Snow Queen of Texas

Oh yeah, we're getting into dangerously low pulse territory here.

I'm sure John, Michelle, Denny and Cass weren't strictly lude and weed types, but they did some pretty mellow stuff. The cover of People Like Us shows just how glassy eyed the Mamas and Papas had become...and today's selection was surely a product of those sessions. Be that as it may, Snow Queen of Texas has a special place in my musical heritage. The boys and me (Peace, Wilder, T. Durham, Reid, etc) used to get together in my Augusta Road apartment and sing like drunken fools to the M&P's; and Snow Queen became a favorite of ours...and most likely cause for my neighbors to roll their eyes and turn up the TV.

The first time I heard Snow Queen was on a local AM radio station (WFBC to be exact). The DJ for that station was a local TV/weatherman/kids show/radio guy name Monty Dupree. Thinking back, I doubt if Mr. Monty was hip to the obvious drug references in SQOT; he was, after all, a pretty square peg. I think, like me, he just dug the song. He may have figured it out if he had bothered looking at the Album cover that depicted the M&P's in various altered states of mind. You would think the lyrics would have been a dead giveaway:

Snow Queen of Texas
Left Paris in a cloud of smoke
They say she may be beaten
But I say that shes not broke
She's living in a cool green farmhouse
If you go to Houston, be quiet as mouse

In any event, when Denny Doherty died last year, I couldn't help but think back to my living room in 1984, stereo turned up considerably past neighborly consideration, and Peace styling out Denny's smooth baritone:

She's living a fairytale

Mending her heart (ooh, ooh, Deborah forever)

That's a good motto

For some junk man's cart

For the record, Peace can do a mean Johnny Cash as well. He'd have us rolling on the floor with his rendition of A Boy Named Sue.

The Mamas and Papas Snow Queen of Texas

Sha na na na na na na na na it'll be alright

In my ever increasing lurch toward the hills and hollows of the mellow lands, I give you BJ Thomas. I saw BJ in Greenville, South Carolina circa 1972. Every blue haired old lady there waited breathlessly on Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head which was made famous in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (remember the bicycle scene with Paul Newman and Katharine Ross). In those days BJ was as well known for his various substance abuses as for his awesome baritone voice; and I suspect he was pretty buzzed at the beginning of the show. Thankfully, that night he sobered up in time to perform a haunting rendition of Rock and Roll Lullaby, which is what I remember most about the evening. I stood with the the blue haired old ladies and cheered. 35+ years later T. Durham and I saw BJ again at the Newberry Opera House...and Rock and Roll Lullaby still sounds as sweet as it did back in 1972. Now I haven't attained blue haired old lady status...yet, but I did give a slightly arthritic standing ovation as the last notes of RARL drifted through the opera house balconies.

I can hear you mama,

my, my, my my mama.

Nothing moves my soul

like the sound of a good old

rock and roll lullabye

Laughter in the Rain

After two of the driest years in recent memory, I'm happy to report that the Piedmont section of South Carolina is finally getting some rain. Thankfully, the lake are filling back up and the grass is greening up nicely. And speaking of rain...

Some years ago (33 to be exact), fellow MTH author Larry Reid and myself made the short drive up to Charlotte NC to see the old piano pounder Neil Sedaka. At that time, The Captain and Tenile had a mega hit with one of Neil's tunes, Love will Keep Us Together...and Neil himself had reemerged from his early rock and roll days to once again hit the charts. Teaming up with Elton John he released the bouncy hit Bad Blood...which he performed that day in Charlotte with two gorgeous blonds instead of EJ. Definitely better on the eyes. But the song that brought the house down was Laughter in the Rain.

A movement is afoot to get Neil into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I can think of several inductees right off the top of my head that haven't had the impact on popular music that Neil Sedaka has had. Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen, Calendar Girl, and Breaking up Is Hard To Do are just a few of Neil's hits. But none as sweet and melodic as LITR. If paragons of music such as The Sex Pistols are in the HOF, then Neil Sedaka should be in there no questions asked.

Monday Musical Interlude

When visiting my Aunt Velma, cousin Ricky would let me listen to his records while my parents and various aunts and uncles played Set Back in the dining room. "You bored buddy? After I leave you can go to my room and listen to my stereo. Be careful with my records, don't scratch em' up". So, after cousin Ricky split for places unknown, I'd wander back to his room and peruse his collection. Iron Butterfly, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (Deja Vu), The Who (Live at Leeds), Smokey Robinson, and James Taylor to name a few. I always like the long haired, freaky, married to Carly Simon, James Taylor. Sweet Baby James had just been released and the AM radio stations played the hauntingly beautiful Fire and Rain frequently. I heard the song this morning as I took my daughter to school. It took me back to 1970 and the uncertain days of becoming a teenager. Sadly, Fire and Rain also reminds me that about a year later, in the summer of 1971, cousin Ricky died in a shoot out at an apartment complex. RIP Ricky. This one is for you.