Monday, October 10, 2011

BONY FINGERS

At the end of the 70's disco was dying but not fast enough for me. I ached for Rock and Roll to beat Disco to a bloody pulp and to once again take its rightful place.  Enough was enough. I felt if I had to hear one more falsetto voice, I would do someone bodily harm.

I regularly listened to a top 40 station from Miami and just shut off the volume when a disco song came on. WQAM had always been my go to station.

Then one day, with no announcement or warning, they changed their format.     Around noon one day a  top 40 song was playing as normal and when it finished, the very next song was country, not to go back to top 40 ever again.

This will offend some but consider my limited exposure please before judging. I hated country music growing up.  My brother loved it and I seriously doubted his intelligence. I had never heard a country song all the way through but I pompously judged all who enjoyed this form of music as having a negative IQ.

Then "Bony Fingers" burst into my life that day in 1980 when the station changed its format.  It was the very first country song I listened to start to finish. OMG, this was funny stuff.  When I heard the chorus, "Work your fingers to the bone --- what do you get---bon--y fingers",  I pulled off the road I was laughing so hard. 
  


Then out of curiosity and hoping for another gut busting laugh, I continued to listen to the new country station. They then played an oldie "A Boy Named Sue" which also gave me a chuckle.  The startling thing I noticed about country was that I could understand  the words to all the songs. Hummm.

The literal logic of country music was enormously refreshing. Lets face it, according to country music, ya do wrong, ya pay the price and most country songs were about someone doing something or someone wrong and regretting it.  Also, no genre can tell a sad story like country music. 

Quickly I became a regular listener as much in rebellion to disco as to needing a  toe taping change of pace and occasional chuckle.  Eventually, it grew on me and  I  became "country" when country was just thinking about becoming cool.

Today I have done a bit of  back sliding and no longer have a style of choice.  I would say I have an eclectic musical taste.  I enjoy classical,  blues, zydeco, new age, gospel, country and most in between styles almost equally. My MP3 is a hodgepodge of genres.

My last three downloads were Grandpa Elliot--blues, Rascal Flatts--country and Pachelbel's Canon In D from Classical Rocks. Did you know there are many free down loads for classical music?  For me, there is no better hammock music.  

The only two forms I have not embraced are progressive jazz and rap.  Neither of those move me but every thing else I enjoy and have room for.

When country did go mainstream, much of its unique flavor was lost in cross over treatments. Country now days is a more polished product.   A hybrid was born which I still  do enjoy, I just kind of miss the ole "Bony Finger" days. 


This was meant to only be a one paragraph lead in to the main post I had in mind. Guess that will have to wait now. Anyway when I do get around to the one paragraph lead in for that other post, it may make more sense. Thanks for bearing with my ramblings.

Have you dipped your toe into a vastly different, perhaps maligned by you medium of music, art or literature and found it surprisingly entertaining?

45 comments :

  1. I remember WQAM..!!

    Do you remember Kevin Kitches and Jennifer Ross from WKSK...??
    They went country, too..

    Enjoy

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  2. I hated disco when I was growing up, but now I can appreciate it much more because it's always so popular at discos. Surprise! 70's disco is always the best music to get people up dancing. Throw on some Cool & The Gang, Sister Sledge, Candi Staton etc. and I always have people up doin' their thang! :D

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  3. Early rock and roll and folk music were my teenage faves, and the Beatles really pissed me off when they sucked all the air out of those genres.

    I used to hate country, with the exception of Johnny Cash. Then, at about age 30, a friend talked me into listening to a country station. I fell in love---My gosh, there was Tom T Hall, Loretta, George, Willie and Waylon, Hank Jr and a hundred others that were just GREAT.

    Nowadays, though, country music seems so sterile. I don't even listen to it, unless it's an oldie station.

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  4. I'm a child of the 50's, so there are no fond nostalgic memories of disco for me either. I listen to a very wide range of music though on my Rhapsody Playlist!

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  5. My music transcends a number styles, but old country was not one of them. Being a Texans I heard plenty of it. I somewhat like the crossover or hybrid style.

    I think I remember buying as my first record a song called Lonely Little Robin. I heard it on the radio. Family took a family vacation to Austin and I bought it in a Woolsworth store. I may not have the title exactly right. It was country.

    Actually it is not so much the music or words I disliked, as the nasal tone that seemed to dominate the actual singing. Much of this has changed.

