regard) and David Ruiz…he lived in the Bay Area…

I was a bit freaked out at first that people would write me but the power of the internet was just beginning back in 1997-1998..

David and I would go on to have some great email discussions..covering our faith…our love of music…and views on so many things…I cannot begin to list all the topics we talked about…but there were many…and the interesting thing is, we always found time to write each other…

Now, let me be clear…there was never anything aside from friendship between us…we just wrote…and then later talked on the phone. It was a special friendship…and we cheered each other through the great times…and prayed for each other through the hard times…There were weeks where we would barely write to each other…and yet, we felt connected….We would often say that our friendship was meant to last…

One of the hardest times for him was these last few years..He had some personal struggles and health struggles….we talked and prayed a lot..I noticed a change in him through our conversations..He got involved with a great church and saw the love of Christ firsthand….and felt closer to God and the Spirit in ways I hadn’t seen before….He may not have been ready to face the challenges life threw at him but somehow he find his survival instincts…and he pushed forward through all the hard times….

So, his death is just a shocking end to a life that held more promise….and it left me speechless in terms of wording my grief…my loss…and our friendship…..as trying to explain to people what we meant to each other is hard to do.

I am not saying that David was perfect….he wasn’t..there were stories I heard about him from others that cast a negative light on his memory. For those that recall him in a less than positive way, that is their tale to tell. We had our moments of disagreement and he could be a jerk to me…but I learned to trust him enough to call him out on his jerkish  behavior…and that led to a greater understanding. I admit, I could be nasty to him…as my sarcasm to him would cut him to the core…he was one of the few people that knew all the sides to me..and yet, he still wanted to be my friend…

We did finally meet last year at the Kingston Trio Fantasy Camp…and we had a blast….When we met, we were awkward to each other for about 20 minutes and then we realized, how easy it was to be friends…as we already were…

I could share memory upon memory from my friendship with David but sometimes that’s hard to do..as certain moments lose their mystique when shared outside  the moment…

So, I will tell you how you can honor David’s memory….Share in the music that gives you joy…ask someone for a cup of coffee and talk and get to know them..and just be kind and always seek the truth of life….

I’m still not sure this blog conveys all that David means to me…but I think he would be honored that I tried….as he was a big fan of my blog…

One of our last conversations was about music…and John Stewart was one of the artists he loved….and this song exemplifies who he thought of himself to be….so I will close my blog with this song….and also a phrase he loved…I believe it’s from Pete Seeger…”Take it Easy, but just take it”….

Rest Easy David….I’ll see you soon…

 

 

 

 

There’s been one of those Facebook game things that’s trending this week..Name 10 concerts you’ve seen..one is a lie….I knew the moment I did that someone would spot the lie..so I put in a slightly trick answer…and that confused people….but it did get started on a conversation with someone I knew from a John Denver Fan page…which John Denver concert’s we’d seen…and it turns out, she was at the same two I went to in Minnesota in the ’80’s…

So, I thought about that…and then found myself shedding tears over a Kingston Trio song called “Real Old Style”…and then it hit me…

God is a giver..of life..of love…of experience….we think He’s up there waving a wand to make it all happen but He uses people….and then I realized that the circumstances of my life as I know it are the result of the influence of my Aunt Betsy….

Today is the ninth anniversary of her passing..and since I never miss a chance to be ponderous, I find myself in that state today…..and thankful…Oh sure, I mourn her like most do for late relatives…but when I think about what she did for me all those years ago….and how nine years after her passing, my life is still blessed having known her….I am amazed…

I have written a lot of blogs over the years of her influence when it comes to music…and also the trips to Duluth we would take…well, that music translated into Kingston Trio concerts…and meeting the members…and meeting fans…every year…and even this year, seeing them with my mother…for the first time…

So, it is because of her, I count down to Fantasy Camp…and have found a group of friends that feel like family…and ironically give me that connection to her that I was missing for years with her gone…

I am sitting in my wonderful apartment…on this cool, cloudy day..looking at my beautiful city…and seeing the result of all those road trips to Duluth when I was a child…as Betsy as our driver….and I see my bridge…my friends…my job (with great benefits including a retirement plan) and my awesome church…all of  that..because I fell in love with Duluth all those years ago…at her urging….

