A to Z Challenge - 2016

M is for...

I feel it is my duty with Mother's Day coming next month to teach you the song, MOTHER, as I had to learn it (and sing it every Mother's Day) for my mother.

It was written in about 1915 by Howard Johnson.  You can find some versions of it on YouTube to hear the melody, but here are the words:




M is for the million things she gave me
O is only that she's growing old
T is for the tears she shed to save me
H is for her heart as pure as gold
E is for her eyes with love light shining
R is that she's right and right she'll be.

Put them all together, they spell Mother,
A word that means the world to me.

I believe my mother's favorite line was the "R" one because she always sang it with particular emphasis on the words "right," as in "R is that she's RIGHT and RIGHT SHE'LL BE!"













As with the "Cowboy Jack" song from the letter "C" post, I have made a mini-album commemorating this song.  This one is available in my Etsy Shop (click the link on the right side of this blog or here).

I also have another style, using paper bags instead of chipboard, and you can add your own pictures and/or personal notes to it.  You can find that also on my Etsy site, here.  

Hope you don't mind the shameless plug of my "creations" but I figured that we are halfway through the alphabet and I haven't mentioned my Etsy shop at all yet, so what the heck!  Stop on by and pick one up if you want to give your mother something truly unique this year!  I can make a special order for you if you want special colors or want to personalize it.  

Okay, that's my one "advertisement" for the month.  Have a happy Friday all and don't forget to check out some of the other interesting blogs who are participating in the A to Z Challenge!  Have you heard of the song "Mother?"  Were you used to singing it every Mother's Day as well?  Love to hear about it. 

A to Z Challenge - 2016

The letter "L" has to be Lyrics.

Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses.  That's pretty basic.

Lyrics can be pretty simple and straightforward such as the Beatles classic Love Me Do.

Love, love me do.

You know I love you.

I'll always be true.

So please, love me do. 

Someone to love.

Somebody new.

Someone to love.

Someone like you.

That's about the whole song.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Then there are songs that tell a story and have special meaning for some people.  Leather and Lace by Stevie Nicks and Don Henley is that kind of song for me.

I was doing an art journaling project and one of the first things I had to do was to pick a muse.  I chose Stevie Nicks.  She is one of my all time favorites and a lot of her songs really resonate with me.


Leather and Lace

Stevie sings:

Is love so fragile
And the heart so hollow
Shatter with words
Impossible to follow
You're saying I'm fragile
I try not to be
I search only
For something I can't see.

I have my own life
And I am stronger
Than you know
But I carry this feeling
When you walked into my house
That you won't be walking out the door.
Still, I carry this feeling
When you walked into my house
That you won't be walking out the door.

Lovers forever
Face to face
My city, your mountains
Stay with me, stay
I need you to love me
I need you today.
Give to me your leather
Take from me my lace.

And then Don Henley sings:

You in the moonlight

With your sleepy eyes

Could you ever love a man like me

And you were right, 

When I walked into your house

I knew I'd never want to leave.

Sometimes I'm a strong man

Sometimes cold and scared

And sometimes I cry.

But that time I saw you

I knew with you to light my life

Somehow I'd get by.

Lovers forever

Face to face

My city, your mountains

Stay with me stay

I need to you to love me

I need you today.

Give to me your leather

Take from me 

My lace.

My husband and I are pretty much opposites.  I came from a pretty strict, Italian Catholic household where my parents were together for 40 years, until my dad passed away and we lived in the same town my whole life.  His dad was in the service and he traveled to Germany and the Philippines before his folks divorced.  He likes heavy metal and hard rock and I'm more of a rock and pop kind of girl.  He says he knew the minute he shook my hand for the first time that I was the one for him.  I was dating his brother at the time so I wasn't aware of that.  I'm a city girl, he could live in the mountains.  

And yet, we are a good match.  We've been together, married for almost 32 years, together for two years before that.  I am strong when I need to be and he is sensitive and caring as well.  Sharing, leather and lace, we get by. 

A to Z Challenge - 2016

K is for...

Keyboard.  I have something else planned for the letter "P" so I'm not going to do piano, but keyboard seemed to fit with my musical theme just as well.

A keyboard is a row of keys that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands.

I've seen Billy Joel use a keyboard a couple of times.

I've seen Neil Geraldo use a keyboard to sing to Pat Benatar.

Sir Paul McCartney can use a keyboard pretty well, I guess,

and Benmont Tench with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers can run his fingers up and down the ivories too.  

This is the only keyboard I know how to use, but I have had a lot of practice using it!


                                                                                     





















That's all I have for today.  Still trying to decide what I'm going to use for the letter "L," but hopefully it will be something that catches your interest.  Have a look at some of the other blog participants in our A to Z challenge and make sure to leave a comment here and let me know what you think.  Are you a musical keyboardist or a transcriptionist like me?

A to Z Challenge - 2016

Today is brought to you by the letter "J."

J is for Jazz...

April happens to be Jazz Appreciation month.  It was started in 2001 with initial funding from the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation to be an annual event that would pay tribute to jazz.  Schools, organizations and even government celebrate JAM with events like free concerts and educational programs.

