For My Daughter - Nicole

This song is very special to me because I heard that Robert Plant from the rock and roll band Led Zeppelin wrote it for his daughter. 

So each time I hear it, I think of my daughter Nicole! ! 
Nicole I deeply love you always and forever!
Your very proud father 

All of my love by Led Zeppelin

The song - Walking in Memphis

Every time I listen to this song it reminds me of Memphis. My mind fills with fond memories of my wife and family went to the different places in this song. I put my memories phrases below the lyrics.

Put on my blue suede shoes
And I boarded the plane
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues

In the middle of the pouring rain

W.C. Handy
Won't you look down over me
Yeah, I got a first class ticket
But I'm as blue as a boy can be

Saw the ghost of Elvis
On Union Avenue

Each time we went to a Redbirds baseball game I would drive down Union Avenue! Once Chris and I camped in our tent along with all the cub scouts of our Pack in center field! 
Followed him up to the gates of Graceland

My wife and I were dating and we visited her Memphis family, I haven’t been to Graceland so we went!
Then I watched him walk right through

Now security they did not see him
They just hovered 'round his tomb

We walked around his awesome tomb surrounded by beautiful flowers!
But there's a pretty little thing, waiting for the king
Down in the Jungle Room

The jungle room was quite impressive!

They've got catfish on the table

We loved going to restaurants where they served fried catfish!
They've got gospel in the air
And Reverend Green, be glad to see you
When you haven't got a prayer
Boy, you got a prayer in Memphis

It seemed like there was a church on every corner in Memphis!

Now Muriel, plays piano
Every Friday at the Hollywood

One night my FedEx boss organized a party at the Hollywood Café. It was my wife’s and I first time! It was a fun party with my fellow employees and their spouses of my FedEx team!
And they brought me down to see her
And they asked me if I would

To do a little number
And I sang with all my might
She said, "Tell me are you a Christian child?"
And I said, "Ma'am, I am tonight"

Put on my blue suede shoes
And I boarded the plane
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain

This is very true, I used to go on FedEx business trips and I got to ride in the cockpit of the FedEx jets! One night I was returning from Anchorage,AK, (it was a business trip helping my friend Pat Archer with his team of employees with their computers) it was pouring rain. At 3 AM we had the airport to ourselves so the pilot did a 360 turn right in the middle of the runway! It was a blast! 

Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

The meaning of the song Layla

Layla by Derek &  the Dominos

The three people involved are George Harrison,  Eric Clapton and Pattie Boyd. She is Layla.
When Eric met her she was married to George, it was love at first sight! She has beautiful blonde hair which is important later in my story.
Eventually Eric and Pattie got married and he wrote this before their marriage. 

The lyrics 
What'll you do when you get lonely

And nobody's waiting by your side?

You've been running and hiding much too long.

You know it's just your foolish pride.

Layla, you've got me on my knees.

Layla, I'm begging, darling please.

Layla, darling won't you ease my worried mind.

I tried to give you consolation

When your old man had let you down.(This is George! )

Like a fool, I fell in love with you,

Turned my whole world upside down.

Layla, you've got me on my knees.

Layla, I'm begging, darling please.

 Layla, darling won't you ease my worried mind.

Let's make the best of the situation

Before I finally go insane.

Please don't say I'll never find a way

And tell me all my love's in vain.

Layla, you've got me on my knees.

Layla, I'm begging, darling please.

 Layla, darling won't you ease my worried mind.

Layla, you've got me on my knees.

Layla, I'm begging, darling please.

Layla, darling won't you ease my worried mind.

Eric wrote the song Wonderful Tonight for her and you might know that is where she brushes her long blonde hair before they go to the party.
I love the meaning behind rock and roll songs! 

I love classic rock and roll!

I learned some fun facts about famous songs by listening to my favorite rock and roll radio station but first here’s a personal story when I worked at the dormitory at CSU called Allison Hall in 1976.

I was hired to work in the front office from 4 AM until 8 AM. Most nights it was quiet and all I had was control of the lobby’s stereo. When the song Against the Wind by Bob Seger came on the radio I would crank up the volume full blast and rock on! Sing with me. . . I wish I knew now what I didn’t know then. . . 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pudeNDeeiM