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  6. Big music lover here. I agree the C&W changed the last decade, can't sing along with the new songs. We get RFD-TV, watch old C&W shows there, like Porter Wagner.

    I cried when I heard Roger Williams passed this last Saturday. Love his piano playing, have couple of his cds.

    I just signed up for sirius xm for the computer. I have never had a iPod or similar. Always afraid I couldn't work it.

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  7. I think my ear turned off around 1958 and after that it became so selective that I can hardly name any "group" I ever got stuck on.....except The Beatles, and it wasn't everything of there's...I am still partial to "Show Music"---I mean Broadway, though that has become soooo Disneyfied I don't have any current favorite Broadway Composers except Sondheim....Can't get enough of him! Still love Jazz and The Blues and I'll take Tony Bennett over anyone, today. And Classical is STILL what moves me, and moves me, and then moves me some more.....

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  8. I don't listen to music much any more, but I sure did love the music of the sixties. About the only music I hear these days is in exercise class, and it's almost always Beach Boys or some other oldie. But in my youth I listened to it all, just like you do today.

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  9. You always have such interesting topics! Since I spent my formative years on a farm in rural Missouri, country was my favorite, Tennessee Ernie Ford singing sixteen tons, OMG! Then I was whisked away to the metropolitan New York area and made the switch to rock n roll since swivel hips was really big on the scene. Elvis (though country) took the world by storm and then anything he sang was perfect...even his gospel music, which I still have. Those glory days of rock n roll had me hooked solid, I knew every song, every word, every group and then the Beatles hit the scene.
    I just KNEW they would NEVER MAKE IT!!!! Since then I went back to country, then it changed and I went back to 40's jazz and then to classical. Now I pick and choose what I like, it is a hodge podge, just like me!
    thanks for the topic, I didn't mean to ramble...
    Whale

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  10. I listen to a lot of different music--what some have called "stump jumpin'" to classical. I never listen to country music stations, but I do have Patsy Cline on my MP3 and that's one great talent in my book.

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  11. I have an eclectic taste in music as well, and also can't stand rap (or hip hop, and if there's a difference I don't know what it is!). I love the old folk singers best.

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  12. Loved this post, Patti! I am the same way. I love all music and have on my blog wall ... three that I like to listen to almost everyday ... from Edvard Grieg, Pink Floyd and the Highwaymen... lol

    I think most of us who were 50s teens were 'afraid' to like country music. We would be considered hicks.

    The first country and western song I loved was Willie Nelson's - The Night Life... saw him in Ft. Worth and was blown away - must have been 1962 or so.

    Then saw Ray Price in Waco - I lived in Dallas - can't remember the title but - Lay your head upon my shoulder... ahhhh --- he had a string of hits.

    I even like bluegrass now! After seeing Brother Where Art Thou? HAhaaaaa...

    Life is all about growing and embracing... I think so AND also not giving a hoot what other people think of our tastes... how droll... ;)

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  13. Nothing shuts my kids up faster than the threat to play country or, worse yet, Enya on the car radio. But when they aren't around? Oh Yeah! Oddly enough, the best place to find classic (i.e. twangy) country is on cable TV which, in my hometown, includes some 50 channels of music.

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  14. Hi Patti, I too HATED country music growing up... I even hated it for much of my adult years.

    Then I married George -and started listening to the LYRICS of the songs he enjoyed. Now I am a huge huge country music fan....

    Like Bony Fingers.. Had never heard it.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  15. I listened to WQAM and WFUN for my whole childhood and teenage years - they played GREAT music and had the best DJ's, too! I miss those days.

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  16. You pack a lot into your blog, and it reads well. Maybe I like rambling and maybe you write well? As for country, my first love was country. When my Dad was away, Mom would play....country. She told me she got sick and tired of Dad's music. Dad bought me a Spike Jones record and I have never had better fun. Great topic, I will have to use it sometime. Until then, I'll "stand by my man." Dianne

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  17. I have loved country music and listened to it all my life. When I was very young some of the family would gather together at a family members home who had a radio and we would listen to country music every Saturday night.

    I grew up listening to gospel and country music but when I was a teenager I loved Rock and Roll.

    I have since learned to love all music but heavy metal and rap. Some I appreciate more than others but do like to listen to it all.

