Dad Could Sing

 

Growing up, I remember that there was almost always music being played. At home, the giant Zenith console stereo (complete with turntable and AM/FM stereo) was playing KSOP out of Salt Lake City. Mom and dad loved listening to the artists and groups that they would go see at the Terrace Ballroom. Salt Lake was a stopping point for a lot of the big name artists and groups passing through,and more than a few of the up-and-coming artists would play gigs as opening acts. Think Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, Jerry Lee Lewis, Waylon Jennigns, and Ray Price. In the late 1950's and early 1960's the big names were playing more traditional music and the openers were bringing in the addition of electric amps and adding rhythm guitars and bass guitars, as well as piano and drums to the act.

Mom and dad would go to listen and dance to the songs that dad later learned to play on his own guitar. Dad had a Gibson Heritage similar to this one pictured. It was a beautiful guitar and had wonderful tone to it. Dad and a few of his friends would get together and play, and they got good enough that a couple of the local clubs in Logan would ask them to play once in a while. One of the local groups, The Petersen Brothers, would frequently ask dad and his friends to join them on set or to cover for them when they needed someone to fill in for them.

I can remember as a young boy dad having his friends come over to play and rehearse, but they would play just for fun mostly. All their wives would sit in the kitchen talking, laughing, and drinking coffee. These nights were ones where I learned I needed to be quiet because if I was careful, I cold stay up past my bedtime and listen to them play and sing. Even once I was finally convinced that I needed to go to bed, I would frequently sneak out of bed and crawl out to the hallway and lay on the floor just outside of the living room where I could listen to the music more. I absolutely loved listening to them play and sing. I always wished I could do both, but never was able to discipline myself to learn to play any instrument, and only have a passing fair voice. It carries, but it does not always carry a tune. 

I do not know where his guitar ended up. I was told one time that my nephew Justin got it, but I do not know whether he kept it or if it is still around. 

Dad was always whistling or humming or just plain listening to music. Back when mobile 8-track players were big, he bought one for each of his cars (the very model pictured...) and even mounted an AM/FM stereo with 8-track in the camp trailer they had so he and mom could have music when they traveled or camped. This, I am sure, is where I got my penchant for always having tunes. The next cars they bought had AM/FM stereo with cassette tapes - quite a step up from the 8-track players. And while country western music was mostly what dad listened to, he later expanded his horizons to other types of music. Jazz and Opera were making their presence known. Ragtime.

I know that there were many subtle influences that dad had on me. I am grateful that the love of music was one that held tight. I grew up in a time of musical renaissance with folk beginning to share the stage with rock, and country getting electricity involved. I remember the "outlaws" of country music (Waylong Jennings, Willy Nelson, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser) and the stir they caused with their music and straying away from the traditional country music artists. But I also remember The Who, The Guess Who, The Rolling Stones, Derek and the Dominos, Cream, The James Gang, the Muscle Shoals groups, as well as the (gasp!) Disco Era!

Saturday Night Fever and Grease were rock operas. They were just disguised as movies with music. Meatloaf and Bat Out Of Hell (and BOOH2 and BOOH3) were rock operas. Hell, Rocky Horror Picture Show was. And people loved the music. 

Dad loved music too. And dad could sing.

Apple - Tree?

I was born early. My twin and I were premature. Small enough that the two of us slept in a dresser drawer for a while. We were close as babies and toddlers. We even had out own language we used while learning to talk. Mom would have to use our older sister to translate at times. We were partners in crime, sometimes literally with some of the things we got into. We once out a live chicken in bed with our parents because we thought it might be cold. We had to climb out of a bedroom window to get outside to catch it.

It was not cold.

Mom and dad were pretty hot about it.

Later, as we got a little older, my sisters grew a lot closer and it kind of became me vs. them in a few things. One this was that they had friends that were their friends and I was not a part of that group. So, I would once in a while find myself home with mom. She was always be my friend, and would do a lot of things with me like make Elderberry jam and syrup. One time, I was out playing in the yard and was climbing our apple tree. When I saw the apples in the tree, I went in and asked mom if we could make an apple pie.

Mom had me gather some of the apples while she started to make the crust. She was "teaching" a very young child how to make a pie. What she was really teaching me was to be thoughtful of others in need of a friend. At least to try to help someone be less lonely.

I try. And maybe, once in a while, I mange to be there for someone else.