I'm a librarian. I hear music, even when it's not being played. I used to work at a comic book store, and it still informs my life. I won once on JEOPARDY! - ditto.
When the group moved from Motown to Columbia/Epic, Jermaine stayed at Motown, largely because he was married to Motown boss Berry Gordy’s daughter Hazel for a time. Little brother Randy replaced him as the group became The Jacksons.
L-R: Tito, Marlon, Michael, Jackie, Jermaine
My sister Leslie, who’s a little younger than I, had each of the first four non-Christmas LPs of the Jackson Five (or Jackson 5ive, as Motown sometimes cutely designated the group). I wanted to write them off as a silly piece of “bubblegum soul”. The problem with that was twofold:
1) I rather liked many of the songs, and
2) I discovered that my vocal range was quite compatible with Jermaine, who had the second lead on many of the songs (Tito sang low harmonies, Jackie high harmonies, and Marlon somewhere in the middle)
Oh, there was a third thing: 3) that preteen Michael was pretty darn good
The first album had I Want You Back [LISTEN], a #1 hit in 1970, but also Who’s Lovin’ You [LISTEN], a cover of a Smokey Robinson song that, when I listened to it, I thought, “How old IS this guy?” He was an old soul.
The second album included both ABC [LISTEN], the title song, and The Love You Save [LISTEN], both of which went to #1 for two weeks in 1970. The imaginatively titled Third Album contained I’ll Be There [LISTEN], #1 for FIVE weeks in 1970. I was always a sucker for Maybe Tomorrow [LISTEN], the title song from the fourth album, which only went to #20 in 1971. They had other hits, most notably Dancing Machine [LISTEN], #2 in 1974.
I won’t necessarily admit to having watched their animated series, which is now available on DVD.
When the group moved from Motown to Columbia/Epic, Jermaine stayed at Motown, largely because he was married to Motown boss Berry Gordy’s daughter Hazel for a time. Little brother Randy replaced him as the group became The Jacksons. Their first hit was Enjoy Yourself [LISTEN], #6 in 1977.
Michael, who had done some solo work even with Motown, had some subsequent massive albums on his own, with Off the Wall, and Thriller. But the brothers, including Jermaine, got together for the 1984 Victory album and tour. Michael, of course, went on with his own career arc.
The group never broke up officially, but they haven’t recorded an album since 1989, though Tito, Jackie, Jermaine, and Marlon did appear in some bizarre reality show back in 2009, which ended up including their reactions to brother Michael’s death.
This is fascinating, because all the Census records I came across suggests that she was black.
I discovered only recently that my maternal grandmother’s brother Ernie, born in 1904, was arrested in 1928 near Syracuse, NY and that he spent nearly five years in prison in Auburn, NY. Apparently, he was spending time with a young white woman, her father didn’t like it, and helped manufacture a charge of rape against Ernie.
In the mounds of papers filed in anticipation of him being paroled in 1932 was this “social history” such as his education, his military service (none), religion (Catholic – I did not know that), marital status (single), and family background. His father, Edward Yates, had died in 1910 at the age of 58. His mother, nee Lillian Bell Archer, remarried to Maurice Holland in 1911. (His Census track is fascinating, born either in Texas or Mexico, depending on what Census one checks.)
This, though, was the kicker for me. It indicates that she was of Irish descent! This is fascinating because all the Census records I came across suggests that she was black. Surely she was partially black, but as the rules of the time would suggest, anyone partially black was considered black. And that’s still largely true of most mixed-race people; see Barack Obama, Halle Berry, etc.
Lillian, my great-grandmother though, at least on this document, was Irish, and that’s reason enough, besides my name, to be wearing the green. Oh, and Ernie, who agreed to live an “honest and upright life” married Charlotte Berman, a white woman of Eastern European descent, in 1937, and did just that until he died in April 1954, just 50 years old, when I was but one. I have no first cousins, but most of the second cousins I’m close to, including the one who retrieved this prison record, are his grandchildren, who, I suppose, are all a little Irish, too. *** Creepy old Simon and Kirby comic: Nasty Little Man
It was a teen music magazine in which John Sebastian alerted me to the fact that the UK and US versions of Beatles albums were not the same.
