Reece Gardner: Music never grows old

With the Mid-Term Election coming up in Early November, many of us will be watching and listening as events unfold. BE SURE TO VOTE! More on this Issue in a later Column.

Today I want to talk about music and to encourage you to go to the Internet and tune into some music which, as I see it, never grows old, such as John Denver's rendition of Leaving on a Jet Plane: "All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go, I'm standing here outside your door, I hate to wake you up to say goodbye. But the dawn is breaking, it's early morn, the taxi's waiting, he's blowing his horn, already I'm so lonesome I could die."

These are sentiments that we can all relate to, and they never grow old. And then there's George Jones' "50,000 Names Carved in the Wall,", a song which brings into clear focus the horrors and sacrifices of war: "There's teddy bears and high school rings, and old photographs that Mama's bring, of Daddies and their young boys playing ball; There's combat boots he used to wear, when he was sent over there, and there's 50,000 names carved in the wall."

And there's Walter Brennan's recitation about Old Rivers, a poor hardworking farmer from years ago. Walter recalled Old Rivers plowing the fields: "The sun would get high, but that mule would work, until Old Rivers would say, "Whoa!" He'd wipe his brow and lean back on the reins, and talk about a place he was gonna go. He'd say, "One of these days I'm gonna climb that mountain, and walk among the fields and clouds, where the cotton's high and the corn's 'a-growing, and there ain't no fields to plow." These are all "Message" presentations, and watching them on the Internet we not only get the performances, we are also treated, in many cases, to videos of the unfolding events, such as Ricky Skaggs' poignent rendition of, Gone Home: "All of my friends that I loved yesterday, gone home, gone home; they've joined the Heavenly fold, they're walking the streets of pure gold, they left one by one, when their work here was done, Gone Home, Gone Home." Space is limited here, but here a few other wonderful performances available on the Internet:

Toby Keith, "Crying for Me;" George Jones, "If I Could Hear my Mother Pray Again;" Merle Haggard, "Sing Me Back Home;" John Denver, "Annie's Song;" Jimmie Davis, "Nobody's Darling But Mine;" Slim and Byron Whitman, "Hey It's good to be back home again." These are just a few of the wonderful performances available to us. It's all about life, Folks, and IT NEVER GROWS OLD!

Now to close on a humorous note: One of my favorite entertainers was always 'Cousin' Minnie Pearl, and whatever she would relate to an audience always evoked joyous laughter, like when she talked about her Uncle Nabob and Aunt Ambrosie. She told about how Ambrosie had gotten tired of Nabob's drinking, so she decided to "scare" him into sobriety.

It was late on a Friday night and she knew Nabob would soon be walking home from the corner saloon, so she dressed in a frightening halloween costume with devil's horns. She hid in the bushes leading toward the front door and as Nabob "weaved" his way toward the door she jumped out of the bushes and screamed, "Hi, I'm the Devil!, to which Nabob calmed replied, "Well shake hands with your Kinfolk, I married your Sister!"

HAVE A GREAT DAY!