    Great post sweet Patti. Hugs

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  18. I was nodding my head in agreement to a lot of what you wrote, Patti! My older brother loved the older country music and I hated it. I loved rock and roll, and he hated it! I did learn to love some country music, I love listening to Patsy Cline, Ray Price, Vince Gill and many others. Really, I like most music except for rap, heavy metal and jazz. I love the oldies but goodies and what my hubby calls elevator music the most. Great post! Have a nice day!

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  19. I do like some country music but my ears are tuned up on songs by Glen Miller, Tommy Dorsey, and the last one that tipped our scale was Herb Albert and his Tijuana Brass. I even bought those 33 and a couple of 45s. I really thought that was the greatest music but now, we seldom listen to music and seldom turn the radio on. I think it is something like the newspapers who have gone broke because people get their news on their computers and about the only place a newspaper can be found around here would be at the barber shop or the doctor's office. I do like those Bony Fingers.

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  20. I think you hit on the exact reason I like country music. You can understand ALL of the lyrics and it usually has a story to it. I also like that they are basically patriotic and pro-USA and defend our military men and women. Like you my tastes in music are eclectic, and I like a wide assortment of things. Great post, first time comment.
    purrs
    >^,,^<
    ♥Abby♥Boo♥Ping♥Jinx♥Grace♥

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  21. Yes, yes I have. A little shake up ever now and again keeps us alive!

    It's obvious I adore the 'oldies' but I have much variation on my 'playlist'!!!

    God bless ya and enjoy your beautiful week sweetie!!!! Lo)

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  22. Blue Ridge Boomer,
    Wow, I haven't heard those names in a long time. I sure did listen to them. I googled them and sadly Kevin died and Jennifer was fired. Yikes.

    LL Cool Joe,
    Interesting that it is popular to dance to today. You would know for sure.I probably could listen to it today with out getting the willies.

    Clint,
    Sterile is a great description. You mentioned some cool names there.

    Wanda,
    I hadn't heard of Rhapsody Playlist. I googled it and it is interesting. Thanks for the hint.

    Nitwit,
    Sometimes it is hard to recognize genres anymore they all seem to blend together. I don't like it but you have to give rap credit for being unique.

    Miss Dazey,
    You ought to give Ipods a try. It is one way to listen to the exact music you want and it isn't hard. I did it.

    OOLOH,
    I too love classical. It puts me in a contemplative yet relaxed mood. I was surprised that you weren't into show tunes.

    Djan,
    I guess for exercise class it would be upbeat. I do listen less to music these days also.

    whalechaser,
    Goodness you did jump around genres didn't you. Still by doing that, you broadened your scope. Not a bad thing.

    Olga,
    Thanks for the reminder. I do need some Patsy Cline on my MP3 also.

    robin,
    There was a time when folk was all I listened to. It is still enjoyable today.

    Carolyn,
    Brother Where Art Thou really did introduce a lot of people to blue grass. That was a cool picture.

    Grace,
    Thank you for stopping by and commenting. Thanks, I will have to check out my Direct music channels. I keep forgetting about them.

    Betsy,
    Amazing what we will do for love. The lyrics really are meaningful unless it is about a Boy Named Sue :))

    Ellen,
    They really were the best. I listened to them for years also.

    schmidleysscribblins
    I do remember Spike Jones show on the radio. My oldest brother used to laugh till he cried at the show. It was a must listen to in our home. I was too young to get it.

    chancy the gardener,
    I kind of miss those days gathered around the radio. They were special.

    Cheryl,
    You are the second to mention Patsy. I really need to get some of her songs on my MP3. Thanks for the reminder.

    Abe,
    Funny you should mention Herb Alpert. I just saw a special on him. He is alive and doing quite well. He could really play a horn.

    Abby,
    Welcome to TNS and thank you for stopping to comment. Country does have American roots and is easy to sing along with.

    Nezzy,
    Yes, a little shake up is good for the soul. It is nice to see how many people have such varied taste.

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  23. Back in the late 60s and early 70s I used to go to a little "coffee house" in Huntington Beach, CA to hear Hoyt Axton and Leo Kottke. I liked rock n' roll and nobody ever told me they were country; I just liked them and loved going to the Golden Bear to hear them. Just recently my ex-husband (ex since '78 or so) put together a CD of Hoyt songs and sent it to me.

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  24. Hey, Patti, what a great post! I began to listen to country when I was going through my divorce around '83. You are right when you say nobody can do a sad song like a country song.

    I like all kinds of music (but classical bugs me); even rap now after spending time this summer at that Nike football thing. Some of those lyrics are awful though.

