Linda Z

I thought my question about Les Paul was just a pretty face on the cutting room floor. I thought he was instrumental (shameless pun) in some way in developing the electric guitar, but I didn't know about all his other achievements. Heard him and his wife, Mary Ford, singing on our radio many a time as a child, and on black and white TV a little later. I remember now, Socks, the stiffness of his right arm, and I remember hearing why. I'm no music techie, so I suspect one of you might have already said this in a way that went over my head, but didn't Les P and Mary F develop the recording technique in which they recorded her voice more than once so that, in effect, she could harmonize with herself? Hope, that stuff about the Brill Building was fascinating. I only had time to click on a couple links, but I learned two things there that I didn't know: that Neil Sedaka and Carole King were high school friends, and that Carole King was married to her first collaborator. Interesting stuff! Linda Z

One of Eric Clapton's guitars is for sale on ebay. It's only up to $72k. Better hurry!

Just kidding! Heck, it'll be time for another one in 10.5 months! But I wanted to say thanks again for the kind words that appeared after my earlier thanks. Kit, I want you to know that what you said in your greeting was one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me. To you and excath I say, I believe it takes love to recognize love...the real stuff, anyway! Matilda, glad you could stop by for some cake, zeester! And Rev. Mommy Ex, what can I say to you but that I love you, too. And I'm so glad you're back! xoxoxo, Linda

I've noticed that GS goes through cycles. When it hits one of its wacky cycles--times when it seems as if everyone's jumping down everyone else's throat and half the posts make no sense to me--I'd like to use this one, courtesy of Ozzy Osbourne: "I love you all more than life itself, but you're all f'n mad!" (delivered with Ozzy's trademark befuddled look, of course) Linda Z

Sunesis, yep, I loved Eric Anderson. I've been trying for years to find an album of his that I once had and lost. (I NEVER got rid of any of my albums on Uncle Harry or any other day, thank goodness.) I can even remember the record store near Sunset Strip where I bought that album!! I've bought (on ebay) a couple "Best of" and "Greatest Songs" type albums that he put together in later years, but they were mixed with orchestra backgrounds and, in my opinion, he'd lost his edge by the time he put those out. I love many of the blues performers that have been mentioned here, as well as some of the white, workshirt-wearin' blues players of the late 60s...I still have a much-played album called The Singer Songwriter Project (on Elektra, I think) that features several of them. I also loved Tom Rush, but he sorta went the way of Eric Anderson. His early stuff was his best, in my opinion. As folkies went, I loved Richard and Mimi Farina and Buffy Ste. Marie. I ran into her once at Pier 1 in Los Angeles, and if my memory serves me well, she was only about 4'10". Her gorgeous black hair was almost as long as she was tall! I was in awe. Her country-tinged folk stuff still blows me away. Oh Ted, I took my l'il mom to see Flatt and Scruggs at the gym at Baldwin Wallace many, many moons ago. They were wonderful. Floods of memories are coming to me in this thread! There used to be a club in Cleveland near University Circle called La Cave. Used to go see Josh White, Bob Gibson, and later, Arlo Guthrie and so many more there. Nice, small folk/blues club. I still like the smaller venues. A concert in a doggoned arena or huge auditorium just isn't the same. Loved those little smoky clubs! Hey Ted, I also went to see the Ramsey Lewis Trio at a jazz club called Leo's Casino, also near Uni Circle. I'll bet you went there too! My date and I were the only white people there, and we were both underage, but the enforcement of liquor laws was a little more lax back then (when dinosaurs roamed Euclid Ave.) so we got away with it and had a ball. A couple years later, I was a very lucky 21-year-old when I moved to L.A. and worked for the Free Press. I had a press pass and never missed a concert I wanted to go to. My son still brags to his friends that when he was a year old, he went with me and his dad to see Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Chuck Berry and fell asleep on his little blanket right next to one of the speakers. It's amazing the child didn't lose his hearing, but I was 21 and I liked taking him places with me, and he always had a great time. Incidentally, he's much more musically talented than I am! Osmosis, maybe. In '68 or '69 we used to go see Spirit (formerly Spirits Rebellious) at the Ashgrove in L.A. all the time, becaue we knew Randy and his dad (their drummer). Often opening for them were JB Hutto and the Hawks...they were sort of a rockin' electric blues band. Loved them both. I haven't turned into an old fogey, and I still like to go to concerts, whether it's Crosby, Stills and Nash or The Presidents of the USA (Hope's daughter will probably point out that they're old news, but I really liked them a few years back!) . I think Sunesis is right. The music scene isn't like it was when we were young. There are so many genres, and most kids seem so divided on what they like instead of sampling more variety like we did. Maybe (speaking just for me, and not for Sunesis) I'm just suffering from Old Fartitis and thinking that ours were the only golden years of rock 'n roll, but the music was such a part of our culture. Maybe that's still the same, but it doesn't seem to be. Well, thanks for putting up with my rambling (like you could stop me). And keep those musical memories coming, everyone. I'm loving this! Linda Z

