The Song Remains The Same

Same song. Same guy. Just. That. Wow. Different.





Youtube. A strange and addictive site sometimes. I was searching for something totally different and the Robert Plant/Alison Krauss version of "Black Dog" comes up. I enjoyed when Robert Plant and Alison Krauss got together. I even have the cd, Raising Sand. So I clicked into the above video and it took me a good minute to realize what song they were singing. 

Enjoy your Friday!

Beep Beep

Once upon a time, in 1984, it was just Jamie and I living in a tiny apartment in an old converted house. It was our first real place, just the two of us. I was 23 and Jamie was 4 when we moved there. We had lived with my parents for three years and they were getting ready to move to Florida. I had been dating Jim for two years and was madly in love. I made the very difficult decision not to make the move with my parents even though Jim and I were not talking marriage...yet. Jim would say that he knew long before this that we would be getting married. But that's another story for another time. 

Every day I had to be to work at 8am and drop Jamie off at the sitter's on the way. Jamie was not a morning person. We finally came up with a routine that worked for us and I would dress Jamie while she still slept, carry her down to the car and she would eat breakfast later.

I don't think Jamie and I will ever forget a certain song that played every single morning on our way to the sitter's house. It certainly did help to wake Jamie up. And we both sang along...

The reckless side of me!

I like to plan ahead. I have never really been fond of doing things spur of the moment. Over time I have accepted that, if I wanted to spend a rainy day "down in the city" with Jim, I needed to accept that I could just drop everything and go. That is now...without kids to shuttle and so many volunteer commitments.

So begins the story of my reckless spontaneous decision yesterday...

I saw Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band in 1977 at (what was then) Pine Knob (now called DTE Energy Music Theatre) in Clarkston, MI. It's an outdoor venue with a covered pavilion where the stage and the prime seats are and the "Hill" where it was general seating. We had tickets on the hill. I was 16 and it didn't matter that it had rained earlier. It was a great show.

A Bob Seger concert in 1977

A few months ago, I heard that Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band would be appearing at The Palace of Auburn Hills in May. I really wanted to go. I shoved it to the back of my mind though. "Shouldn't be spending money on such silliness," I told myself.

Of course as the time got closer, I started kicking myself for not buying tickets. "Too late now," I told myself. "Still don't have the extra money to spend," I reminded myself. Jim told me several times to go ahead and get tickets, but I just couldn't justify spending the money. *sigh*

Darn it though! It was Bob Seger. Michigan born and still a Michigan man! At 66, this could be his last tour. He'll have to retire sometime. It just seemed like we shouldn't miss it...

And then he played his first show on Tuesday night. I heard that the first song he sang was "Roll Me Away" which is my favorite of his. And I heard that he played for over two hours and it was a good, really good, show. I may have whined a little at this point.

Yesterday (Thursday) was his second show and in the morning I said to Jim that I soooo wish I would have gotten tickets and I soooo wish that we were going. Jim told me that he had heard there were still tickets and that I should check it out. And I did. Then I decided that we just couldn't spend the money. Then I whined to Jim again. Again he told me to GO SEE IF THERE WERE STILL TICKETS! And I did. And there were.

Not good tickets, mind you, but there were tickets. I called Jim. Twice. He told me to BUY THE TICKETS. And I did. I think it was hitting 2pm and the concert started at 7:30 and we live about an hour away. If you know me well, you know that I like to be early to these types of things. Really early. There's really no sense to it, but it's just one of my lovely quirks.

Not this time. We left with plenty of time, but stopped to eat and let our GPS mess up our route when we pretty much knew how to get there. So, we got to The Palace less than an hour before the start of the show. I am bordering on reckless here now! Less than an hour before the start of the show? Not like me at all!

We were lucky we had that little bit of time though, as I had to recover from the many stairs we ascended up to the next to the last row of seats. That didn't bother me once I caught my breath (but there was no way I was going back down ☺). We were there. We were going to see and listen to Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band put on an awesome show. AND THEY DID!

A bad photo with my cell phone zoomed in. Yes, zoomed in. But you know what? It just didn't matter. We were there and it was an awesome show!

Can you think of a Bob Seger song that you would have liked to hear? We heard it! He sang his hits and he sang newer songs. He sounds great. He is Bob Seger. AND WE SAW HIM!!!

I don't want to end this on a negative note, but I have some concert pet peeves:
*Pot Smokers. Seriously? I don't want to inhale it.
*Standers. I came to see Bob Seger, not your back.
*Singers. I came to hear Bob Seger, not you.
*Farters. Please visit the restroom! :-)

That said, we're not spoil sports. Sing (sometimes), stand (not through the whole show) and fart (once in a while, if you absolutely have to). But please leave your pot at home! Although, it was slightly entertaining. I saw them all leave. Then the next time I looked over at them...they were eating... and I mean really eating! ☺

Does every concert have the "enthusiastic dancer"? Our section had one. She danced through almost the whole show (and I saw her turn and ask the people behind her if she was in their way, they didn't seem to mind). She really danced...badly. But she was so darn happy and enthusiastic about it that it was fun to watch her!

Great day. Great concert. Sometimes we have to be reckless and spontaneous and just have fun!

1977

2011

 He's changed a little bit since the last time I saw him, but then...so have I.

