Music, Music, Music

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My daughter, Sandee, posted, on her blog Kitty Krazy, a couple of videos of Jim Reeves singing songs my kids learned to love in their very early years. This brought back memories of when the kids were very young and I would lure them to sleep with music.

I've always loved music, almost every type. I recall a great neighbor who would allow us to go into her side yard to swing on the only swing set in the neighborhood. I would often go there by myself, sit in that swing and sing at the top of my lungs for what seemed, hours. My young mind thought I was very good at it, my adult daughter, Sandee, who is indeed, very musically gifted, tells me I can't carry a tune in a bucket. Huh, what does she know anyway! Hehe. I sang (alto) in every choir I could during my school years, and at church in adulthood; even sang a solo performance of "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" in an original musical play while in my last year of Junior High School. Oh, yeah, and then there was the duet I did, with my friend Vash, of "Rye Whiskey" for a health class on alcohol consumption. Got an A+. So there, Miss Perfect Pitch, Sandee! (maybe it was the acting drunk, while singing?)

Back to the kids. They were young, we were at the upper end of poor, or maybe it was the lower end of middle class counting both of our incomes, so in the latter part of the Sixties, we bought a beautiful, state of the art RCA stereo console, built into a cabinet of solid walnut; no particle board in those days. It was a low profile, with modern sleek lines and was five feet wide. On either end was a large speaker connecting to the stereo components in the center which consisted of an AM/FM radio and a record changer which would play what was known as 45 singles or 78 albums. In addition, and what was so special about this particular stereo in those days, you could stack up to ten 45s or six 78s and listen to music for hours. With this awesome machine, I had no choice but to join the Columbia Record Club to save some money. I ordered Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Andy Williams, Jim Reeves, Marty Robbins, Elvis, The Everly Brothers, Frankie Avalon, Connie Francis, Paul Anka, The Kingston Trio, Ricky Nelson, Eddy Arnold, Frankie Lane...the list could go on and on. My husband and I worked opposite shifts, 7-3:30 or 3:30-midnight. When he was on the swing shift, I would get the kids into bed, stack the stereo with albums, turn up the sound so they could hear from their beds; they would fall asleep, listening to all of these great artists. I swear, they knew the words to every song, on every album.

That stereo was with us for many years, bringing us the sounds of the forties, fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties. Sometime during the early Eighties, I bought a set of albums from the 1940's, a mixture of big bands, the Andrew Sisters, and other artists from those years. My kids literally wore those albums out. It tickled me pink that they would love music from that era so much. Oh, yes. That RCA stereo was one of the best investments we ever made, instilling a love of music with all four of my kids. They in turn have passed this love onto their own families.

Yes, indeed, music is medicine for the soul and life is good!