According to Wikipedia, Jazz is a music genre that originated from African-American communities of New Orleans during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  In addition to Ella Fitzgerald, big names in jazz are Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, George Benson, Herbie Hancock and Count Basie.

In talking about jazz, one of the first things that comes to my mind is the movie, The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson.  It was a significant film in that it signaled the end of the silent movies and the beginning of the "talkies."

The original film was made in 1927 and won an Academy Award for producer Darryl F. Zanuck.  In 1996 the movie was selected for preservation in the U.S. Library of Congress' National Film Registry as a "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant motion picture.  In 1998 it was voted as one of the best American films of all times by the American Film Institute.  

The story is of a young Jewish boy, Jakie Rabinowitz, who wants to sing but his father, a cantor, believes that singing is only to be done in the synagogue.  The usual conflict ensues and the young man and his father have a major argument and Jakie leaves home to follow his dreams.  I won't tell you the end of the story, but it is a classic so if you haven't seen it, you should check it out.  There was a 1980 remake of the film with Neil Diamond playing the title role.  That was a pretty good one too.  

Jazz it is for the letter "J."  Have you seen the Jazz Singer, either version?  Jazz your favorite musical genre?  Love to hear about it. 

As a side note, I want to acknowledge that I get some of my interesting holiday facts from the site called Brownilocks at http://www.brownielocks.com.  There are so many little known and unusual holidays for every month of the year so if you are looking for something different to write about, take a look at her site.   

A to Z Challenge - 2016

It's time for "I"

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

Everyone knows that musicians are always drunk or stoned or both so it comes as no surprise that songs or song titles are occasionally not what they were meant to be.

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida is one of those.  It is a song recorded by Iron Butterfly and sung by singer, Doug Ingle.  There are a couple of versions of the story, but it seems that both versions include the fact that Ingle was drunk or stoned or both and he slurred the words which were supposed to be "In the Garden of Eden."

The lyrics are simple and repeated over and over.

In a gadda da vida honey,
Don't you know that I love you
In a gadda da vida baby
Don't you know that I'll always be true.

Oh won't you come with me
And take my hand
Oh won't you come with me
And walk this land
Please take my hand.

Doesn't that should like it would make sense in The Garden of Eden?

The song is significant in rock history in that it is one of the first songs that marks the transition from psychedelic to heavy metal.  It is also 17 minutes long, the whole side of one album.  It is said that it was just supposed to be the band warming up, but they just kept the tape running and liked the way it sounded, so they left it that way.

I used to think that the DJs would put this song on when they needed to go to the bathroom because they knew they'd have time to do that.

That's all I've got for today.  Hope you are enjoying the A to Z Challenge and are following along with some of the other players.

A to Z Challenge - 2016

H is for...

Harmony.  Harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches.  It comes from the Greek word harmonia, meaning joint, agreement or the verb harmozo meaning to fit together.  

Yes, these are the Backstreet Boys.  I've seen them twice now with my daughters (but actually I wanted to see them too)!  I have always liked the Boys more than NSYNC because I think their harmony is better.

This picture is not very good because we weren't supposed to be taking pictures, but it is Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons (although none of them are the original Seasons).  

Harmony also can mean peaceful relations and if you've seen the movie or the play "Jersey Boys" about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, you know that theirs was not always a harmonious relationship!

Not a very long post today and I'm glad we have tomorrow off.  I am selling my crafts at a show this weekend so I have no extra time, and of course I am not that far ahead.  Make sure to stop by the other interesting posters at the A to Z Challenge! 

Wish me luck at my craft fair and let me know what you think of my "H" offering.  Love to hear your comments!  

A to Z Challenge - 2016

Today we have the letter "G"

Gotta be Guitar:  April is International Guitar Month

Since I am a scrapbooker, one of the things I love to do at the concerts we attend is to try and get some interesting pictures of the bands.  I'm not always able to do this, depending on where we are sitting or what the venue rules are (please don't tell me I can't take any pictures, I will not obey!)

Eddie Van Halen

Eddie Van Halen

Eddie Van Halen

Tesla

We saw Van Halen a few years ago and while the show itself was kind of disappointing, (David Lee Roth needs to focus on the music, not his personal slide shows and Wolfgang needs to get into it a little more, not just stand there)...






I was able to get a few good pictures of Eddie and his guitar.  They did some really neat special effects on the big screen too.



















We had pretty good seats for Tesla so I was able to get some up close and personal stuff.  I love to watch the facial expressions.  They get so into their work!

Jon Bon Jovi

Looks like we were close for this show too but actually we were right in front of one of the screens so I was able to snag a few good ones.  I'm sorry, honey, but JBJ is one hot guy!

Neil Schon

We saw Neil Schon do the Star Spangled Banner at Shoreline one year.  Such a moving performance!  I had goosebumps!  Look at those fingers fly.

 I can't remember who this one is right now but I loved the picture I was able to get!

Lindsey Buckingham

And, last but not least, Lindsey Buckingham.  We've seen Fleetwood Mac several times and if he does not do "Big Love" my husband is very disappointed.  I managed to capture one of the performances from 2013.  Take a listen if you are so inclined...

And there you have the "G."  Hope you are following along with my little ABC project.  Don't forget to check out some of the other most interesting blogs out there who are also participating.  There really is something for everyone in the A to Z Challenge.