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Possible Future Show, and Music List
Jul. 5th, 2008 01:33 amOff and on for the last few years, I've toyed with the idea of writing a one-woman show, but have not written a script because it would be easy to bog down in emo revelations which might be...potentially therapeutic but have limited entertainment value.)
One theme which I think might work in some fashion, is the repeated experience of my mother sharing this or that recording which she periodically finds and which "gets her right here" in a way that compels her to share. There have been lots over the years -- my parents owned no Beatles records when I was growing up, but thanks to Mom I knew who Miriam Makeba and Harry Belafonte were from when I was small (Yes, I WAS... 8P ). Some of the songs I was exposed to back then have made their way into my busking act. I have summed up my habitual reaction as "Oh, wow, Mom, thanks--that's really beautiful. (beat) Can I go back to sleep now?"
This is a partial list, which I may expand as memory serves:
"Kilimandjaro", Miriam Makeba
"Banana Boat Song", Harry Belafonte (there might be another song she liked more, but that record is long gone...)
"Kathy's Song", Paul Simon
"Healer of My Soul", John Michael Talbot
"Close To You", any version (she said my father used to sing it to her. My dad could carry a tune in a bucket, if it was a sufficiently large bucket)
"Love's Theme", Love Unlimited Orchestra
"Too Near Heaven", a hymn she and her sister sang for their church
anything by Bill Gaither (from the Fundie years...)
"Bright Heaven's Sun", Iona
"In the House of Stone and Light" by whoever that guy is...
"Suspicious Minds", Elvis (she loves the guitar riff at the end of the bridge...)
"Take Me Home, Country Roads" (Dad bought this paean to WV for my Appalachian mother 8)
After Dad died we were a bit more sheltered from godless modern culture, so my limited musical exposure was the stuff on PBS and soundtracks from Disney movies. (we wore out four copies of the Roger Miller-narrated soundtrack from "Robin Hood"--I still get all choked up when I hear the Hampster Dance...) Thank God for The Muppet Show. Also, later, thank God for my radio.
In my adolescence, I was in love with Barry Manilow (before I realized that all the songs sounded alike--now I have a hard time listening to most of them). Other stuff that "got me right here", then and later, were:
"At Seventeen", Janis Ian
"And I Love You So", Don McLean
"Daisy Jane", America
"Goodbye Girl", David Gates
"You Should Be Dancin' ", Bee Gees (unashamed child of disco here...)
"Layla", Derek and the Dominoes
One thing I miss like hell is the "pre-Balkanized" state of popular radio I was able to enjoy during the mid and late '70's. I LOVED hearing John Denver followed by Isaac Hayes followed by Elton John followed by Seals and Crofts followed by Cream followed by David Bowie followed by Wild Cherry followed by Kenny Rogers followed by...?
Was it ever really that diverse, or did I just imagine that?
One theme which I think might work in some fashion, is the repeated experience of my mother sharing this or that recording which she periodically finds and which "gets her right here" in a way that compels her to share. There have been lots over the years -- my parents owned no Beatles records when I was growing up, but thanks to Mom I knew who Miriam Makeba and Harry Belafonte were from when I was small (Yes, I WAS... 8P ). Some of the songs I was exposed to back then have made their way into my busking act. I have summed up my habitual reaction as "Oh, wow, Mom, thanks--that's really beautiful. (beat) Can I go back to sleep now?"
This is a partial list, which I may expand as memory serves:
"Kilimandjaro", Miriam Makeba
"Banana Boat Song", Harry Belafonte (there might be another song she liked more, but that record is long gone...)
"Kathy's Song", Paul Simon
"Healer of My Soul", John Michael Talbot
"Close To You", any version (she said my father used to sing it to her. My dad could carry a tune in a bucket, if it was a sufficiently large bucket)
"Love's Theme", Love Unlimited Orchestra
"Too Near Heaven", a hymn she and her sister sang for their church
anything by Bill Gaither (from the Fundie years...)
"Bright Heaven's Sun", Iona
"In the House of Stone and Light" by whoever that guy is...
"Suspicious Minds", Elvis (she loves the guitar riff at the end of the bridge...)
"Take Me Home, Country Roads" (Dad bought this paean to WV for my Appalachian mother 8)
After Dad died we were a bit more sheltered from godless modern culture, so my limited musical exposure was the stuff on PBS and soundtracks from Disney movies. (we wore out four copies of the Roger Miller-narrated soundtrack from "Robin Hood"--I still get all choked up when I hear the Hampster Dance...) Thank God for The Muppet Show. Also, later, thank God for my radio.
In my adolescence, I was in love with Barry Manilow (before I realized that all the songs sounded alike--now I have a hard time listening to most of them). Other stuff that "got me right here", then and later, were:
"At Seventeen", Janis Ian
"And I Love You So", Don McLean
"Daisy Jane", America
"Goodbye Girl", David Gates
"You Should Be Dancin' ", Bee Gees (unashamed child of disco here...)
"Layla", Derek and the Dominoes
One thing I miss like hell is the "pre-Balkanized" state of popular radio I was able to enjoy during the mid and late '70's. I LOVED hearing John Denver followed by Isaac Hayes followed by Elton John followed by Seals and Crofts followed by Cream followed by David Bowie followed by Wild Cherry followed by Kenny Rogers followed by...?
Was it ever really that diverse, or did I just imagine that?
