Mom’s Ukulele

My mom had a ukulele that sat in a shelf the headboard of my parent’s bed.  The headboard had the shelf and two sliding doors on either side of this shelf for storage.  I thought of it as a little guitar decoration for their bedroom and not a legitimate musical instrument.  At some point when… Continue reading Mom’s Ukulele

Seeing Sammy on TV

In my previous posts, I talked about singing with my cousin Sammy and that he was an outstanding singer.  He won the youth talent contest at the Mid-South Fair in Memphis one year singing How Great Thou Art.  Because he won this contest, he got to travel to New York City and perform on a… Continue reading Seeing Sammy on TV

Singing with Sammy

My cousin Sammy lived next door to us.  Sammy has an outstanding voice.  I mentioned in an earlier post that Sammy and I sang together around the house and occasionally at church.  Sammy was several years older than me.  When we first started singing together, my mom played piano for us.  In a few years,… Continue reading Singing with Sammy

Playing Folsom Prison Blues

I was 6 years old when Johnny Cash’s live album At Folsom Prison was released. While it was my parents’ album, I listened to it almost all the time.  Folsom Prison Blues isn’t a kid’s song, but it became one of my favorites. At the time, I wasn’t playing the piano.  Mom might have started… Continue reading Playing Folsom Prison Blues

Why Casey Kasem Scares Me

A lot of the time when people hear the title of the movie The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant, people think you are talking about The Thing with Two Heads.  The Thing with Two Heads was the film that gets more attention and is more familiar to the general public.  But The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant has its… Continue reading Why Casey Kasem Scares Me

Why Cat Women Scare Me

In my previous blog post, I talked about the film Missile to the Moon, which is a remake of this week’s subject, Cat-Women of the Moon. I first heard of Cat-Women of the Moon when reading the book, Son of the Golden Turkey Awards where it was another nominee in the “Most Primitive Male Chauvinist… Continue reading Why Cat Women Scare Me

Voice Lessons

Shortly after I started first grade, I started taking voice lessons from a teacher in town named Joe Kincaid.  “Mr. Joe” had a lot of students that had success in talent shows at the Mid-South Fair in Memphis. My cousin Sammy was one of his success stories.  Sammy lived next door to us, and we… Continue reading Voice Lessons