I recall the day of her memorial service…I thanked her for giving me music and Duluth….and at that moment I was only thinking of what I could see right in front of me…and not the results….and nine years later, I know the results…

It is interesting that to some death is an end with only memories collected for the living…but the impact of our lives ripples on long after we are gone…

I can’t weep for my Aunt’s passing any longer….she really isn’t gone…..she is here..every day I look out at my city….she is here every time I get a big bear hug from my Pastor…and her spirit floats in the music I listen to…and the gatherings of banjos and guitars I partake in every August….

I have had dear friends experience loss in the past year or so…and when that happens the rest of us are left to help them cope and figure out why…there may never be a reason as to why we lose someone but they are NEVER lost…we may not see the result of their influence in the midst of our grief but years down the down the road..we celebrate it…

So, I raise a glass of 7up in Betsy Scott’s honor today….she is home in Heaven..but she is here in my life…and I am grateful…

..and now…here’s some internet evidence of what she has given me:

 

 

…her favorite Kingston Trio song…at least her FIRST favorite Kingston Trio song….

my awesome hometown of Duluth, MN….

..and me singing John Stewart at Fantasy Camp last year:

 

..and an important part of my life is my fantastic church in Duluth….so here’s a promo for it..some pictures taken by me….and I’m in one of them..

I am sitting in a hotspot at my Mom’s new apartment complex…a Senior high rise….perfect building in lots of ways….

So, this means I am down in Florida…in March…it’s a perfect time to visit..no humidity..weather is near perfection..although one serious side effect of Florida in season is traffic…I don’t drive but the traffic is insane…the level of cars with the endless road construction makes me long for the quaint travel issues of Duluth…

..and yet..all this is worth it because the Kingston Trio is/are here….

 

As frequent readers of my blog now, I love the Kingston Trio….and seeing them in Florida is a first for me…because I saw them with my Mom…I have seen them with friends..with fans..on my own…with my late Aunt..but never with my mother…

So, this was an experience…We got to our hotel about 5 hours before the show…so that gave us time to relax and watch the Tampa area news..and marvel at their world class reporters over the newbies they get to report the Fort Myers news…we stopped at a fast food place to get a bite to eat…and hailed a cab over to the theatre…

To call The Venice Little Theatre intimate, is not doing it justice….It felt like a club..but with about 500 seats or so…I think this is the smallest venue I had ever seen them on…As we went to pick up our tickets, I heard a familiar voice behind me…someone I knew from Fantasy Camp….we chatted for a bit..and then even hugged…

We made our way into the auditorium…our seats were about eight rows back…the seats were on a slope..and they were in an aggregated way…so no one could block anyone else…

The stage looked like it was set for a western musical…some local production…and then they took the stage…..and the songs rang out..I took no pics because my camera hates the dark..even with a flash…and an usher sat next to me the whole time….I also couldn’t hoot and holler..and yell out in affection for my banjo player…as Mom pleaded ” please don’t embarrass me”…

The crowd took a while to get into it…but once they did…the Trio fed off their joy and gave it right back…the show was so hot…to hilarious..and the banjo notes pitch perfect…it had to be one of the best shows I have been to in a long time…

..and because people want to know….here’s the set list:

 

Darling Corey

Sloop John B

Chilly Winds

Greenback Dollar

Shape of Things

Everglades

La Migra

Desert Pete

They Call the Wind Mariah

—Intermission——

New Frontier

Jasmine

Genny Glenn

Forever and a Day

Scotch and Soda

Tom Dooley

Worried Man

Where Have All the Flowers Gone

MTA

 

Some notes on performances..I don’t think I’ve ever seen them do Ballad of the Shape of Things live..outside of Camp…but this performance was crisp and tight….Mariah had great harmony…and watching Rick Dougherty tear into Genny Glenn is something that never gets old.. Scotch and Soda is a hard song for anyone but Bob Shane to sing but Bill Zorn did it well..and his guitar was amazing on it…and Paul Gabrielson let loose on the bass as well…The song “Everglades” is one they do whenever they are in Florida…a trip to hear…and that got everyone singing…and then Bill Zorn’s voice just nailed the song “Jasmine”…a tender song written by John Stewart…a song I requested…it reminds me of Fantasy Camp….and I wanted a taste in the midst of my trip..

