She doesn’t have Guillain Barre or Lyme disease, but I don’t know what she has.
The Daughter’s last month as a nine-year-old was… interesting. As noted, she’s been rehearsing to be in the church production of The Lion King. The rehearsal for February 23 was very intense, and she did not feel up to going to school that day and missed that night’s rehearsal. But when she was too tired to go the next day, I took her to the doctor. Ultimately, she had a blood test, stayed home Wednesday but went to school Thursday and Friday.
Saturday, March 1 was the Lion King dress rehearsal. Christy, the director, who was featured in this article, had said they could rechoreograph The Daughter’s part. The first time through, she did it as planned, but in subsequent takes, she took the shortcut. I was worried that she’d be too exhausted for the show.
Sunday, March 2: the performance. I wasn’t the only one who commented that she was very good as young Nala, the lion cub. She sang well, she knew all her lines from fairly early on in the rehearsals, and she was definitely one of the best dancers in the show. (Oh, here is King Of Pride Rock/Circle Of Life (Reprise), NOT from the church production.) We went out for dinner with my in-laws, then we went home and she fell asleep on the sofa at 5 p.m.
March 3-7: another truncated week of school. The blood test was negative for Lyme disease and about 14 other things. March 10, she goes to school all day, but by the next morning, she’s having trouble walking. So The Wife takes her to the MD again. Wednesday, March 12, at the advice of the MD and the neurologist, we take her to the ER at Albany Medical Center at about 4 p.m. She doesn’t get admitted until 2:30 a.m., and to her room until 4 a.m. After much poking and prodding and an MRI that lasted an hour before she said, “I can’t do this anymore,” there was only a conclusion about what she did not have: no invasive infection, no Guillain Barre. Out of the hospital that Friday, and she slept 13 hours when she got home.
Next stop: physical therapy. Can this just be extreme growing pains affecting her joints, and the areas above and below, plus her back? I dunno, but I’m hopeful the therapy will make her feel stronger.
I suppose it was inevitable that when the billing went from The Supremes to Diana Ross and… that she would eventually leave the group, and she did. In many ways, I preferred the songs of those first two solo albums of hers, which I bought, to the Supremes albums that came out just before she left the group. Still, I never bought any of her other solo albums. Didn’t see her in any of her movies, not even the Oscar-nominated Lady Sings the Blues, though I did see snippets of The Wiz on television.
At some level, I thought that what felt like Berry Gordy’s favoritism towards her made me cranky. It wasn’t until much later, when I was watching the soap opera Another World in the late 1990s, and discovered actress Rhonda Ross was the biological daughter of Ross and Gordy, did I discover they had had a romantic relationship.
Of course, I watched her on the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007, and she was most deserving. I did hear her on the radio a lot, and, finally, bought her greatest hits collection, from which I am picking my favorites from her solo career. LISTEN to all.
7. Upside Down, from Diana, 1980. Some dance beat drivel that I found annoyingly infectious. Went to #1.
5. Touch Me In The Morning (from Touch Me in the Morning, 1973). Another #1 song. I don’t always like Diane’s voice, but I love it here.
4. I’m Coming Out, from Diana. I NEVER heard this song, I believe, until I bought the CD. Anthemic, and I understand she often starts her shows with this song.
3. Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To), from Diana Ross, 1976. Theme from the movie. I just noticed she had albums called Diana!, Ross, Diana, Ross, and TWO called Diana Ross; this is from the second one.
2. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, from Diana Ross, 1970. The song was the motif for the Black History Month performance that my sister Leslie, a couple of others and I organized and performed for a high school assembly. It’s amazing how Diana took that tune, a hit for Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and made it her own #1 song.
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.
I love it when my birthday falls on Friday or Monday for that nifty three-day weekend,
Here’s a picture someone took of me at my mother’s funeral in February 2011.
This is the day in the year I get REALLY lazy – way lazier even than Ask Roger Anything, which will happen again soon enough – when I write almost nothing for my birthday.
I love it when my birthday falls on Friday or Monday for that nifty three-day weekend since I’ve taken it off from work for at least two decades. Although it doesn’t matter if it falls on Saturday or Sunday, because I’ll STILL take off Friday or Monday. Maybe I’ll see a movie matinee and/or go out for an Indian food buffet.
How will I remember how old I am this year? Easy. ROGER Maris hit 61 Home runs for the New York Yankees in 1961, eclipsing Babe Ruth’s record. Of course, Maris’ record was demolished in the Steroid Era by Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, and Sammy Sosa. But I still remember Roger’s achievement.
Maybe the choreography, with the STOP hand gestures, was corny, but I loved it.
Also used for Round 15 of ABC Wednesday, S is for Supremes.
Flo, Mary, Diana
They were the Primettes, a sister group of the pre-Temptations Primes. Shortly after they became the Supremes in 1961, Barbara Martin left the quartet, and they became a trio: Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, and Diana Ross. The nickname around Motown, unfortunately, was the “No-Hit Supremes” in 1962 and 1963 with A Breath Taking Guy their biggest hit (#75 in 1963). Their fate seemed to be backup singers. (LISTEN to Can I Get A Witness by Marvin Gaye from 1963.)