Pardon my self-indulgent stroll down memory lane thus far. I'll try to contribute something now that has to do with the original topic. For all the complaining about rock 'n roll by some adults during the 60s, I for one think the questioning and rebelling that was reflected in our music led many of us to the place where we at least considered spiritual things. We (the youth of the 60s) had graduated out of the bubble gum pop scene and into some real music, performed by real people who were also questioning the status quo of society at the time. One of my favorite bluesy-folksy singer-songwriters in the late 60s was Eric Anderson. I found a friend at HQ in the 80s who said some of his songs were instrumental to her turning to God. I had another friend who said the Moody Blues did that for her. For me it was a combination of Dylan, lots of classic blues, some Moody Blues and a little Beatles mixed in for good measure. Even during my brief stint as a self-proclaimed agnostic in my late teens/early 20s and during my pre-Way days, I could tell right from wrong in song lyrics without some clergy person telling me what was "evil." Music by communists, for example, didn't turn me into a communist, so the whole "Marxist Minstrels" thing fell on deaf ears with me. Likewise, today's music that I consider harsh and violent doesn't magically turn kids into murderers and gang bangers, if they've been brought up with love and boundaries and if they've been taught/allowed to think for themselves. I thought the whole subject of "worldly" music in twi was overspiritualized. I did balk at some of the stuff my son brought home, like the time he went to an AC-DC concert and brought back a program with that picture of a fetus that looked like a devil with horns and a tail. I didn't let that stay in my house, but I tried and mostly succeeded in keeping my nose out of his musical tastes. He claims I threw away a Motley Crue T-shirt of his once because I didn't like it. I might have, but I don't remember that. It wasn't just the kids' music at HQ that many people looked down their noses at. When my son went off to art school after graduating from NK High and came back for a visit sporting wild skateboarder's hair, some people gave me crap about "letting" him look that way. In the adapted words of Kelly Osbourne: "his hair, his life, his business!" I figured young people needed to find themselves and find their own way, once they'd been given a solid foundation in childhood. I was proud of him that he had the guts to follow his own fashion desires. Linda Z

You guys wound me up, and now I can't stop! The late 1950s musically were for me about love ballads and "It has a good beat...you can dance to it...I'd give it a 10!" As a young teen, I wanted music that you could either dance to or dream about kissing Ricky Nelson or Fabian to. Obvioiusly, my music-appreciation range started out pretty narrow but, because of something Socks mentioned earlier, my scope widened. As he said, radio stations used to play everything from Perry Como to Bill Haley and the Comets to the Chipmunks to you-name-it. Without that, I don't know if I'd have gotten exposed to anything more than the pop song d'jour! Linda Z

