Jack’s Winning Words  5/18/22

“Without music, life would be a mistake.”  (Friedrich Nietzsche)  I’m eclectic in my taste for music -  from symphonies to pop, to country/western, to Spike Jones.  I’ve even learned to appreciate Eminem.  Maybe I can’t sing like Andrea Bocelli or whistle like Elmo Tanner, but I know a good song when I hear it.  Part of my fascination for symphonies came from listening to The William Tell Overture as it was used as the theme song for The Lone Ranger radio program.  I wonder what Rossini would think if he heard his music used in this way?  Is there some tune that helps you feel better when you’re in a funk?    ;-)  Jack

FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:   like you, i like something from every genre...===JACK:  Have you ever heard Elmo Tanner whistle, Nola?  The sound is amazing...at least it is to me.

FROM WILLMAR REV:  You mentioned the Willam Tell Overture with The Lone Ranger radio episodes . . . I subscribe to a radio app that plays all the variety of radio programs telecasted from the mid to late 40's well into the 50's, with The Lone Ranger being one of them . . . On many occasion I've asked myself, "Will they every get through playing that overture as it seemed to play on and on . . . I think they used that to fill time early on knowingly compensating for a shortened version of the story that week. 0;-/===JACK:  "I Love A Mystery" was a radio show that used classical music as a theme.

FROM ST PAUL IN ST PAUL:  listening to anything sung by the St. Olaf or Concordia concert choirs.      Jack,  you are truly a Renaissance Man with such a wide variety of tastes and interests.   likely one of the secrets to your long life.  ===JACK:  My appreciation probably began in grade school when part of our gym class consisted of listening to Sousa marches on a wind-up Victrola and marching to the beat.  Singing hymns and choruses was a big part of Sunday School for me, too.  ...and yet, I can't play a musical instrument (except for playing the piana with one finger).  

FROM INDY GENIE:  So many songs get up in me and lift my spirits but my current favorite is Jon Batiste’s “Freedom.” So good===JACK:  I'll have to check it out.  I'll always remember that you introduce me to "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown.  You (or Mary) also led me to Iris DeMent's - Let the Mystery Be.  Great theology.===GENIE:  You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown was so much fun ….we sang and acted it out around the piano. I was lucky enough to see it in NYC during one of my early visits to see sister Pat. Waited at the stage door to meet the cast members…I’ll  never forget it!  Jon Batiste is Stephen Colbert’s bandleader on the Late Show. He is amazing. So talented and has a great story, too.

FROM CHIEF FITZ:  We certainly do have the same taste in music and use the same descriptive word when describing our taste in music.  And the story of your fascination with symphonies came the same way to me.  Pulling out the old 33 rpm record my parents had of “Lone Ranger” episodes.  I still remember how cool that theme song was but as a young kid, never realized that was Classical Music.  It just sounded cool.  Thanks for the memory.===JACK:  I have lots o0f LPs on a closet shelf.  Jackie Gleason was more than Ralph Kramden.  He played good dance music.  2001, A Space Odyssey was more than a movie.  The music was good, too.  ===CF:  Nice! And as you know,  the music can make or break a movie or TV show.  It sets moods, gives a show it’s audio identity, maybe even becomes iconic in itself.===JACK:  I wonder if Rossini would approve the use of his music for the Lone Ranger episodes.  I'd like to think so.

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  Bing Crosby, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, The Mills Bros (I have these on tape; and have a little tape player!) Lots of others... ===JACK:  "Paper Doll" by the Mills Bros was a good one.