Music . . . For The Road . . .

Recently, I purchased an Elton John's Greatest Hits (1974) CD. So what surprises you more? The fact that I'm still buying CDs or that I happen to like Elton John? (smile)

Anyway, the CD contains lots of great driving music, classics like: Daniel; Honky Cat; Rocket Man; Bennie and the Jets; Crocodile Rock . . . I wish I'd purchased the CD before my family's recent tw0-hour car trip to neighboring Ashville. Sometimes it's hard to find music that the hubby and I enjoy enough to listen for hours on end. The kid, well, he either pulls out his own headset or puts up with his parents' old school choices. Actually, I think the boy is being treated and exposed to a fairly broad selection of music.

Of course, were it left to me, I'd jam to random selections from the likes of Aretha, India.Aire, Jill Scott, Lalah Hathaway, Cassandra Wilson, etc. And when I tired of the sister singers, I'd toss in some Marvin, Al Green, Maxwell, Prince, Eric Benet before switching over to a bit of Miles and 'Trane. Yeah, basically my tastes are all over the place.

On this most recent trip to Ashville, the three CDs the hubby and I both gave the thumbs up for on-going play were: Year of the Gentleman (Neyo); Pleasure Of The Night (Will Downing & Gerald Albright); and Acey Duecy (Anthony David).

Neyo's Year of The Gentleman was one of the hubby's recent purchases. He claims he snagged it for the kid. Yeah, right (smile). Anyway, I gave it a listen, not expecting too much, but found myself head-bobbing to several of the cuts: Closer; Nobody; Mad; Miss Independent; Fade Into The Background; and So You Can Cry in particular. Forget the kid, this one stays in mama's collection.

Will Downing & Gerald Albright's Pleasures of the Night is an oldie but goodie smooth jazz CD that I forgot I even owned. Brother Will handles the deep-throated vocals like a pro while Albright spins his special brand of magic on the sax.

I must admit to being shocked when both of my guys expressed their enjoyment of Anthony David's Acey Duecy. Typically, whatever I can't get enough of, music-wise, they can't stand. This one we all love! For me, David's style has this sort of southern neo-blues feel to it that soothes and moves me like a good home-cooked meal after church on Sunday. Very rarely do I enjoy just about every cut on a CD, but with the exception of two, I can honestly say that I could listen to the songs on Acey Ducey all day long. If I had pick a few favorites, I'd have to say--Something About You; Words; Spittin' Game; Kinfolk; GA Peach and Cheatin Man.

Well, those were some of our recent road trip music selections. Got any you'd like to share?

Birthdays . . . Who Has One On The Same Day As Yours?

While listening to the radio this morning, I learned that the following three individuals were all born on September 13: Tavis Smiley, Tyler Perry and Iyanla Vanzant. Interesting, huh? Well, it is to me, particularly because my father also celebrates a birthday on September 13 and he shares quite a few of the personality traits & quirks (both good & bad) of the three aformentioned celebrities (smile).

I have a birthday in September as well. No, not on the 13th, even though my Mom says she was hoping to have me on that day, if only so she could give me to my Dad as a gift he wouldn't soon forget. But I guess the Muse-Maker had a slightly different plan because my entry into the land of the living didn't come until 10 days later, on September 23rd.

I'm honored to share a birthday with none other than John Coltrane. As I've mentioned, more than once in the OSM, thanks to my Dad, I grew up listening to 'Trane's music. Long before I knew we shared a birthday, I had an interest in him and his work. Based on what I've read, I'd dare say Mr. Coltrane and I have a number of things in common--though, none of which, besides our love for music, I'm fixing to share here with you today (LOL).

But what about you? Do you share a birthday with someone well-known, whether famous or infamous? If so, do you think you have anything in common with that person? Do tell.

WHEN I GROW UP, I'M NEVER GONNA . . .

I'm sure, at some point, as kids, most of us narrowed our eyes at something our parents did and mumbled to ourselves, "When I grow up, I'm never gonna ________ (fill in the blank). I know I did.

During a recent exchange of emails, a friend mentioned that while growing up, his family always drank powdered milk. He promised himself, when he grew up, he'd NEVER drink it again. Lo and behold, he says now that's all he buys (LOL).

How does that happen? How do we end up doing the exact same thing or things we once vowed NEVER to do? I'm not really sure. I do know for me, the blank in the statement, "When I grow up, I'm never gonna________" would be listen to jazz.