1977. No, this was not my date for the concert back then. :-)

2011. I had a much better date for this concert and we had a great time!

And thanks to the great waitress at the Big Boy on Hall Road in Clinton Township who let us in after they had closed when we assured her that we just wanted dessert. It was after midnight. She was at the end of her shift and was just super nice.

Z-hivago

I love the movie Dr. Zhivago. My mother's family was from Russia. My grandmother's parents came from Russia. My mom's Russian heritage was very important to her. She loved to read about Russian history.



I love Dr. Zhivago because, well, the scenery is breathtaking...Russia in the winter. Mostly I love Dr. Zhivago because it reminds me of my mom...


Lara's Theme. One of the most beautiful songs. Ever...


In my youtube research, I discovered that there was another, newer Dr. Zhivago movie. How did I not know this? Do I want to see it? Who could replace the original cast?

And this concludes the A - Z Challenge. Wow! It went by quickly. I'm a little relieved, but I will miss it. Most importantly...I discovered some wonderful blogs (and new friends) that I will continue to follow! ☺

U-nderwear

Maybe since I've been sick I've lost my alphabet mojo...I don't know. U is a hard letter though. So many words have gone through my mind, trying to come up with just the right one. Umbrella, unload, ubiquitous, uvula...big words, little words, simple words and difficult words.

But it always came back to this.



Are you familiar with this song by the Barenaked Ladies? My daughter and I always got a kick out of how they made us say Underwear! Lame. I know. But we are easily amused.

And that is why my U-word is Underwear!

P.S. I couldn't remember the name of this song when I went on my youtube search. FYI...It's best to know the name of the song first. Typing "Barenaked Ladies"...well it brought up some interesting results that I quickly skipped over!


Have a wonderful day!!

Blame it on my brother...

The other day as I started writing about music and memories, what else could happen?
It brought back a few memories.

Here I share, not only a particular memory, but also my strange ability to know who sings what song that happened to be popular back in the '70's. This, by the way, is taking up much needed memory space in my brain. I can't remember something that someone told me yesterday, but darn it, I can remember when a Tom Petty song comes on right in the first few notes.



When we were in our teens and started hanging out together more, my brother and I discovered that we both liked the same music. This was back in the '70's when what we consider now to be classic rock was not classic...yet. And my brother and I would quiz each other on who could guess the artist/band/song that was playing on the radio. I think we were both pretty good at it, but I may have to admit that he was a little better than I. After all, he is older than me. ☺

Anyhow, this strange habit of mine never seems to have gone away. I've tried playing this guessing game with my husband. A song starts playing and I say, "Quick! Who is this?!" And he says (always), "I don't know." And quite often he doesn't. He doesn't really care. If he likes a song, he enjoys it and he doesn't concern himself with who is singing it.

But then my kids got old enough to torture quiz. I would often bribe them, "A buck to whoever can guess who this is!"
Then, my son reached an age where he actually started listening to classic rock and he knew the answers and the game started costing me money. So, I quit offering the monetary reward, but I still ask. Jon usually knows and sometimes he'll play along, but other times it annoys him and he won't play. Sometimes he is quite the stick in the mud. Jamie, on the other hand, will usually venture a guess. It's rarely right, but she tries. She's just never been a listener of classic rock. I won't embarrass her with some of the guesses she's made, but seriously, everyone should know The Beatles!

I blame this strange habit on my brother. After all...he started it!

Music and Memories

Did you ever hear a song that you hadn't heard in years, that you had forgotten even existed, and instantly, you are taken back to a different place, a different time, a different you? I believe that music can bring back so many memories that you didn't even remember. Quite often, something that would have remained buried except for hearing that song.

I love music, actually many different genres of music, except rap and hard, head-banging rock. Just can't tolerate that. If you're a fan fine for you, but I just can't tolerate it...for many reasons. I liked classical music when I was very young. And I still do, actually. In fact, I remember the very first record album (yes I said record album ☺) that I ever received. It was a recording of The Nutcracker Suite and I listened to it a lot.

This is the very cover that I remember...I wish I still had the album.

There was a time in my childhood that I kept getting sick and had to visit our pediatrician more than I really wanted to. I remember that he often sang "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head", which was made famous by BJ Thomas. And that became a favorite of mine. I remember that my mom gave me one of those pull string music boxes that played "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head". It hung by my bed and I loved to listen to it over and over. Even now, over 40 years later, when I hear that song I think of Dr. DiMaso in his white lab coat, walking in the hallway outside the examining rooms singing or whistling that song.



There are so many songs like this in my life. Songs that take me right back to that place. There are those songs that remind me of my mom and those that remind me of my dad. Songs that remind me of being pregnant or being a young mom with my baby girl. Songs that remind me of springtime when my son was born. Songs that put me right back on early dates with my husband. ☺ All good memories. But of course, music isn't there only to help us remember good times. There are many songs that make me sad. Or even mad, even though I've spent the last 25+ years trying to get over that.

My favorite music is what I would consider folk rock. James Taylor (my absolute favorite), Simon and Garfunkel, Carole King, early Elton John and Cat Stevens, Carly Simon, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. I could go on. This is what I loved in my early days of listening and this is what I still lean on. I've gone through so many music stages. There have been times when I've preferred to listen to rock or country, and sometimes still do, but I always go back to my original love of folk rock. The real troubadours!

Classical, folk, classic rock, country? It really just depends on my mood!