It might Have Been Their Night...But It Was His Show

I remember the night James Brown was inducted into the Rock n Roll hall of fame. I have never, in my life, seen anybody so thuroughly steal a show. From the time he came onstage it was his. I couldn't even tell you who else was there that night.
I remember him though. He was wearing a pastel green three piece suit that fit like a glove. He had the smile on his face that only a selfmade man, in triumph,knows. Not arrogant, proud. The pride of accomplishment. He knew who he was, and what he was. The hardest working man in show business. Mr. Dynomite. The godfather of soul. Soul brother number one.
Born In poverty James Brown knew hard work, and adversity from day one. He rose from menial labor, and prison to become a driving force, and a shining roll model At a time in music when drug abuse, and antisocial behavior were the status quo. Always telling kids to stay in school. Stay off the street, and away from drugs. The night Martin Luther King was killed James Brown spoke to black America, and a fuse was exstinguished on a powder keg of potential violence across this country. He had power and influnce, and he knew it. He never missed an oppertunity to use it. And it was always positive.
After his induction, and electrifying performance He left the stage to a thundering standing ovation. The entire hall on it's feet. His band struck up his trademark theme music as the cameras followed him offstage.They wouldn't stop. They whistled, they cheered,they screamed, and the applause thundered.
There was one camera man right in front of the man, camera low,aiming up, making him look 10 feet tall as he threaded his way through the backstage corridors. His back up singers, and band members began to chant, and clap. CLAP CLAP..JAMES BROWN! CLAP CLAP..JAMES BROWN ! CLAP CLAP..JAMES BROWN! The entire house took it up. CLAP CLAP..JAMES BROWN! CLAP CLAP..JAMES BROWN!
I've never seen a more serene, yet satisfied smile. His eyes sparkled with tears. He spoke to people, waved, talked to his entourage, and in the back ground you could hear them. CLAP CLAP..JAMES BROWN! CLAP CLAP JAMES BROWN! All the way outside you could hear them, as he climbed into his limosine, and sped into the Ohio night...Show over. fini




James Brown struggled, fell from grace, and returned in the late 80s, and 90s. He overcame again. He returned to his place as one of the most positive roll models in show business. He died on December 25, 2006....CLAP CLAP..JAMES BROWN! CLAP CLAP..JAMES BROWN.....

Where Did That Come from?

I had one of those vivid old memory flashes recently, and it won't go away. So I'm going to give it away.

This is one of those things that leave you scratching your head, and wondering what was that about? I was on the internet chatting on messenger, wasn't thinking about a thing, and this vivid flash of memory complete with soundtrack came to me. I had to stop what I was doing, and share it with my sister who ,as it happens,was in it anyway. So with out further ado.....

It's a cold winter night in Praraie Du Chien , Wisconsin of 1962. I am ten years old, and spending one of those rare periods actually home with my parents. My little four year old brother Tommy is in bed asleep. My sister Anna who is twelve, and I , are on the couch. I'm looking at a small stack(maybe three) of Batman comic books. I remember remarking to my sister how cool The Bat logo looked on the covers, and her replying that she didn't like it. (Girls. ) In the background You can hear Ralph Emory on the radio broadcasting live from Ernest Tubb's Record Shop. That program used to follow the Grand Ole Opry every Friday, and Saturday night.

I also had a picture puzzle of a fish in a fishbowl with a castle in the background. I took the puzzle to a chair by the front door. On the other side of the door stood the radio. it was one of those old tube models. Huge! It was three or four feet wide, and at least four feet tall. Next to it was a big old easy chair with my Dad in it. ever present cigarette in one hand. He is reading a magazine. On the right side of him there is a table with a lamp, ash tray, their cigarettes,and my Mom's constant companion, a cup of coffee. There is an other big easy chair with my mom in it. my Mom is wearing a floor length blue print dress. She is listening to Ralph, but I remember her watching us with a contented smile on her face. "Hi Mom."

I am in the carpetted floor in front of the chair. I'm shaking the puzzle making the pieces slide down so it looks like the castle is crumbling down into a pile of debris.(Boys.) I do this over and over. In the background...I can hear it right now in my head..Skeeter Davis is singing.....Don't they know it's the end of the world? it ended when you said goodbye........

In My Life

The summer I came to Tennessee It became a thing for My sister,my cousin mike, and I to walk the two miles or so into Monterey. We would have enough money to buy candy, or a snack of some kind, and an R. C. cola. Or a small toy of some kind. These trips were always so much fun for us kids, and I look back on them now as precious memories. Ofcourse after summer, Mike was back in Chicago. And my sister, and I were still strangers in a strange land.
The details are fuzzy, but I remember the day Anna, and I walked into Monterey to buy Rubber Soul. (today Rubber Soul is my favorite Beatle album. Yesterday it was Sgt. Pepper, and next time I listen to Abby Road.....Well You get the picture.) The songs on Rubber Soul play in my heart though, weave mermories, bring the past into sharp focus. My Mother. Monterey.My first Tennessee friend, Larry Poteet....In My life..I loved them all...