I can remember just as clearly the day, I vowed never to get caught listening to the maddening sounds my Dad seemed to love so well. We were living in Idaho at the time. I was probably somewhere between the 3rd and 4th grade. It was a Saturday morning and as usual, my Dad had the stereo on full blast. The song, the one he'd been playing over and over again and for several Saturdays straight, was one entitled,"Compared To What," and performed by Les McCann and Eddie Harris.

I'm not sure if I hated the song or was just tired of hearing it every doggone Saturday. I do know that I found some of the lyrics particularly disturbing, including the following--

"Slaughter houses are killin hogs

Twisted children are killin' frogs

Poor dumb rednecks rolling logs

Tired old lady, kissin' dogs . . ."

from the song

"Compared to What"

by Les McCann and Eddie Harris

The folks killing the hogs and killing the frogs were bad enough, but the old lady kissing the dogs . . . I'm sorry, but for the life of me, I just couldn't understand why anybody in their right mind would want to listen to a song about some old lady who enjoyed kissing dogs. I remember telling myself, you know, when I grow up, I'm never gonna listen to any mess like this. I don't like jazz is what I told myself, not just that song, none of it--Coltrane, Miles, Parker, Dizzy, Lady Day . . .

Of course, years later, after I got grown and lived on my own, what became my radio station preference? Any station that played jazz, quite naturally. And on those rare occasions when I would hear "Compared To What" I'd actually stop, listen, smile and if possible turn that mess up (LOL). I'm not sure at what point it all changed, but now, I really do love the song and consider it one of my favorites.

A love for jazz is one of the more positive things I picked up from my parents. One of the more negatives, I hate to admit, was smoking. I grew up thinking smoking was one right nasty habit and vowed to never indulge. But for a brief period of time during college, finding me with a cigarette dangling from my lips wasn't all that unusual.

So, how would you fill in the blank? What do you do now that you once said, when you grew up, you'd never do?

AN OSM NOD TO THE GODFATHER OF SOUL . . . JAMES BROWN (1933-2006)

Yes, I did talk bad about James Brown's hair (see #8 on the OSM TOP TEN LIST OF BROTHERS WHO NEED TO LET THE PERM GO). But as far as his contribution to R&B is concerned, I'm willing to give JB his props. The hollering, sweating, process-wearing, camel-walking brother with the South Carolina and Georgia roots was indeed Super Bad (1970) if not a cape-donning trailblazer when it came to soul music, stage presence and showmanship.

Even though I can remember watching my parents and their friends doing the bump and the double bump to James Brown's Payback (1974), I tend to associate JB with the folks of my grandparent's generation. One of the reasons his garbled (and often ridiculed) manner of speaking never really fazed me was because to my ears, he sounded like a lot of my Mississippi-bred grandparents and their contemporaries.

In all honesty, whenever I hear a James Brown beat, a murky image of my Grandmother, standing behind the bar in Binghamton's Tillman Grill is the first thing to come to mind.

Z. M. Hawkins & friend (boss?)

in Tillman Grill

from Lori's Pic Collection

(date unknown)

Tillman Grill, a dark cafe, located (once upon a time) in the heart of North East Memphis's Binghamton community is where my mama's mama worked for a number of years as a cook. The cafe had a jukebox and even though I can't be sure, the mental ties is so strong, I want to say the first time I ever heard any James Brown was on that jukebox. When I close my eyes and concentrate on that cafe jukebox, inevitably, the two JB songs I hear are Cold Sweat (1967) and Say It Loud--I'm Black and I'm Proud (1968). I never asked, but I'm willing to bet my Grandmother's own favortie JB tune was something along the lines of a Please, Please, Please (1956) or Try Me (1959). Those songs have more of a Blues feel to them and to be sure, my Granny (Zenna Mae Hawkins) loved herself some Blues (smile).

Yes, whenever I hear James Brown, I can't help but think about my Granny, a dark Memphis cafe and a doggone jukebox. No doubt that link will grow even stronger since oddly enough, both my Granny and the Godfather made their respective transitions (hers in 2002 and his in 2006) on Christmas Day.

I bet somewhere up there, beyond the pearly gates, JB is on stage screaming, sweating, spinning around and putting on one hell, oops . . . I mean, one heck of a show. My Granny is there too . . . somewhere in a dark corner . . . with a hand cocked to her hip, a grin on her face, her head bobbing real slow like to the JB beat . . . and waiting, all the while, for one of her regulars to call out for another round or place an order for a burger and plate of home fries. After all, who says there's only one way to rest in peace?

