February 15, 2010

"Dad, will you cook some biscuits, cheese grits, turkey bacon, and some scrambled eggs?" inquired my 7 year old daughter as she does every Saturday morning the kids come to Tallapoosa. The only cooking I ever do at the house in Marietta is an occasional grilling assignment. I love to cook for my girls. I was schooled in the kitchen sciences by my mother and grandmother. My grandmother, known as Mamanier or Maw Meunier had biscuits that should have been in some sort of hall of fame for bread. Stiver's Best corn meal and buttermilk were the magic of her cornbread. My mother made the best fried chicken I ever had. Her chili spreads were tasty and filling. Mama's spaghetti wasn't spaghetti at all it was elbow macaroni with her home made marinara sauce permeating every nook and cranny of the pasta. My mother's recipe came from an Italian neighbor she had when she worked in a defense plant in San Francisco during World War II and my dad was in the South Pacific as a military policeman who came home with a tattoo and malaria. He never got rid of either the rest of his life. I never really knew much of a relationship with my father because my parents parted when I was about 4 years old. I can only remember seeing him about 5 times after that. He was born in Gwinnett County and went to Georgia Tech until early 1942 as a reaction to the cowardly attack at Pearl Harbor. I was told Virgil Jones had musical talent, a quick wit and a great personality. He just had a food allergy to liquids produced in St. Louis, Milwaukee and in Kentucky. I must say I really didn't get to know my dad and that is why I do everything I can to nurture and spend as much time with girls as possible. I really didn't know the concept of unconditional love until Presley and Callie came along. Love is a really loose term these days it seems. Commitment seems to have gone the way of the horse and buggy if you paid attention to how the world seems now or watched TMZ or the soap opera of former Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards or former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. What is going on? When did it get so out of hand. I remember Tina Turner over 20 years ago sang "What's Love Got To Do With It". I think I'm beginning to understand what the tune means. Another song that really is relevant is Mike Reid's song that was a hit for Bonnie Raitt called "I Can't Make You Love Me". Michael Martin Murphy had a hit on the country charts called "What's Forever For". Isn't it great how music can speak to our hearts? "A Picture of Me Without You" by George Jones is perhaps one of the greatest songs ever to come from Music Row in Nashville. I recently bought the "Greatest Love Songs of All Time" by Barry Manilow. Yes, I said it, Barry Manilow. His version of "Love Me Tender" is second only to Elvis. He took a song from the Depression era and later around 1950 for Peggy Lee and a big hit in 1959 for the Flamingos. Art Garfunkle had a chart hit with the song in 1975. "I Only Have Eyes For You" is a timeless classic. Manilow also recorded a cd of greatest hits from the 1950's that took me back to childhood and hearing those songs on Sonny, Mary Beth, and Ralph Hughes record player up from our house on Stone Street. The great thing about music is that everybody loves it. Have you think of anyone who didn't like some kind of music? As a kid I remember hearing Roy Orbison's "Only The Lonely" and Jimmy Jones "Handy Man" being played on the radio. It was 46 years ago this weekend that we first saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show and introduced us to a group that defined popular music then and now. My fondness of music was enhanced by folks from here. My grandmother's favorite singer was Bud Jones. My mother told me of us seeing him on television when I was a baby. Bud sang on the national broadcast of Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour in the early 50s. Bud taught many of us about the great folk songs and I can remember him teaching us Burle Ives' "Jimmy Crack Corn" and other tunes from the great American songbook. Bud sang "The Old Rugged Cross" at my grandmother's funeral. Bud still has the pipes he did as a young man and is still entertaining audiences. Harold McWhorter was another talented local musician. He is also a wonderful songwriter. His "Sunday Night In Nashville" album was produced in the mid 70's by Harold Shedd who went on to produce Mel Tillis, Glen Campbell, and super group "Alabama". As a recording executive he signed Toby Keith, Shania Twain, and Miley's dad Billy Ray Cyrus to recording contracts with Mercury Records. I heard Harold McWhorter a few months back entertaining at Crossroads Restaurant. He still has a voice that is as pure as well water in Steadman. Harold received airplay on Atlanta's WSB radio. Elmo Ellis the legendary programming chief of WSB loved Harold's music. The Georgia Radio Hall of Fame has an "Elmo Ellis Award of Excellence". Congratulations to Georgia Radio Hall of Famer and WKNG morning host Red Jones for his recent marriage.