Suddenly, starting in mid-1964, a string of #1 hits, including five in a row, and eventually an even dozen.
I loved the Supremes, and I bought even their oddball albums that Berry Gordy had them do to show their range, such as A Bit of Liverpool; The Supremes Sing Country, Western, and Pop; We Remember Sam Cooke; and The Supremes Sing Rodgers and Hart. Among other things, it allowed Mary and Flo to take an occasional lead vocal.
Around the time the powerhouse songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown c. 1967, the Supremes became Diana Ross and the Supremes, with Cindy Birdsong replacing Florence, who would die less than a decade later of cardiac arrest. The hits slowed, though they did some interesting work with the Temps, and Diana became a solo act by 1970.
22. Baby Love, from WDOLG. Loved “been missin’ ya, miss kissin’ ya.” Another #1 in 1964.
21. Am I Asking Too Much (from The Never-Before-Released Masters, 1987). This is one of those compilation CDs I got that has a bunch of songs from 1961 to 1969, including a bunch of Disney songs from an abortive album. This song was written by R. Dean Taylor and the late Deke Richards; the latter co-wrote Love Child and the early Jackson 5 hits, so this probably was recorded c. 1968.
20. Nathan Jones (from Touch, 1971) – this post-Ross song I didn’t really get into until it appeared on the soundtrack for the 1988 film Rain Man. Went to #16 in ’71.
19. I’ll Try Something New (from Diana Ross & the Supremes Join the Temptations, 1968). This song only went to #25 in 1969 (I’m Gonna Make You Love Me was the big hit), but I love how the voices trade-off here.
18. It Makes No Difference Now (from The Supremes Sing Country, Western and Pop, 1965). I like how the lead vocals are traded.
17. My World Is Empty Without You (from I Hear A Symphony, 1966). This song is so flexible, it was re-recorded as a tribute to Berry Gordy. The hit was #5 in ’66.
16. Going Down For The Third Time (from The Supremes Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland, 1967). My favorite album, almost certainly, and this album cut has that wonderful “Praise be!” from Mary and Flo.
15. Up the Ladder to the Roof (from Right On, 1970). At some level, I REALLY wanted the post-Ross Supremes to succeed, and this first single, #10 in 1970, seemed like a good start.
14. Try It Baby (from DR&SJT). This cover of a Marvin Gaye song starts with the wonderful bass voice of Melvin Franklin, reason enough to like it.
13. Some Day We’ll Be Together (from Cream of the Crop, 1969). The group was already readying for the next transition. The song is Diana with anonymous backup singers, though Diana, Mary and Cyndi do eventually sing it live on the Farewell album months later.
12. Honey Bee (from Love Child, 1968). I’m a sucker for songs featuring the pollinators. Tom Petty has a similarly named song.
11. Love Child (LC). A #1 song from 1968, I appreciated the fact that Mary and Cindi got to sing “scorned by”, instead of merely echoing everything Diana sang.
10. I Want A Guy (Meet the Supremes, 1962). Their first single as The Supremes in 1961, it went nowhere, but I loved the organ especially.
9. You Keep Me Hangin’ On (from SSH-D-H). A #1 single in late 1966, weird stereo of the time threw the sound from one speaker to the other. It was such a compelling storyline, Vanilla Fudge covered it on its eponymous first album.
8. Reflections (from Reflections, 1968). Their first single after Cindi replaced Flo, the single came out in 1967, going to #2, months before the album was released. On some Motown album, Mary described it as a “weird, weird song,” referring to the intro. I fell in love with it again when it was used as the theme for the TV show China Beach.
7. Where Did Our Love Go (from Where Did Our Love Go, 1964). The first hit single (#1 for two weeks in 1964) from the first hit album (#2, probably blocked by some Beatles LP). There is a wonderful purity of sound that’s so attractive.
6. Keep An Eye (from LC). “There used to be three of us seen all over town…” Great song of warranted paranoia.
5. Remove This Doubt (from SSH-D-H). Elvis Costello covered this, but I prefer the original. Breaks my heart.
4. Stop! In the Name of Love (from More Hits by the Supremes, 1965). Maybe the choreography, with the STOP hand gestures, was corny, but I loved it. Also that ascending organ line before the vocals. #1 for two weeks in 1965.
3. I Hear A Symphony (from I Hear A Symphony, 1966). While I love the songs that depend on the bass line, and the Supremes have a bunch of those, I also love this change-of-pace tune, which hit #1 for two weeks in 1965.
2. Buttered Popcorn (from MTS). Another non-hit single from 1961, with Florence Ballard on the wonderful lead vocals.
1. Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart (from SAGG). A massively successful album (#1 for two weeks), though the single only went to #9 in 1966. But I’m a sucker for its bottom sound.