There were moments of hilarity onstage…and off…and I won’t spoil them for those who haven’t seen them but I do urge all my loyal readers to attend a show…

My mom loved them and was blown away by the songs…and the comedy…and the part that warmed my heart was hearing her sing along…

We sat up  talking about the show..and watching Golden Girls reruns in our hotel room…

..and small moments like that will keep this night in my heart for a long time….

 

 

I have no problem with getting older…although I curse my body for feeling every ache and pain longer than it used to….and my eyes are a bit more crinkly than I think they should be….

Still, with age comes understanding…and also leaving things behind…..

I am writing this on the eve of what would have been my Grandmother’s 104th birthday…..and I just posted pics of her on Facebook..and all those memories should come flooding back…and some do…but most of the time I spent with her was a blur….

I spend the first twenty four years of my life with my Grandmother in it…..and now 21 years later, all I have are photographs…..

Every summer from 1980-1989, I went to see her..and my Aunt Betsy…we did road trips through the American West…and the Canadian Rockies. I have memories of raft trips…and picnics next to mountains…and walking through old western towns to see the history of all the rough riders and indians….I have those memories….all wrapped up in a narrative from photographs and vague retelling of road stories to others over the years…

It frustrates me on some level. I know others who have worse memories than mine but with a small family such as ours, every memory is precious..With both Betsy and Grandma gone now…our road trips are now locked in a time warp of photographs….

I miss my Grandmother…there was a lot of love there..conditional as it was..I still recall some moments….like sitting on her sun-porch watching the moon come up….or the way she shouted out Betsy’s name whenever she needed help…..or when she told me that she wished I had gone to a “real college to get a real job”…as writing was nice but no career..and Bible College wasn’t going to teach me anything…

I think of her now…and how proud she would be of my life….I have a job…with benefits…pays decent…and I get to help people..She may have viewed it as grunt, service work but if she knew about my savings, she would think I had arrived…status was a big thing for her….maybe it was wrapped up in a hope for security for her family’s future….

..as for the future, I really hope to hang on to some of these memories but I am not sure I will…with each year that passes, the time I had with her becomes merely another chapter in my life…

At least, she left with musical memories….she loved musicals..some big band..and the Moody Blues of all things….So, whenever I hear those types of songs, I think of her…..

For now, all I have is photographs…so I shall close with one from my personal collection…and thankfully one of the few I can recall…even if I wasn’t there the day it was taken…

My Mom and I visited my Aunt for Christmas of 1983..Grandma had purchased a bright red scarf to brighten up her winter days…(the older I get, the colder the weather gets, I see her wisdom in this choice)…We teased her endlessly as she wore that sucker everywhere…but you know what? She was sure easy to spot in a crowd…..

About a month after we left Minnesota, Betsy decided to send some winter photos..She loved to do that to torture Mom and I with cold-looking photos while we suffered through a beautiful FLA winter…So, on a rather warm day after a deep freeze, they did what so many Minnesotans do on the first nice sunny day in January…they went out and took pictures…

Here’s Grandma in her red scarf glory…seated on a wall near the frozen Minnehaha Falls, in South Minneapolis….I now have this red scarf…and I wear it every winter…Happy 104th birthday Grandma..I remembered!

 

 

 

I was going to write a deep and reflective note on 2016..as the years comes to a close…but this year has been SO strange..so dark..and so tragic that words really can’t describe….

It reminds me of a time around 1996..My best friend had died the year before…my Grandmother died at the beginning of 1996…too much death to handle for me..so I withdrew a bit…My Aunt did too….until…..one night…..

I was over at the house..my Grandma’s house…..which it was now theirs….when we decided to watch a movie…Albert Brooks’midlife crisis comedy “Mother”…with Debbie Reynolds as the title character…Brooks had a shtick that I never cared for..grown man whining about never quite getting his way and blaming others for his own screw ups….This movie was a showcase for that…but the best part was Debbie Reynolds…She had a comedic touch…a dazzling smile and a way that brought lines that should have been given a chuckle a real shine of truth and joy…..

