Lost Time Located – Memories of 1969 and Beyond
Stevie…
Listen/Download Stevie Wonder – My Cherie Amour
Greetings all
The last few weeks have been exceptionally busy, leading up to, and climaxing with the Grogan family reunion.
It has been many years – probably the two decades since my grandmother – the matriarch of the clan – passed – since I’d seen many of my cousins.
These were the kids that I grew up with, played with and loved, and seeing so many of them for the first time in a long time reminded me that some feelings are strengthened, not dimmed, by the passing of time.
The reunion was very large (we are a prolific and widespread lot) and as expected, very, very musical.
I have mentioned my father’s musical gifts in this space many times over the years, and some of the most potent memories of my childhood involve the various and sundry parts of our large family gathered around my grandparent’s piano, singing together.
The song selection was – until some of the cousins were old enough to make their own (more timely) contributions – by and large the music of my grandparents young adulthood, the Tin Pan Alley gold (songs like ‘Bye Bye Blackbird’ and ‘Side By Side’) of the years starting just before WWI and leading up to WWII.
These were the songs that my father, my aunts and uncles (all six of them still kicking at ages stretching from 82 to 90!) and my sisters, brothers, cousins and their spouses and all of our children (many of whom are now adults) sang together this past Saturday.
There were also a number of family bands and singing groups put together for the occasion.
The gift of instrumental and vocal music that began with my grandmother playing her ancient upright piano (which still stands – well over 100 years old – at my sister’s house) has been carried on by all ensuing generations.
It was evident that many of them were overcome by the same wave of nostalgic reverie that I was.
My friend Jim Bartlett (he of the always excellent ‘The Hits Just Keep On Comin’ blog) just published a piece about the Proustian power of music, how it brings us back to places and times in the same way that Marcel’s madeleines did way back in the day.
This was in evidence all through the weekend, but it also spurred me on to a remembrance with a favorite cousin of mine.
I can’t recall if I’ve discussed it in this space before, but in the summer of 1969, I was lucky enough to extend a family vacation and stay behind with my Ohio cousins for a few weeks.
Though most of the Grogans are situated in the NY/NJ area (emanating from Eastchester, NY), at some time in the early 60s, my aunt and uncle relocated their brood to Dayton, Ohio.
This area took on a somewhat magical connotation with yours truly.
A round trip to Westchester County (for anything from a basic visit, to communions, graduations etc) could be achieved in a single day, but a voyage to Ohio, was a trip to a strange and magical land (I guess you had to be there…).
That I was able to remain in Ohio with my cousins – many of them older than me – was something special indeed.
Remembering those days is bittersweet, since my aunt and her two oldest sons have since passed, the boys long before their time.
They were – and their surviving siblings are – all adults, but in many ways, especially because of our geographical separation, they will always partially remain the teenagers of my memory.
I was almost seven years old that summer, and my musical experiences had been largely limited to the jazz and classical music in my Dad’s record collection, the light pop of the day (I still have a space in my head devoted to the sounds of Bert Kaempfert, Al Hirt and the like) and every once in a blue moon, the occasional Top 40 song that would catch my parent’s fancy.
That summer visit – if memory serves it was in July – changed everything.
This weekend, as my cousin Gerry and I were sitting out on the patio enjoying a beer (or two) he mentioned that the last time we had visited in person (almost 20 years ago) I had turned him on to some cool music.
I countered with the fact that the few weeks I had spent with he and his family in 1969 had broken my musical pathways wide open.
There are a number of songs I long associated with that trip to Ohio, all of which were confirmed – and then some – when I finally tracked down some radio charts from that summer a few years ago.
For a few brief weeks, I was in the presence of teenagers, who spent a lot of time listening to the radio, and suddenly the pleasure centers in my brain devoted to music were lit up like a Christmas tree.
A look at the chart below reveals so many tunes that, like Proust’s cookies, carry me back to another time, not only special to me because I was young, but because they welded my ears to the radio, and set me on a lifelong devotion to and appreciation of music.
A few from the list that loom large are ‘Crystal Blue Persuasion’ by Tommy James and the Shondells, ‘Spinning Wheel’ by Blood Sweat and Tears, ‘Good Morning Starshine’ by Oliver, and most importantly, Stevie Wonder’s ‘My Cherie Amour’.
That song in particular became a favorite that summer, and is in all likelihood the very first “soul” song I ever loved.
A chart from that time in 1969 from WSAI in Cincinnatti, OH. While I’m not 100% sure that this was THE station, it’s proximity to Dayton suggests that it might have been.
I spent a lot of this past weekend choked up, happy that I was surrounded by my family, but also sad for those that were no longer there with us to share the joy.
I’m riding that very same emotional roller coaster while writing this, longing for that taste of my youth again, with my youngest son the same age now as I was 44 years ago.
My years on this earth have taught me a few things of value, one of which is that not everyone is lucky enough to have the kind of big, loving family that we do.
This family reunion – hopefully the first of many – was a reminder of how strong that metaphoric fabric is, and how much more beautiful and long-lasting it is because of music.
That is something remarkable.
Enjoy the music.
See you on Friday.
And as always…
Keep the faith
Larry
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Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).
Themocracy
Nicely said. We all have those summers somewhere, even if we don’t travel to them. Mine was 1969 as well, when I began listening to Top 40 because I didn’t want to be utterly clueless about music when I – a mere manager – hung out with the football team. (We were all clueless about the other major topic of conversation: girls.) And there’s nothing odd about Ohio being the land of magic. When you’re that age, any place beyond the horizon can be magic. My own cousins’ home in distant Pennsylvania seemed so to me from my place in Minnesota.
I’ve come back to this post to read it more closely and think about it a bit, and it’s even greater than it seemed to me yesterday. Well done sir.
Thanks very much guys!