Fear Nothing (Dreadnought)

 

September is slipping on by!

 Fear not, you now have a new blog post from me...

You will never guess what I just learned recently...you know I will tell you! Richard likes to look at guitars (after all he is an excellent guitarist, don't you know) and he was explaining the different kinds of guitars to me. One that he mentioned was a "dreadnought" guitar, which is an acoustic guitar that has a larger body and a squared shoulder shape with a strong bass. I looked it up!  It was first developed by C.F. Martin & Company in 1916. Now, here is the thing that really startled me - it is named after a British battleship.  It was the HMS Dreadnought, launched in 1906 that only used big guns and therefore, had a much larger shape. Looking further the word "dreadnought" had been around since the 17th century and it means "fear nothing".

 Just as a side note here, whenever we played Monopoly, I always wanted to be "the ship"! It was easy to hold onto, and I liked the idea of sailing around the board! My sister was always the dog, and my brother liked the car. Which one did you prefer? I think I read that they did away with the thimble. Shame, that is the one I got if someone else got the ship.

 I have a video (again) for you! Since I wrote my last post with the Turtles video, YouTube popped up with a video of the lead singer saying that they wrote "Eleanore" as a parody of "So Happy Together" just because the publishing company pressured them into making another hit.  I had no idea! Funny thing, even though it was written tongue in cheek, they are all so good, it DID become a huge hit for them. (Looking back, using the word "etcetera" is a bit cheeky but hey, I was just a kid in 1968, I thought it was just a really good song. We had the single and we played it over and over, along with "Hey Jude", which was also a big hit at the time.) I LOVE this video. The bandmember with the wild, wooly hair is Mark Volman, the one who just passed away recently. I love the wild abandon that he displays on the stage. It is fun to see! The lead singer, Howard Kaylen has such a great voice, and the drumming by John Barbata is spot-on, don't you think? (Sadly, only Howard Kaylen is still with us, the drummer died in 2024.) Remember when you watch the video, that this was performed LIVE and that just really shows you how great they were!

I found a short clip of "Who Do You Think You Are" with Richard Osman.  I urge you to look at YouTube and see the whole episode which is about an hour long. It is so good! You will thank me after you have watched it. (I wish I could meet his mother!)  Richard Osman is very successful as an author (you remember he has written "The Thursday Murder Club" books) but has been known in the UK for a long time as a popular TV Game show creator and host.  If you get the chance, search out the one called "Richard Osman's House of Games".  It is very well done, very funny and most entertaining. He is just so doggone nice! Watch him and see if you don't agree with me.  

Also, he has a new book that will be released this month, Sept. 30th in the USA.   It is "The Impossible Fortune". Note: The book was released on Sept. 25th in the UK. New book releases are on Tuesdays in the United States while they are released on Thursdays in the UK. See the things you learn from me?

September and that means, beautyberry! Those bright purple berries don't even look real, but they are. It is a native and even the leaves are gorgeous. It is also time for the "hearts a busting" to show the bright seeds for us... also a native!

                             Statue in middle of a roundabout in Old Town Conyers, Georgia.

I just looked at my blog title: "Fear Nothing (Dreadnought)". That is actually pretty good advice. Now, if only I can follow it myself...

Hope you are all doing well, my friends.  Take care. 

 

Happy Together/Penny Lane

 

It seems we are losing so many of our well-known songwriters/singers these days. Some are more well known than others. Mark Volman just died yesterday in Nashville at the age of 78.  May in rest in peace and love. You might not know the name, but he was one of the founding members of the Turtles.  One of their biggest hits was " Happy Together" from 1967.  I found a very good video of this song, and I hope you can see it above.  (It begins with the band in silhouette at the beginning and ends the same way.) Mark Volman is the one with the glasses and frizzy hair and to me, seems to be "the funny one". He plays around a bit when he is at the microphone with the lead singer, Howard Kaylen).  Reading about him, it seems that I am correct, he had a lot of joy in his work and life. (Also, look up the song "Eleanore". We had that single as kids in 1968 and almost wore it out!)

The Turtles were unusual at the time as they could not only write their own songs and play their own instruments, but they also covered other songs and made them into hit records. "Happy Together" had been rejected by so many that the demo was worn out and very scratchy.  The Turtles could hear the potential and decided to take a chance. Aren't we glad they did! It went to number one and knocked "Penny Lane" by the Beatles off the top of the charts. ("Penny Lane" only reached number two on the charts in the UK.  this is a fact that some Beatles fans still can't get over!)

"If I should call you up, invest a dime" refers to putting a thin dime into a pay phone in the 1960's.  I guess we will have to explain this to several generations now, but no one has to explain it to me, I remember this very well! 

Thinking of "Penny Lane", I must tell you that every time I see a fire truck on the road, I almost always sing, "He likes to keep his fire engine clean, it's a clean machine!" which of course, is from the song "Penny Lane"!   Americans say "fire trucks" but if you look on the side of the vehicle it will inform you that it is in fact ENGINE # 347 (or whatever number it is). So, now you know that we say fire trucks here but in the UK they call them fire engines.

Oh, I found the best video for you! It is Elvis Costello, and he is performing the song at the White House.  (Sir Paul McCartney is seated beside President Obama). You can feel the love and respect in this performance, I promise.

Now. "Happy Together".... listen to it.  You will either be singing along or tapping your foot, same thing for "Penny Lane".  They are both wonderful songs.

September is here!  I always have a spring in my step in September! I mustn't be too sprightly though; I might step on a butterfly! Watch out for butterflies and all living creatures.  Take care everyone.