I recall one scene where Brooks was watching Debbie Reynolds pull container after container out of the small freezer over their refrigerator..built it seemed back in the early days of cutting edge kitchen appliances…Brooks said the following line as Debbie just smiled and pulled out tupperware after tupperware….with chunks of ice attached to each one…”Mother. there’s a reason they make the freezer smaller than the refrigerator….”

At that moment, I looked over to the couch that had been in Grandma’s living room for about 20 years…and saw my Aunt..(in Grandma’s spot, of course) spitting out her popcorn….and laughing…but the dry heave laugh….My Aunt was not one to laugh a lot…Her sense of humor was not that great..but to see her laugh so hard…and so, so long, it made me smile…I laughed too but Betsy would say that Grandma would do that with her food….

..and then this scene came on and Betsy totally lost it…

 

We all laughed at this…a long time too…and in a year of so much grief for our family..it felt good to laugh….Debbie Reynolds gave us that laugh….and I never forgot it….

About a year or so later, Betsy called me to say “I have some leftovers for you..I know you can’t afford much so I am bringing some things over..Hope you can use them”…

I thought that she and Micheal went out a few times and gave me their leftovers from the week….I was wrong…I acquired about five different containers…most covered in ice…Betsy explained…she was cleaning out the freezer…and couldn’t identify half of the stuff in there..So, use or throw out whatever I needed…I reminded her of the movie and Betsy’s reply was “She was right you know..It’s never too late”….

So, no it’s never too late to appreciate a great talent like Debbie Reynolds…and Carrie Fisher too….and all the others we lost this year….

Grief will hit us but the gifts that our friends and the famous have given us will come back when we need them….and I am grateful for that…

 

Last night, I watched an unremarkable episode of the new season of NCIS..I couldn’t tell you about the plot ..only that Mark Harmon still looks cute…but I do recall one thing..a commercial…for Google Home…their version of the Amazon Echo…and there was an instrumental playing throughout it…and I KNEW it right away…and the moment I heard it..I smiled..and cheered…the song was Country Roads…by John Denver…

..and then I woke up today, to find John’s long-time producer, Milt Okun has died…and Milt produced the album the song came from…”Poems Prayers and Promises”..so on the night Milt passed away…his work still filled the airwaves..45 years after it was released…

 

That song has a distinct echo-chamber feel..and Milt was a part of that sound…That album was not John’s first album..it was his fourth solo album..before that Milt worked with John  during his stint with the Chad Mitchell Trio…

If there was anyone who contributed to the folk music scene of the 60’s…it was Milt Okun…aside from Albert Grossman’s management of Peter Paul and Mary and Bob Dylan and the Kingston Trio chart and culture dominance…Milt was the one that had his finger in a lot of folk music….

Here Milt is in a clip explaining his beginnings….apparently, he was fired from playing with Harry Belafonte..

 

So, in Milt’s world..being fired was a rebirth of sorts…and there are lot of people grateful for that rebirth….

Milt had a hand in producing albums for The Brothers Four..some of the smoothest sounds in folk music…Peter, Paul and Mary…a voice of conscience during the civil rights era….and The Chad Mitchell Trio…a witty, socially aware folk group that altered the life of  one particular performer..(more on that in a moment)…

As many who read this blog know, I am a huge fan of The Kingston Trio..almost to the exclusion of all other folk groups from the Folk era…but even I must admit, that Peter Paul and Mary changed the landscape when they released this song…

 

..that song was released at the height of the Vietnam war…written by John Denver…..spoke to so many of the anxiousness of a nation…and “Leaving on a Jet Plane” wasn’t the original title..It was “Oh Babe I Hate to Go” but Milt begged John to change the title…and the rest is musical history…

Milt’s musical touch can be found in the Chad Mitchell Trio…and some of their early songs are too stellar to ignore…

 

This is a recording with Chad…..Chad would go on to a solo career..and that would open the door for John Denver…he won the lead spot over 250 other people…I wrote of the audition process in another blog as a tribute to a member of the group now gone..

https://suek2001.wordpress.com/2014/03/31/a-voice-to-sing-and-move-the-world-joe-frazier/

 

The sound and the name of the Chad Mitchell Trio would change…and the sound wasn’t quite as tight with John as it was with Chad..but John was meant for a solo career….and Milt knew that…

John would go on to partner with Milt on a number of records for RCA….the first three solo albums were duds for RCA..but the fourth one..containing “Country Roads” changed history….Milt actually admitted that he might have overproduced John’s first three albums….and I agree..as the studio versions of some songs contain way too much noise and drown out John’s voice and guitar..