In the picture of the hall is my freshman room on the first floor on the far left. My roommate was Barry Waltman and we shared the same love of music.  The first day in our dorm we hit off so well that we talked until 2Am! We are great friends to this day.
My second year I moved up to the 3^rd floor exactly above my first floor room. That’s when I worked in the office.
Marsha Simpson took me to Allison in 2012 and oh boy it changed dramatically with the amount of security for example I would unlock all the exit doors at 6 AM and now all doors are locked and require a magnetic card to swipe to get in! Fortunately Marsha and I were let in to my floor by a kind girl who lived on my floor. It used to be an engineering co-ed dormitory in the mid 70’s. It was great to see my floor! It brought back fond memories of my college years.
Here are my fun facts about two songs:
Rod Stewart’s first blockbuster song called Maggie May introduced the world to his raspy voice and he went into stardom. The strange fact about this song was his drummer. He was always forgetting to bring his full drum set to the recording sessions. This time he only had his snare and high hat. That’s the drum between his legs and the two cymbals that you operate with your foot for those not savvy with drums.  It’s still a great song! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2CQ0FvAZuw

Another song written by Tom Petty called Free Fallin' is a classic because when Tom was sleeping and he fell out of bed. I think he pure genius for creating such fabulous lyrics from just falling out of bed! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRxZtN22nTg

Oktoberfest with a Led Zeppelin Song

Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin. This song is very special to me because I have a wonderful memory of it. I was at the October Fest in Munich, Germany. Believe it or not I was tired of the drinking so much beer and the crowds so I went downtown Munich within walking distance. In truth I needed to clear my head. In an entrance to a glass lined shop a young man was playing this song with a guitar. A crowd was gathered in the entrance to the store on the sidewalk and the young man was playing in front of the store door. There were about 15 feet of glass on both sides of the entrance between us and the man. Because of the echo his guitar sounded like many guitars. I was mesmerized as well as the crowd of people listening. I didn't want it to end but I had memorized the lyrics of the song and I knew when it would end. The crowd cheered and applauded his performance. It was awesome and I cherish the memory! 

My Rock and Roll Band Days

I love classic rock and roll. My favorite bands are Beatles, Allman Brothers band, Led Zeppelin, The Who, James Taylor, Gordon Lightfoot, to name a few. I'm not into heavy metal. 
 My music story started in 5th grade when I joined a rock and roll band. Before that I didn't have an interest in music except singing in school which I didn't like because I can't carry a tune to save my life!  In our band I was the drummer. Here are some pictures of the time we played at the sixth grade dance! We also played at the fifth grade dance. My house was the place that we practiced most of the time. My mom loved it! She had patience. We had an upright piano that my friend would play and the windows would vibrate when we got to rocking and rolling! It was the late 60's and as you recall that was the time of psychedelic music and posters.  Out bedrooms had black lights that made glow in the dark posters light up and it was cool. Here's  a picture of me in my bedroom wearing a hat with a wig! 

At dance we got dry ice and put it in old coffee cans and turned the stage to fog! The audience loved it. Our songs were from the Beatles, C. C. R. and Traffic to name a few.  Proud Mary was a big favorite. My favorite part was watching my classmates dance!  There were a few girls that screamed! Wow. After the dance we received praise from our classmates and faculty. It was awesome!   Our band was called Lightning Blue! 

 

 

To my amazement, my son Chris took a liking for drums and bought him an electric drum kit! I loved when he played with his buddies! 

Memphis in May

Well, I had the best weekend ever.

My friend, John Bennett (on the right), just got back from Iraq after serving for over a year and Brian Brown (on the left), our fearless leader, went out Saturday night to the Memphis in May music festival.

We ate downtown at the Bigfoot Lodge. Which is totally out of place for Memphis, since they have lots of stuffed heads of big game on the walls and a giant wood carving of the legendary Sasquatch.

The place attracts a younger crowd and a few old farts like the three of us. Good music and great food, especially the fried catfish with sweet potato fries! The atmosphere reminds me of places I've been in Colorado. They offer a four pound hamburger called the Sasquatch. If you eat it within one hour, you get it for free.

We watched a young man chugging his third 34 oz mug of beer while he stuffed a pocket full of quarters into the jukebox. When he was done, he came over to our table and asked us what song we wanted to listen to. We thought for a moment and said ROLLING STONES. He complied and we were soon listening to Start Me Up. A nice gesture on his part.

We then joined about a million people at the music festival. We found the perfect parking for my van and the event staff set up these really cool raised platforms especially made for handicap people. So we listened to the music above the crowd. Awesome.

As the sun set over the mighty Mississippi river, we saw 3 bands, TAJ MAHAL, OHIO PLAYERS, and STEELY DAN. STEELY DAN was perfect and played all their classics. They were the last band of the evening. Needless to say, I didn't get tucked into bed until 2 AM.
The next day, I bought the STEELY DAN Greatest Hits CD. Saturday night will forever be known as the ultimate Boy's Night Out! Good food, music, scenery, and the best of company. It took me all day Sunday to recover and I didn't have a hangover. Well worth it.