Z.M. Hawkins and customers

in a North Memphis cafe

sometime in the 1980's

from Lori's Pic collection

THE HOLIDAY PAT-DOWN

The "pat-down" is one of my family's holiday traditions. It typically takes place just as my brother or I am about to leave my parents' home after having visited for more than a day or two. Before we can say our final goodbyes, my Dad will turn to my Mom and say, "Did you check her/his/their bags? Every time one of them leaves from here, some of my cds and albums turn up missing." We all laugh, but everybody knows my Dad is only halfway joking. He owns a huge collection of vintage jazz and r&b records and cds. And for some unknown reason, he thinks we STEAL his music.

Now, I can only speak for myself. The only cds I have from my Dad's collection are the ones he's given me. But when it comes to vinyl, I've gotta confess, yes, I do own more than a few of THE OLD MAN'S albums. (Yeah, I can hear him now, See, see I KNEW they had my stuff!) In my defense, I didn't really steal them. These were records I used to listen to on my old stereo componet set (the one with the turntable, the cassette player and the 8-track!) before I went off to college. I had them in my room and well, they just sorta, kinda got packed up with all of my other personal items when I left home. For years, my Dad never said anything about them, so I figured he didn't really miss them.

For the record, I NEVER took any of the old man's vintage jazz. I don't have any of his Miles, Coltrane or Bird. Okay . . . I did take an album entitled "Soul Makossa" by Afrique, but I don't really consider that vintage jazz. Anyway, the following is a "near-complete (smile) list of titles.

THE OSM LIST OF ALBUMS I BORROWED (STOLE) FROM MY FATHER . . .

1) THE MAGNIFCENT 7 (The Supremes & Four Tops) 1970 I'm not sure, but Dad might have given me this one. Back in elementary school, me and my friends, Lori P. and Leeda, used to play this album in my room and pretend we were the Supremes.

2) GREATEST HITS II (The Tempations) 1970 Remember the Temps song, "Ball of Confusion?" I can still remember me and my friend Lethea singing that song to the top of our lungs while swinging on her backyard swing set. "People moving out, people moving in, why because of the color of their skins. Run, run, run, but you sho'll can't hide . . ."

3) SKY'S THE LIMIT (The Temptations) 1971 My two favorite cuts from this one were, "Gonna Keep On Trying' Till I Win Your Love" and "Just My Imagination."

4) *WHAT'S GOING ON (Marvin Gaye) 1971 Who doesn't like this album? Let me just say, if I were ever stranded on an island and could only listen to 3 albums for the rest of my life, they would have to be the following three by Marvin.

5) *LET'S GET IT ON (Marvin Gaye) 1973 I bought this album as an anniversary gift for my folks, but ended up keeping it for myself.

6) *I WANT YOU (Marvin Gaye) 1976 The title of my novel, AFTER THE DANCE comes from a song by the same title on this particular album.

7) INNERVISIONS (Stevie Wonder) 1973 There isn't a single bad song on this album. My Dad used to play it to death, before I got ahold to it.

8) FULFILLINGNESS' FIRST FINALE (Stevie Wonder) 1974 I have no idea what the title means, but just like Innervisions, every song on here is worth listening to again and again.

9) SOUL MAKOSSA (Afrique) 1973 The only song I really ever listened to on this one was "Soul Makossa."

10) LET'S PUT IT ALL TOGETHER (The Stylistics) 1974 What ever happened to this group? Dude's falestto was something else.

11) DRAMA V (The Dramatics) 1975 As much as I liked this album, I must admit "cuteness" was also a factor. Ron Banks had some right dreamy eyes and Lenny Mayes had a nice 'fro and a pretty smile.

12) GRATITUDE (Earth, Wind & Fire) 1975 Yes, I did talk bad about Maurice and Verdine's hair. But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate their music. I love me some EW&F!

13) PERSON TO PERSON (Average White Band) 1976 Did you know these guys were originally from Scotland? Whenever I'm in the mood for some vintage blue-eyed soul, I reach for this album (or my The Best of Teena Marie cd). My favorite cuts are "School Boy Crush" "Cut the Cake" "Person to Person" "If I Ever Lose This Heaven" "I'm The One" Oh hell, just about all of them (smile).

All right y'all, don't act like I'm the only one. I know some of y'all left home with some stuff that wasn't yours (whether records or something else). So, who wants to 'fess up first? Seriously, any comments about the list are welcome. Do you think this list says something in particular about me? ( I mean, besides the obvious)