Eventually, Milt would learn that John’s voice and guitar were worth preserving in it’s most natural state….and then it would lead to some amazing compositions…

Here’s a rare version of Annie’s Song..from the 1974 album “Back Home Again”..this is without the orchestra but with simple guitar..and mandolin…easily one of my favorite versions of this song.

 

 

Milt would work with John on so many great albums..growing up a John Denver fan…there was a sense of joy and familiarity whenever I received a new John Denver album..seeing Milt’s name on the back was a source of comfort and musicianship..

That all ended abruptly when RCA fired Milt in 1981…They wanted John Denver’s sound to be more commercially viable and made John go to Nashville with a producer named Larry Butler…the album was called “Some Days are Diamonds”…Any JD fan listening could tell John was not happy with this new direction….

The amazing thing  is Milt didn’t give up..just as he didn’t when he was fired by Harry Belafonte earlier in his career….Milt pursued a passion for opera and produced an album for Placido Domingo….and John Denver was a huge part of that….

So, I will close this blog with a song that I know Milt was proud to work on..with two of his musical heroes…John and Placido…..

…and it also contains a great lyric..”If I should live forever and all my dreams come true, my memories of love will be of you….”

Here’s John and Placido singing one of the greatest love songs ever performed..”Perhaps Love”….Thank you Milt Okun for your incredible gift of music….we will miss you..but thanks to you…we are changed as well…

So…we’re in the middle of November….the Presidential election is over…and we have a new leader…and it’s Donald Trump?

..and the reaction has been swift…shock..anger..sadness…riots…joy….

The last emotion doesn’t get any press…and it really isn’t even that valid..especially within some Trump supporters….relief is their main emotion….keeping Hillary away from the Supreme Court..away from any more private email servers..away from any more history….

I will freely admit I wasn’t on board the HRC train….I had my reasons…..and this won’t be about that….but it will be a bit of a collection of randomness…

…as this last month has felt random….the polls were all off..and we got a president….a college is giving puppies to students scared by a Trump administration…hateful chants are being uttered in schools…and the streets are filled with protesters over an election result….

..and then in the musical realm, Bob Dylan got a Nobel Prize for literature (I’ve been trying to work up a blog entry about that but I just don’t care..)..and the march of the dead continue….2016 has been horrible to be a performer…

Bobby Vee passed away….and that one hit me a bit hard….He has a place in rock history…he was on stage in Fargo…15 years old….and had to step in for Buddy Holly….as Holly had died in a plane crash the night before…Think about that…he was a local teenager..starting out in the business..and he had to fill in for a man that had had so many hits and made so many advances in music in his short three year career….That was a tall order…but Vee did it..with style….and the hits came…Red Rubber Ball…..More Than I Can Say….Take Good Care of My Baby….and the earworm that gave me insomnia for three straight nights about ten years ago….

 

….and he never forgot his roots….and loved Minnesota through and through..

We also lost Kevin Meaney….a great comic that appeared on Carson a number of times….and made me laugh hysterically….there were lines from his standup that I quoted for years…..Here’s a sample….

…His voice was a strong one for comedy….not exactly a household name but that didn’t matter….He also had ONE line in a Tom Hanks movie…ONE line….but the movie was so huge that he was able to live comfortably on those residual checks for years…the movie was “Big”..one of my favorite Tom Hanks movies…

…and then we lost Leonard Cohen…..a man whose musical and spiritual path took him to some strange places..Jewish by birth but Buddhist by choice,  he let his pain…his joy…and his reflections seep into his work…I knew two songs by him..mostly performed by others….”Suzanne” is a folk staple…for the seriously minded in their folk endeavors…(John Denver covered it in his coffee house phase)…and the gospel-tinged “Hallelujah”….a song that rose to prominence as an anthem of sorts during times of sorrow….a song that Cohen said was about the end of a relationship….and the meaning of it is still lost on me..but the lyrics and the melody are haunting enough for it to linger in my head for days…..Jeff Buckley is the one that had the biggest hit with it..