You said something so wonderful that I just wanted to bring it back up: "As far as being a Christian, I figure, my job as a musician is to bless those people, make them forget about their day jobs and idiot bosses and have fun. When I look up and see people jumping up and down on tables 'cause the music has taken them to another place and they've had a great time and talk about it with their friends for the next few days, I've done my job." If you ask me, that, my old friend, captures the heart of a true musician, like you and Socks and Ted (and sorry if I missed others in this thread). Nothing pleases me more when listening to a band, whether in a small club or a huge concert venue, than seeing the musicians (a) enjoying what they're doing and (B) connecting with the people they're playing for. In 1998 I went to Hord Fest with a friend and her teenage daughters. (Pretty hip for an old hippie long past her prime, eh? LOL) I was especially excited about seeing Smashing Pumpkins and Barenaked Ladies. Smashing Pumpkins were musically fine, but they barely even bothered to look out into the crowd. They could have been in a damn recording studio for all they seemed to care. Barenaked Ladies were the exact opposite. They connected bigtime. They were so much fun, and way more versatile than I'd have guessed, from show tunes to hard rockin' rock. So while Smashing Pumpkins might be considered more serious musicians and all that, I'd take another day with BNL over them any old day. Music, the music I love, is about passion, about fun, about heart and guts and rhythm and feelings--laughter and tears and amazement. It's not about sitting there in your perfectly tailored costumes being all theatrical and self-important. Blech. Linda Z

Thanks for the warm welcome. I'll be back after I go get some grub for my hard-workin' floor crew. Linda Z

If any of you decide to take Ted up on his offer, I'd love to join the outing. I don't have a thimbleful of musical knowledge compared to Ted, but I am a Cleveland history buff and could point out some pretty groovy historic homes and landmarks on the way there. And Ted, maybe you and I should blow off our next lunch rendezvous at Applebee's and do lunch at the Rock Hall one of these days. Your singing and my dancing wouldn't cause quite as much of a stir there, and I bet you could give me one heck of an education! Ted, I loved Bobby Darin, and your story about meeting him and helping him brought a sweet tear to my eye. I was so sad when he died, and I'm so happy you had the chance to give him a leg up. Linda Z

Hey Johniam, that's something about your mom traveling to Davenport to hear Bix play. He was another musician who succumbed young...to the ravages of alcohol, I believe. My dad, when he was young, tended bar in his aunt and uncle's tavern in Davenport, and Bix's dad was a regular customer whom my dad got to be friends with. Don't know if he ever went to hear Bix play, though. I'll have to ask him. While on the jazz topic, even though I've never been a huge jazz fan, I loved the heck out of Ken Burns's jazz documentary. He really put the people, and hence the heart, into the history of jazz. I was so jealous when Socks e-d me that he met Ken Burns at the Mark Twain film preview! What a talent that man has for seeing into the humanity in all he chronicles. Linda Z

Socks, thanks for pointing out this thread when you did. I've been so busy that this is the first time I could sit down and read the whole thing. My son and bro-in-law are laying new tile in my kitchen, and since my living room is full of the contents of my kitchen, and since they don't really need any sidewalk supervision from me, I have a perfect excuse to dive in here! First, thanks CK, for starting this thread. It's gotta be among my top five favorites of all WayDale/GreaseSpot time! I'll do my contributions in small pieces, so as not to drive anyone nuts with long post toasties! Music is such a part of my heart and soul and memories that I can't imagine life without it. Being of rather (ahem) advanced years compared to some of you here, I can remember listening to the radio as a little girl in the early 50s, before we had a TV. My first favorite song on the radio was called "Happy Wanderer." I have no idea who sang it, but I can remember listening to it on one of those big wooden radios in our living room, and I can vividly remember singing it on a happy, summer day as I crossed the field between our house and the neighbors' house. I'm not nuts about the sound of that song today, but I still like the lyrics! A Web search revealed that this is now considered a camp song for scouts. Here are the happy lyrics: The Happy Wanderer I love to go a-wandering, Along the mountain track, And as I go, I love to sing, My knapsack on my back. Chorus: Val-deri,Val-dera, Val-deri, Val-dera-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha Val-deri,Val-dera. My knapsack on my back. I love to wander by the stream That dances in the sun, So joyously it calls to me, "Come! Join my happy song!" I wave my hat to all I meet, And they wave back to me, And blackbirds call so loud and sweet From ev'ry green wood tree. High overhead, the skylarks wing, They never rest at home But just like me, they love to sing, As o'er the world we roam. Oh, may I go a-wandering Until the day I die! Oh, may I always laugh and sing, Beneath God's clear blue sky! [Amen to that!!] Another favorite was Vaya con Dios by Les Paul and Mary Ford. Hey Socks and Ted, didn't Les Paul invent the electric guitar? More after I see how the floor installers are getting along. Linda Z [This message was edited by Linda Z on November 30, 2002 at 10:50.]

