All posts by Dona

41. Show me that you love me too

Song Blog

I have few vivid memories of my Uncle Don – they are mostly vague feelings of being loved. I remember one Eastertime and he peeled me a colored egg that I think he’d cooked. I didn’t want it because the yolk was greenish. I’m pretty sure he died a couple of months later.

I also remember the Christmas he and Aunt Leila gave me clothes for my brand new Barbie Doll.

What I remember most, however – the one true, good vivid memory I have of my Uncle Don (who gave me his name) was the song, Put Your Head on my Shoulder. I remember him putting the record on his HiFi, scooping me up in his arms and singing softly into my ear as he swayed with the music; and I slowly, and deliciously, drifted off to sleep.

Put your head on my shoulder
Hold me in your arms, baby
Squeeze me oh so tight
Show me that you love me too

Until today I had no idea it was recorded by Paul Anka. I didn’t know that Paul Anka was singing in the 60’s. (He was 14 when he had his first hit – wow). I guess I need to show that guy some respect. If ever a song made me feel loved, it’s Put Your Head on my Shoulder.

My Uncle Don died when I was six – a few months before John F. Kennedy was assassinated. After Kennedy died, I pictured Heaven as a grand cafe. Uncle Don was sitting next to John Kennedy at a small table, drinking a beer. As more people I knew left this life, that table in Heaven grew more populated. When I think of it today, I see many familiar faces – all smiling, all chatting, all friends.

40. Hey Hey, Rock-n-Roll is here to stay

Music, ,

My parents have a vacation house in Hazelhurst, Wisconsin which is close to Minocqua. One day my daughter and I were browsing the shops in the Boardwalk Shops of Minocqua. We both love books and were happy to find a bookstore there. We walked in and were greeted with the smell of old books, coffee and familiar music coming over the sound system. Clare immediately said – Mom! It’s Dan Bern. I replied that it couldn’t have been Dan Bern. Not here in this small bookstore in Minocqua. I said it was probably a Dylan song that sounded like one of Dan’s. As I walked further into the store I realized that the song was indeed by Dan Bern (I don’t remember which song it was) and cried out. DAN BERN!

The shopkeeper, who was helping another customer, looked up and said, “Yes. Dan Bern. Do you know his music?” We then chatted for 45 minutes about how we knew about Dan and what albums we owned. (In my case it was every album plus hundreds of bootlegs and live recordings – in his case it was just one compilation he’d put together while working at a radio station that played Dan’s music).

I bought a couple of books, then mentioned that I was interested in expanding my horizons within the singer-songwriter arena and asked for his advice. He pointed out a couple of musicians, but the one that thought I’d like most was Todd Snider. The fact that there was a song called Statistician Blues on the album he showed me was the final factor (my husband is a statistician).

The shopkeeper was right.We loved Todd Snider. He was funny and a good singer. Even my husband liked some of the songs (but not the one about the statistician).

The kids favorite was Beer Run.

Here he is playing Talkin’ Seattle Grunge Rock Blues

So it made my day a few weeks ago to see that Todd Snider was going to be playing at the Birchmere. With none other than Dan Bern.

I bought my ticket today.

39. you want to go antiquing

Song Blog

I learned about Jonathan Coulton from Anna and Jason who do a weekly podcast I like. They mentioned him in passing – saying they missed his last concert, but had seen him recently, so I checked him out. I’m glad I did.

Last year he wrote a song a week. He called it Thing a Week and uploaded it to his website for free download. My favorite is Creepy Doll, although RE Your Brains is a lot of fun too.

Check out his You page for links for videos and other multimedia that people have made using his music. Some are are a hoot.

Here is a YouTube video of him performing Creepy Doll.