    Thanks for reminding me of so many songs that I haven't thought of for a long time.

    Hope you have a great week!

    Kathy M.

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  25. Either one loves country music or hates it. I find few are neutral on the subject. It is not a genre I pick for my listening times, but when the kids play it, I usually enjoy the music. My ex-husband was a huge country fan. He'd been brought up on it. It was through him I learned to like some of the old time singers, and through my children, I've learned to like the new ones. I pick other genres such as rock and roll from the 50s and 60s, religious music, gospel music, and classical. I never did like disco music either. Maybe it is because I was busy having babies when it was popular and could not relate to dancing.

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  26. Yeah.... tonight is the 4th class of my country 2-step. I never HEAR lyrics to a song. As a dancer, I just hear/feel the beat. If a song has a great beat, it could have all naughty words and I probably wouldn't notice. These are all for beginners and I never danced country so I had to teach myself from tapes. That is a big change for me. :)I also have an East Coast Swing class going and I've danced that since Tad was a pup.

    Manzanita@Wannabuyaduck

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  27. I returned to country music when we had horsed. Rock just didn't work when trying to handle large animals.

    Loretta Lynn has some of the funniest lyrics and "Hey Loretta I love you more than my Irish setter" was one that just cracked me up the first time I heard it.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIvuHk7nVhk

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  28. I listened to a lot of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and etc. Then along came Elvis, what more can I say. LOL

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  29. I used to always have the radio on - went from rock and roll to country just sort of naturally. But for some reason the older I get the more I want nothing on - no music, no radio at all. Not sure why that is but I just love the silence. blessings, marlene

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  30. Growing grannie,
    Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting.
    I must say your ex did a very special thing for you. He is setting the bar high for all exes.

    Oregon gifts.
    You are right about rap and the lyrics. Perhaps not being able to understand most of them is an advantage.

    Retired English Teacher,
    We have similar interests. I didn't mind disco at first, it just wore out its welcome for me.

    Manzanita,
    I think it is neat you are teaching the two step. I think that is such a fun to watch dance. I haven't learned it yet. Have fun.

    Amber Star,
    I know what you mean. Some are just so darn funny. Today except for a few artists, they have gone more mainstream and less comical. Rather a loss.

    Patty,
    Ah yes, Elvis. He really had a huge influence, much like the Beatles did.

    Stichin by the lake,
    I practically agree with you. At one time music was vital to me, now it is more of a side line that I sometimes forget to enjoy.

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  31. Hi Patti! I have always love classical music and it was in the sixties that I started to listen to the Beatles. I never cared for the Stones or Elvis.
    I now also like country especially when I am in Australia.

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  32. I tolerated Disco but hated the fact that many live music venues became 'Discos' ...thankfully the '70s were when my children were born so I was a little busy to bother much. I love most music if it is performed well and the range increases with age to include Country and the odd Rap artists.

    At 14 I was forced to listen to Jazz by my cousin and fell in love with Dave Brubeck, who opened the doors to other artists and forms of jazz.I loved Motown and the soul of that era. Didn't really enjoy much Rock and Roll of the fifties but loved the Rock of the 70's 80's and 90's. Hated what my Nana called crooners ...maybe because she turned the radio off muttering 'rubbish' ...still not keen though.Certain clasical pieces move me and I love the sound that an operatic voice makes ...not bothered by the words though the voice says it all...but anything Mozart mesmerizes me.

    I love performers like Queen and Lady Gaga and new voices like Adele...best of all is good LIVE music at a small venue ...oops better stop now ...as you may have gathered I am quite passionate about what I like in music even though it is a wide range. xx

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  33. Never thought when I was growing up that I would ever like to listen to country music. Then it was rock and roll with mostly Elvis for me.
    After moving to this country town their country dances grew on me and I started listening to it.
    Now like you I enjoy a mixture and even classical not so much country any more it has changed too much.
    So funny your remark about doubting your brothers intelligence. I still have those moments with my four brothers and look how old we all are....hahaha
    Love ya
    Maggie

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  34. Ha, my mom used to put on country music and when she left the kitchen I'd turn it to rock, then she'd come back and turn it to country and so on all day long. I hate most country music but A boy names sue, my cousin Johnny Cash, was a good one and a few others, I'll give a listen to bony fingers and Gary could probably give you a bunch of songs he likes and tell you all the singers too, me I just listen to all different types of music, but country the least. Ha, now folk that's another story.

