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Happy Craig Day!

Those who know me personally or have been following me the past several years know that I celebrate the first week of December as a memorial to my late, great big brother Craig, who passed away at age 49 in 2002.

Craig was born on Dec. 4 and died on Dec. 6 — much too soon — of colon cancer. Now, it has been 18 years and I can hardly believe it.

Craig Ward Playing Bass
Craig LOVED Music!

We grew up in Kansas, and at the time, you could drink 3.2% beer (or tavern beer as opposed to 5% beer from liquor stores) and buy cigarettes at age 18. To really make myself feel old, I’ll tell you that Craig and I could buy a six-pack of beer and a pack of cigarettes for $5.00 and havea great Saturday night! Ahhh those were the days.

But Craig is gone now, beer and cigarettes are expensive, and I’ve quit both vices over the years. Yes, the times change.

One strong bond Craig and I had was music. Being two years (and a few months) older, he led the way. He was a music fan from an early age, and the early 60s were the golden years of American pop music.

It was also the era when transistor radios were relatively new, but the prices had gone down. He had a small radio that would fit in his shirt pocket and with an ear bud (music was all mono, not stereo), he could listen music any time he wanted.

Craig carried the local paper after school, and while walking his route, he had his radio plugged into his ear.

One sweet old lady on his route knew our grandmother, and told her, “It’s a shame that someone so young has to wear a hearing aid.” Such innocent times we lived in.

Of course, if Craig got interested in something, then I got dragged in (or went willingly most of the time). We talked music a lot, bought the magazines like Hit Parader that printed the lyrics (with horrible typos), and we bought records — 45 RPM singles.

Most songs were called by the first line of the lyrics, even if that wasn’t the title. For example, it’s Christmas season now, and everyone knows “Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire.” But that’s not really the title of the song — it’s “The Christmas Song” (creative, huh?).

Craig had a wacky sense of humor, so he would refer to songs by some lyrics that might be deeply buried within the song. Usually I knew what he was talking about. But he would really try to stump me by calling a tune by an obscure rhyme in the last verse. When we started playing guitars, he’d say something like, “Let’s do ‘Loudmouth Yankee.'” I knew he meant the Monkees ‘song “What Am I Doing Hanging ‘Round” that started out with the lyrics:

“Just a loud-mouthed Yankee, I went down to Mexico.”

He could get a laugh out of me by doing something silly — like calling the Elvis Presley song “All Shook Up” by the title “Itching Like A Bug On A Fuzzy Tree.”

With all the transitions in his life, there was always music as a constant. I believe I got my love of music genetically, but it was one of the very strong bonds I had with my brother.

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Harold Reid died last week at age 80 after a long battle with kidney failure. He was bass singer with “The Statler Brothers,” a country and gospel quartet that had many hits. Many were arranged to feature Harold’s bass voice, including “Flowers On The Wall” — their big breakout single.

A salute to Harold Reid, Bass singer for the Statler Brothers, who died last week.
Phil, Don, Jimmy behind Harold

The group appeared frequently on the Johnny Cash TV show and toured with The Man In Black. In fact, the group is most often associated with him in the mind of their public. They went so far as to write a tribute song, “We Got Paid by Cash.”

They are credited with merging gospel harmonies with country music. They certainly mainstreamed gospel, which has always been embraced by country and folk music.

What distinguished them and made them so lovable was their injection of humor. Not only did they do schtick (Harold and his brother Don were primarily the instigators) but they recorded a couple of comedy records as Lester “Roadhog” Moran and the Cadillac Cowboys, and one of their albums had a parody of small town radio stations local shows on the second side. (If you are too young to know what an “album” was and what it means that they had “sides,” ask your nearest senior citizen).

A dozen or so years ago, I met (through a Craigslist musician’s forum) a wonderful lady named Linda Loegel. She had a bunch of lyrics she’d written over the years and I picked out a few I thought were my style, and wrote some music with her. We did one called, “The Ride Of My Life” that was about a person taking a balloon ride, and using it as a metaphor for going to heaven. She said her own mother was one of those daring senior citizens who enjoyed things like ballooning and skydiving — and this was before people were talking about “bucket lists.”

She was thrilled when I decided to do the song in the style of The Statler Brothers. And, as ususal, I did all the instruments and harmonies. It was a challenge to be a gospel quartet on my own, and I didn’t have any electronic helpers like pitch-shifters and voice ding-dongs and whatever. I just sang. You can hear the song on my music page (here).

Here is the link to listen to “The Ride Of My Life.”

https://www.soundclick.com/html5/v3/player.cfm?type=single&songid=5204329&q=hi&newref=1

Another of the Statler Brothers, Lew DeWitt, predeceased Harold.

And I’ll leave you with a little trivia:

Only two of the Statler Brothers were siblings — Harold and Don Reid. And none were named Statler. The name came from a box of facial tissues they saw in a hotel room. The joked that they could have named themselves “the Kleenex Brothers.”

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Happy Valentine’s Day, Lovers!

This is either the happiest day or the saddest day of the year, depending upon the state of your love life.  As a happily married man, I’ve enjoyed a permanent valentine for twenty years and we tend to celebrate any old time we please.  It works out well.

Songwriters Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart

Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart

As music lovers, my valentine and I are both great fans of the Great American Songbook standard “My Funny Valentine” — a show tune from the 1937 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart musical “Babes in Arms.”

I’m sure you’ve heard it.  This popular jazz standard has appeared on over 1300 albums performed by over 600 artists. It’s even been performed on “American Idol,” so even the Gen-X, Y or Z kids should know it.

Whether your favorite version is traditional (like Ella Fitzgerald or Frank Sinatra) or jazzy (like Miles Davis or Chet Baker), you can probably find a version to suit your mood.

Name your favorite performer, and chances are, you’ll find a recording of this song. Michael Bublé?  Too easy.  Jerry Garcia?  Believe it or not — YES.

The perennial song was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart.  Of course the music is absolutely beautiful, but the lyrics make this the ultimate valentine song.

Read more on The Most Popular Valentine Song EVER!…

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