Zal Yanofsky, John Sebastian, Steve Boone, Joe Butler
Also used for ABC Wednesday, Round 15 – L is for Lovin’ Spoonful:
When I joined the Capitol Record Club back in 1965 or 1966, I got 12 albums for “free”, plus shipping and handling, and had to order 10 or 12 more at full retail price, plus S&H. There was this thing called negative option (they didn’t call it that) whereby if you didn’t return a postcard by a certain date, you’d get the next selection. I believe that is how I came to get the album Daydream by the Lovin’ Spoonful, the American group’s second album.
Though annoyed by my own disorganization, in fact, I LOVED this album so much that I subsequently bought the 2002 extended CD of this, which was fine, because the vinyl version was full of pops and scratches from being overplayed. And as a liner note reader, I noticed that all but one of the songs was written by one John Sebastian, who was the lead singer on many of them as well.
I bought other albums by the group, a single, and even a couple of Sebastian solo albums, but nothing did I love as much as that first combination of rock, folk, and blues. The story of the Lovin’ Spoonful is told, in part, in a song by the Mamas and the Papas called Creeque Alley; Zal refers to the late Zal Yanovsky (d. 2002), lead guitarist/vocalist for the Spoonful. LISTEN.
It was a teen music magazine in which John Sebastian alerted me to the fact that the UK and US versions of Beatles albums were not the same. He claimed that Drive My Car was his favorite song on Rubber Soul. At first, I thought he was confused – it’s on the US Yesterday and Today – but eventually, I figured out that he must have heard the UK pressing.
John Sebastian sorta sang and rambled a lot at Woodstock. “You’re truly amazing, you’re a whole city.” And he ended up having a #1 hit song based on a TV theme song. I met him once, briefly, on Central Avenue in Albany, at a club, but I don’t recall the conversation.
FAVORITE JOHN SEBASTIAN SONGS, all Lovin’ Spoonful unless otherwise indicated. LISTEN to all except #20. Chart listings are for US Billboard singles. 20. Four of Us (from The Four of Us – solo album) – it took up a whole side of the LP. It goes through so many musical styles, I think I admired its ambition more than anything.
19. Warm Baby (from Daydream -D). Most of the songs from this album will get no explanation.
18. I Had A Dream (from John B. Sebastian – solo album.) I admire its hippie optimism.
13. Rain on the Roof (from Hums of the Lovin’ Spoonful). Such a gentle song.
12. Butchie’s Tune (D). such a badly named song, about leaving.
11. Welcome Back (from Welcome Back – solo album). I just didn’t want to like a song that was the theme to a TV show, in this case, welcome Back, Kotter. But I do. AND it went to #1 in 1976.
9. Six O’Clock (from Everything’s Playing). One of the rare singles I ever purchased (and i never bought the album), it’s the opening wake-up noise that I liked. #18 in 1967.
8. Bald-Headed Lena (D). A truly goofy song and the only non-original on the album. Gargling?
7. It’s Not Time Now (D). I used the lyrics of this song to describe the 1980 Democratic primary season with Jimmy Carter, Ted Kennedy: Carter: I’d like to tell you that’s it’s fine, but it’s not time now. Brown: I can’t seem to get a word in edgewise anyhow. (Lyrics)
6. Do You Believe In Magic (from Do You Believe In Magic). Yes, I do believe it’s like trying to tell a stranger about rock and roll. #9 in 1965, the group’s first hit.
5. Darling Be Home Soon (from You’re A Big Boy Now). This is a sad, plaintive song. #15 in 1967.
4. Daydream (D). Sounds as though Sebastian just woke up. #2 in 1966.
2. Summer in the City (HotLS). I made feeble attempts to play this on the piano. It FEELS like it sounds: “Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty.” #1 for three weeks in 1966.
1. Jug Band Music (D) – a funny story-song that is about the restorative power of music.
Oddly, I did not sing much in college. I certainly never joined a vocal group. I did sing in the stairwells with my friend Lynn, but that was it.
These pictures, above, my “baby” sister posted on her Facebook feed. I was 7 and 52, respectively. The first one, which was for Advent, was in some internal section, but the latter was right on the front page; in case you can’t read it, I’m rehearsing for the Faure requiem.
I reposted them on a Thursday – actually late on Wednesday night – and I was told that I was participating in Throwback Thursday. I am generally so oblivious to social media norms that I did not know that Throwback Thursday was a thing. I HATE doing social media “things”; next time I post old pictures, it’ll be on a…MONDAY.