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  35. Hey Patti...
    I guess what I said wasn't clear....I AM into Show Music....Broadway of the Vintage Era---"The Golden Age Of Broadway" when the GREAT Composers were writing...And today, the only GREAT Broadway Composer is STEPHEN SONDHEIM....What I was saying I guess is: They don't write Musicals the way they used to...Broadway is no longer the Broadway that I knew and loved....Revivals? GREAT! And then....there is SONDHEIM, in a class by himself. Given my druthers, I will listen to any SONDHEIM show any time, any day, over any of the current composers writing for Broadway today. See, "Spiderman" has nothing to do with a 'book-musical' as we understood it back in the day....I sound like an old fart, don't I...LOL!!

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  36. Reader Wil,
    I can understand the Australian pull. Keith Urban for one is Huge here and I hope is just as popular there.

    Angie,
    I had a best friend into Jazz and Brubeck was a favorite, I just never got understood it. You found the word I was looking for regarding classical. It does mesmerize.

    Grandma Yellow Hair,
    I know what you mean. I think the Texas two step is one cool dance. Wish I could do it.
    I have finally reassesed my brother's intelligence. Turns out he was smart all along:))

    Linda Starr,
    Wow, you are kin to Johnny Cash. He was HUGE. Hope you got to spend time with him. The man in black was one great entertainer.

    OOLOH
    I so agree that when they start tampering with a medium that it is seldom improved. They keep trying to fix what "ain't" broke. Gosh, guess that makes me an old fart also. Maybe we should start a club:))

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  37. I couldn't think of an example until now. Freddy Mercury from the band Queen. I always recognized his talent but never enjoyed his songs myself. Until this year. Now I love to hear Queen's music on the radio.

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  38. Those days country was a slice of life and I sure enjoyed this slice of your life.Regardless of genre. Patti rocks!

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  39. My husband really doesn't care for country music, but well... I do. I've always liked it. I guess I've liked it because they tell stories. My favorite is probably still pop and folk though.

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  40. I was living in Ft. Lauderdale in the late 70's and had a very similar experience to yours with country music. I always always loved Johnny Cash and always will (RIP), but didn't know very much about it. I think a lot of people were turned on to country when they just couldn't listen to disco any more! BTW, Johnny Cash turned me on to Nine Inch Nails (go figure) and I listen to their stuff a lot now. I'm always looking for new stuff to feed the ipod!

    xxoo,

    RMW

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  41. Loved the video, Patti! I like folk, early rock and roll, Doo Wop, Country Western, classical and show tunes. I can't stand rap! My husband plays a bunch of instruments --guitar, banjo, accordian, recorder, keyboard -- extremely well and so do two of our neighbors, so we enjoy a lot of musical evenings here.

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  42. This post has been such fun and the comments - I get them in my email. I just have to share this goofy song. My husband found this about 8 or 9 years ago. Our son --- a cool teenager, doncha know --- started singing this and got his pals started... and well... a fun memory...

    Hope you don't mind my posting it, Patti ... there should be a better quality YouTube but this one was live and fun...

    Home Grown Tomatoes -

    http://youtu.be/1-QzLIjL1u4

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  43. I have always loved country music, but when when I was ten we moved to a college town and I pretended not to like it because all my new "friends" said only hicks like country music. But I still listened to it on the radio every night. You just have to love the lyrics and the tempo. I like the "old" country better than the new "cross-over" sound.

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  44. islandwonder,
    I too was ambivilant about Queen till I saw a special on them. I now have several of their songs on my MP3 also.

    LC
    Well thank you so much. So glad you think so.

    Kay,
    Is Folk still around? I use to listen to that genre almost exclusively. Thanks, think I will hunt some up.

    RMW,
    Ok, I will have to look up Nine Inch Nails. Interesting name but sounds far from country. Like you, I am open to new.

    Dr. Kathy McCoy.
    Lucky you to have home grown musical evenings. I do envy people who can play an instument.

    Carolyn,
    So glad you keep up with the comments. I do have a great bunch of readers and the comments are usually way better than the post.
    I checked out the song. It was cute. I heard Garrison Keillor sing it before.

    NC Mountainwoman,
    Ha,ha you were "closet" country. I remember my brother didn't brag much about his love for it either. I bet you felt really good though when it became "cool."

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  45. It is interesting you did not write what you started out to write. I find that intersting how the pen, pencil, or the key board has a mind of its own.
    BTW - Give me some good ole Southern Gospel

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