 

…just watch any television drama with a tragic arc from about 2002 to the present and this song was used….and award shows loved it too….Thankfully, they dialed the usage back so it wouldn’t become a cliche at some point…but that didn’t stop some Christian songwriter from composing a Church-friendly version of the song..I wonder if Cohen knew he would impact the Evangelical church with this song….

 

…and then today, we lost another musical giant….Leon Russell…Leon’s voice was distinct…a high whine but aged through tough experiences….and he lent that voice to a Dylan classic that is easily one of my favorite covers of all time…”A Hard Rain is Gonna Fall”…Some of my liberal friends are playing this song a lot this week due to the election results….I became familiar with it through the great movie “Remember The Titans”..a great scene of the players running through the woods as this song played over it….and it lingered long after the movie ended…Leon’s gift was a funky, thick piano sound with gritty guitars…and a fantastic gift of making any song his own….

So, I shall close this blog with Leon…singing Dylan…..and think of all the events of the past few months…and wonder what the future holds for music…for the United States…and my prayer is one where the rain ends..and rebirth begins…and healing is restored….

 

I had a weird flashback today….I was in the Fourth Grade…Villas Elementary in Fort Myers, Florida….we had our break from Mrs. Ruark’s class for PE….

It was nice weather so just to get out and see blue sky was nice….and then I realized what the prize of being outside would be….PE…or Phy Ed…as they called it…

We had two PE teachers.. their names completely escape me but their appearances are forever stuck in my mind…a really tall man…with a loud voice…a person of color…as they say now…and a young woman…short with blonde hair…powerful voice as well….

They barked orders and we got excercise…and then the games would begin..dodgeball was a favorite…..I really hated PE…not because I was lazy but I was as un-atheletic as can be…and dodgeball was hell…Oh, the kids didn’t really throw that hard…what kid could in the fourth grade?…but my short legs couldn’t dodge the balls…so I never lasted long in the game….

..and just once…I wanted to win…and just once, I wanted to be good at something sports related…but I never was…

I never had the grace or the moves for sports…and never really had the brains to figure out baseball or football or soccer…I was..and still am a klutz…Mom always thought it was funny that my name in Hebrew means “Full of Grace”..whatever that means…finesse is a foreign concept to me…

So, growing up I never really cared for playing or watching sports….Oh the Super Bowl was fun…for food and commercials but to this day, all I can tell you about any of the games was Joe Montana was involved in some games…what he did or scored..I couldn’t tell you….and baseball was a lot like televised golf…it put me to sleep….except when the Minnesota Twins won…twice..

So, when I hit college, I started noticing football..and even baseball…I understood the bare essentials of each but I didn’t follow any teams for years…

I have grown to like football(although my love of it has cooled somewhat)…and have grown to appreciate baseball….

..and then there’s the World Series….this year…I watched almost every game…and put up with Joe Buck’s annoying voice for one reason..to see the Cubs  win the Series….

It was always the joke…”that’ll happen when the Cubs win the World Series”…

Back To the Future even predicted it..sorta..

 

They were off by a year….but oh well…it still was sweet to think about…and a Chicago native..by the name of Steve Goodman wrote a classic song about rooting for a hapless Cubs…

 

…and I suppose my greatest reason for rooting for the Cubs…lies in the wanting to honor a late genius….Mike Royko was a long suffering Cubs fan…

..and his last column before his ill-fated vacation in March of 1997 was all about the curse of that goat…

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1997-03-21/news/9703210060_1_sam-sianis-goat-into-wrigley-field-jackie-robinson

Mike would never write another column…..He would die by the end of April of 1997…

So, I watched every night of this World Series….and cheered on the Cubs…and yes, the Cleveland Indians too…Both teams brought their best…both teams played their hearts out…

Then that last game….in Cleveland….The Cubs start out with an early lead..and Bill Murray is rejoicing…along with so many Cubs fans…and then the Indians roar back to tie up…Pitchers are put in and pulled….and bases are loaded and players are stranded…and then the bottom of the ninth…comes and goes…and it’s still tied…

By now, it’s close to Midnight for me…and I am ready for bed….but I don’t want to deny myself history..so I force myself to stay up…for one more inning…the 10th inning…..and the rains come…some heavy weather moves it…

It is an agonizing 17 minutes…and the Cubs score the moment the game starts up again…and the Indians try for a comeback…but fall short…and the Cubs win..in my lifetime…the Cubs win!!!!