This is another in those occasional pieces about how I’m surprised that people who know me don’t know me as well as I thought.
You may recall that I previously mentioned a choir member who did not know I was a librarian. On my birthday this month, I was at church. The choir was going to sing for something called First Friday. I see an old buddy of mine from my FantaCo days in the 1980s, but I know him better since he started blogging in the past few years.
He asked what I was doing, I tell him I’m going to singing with the choir, and he says, “I didn’t know you sang.”
I’ve written about how I used to sing with my father and sister, back when I was growing up in Binghamton. I also sang in the youth choir at Trinity AME Zion Church in Binghamton (see picture #1), and the chorus in high school.
Oddly, I did not sing much in college. I certainly never joined a vocal group. I did sing in the stairwells with my friend Lynn, but that was it.
I was in the church choir at First Unitarian in Schenectady for about five minutes in 1979. My real reintroduction to choir singing, though, began with my grandmother’s death in January 1982. She died on Super Bowl Sunday, in Charlotte, NC, but she had expressed a desire to be buried in her hometown of Binghamton, and she was, in May 1982. I got to sing in the choir, and I realized how much I missed it.
I went church shopping. Attended all the FOCUS churches at the time, the UU church in Albany, and about a half dozen others. It ended up being between Trinity Methodist and First Church, the Dutch Reformed Church downtown. During Advent, Gray Taylor, one of the tenors at Trinity, made a pitch for people to join the choir. A sign!
I sang for a week, then not the next two, but by January 1983, I was a regular. Stayed there until The Troubles in early 2000, after which I moved on to First Pres (see picture #2).
So yes, I sing. I’d rather sing harmony than melody. I’m a baritone and can generally find the bass line to any song, even those without one. I sing in the shower. I sing inside my head when singing out loud would be inappropriate.
Since 1977, over a quarter of a million youth have participated in this program providing more than 6 million hours of volunteer service around the country.
Picture purloined from nationalservice.gov
There will be an Albany Home Repair Group Workcamp, June 29th to July 5th, 2014. This week-long junior and senior high work camp is co-sponsored by the City of Albany and the First Presbyterian Church of Albany, in conjunction with Group Cares Mission Trips. The participants will be housed at Myers Middle School. Participants gather together for large group meetings, eat in the cafeteria, and sleep on classroom floors.
The average camp size is 300-400 students from around the country, along with adult chaperones and Group staff members. Student volunteers work under the supervision of an adult with construction experience. These adults are supported by others with additional knowledge and construction skills.
There will be approximately 65 individual projects worked on this week, including painting, and the construction or repair of wheelchair ramps, porches, and porch stairs. This will be done at no cost to homeowners or occupants. The homes being repaired have been identified by agencies that work directly with the city of Albany, plus neighborhood organizations and churches. Materials are being donated.
Construction sites and families are visited several times in preparation for the Workcamp. Descriptions of the requested work are recorded and signed-off on prior to the arrival of the volunteers. Building materials will be delivered to all sites prior to the beginning of the week.
Homeowners or residents are expected to be on the property during each day of the construction week; family members or close friends may take their place, though, if needed. Because of the possibility that not all volunteers who register will come, there can be no guarantees that every approved job can be done. However, all jobs that are begun will be finished.
Since 1977, over a quarter of a million youth have participated in this program providing more than 6 million hours of volunteer service around the country. Group Cares, formerly Group Workcamps Foundation, a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization, works together with many types of partners to cosponsor volunteer service projects providing minor home repairs for elderly, disabled, or low-income residents.
Participants pay a registration fee, which covers the cost of food, lodging, programming, insurance, and a portion of the project materials. All participants are matched within a small crew that typically consists of one adult and five youth. Youth groups are split up to work with participants from other groups providing them with the opportunity to make new friends from across the nation.
Not only do the young people get to assist the elderly, disabled, and low-income families with home-repair projects they cannot manage themselves, they support local agencies with their backlog of home-repair and weatherization projects. At the same time, the students receive a cross-cultural service experience for young people, helping them to grow in their Christian faith through service.
The youth of First Presbyterian Church of Albany have participated in similar activities in past summers, traveling to other cities to do home and building repairs. First Presbyterian Church of Albany is located on the corner of State and Willett Streets. The Pastors are Glenn and Miriam Leupold.