Hope you'll share some of yours. Here are a few of mine. When I was little, watching my tall, white-haired, apron-wrapped grandmother presiding over the preparation of the huge meal with laughter and smiles. Grandma's huge dining room table. There were usually at least 12 of us sharing holiday meals there. My cousins, who, if not carefully watched, would put black olives on all 10 fingers and run around the living room eating them, to the horror of all the adults who weren't their parents. Playing cards with Grandpa or my aunt after dinner. Fast forward to the late 60s: Cooking Thanksgiving dinner in July in California for my husband, my son, and a dozen or so friends. We had a huge turkey in the freezer that one of our housemates had received at work, and I got the brilliant idea to have a summer Thanksgiving feast. I remember how cool it was that the big house we rented then had a double oven, so I went nuts baking bread and pies and more, while the turkey quietly roasted in the other oven. Fast forward to Rome City, Indiana, 1978: Courtesy of 7th Corps LL's brother (who was in the movie-distribution biz in NY or something), we had recent-release movies to watch all day in various locations around the campus. The supply of food, which we had access to in the kitchen all day and night, was endless, and it was sooooo good. The only damper on that day was getting sick in the middle of the night because a certain 7th Corps brother R McB (who always had a huge wad in his jaw) talked me into trying chewing tobacco, and I was too embarrassed to spit into a styrofoam cup! Fast forward to today: Storing up new memories: My son's here from Colorado, so every family member I love will be gathered around the table. We'll probably play charades or Pictionary or something after dinner, at the urging of my youngest nephew. The blessings of Thanksgiving are simple ones, aren't they? But their memory lingers long after the leftovers are gone. I hope you're all making some happy memories today. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!! Love, Linda Z

All I have to do is bake two pumpkin pies and go over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's (and Grandfather's) house in my little white sleigh. My son's here for a week, and it's his first Thanksgiving with us in more than a decade when he wasn't a vegetarian, so he gave fair warning: "I'm ready to eat!" This is also my first Thanksgiving as a nonsmoker in more years than I care to count, so my tastebuds are jumpin' for joy. This is gonna be good. Linda Z

...to a very patient man!! Hope it's the best ever. Love, Linda Z

Great story, suz! I can't believe Daniel is 24. I still think one of the funniest things that ever happened to Tyler was having to go to school (in Rome City) and try to explain to his teacher that he DID do his homework, but a little kid in the dorm had peed on it. It still makes me chuckle. Happy b'day, Daniel!! Linda

I have a question: Why do most of the VS (and other) models wear expressions like they want to rip someone's head off, and why do they stomp down the runway like they're about to do just that? Is that supposed to be sexy or high fashion? I don't get that at all. Abigail, yes, I like pretty lingerie, but what I have under my clothing or under my sheets has nothing to do with having to cover my nephews' eyes during prime time. I think they oughta put that show on cable. At least that way the audience of potential teenage anorexia and bulimia sufferers would be slightly smaller. Linda Z