It was two,and a half miles to town from the Lizzy Ann grant house. The tin roof, tarpaper shack with no running water, that we lived in. We used to walk it almost every day ,in summer.. I can close my eyes,and see every curve,hill,pond, and house.You turn left out of the yard onto a gravel road two small hills ,and the railroad tracks in the distance. Ten yards down the road there was a dying greenscummed pond choked with reeds on the left. On the right was the Neal farm. Nice big healthy pond with a big hill behind it. Behind that hill was the THRUSH HQ. barn from my "I Was Illya Kuryakin" blog. At the railroad crossing the gravel turns to pavement.

Just beyond that is the cemetary where my Mother & father are buried, and the Woodcliff Babtist Church. All the land for these was donated by my Grandfather so my family has a large plot there, and one day I shall go there nevermore to leave. Next is my Aunt Goldie's house. Ancestorial home of my Mother's side of the family..The Holloways.(Oh the tales I will tell of this place!) Standing in front of her place you see three hills each a little larger than the last, and standing on the third larry Poteet's house. My fellow secret agent,and constant companion in the woods and hollows of summertime.

There will have to be a blog about Larry someday. But right now were walking to Monterey after Rubber Soul. (Which is on the cd player now ofcourse.) Beyond the Poteet farm was a beautifull hollow with a large pond at the bottom. Owned by some kin of mine that I don't remember..Neals I think. After that It starts to civilize some. more houses. Less ponds. Being on the edge of the Comberland platau you walk very far off the road, and you will be going down hill. There were a few level places though .

Kelley Neal's place was next.(I know...the place is eat up with Neals.) He was a bully I knew from school, and even his dogs didn't like me. If Anna,and I made it past them we were alright. He was always mad,drank like a fish, and just stupid enough to hate intelectual little yankees like me. I think he's dead now. C'est la vie.

Next came The House Of Green Gables. I t was a big green house ok? lol. WE used to fantisize we lived there. An escape from the tarpaper shack with outdoor plumbing that was our lot at the time. As I said the houses got closer together at this point, and after one more pond with pasture,and woods, you were in beautifull downtown monterey.A walk up a long steep hill of houses led to the two block business district.Beyond that was clarkrange highway, and more ponds.

The post office anchored one side of the street. The drycleaners where my mom worked the other. And the little country store where the Beatles awaited. Cold Royal Crown colas. Chocolate covered raisins. And an album my sister had saved change for. Listened to on wls. And there it was! We hurried home, the return a blur. The fab four filled our little shack with joy the rest of the afternoon, and well into the night.....

joe said That

Tales Of History And Explaination

Now is as good a time as any to shed a little light on the title of this blog. We'll shine that light back down the dark, and silent tunnel of the past, and bring to life some memories of the greatest radio station in the world..89 WLS in Chigago.
I can still hear the music in my heart. Beatles,Stones, James Brown, The Supremes,Wilson Pickett, Tommy James,and the Shondells,The Dave Clark Five, Jerry and the Pacemakers,Herman's Hermits, Barry McGuire, Petulia Clark....Ohh!! I can just hear it!
Sings.."EIGHTY NINE...WLS...YAY! ROCK! BEATLES!! That was one of the jingles they would play, then ofcourse you would hear PAPERBACK WRITER, or CAN'T BUY ME LOVE, or NOWHERE MAN. I remember the Oldstyle beer comercials calling La Cross Wisconsin "God's country"
And to my sister, and I it was. For our hearts were still back in the place of our childhood memories,Praraie Du Chien Wisconsin.Forced to move by divorce, we found ourselves in the cultural twilight zone Of rural Tennessee in 1965.We were alone Isolated. "outsiders" Wls was our lifeline.
Living in a tarpaper shack,on a gravel road, miles from town, We were years from our first black, and white tv. That little five tube radio was our only link to the outside world. Civilization. And clear channel powerhouse WLS was there every night. Bringing music,news,pop culture,the pulse of the second largest city in the world into that little house.








Barry McGwire was growling about the "EVE OF DESTRUCTION" Jerry, and the Pacemakers were taking the"Ferry ACROSS THE MERSEY". We were "DOWN IN THE BOONDOCKS" with Billy Jo Royal, and the Beatles were saying "WE CAN WORK IT OUT." All of them bringing color, joy, and assurance that the world was still there.