I think I only got about 5 hours of sleep…and I am not even a baseball fan..but a win like that..makes me believe that certain things are possible…and it was so sweet that with all the horrible news headlines…Americans took a week to root for something…instead of against something….

Let the election happen next week..and all the bitterness may swallow us up…but before it does, let us be grateful for the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians that gave us joy…great baseball..and great joy…

..and here’s a note for all of my friends that are Cleveland Indian fans…next year, we all will root for you…and thank you for giving us all a great series…

 

It is that day again…October 27th…..21 years ago…

I have written profoundly on the loss of my friend Dennis Mertz..and how his memory remains with me…and it will be…

I recall that moment I moved forward in my life…I had just moved to Duluth and I stepped outside of my apartment building..and for the first time in years, I didn’t look up and to the left…

When I lived in Minneapolis, my rooming house was on the same block as Dennis’ apartment..He lived in an older building…white paint on red bricks…and had a great bay window where he could survey the block from his third floor apartment…

I still see that open air  apartment…and still see us sitting next to those bay windows…and admiring the beauty of the hardwood floor…and the random outline of an iron near the kitchen…Apparently,  whoever lived there before dropped a hot iron on the floor..and that left a mark..

Dennis loved that mark..It gave his home character…I hated that the bathroom was outside of the apartment..across the hall…never did understand if it was a shared bathroom but it drove me nuts to use it…

A few years after moving to Duluth, I came back to that street..and realized I still looked over at his apartment…hoping..against hope..to see him in those bay windows….and that’s when it hit me….

Moving to Duluth moved me forward in my life…If I had remained in Minneapolis in that spot, I would have relived that entire horrible week he died…over and over..

Thankfully, Dennis and I never got to Duluth together..so I have no strong connections to him here….yet….I do…

I have several things from that era in my life..things that only those closest to me would understand…and I have no desire to let them go….

He gave me this plaque three days after we met….it was my birthday..Sept. 1994…I never took the wrap off because his handwriting is still on it…

 

 

I have kept that for years…..and it still means as much to me today..as it did when he gave it to me that Friday morning…He also gave it to me wrapped in the Sunday Comic section…and some flowers in a sweet looking vase(which got lost in one of my moves)…

Later that year, he asked me to be his “plus one” at a banquet he was attending..I said yes..he picked out something for me to wear…

 

I still see him stop and stare at me…and say “Sue, you really look good tonight”…one of the rare times he complimented my appearance..I know he was thrilled I wore this…with a long sleeved purple blouse….Have worn it a few times since but I have it now..more as a museum piece…

Then when he died, his family came for his things…I was able to claim his TV..and the picture of Denali National Park I gave him….and this bookcase….

 

 

Yep..it’s a bit messy…as neatness was never a gift of mine…Dennis loved to read..and I recall he bought this at Montgomery Wards in Downtown Minneapolis…and then begged me to help him put it together…

His right hand had a nervous tic so he couldn’t hammer a nail to pound it down..so I was his right hand..woman? We skipped church one Sunday..listened to a local radio station…and spent about seven hours putting it together…we argued..we laughed…we ate…and we realized how much we meant to each other…I wanted that bookcase..and I will keep it ’till either I die or it falls apart…It’s still holding itself together after 21 years….

The other thing I have of his is something of a prized possession..Dennis had a classical style in furniture…I recall his roommate had a more modernist take..and that drove him nuts…but both of them loved Dennis’ desk…

 

 

Dennis kept some papers…a small lamp..and his bible..opened…on this desk…I claimed this one too….and it became my media desk..I have almost all of my cassette tapes, CDs and various boomboxes on this desk…it also has my alarm clock and desk lamp…and a phone extension…Again, I am not neat person but I do get a lot of use out of this desk…and again, I have no desire to get rid of it…after 20 odd years…

So, it’s been 21 years…and Dennis’ memory…his smile…that voice….are all still with me..and all these things still carry all of that too…I would trade it all to get him back for even just a few days….but when the times comes, I’ll have eternity…