You're wonderful. I don't know how you dug this up after so long, but I appreciate your remembering all this time that I was looking for it. What a special act of kindness! Update: Emma's still with me, driving me crazy sometimes with her energy level but more than compensating for it with her sweetness level. Since I wrote this tribute to Chester, Emma's been joined by Molly the formerly abused cat with half a tail. They're good companions for each other while I'm at work, and they're more inclined to lick each other than fight. I love them both madly! Linda Z

Bravo, bravo, bravo. Your b'day poem really made me grin. Thanks!! (If you're lurkikng out there, Ryebread, hi!!!) Linda

Thanks for the GREAT photo, Jesse. You know I'm partial to those little terrier "muttski" dogs. Oh, and Ginger, a belated thanks for the recipe. Perhaps I'll try it! Wish I could follow that old custom of giving gifts to you all on my b'day...kinda hard to shove cookies through the modem! So I'll just say thanks to everyone for making GS such an interesting and sometimes rousing hangout, and a place where I know I can come for prayers and mutual affection and learning. You're all wondermous! Love, Linda

You all know how to make a girl's birthday last! Three days to go and the party's well under way. I hope we don't run out of beer (or punch for the nondrinkers)! I love all your wishes and kindnesses. Thank you for all of them. xoxoxo, Linda

I wasn't involved in either of those threads, I don't think, but I do appreciate your letting us know where they got to. Thanks for the info! Linda Z PS. Be glad it was just two threads. I've accidentally deleted much worse.

When I got my cat a little over a year ago, she was a dainty little thing. One reason I got her was that my house was being invaded by mice. Well, she took care of the mouse problem, and apparently she was eating them because she rather quickly turned into (my pet name for her) Princess Lardass. (All I was feeding her was the dry Iams--no wet food and no "people treats." It had to be the mice!!) I decided to put her on Science Diet Light instead of Iam's Adult. When I made the switch, I started by mixing just a little Sci. Light in with her Iams at first and then gradually changed the ratio so she was getting more Sci. Diet and less Iams. Now she eats nothing but the Science Diet, and she seems to like it.

I recognize and remember fondly lots of the punny names in this thread. Hello from an exmember of the ex-Family V ex-Corps. I don't think any of us are "standing" by twi's definition, so I think our entire Corps is one big X (no doubt representing big sins). Of course some of us FV are so old by now that we can barely stand the hell up, much less stand around in a cornfield in the rain singing "I Saw the Light," except for Danny, the baby of our Corps. SimonZ, Micah was one of my very favorite junior corpslettes, and I sorta hoped someday she'd marry my son. I haven't seen her for a decade or two, but she had such a loving heart and a great attitude as a kid. If you talk to her, tell her Tyler's mom sends her a hug. I wonder how Kent K of the financial publishing empire K's is. Last I knew he was in St. Louis and remarried. And I'd love to find Alexis S. if anyone knows where she is. Last I saw her was in NH, 1986. If Carol Sell ever peeks in here, I'm waving and smiling. Hey, Sunesis, I thought there were lots of people in your Corps who were a hoot, but I must say the 9th Corps people hanging out on GS are by far the funniest group around here. Linda Z

How 'bout: The SPCA CARES Mobile (Community Adoption, Rescue, Education & Surgery) Mobile Or do you have to have an acronym? For something more catchy, how about something simple that could gain good name recognition pretty quickly, like "The Animobile," with a nice, colorful picture of dogs 'n cats painted in and around the name. :-) You could always use the SPCA CARES thing as a subtitle painted under this name to give a fuller explanation of what the mobile clinic RV is for. BTW, our buses in Cleveland have ads on them with a really cute Maurice Sendak illustration, promoting pet adoptions. It's probably up for grabs for organizations such as yours to use. Wouldn't hurt to ask. I think it's very effective. No idea if these are the sort of thing you're looking for. I've been working since this morning and just took a quick break to clear the cobwebs. I'm sure someone will come up with something more clever, but I had to try for the critters' sakes! Linda