11/29/08 Oldies To Be Thankful For

Segment #1 – Oldies To Be Thankful For

I thought I'd continue the spirit of Thanksgiving just a bit into this weekend and play what I call "oldies to be thankful for", some of my favorite songs and artists that have stuck with me over the years. In the "credit where due" department, I borrowed this idea from a bluegrass dj in the Twin Cities, Phil Nusbaum of KBEM in Minneapolis, who always plays "bluegrass to be thankful for" on his show "Bluegrass Saturday Morning" around Thanksgiving weekend and he's played one or two requests for me in past years.

I will start with this song I've played before by the Critters—I've always thought it was beautifully sung and lyrically sophisticated for its time.
Mr. Dieingly Sad - Critters (lead singer was Don Ciccone, who also sang on the 4 Seasons hit "December 1963 [Oh What A Night]")
No Good To Cry – Wildweeds (Now Nashville resident singer/songwriter/guitarist Al Anderson was the lead singer back then)
Imagine That- Patsy Cline
My Cup Runneth Over – Ed Ames, who is probably more famous for a Johnny Carson appearance than his singing. This song was from the musical "I Do I Do" which was on Broadway in the mid 60s. This is another of those songs like I told you about a week or so ago when you were growing up that your mother loved but you thought it was square, and then when you got older you came to appreciate it—and you started watching all those Lawrence Welk reruns, too, for the pop culture of it all. OK, I confess to that!

Segment #2 – Picking Through the Record Box

One thing I'm so thankful for this year is all the wonderful new friendships I've made with a lot of the singer/songwriters and musicians in this community...and the support has really worked both ways. There are a lot of them out there trying to get cuts and gigs and such—I've seen and heard many of you this past week. I love you all so much and you know I have fingers and toes crossed for you—so this is for those who are listening today: Nashville Cats- Lovin Spoonful

Only Love Can Break A Heart - from the late, great Gene Pitney who hailed from my home state of Connecticut. I did get to see him in concert once a couple of years before I left for MN. He was wonderful and I'm very grateful to have had that experience. He recorded a lot of Burt Bacharach/Hal David compositions and there's one of those.
Just Like Me - Paul Revere and the Raiders (Mark Lindsay was my pre-teen heartthrob--more on that on another show, perhaps)
Here Comes The Night - Them (early Van Morrison)
Girl Like You - Rascals

Segment #3 – Soul Stew

I'm going to start a new section for the show. I call this Soul Stew. I've found myself in past weeks playing a lot of soul music. I've always loved soul and felt very connected to it so why not give it its own place in the show, right? I decided to give Wilson Pickett a call here and see if he wanted to start this thing off for us.
634-5789 - Wilson Pickett
Don't Play That Song - Ben E. King
Wish Someone Would Care - Irma Thomas
Double O Soul - Edwin Starr

Segment #4- Recent/current day section

I went to a writers night last weekend out at Fiddle and Pick in Pegram which is not far from here. There were a lot of wonderful writers and a few of them were very kind to share their CDs with me. I'll start with Mark Elliott, who went above and beyond in sharing his music with me—after the show Saturday he sang a song of his just for me that I liked called Baseball and Beatles—so thanks, Mark, if you're listening. I didn't have that song with me but I did have one from his latest release, Good Life.

Bye Bye Baby Jane – Mark Elliott
He Smiled Like An Angel – Laurie McClain (Ascend CD)

Encouragement:
A Closed Fist Holds No Light
(Adapted from the version written for SoGospelNews.com - that version will be posted here in December.)

I was driving home from someplace recently and heard on the radio a song I'd forgotten about, but I've liked: "I Just Wanna Be Mad" by Terri Clark. It's a song about a couple who had a spat and the wife declares her love but doesn't want to give up her mad...yet.

So, I got to thinking about that song. We are human and sometimes we do "just wanna be mad for awhile." Sometimes we get a little too critical too quickly before we know all of the facts. We direct that negative energy at people without thinking through the impact it might have on the person. But I think life's too short to hold small grudges for a long period of time and be unforgiving toward others. Besides, after a while it eats away at you and holds you back from happiness. A closed fist holds no light.

Try this if you're holding too tightly on to something someone may have said or done: make a fist. Note how uncomfortable and tight your hand feels. Look toward the center. It's closed and it's very dark in there. Not a bit of light can get in.

Now, open your hand. Stretch it out and allow the light to shine through. And let that grudge, bad feeling, misunderstanding that might not be all that important go.

The thing about the song I like is that despite present feelings, it offers up hope for reconciliation, that the dark cloud isn't going to last forever...that love will eventually conquer all. And making up and making peace can be fun, after all.
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Closing song: Time Is Tight - Booker T and the MGs

The one show glitch might have been me struggling with a couple of words. Other than that, it was pretty clean. Go Wendy.

I want to take a moment to thank my fellow DJ River Jordan, whose great show, "Backstory On the Radio" follows mine, for her kind support--I heard her plug for my show on automation of her show as I was driving home. It came at a time when I needed it and it is nice to know someone's paying attention. And by the way, she nailed the essence of what the show is about. Thanks, River.