Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Today's funny :o)

Got a boo-boo? Don't worry....

.... it's all better now!

Monday, May 29, 2017

Sunday, May 28, 2017

Easy Listening for a Sunday Afternoon

Willie Nelson - Surprise!

:o)

Saturday, May 27, 2017

Johnny Ace

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Johnny Ace
Ace in 1954
Background information
Birth name	John Marshall Alexander, Jr.
Born	June 9, 1929 Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Died	December 25, 1954 (aged 25) Houston, Texas, United States
Genres	R&B
Years active	1949–1954
Labels	Duke Records

John Marshall Alexander, Jr. (June 9, 1929 – December 25, 1954), known by the stage name Johnny Ace, was an American rhythm-and-blues singer. He had a string of hit singles in the mid-1950s. He died of an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 25.

Career

Alexander was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of a preacher, and grew up near LeMoyne-Owen College. After serving in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War, he joined Adolph Duncan's Band as a pianist. He then joined the B. B. King band. Soon King departed for Los Angeles, and the band's singer, Bobby Bland, joined the army. Alexander took over vocal duties and renamed the band the Beale Streeters. He also took over King's radio show on WDIA.

He began performing as Johnny Ace. He signed with Duke Records (originally a Memphis label associated with WDIA) in 1952. His first recording, "My Song", an urbane "heart ballad", topped the R&B chart for nine weeks in September. (A cover version by Aretha Franklin was released in 1968, on the flip side of "See Saw".)

Ace began heavy touring, often with Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton. In the next two years, he had eight hits in a row, including "Cross My Heart", "Please Forgive Me", "The Clock", "Yes, Baby", "Saving My Love for You" and "Never Let Me Go". In December 1954 he was named the Most Programmed Artist of 1954, according to the results of a national poll of disc jockeys conducted by the U.S. trade weekly Cash Box

Ace's recordings sold very well for those times. Early in 1955, Duke Records announced that three of his 1954 recordings, along with Thornton's "Hound Dog", had sold more than 1,750,000 copies.

Death

After touring for a year, Ace had been performing at the City Auditorium in Houston, Texas, on Christmas Day 1954. During a break between sets, he was playing with a .32-caliber revolver. Members of his band said he did this often, sometimes shooting at roadside signs from their car.

It was widely reported that Ace killed himself playing Russian roulette. However, Big Mama Thornton's bass player, Curtis Tillman, who witnessed the event, said, "I will tell you exactly what happened! Johnny Ace had been drinking and he had this little pistol he was waving around the table and someone said ‘Be careful with that thing…’ and he said ‘It’s okay! Gun’s not loaded… see?’ and pointed it at himself with a smile on his face and ‘Bang!’ — sad, sad thing. Big Mama ran out of the dressing room yelling ‘Johnny Ace just killed himself!'.

Thornton said in a written statement (included in the book The Late Great Johnny Ace) that Ace had been playing with the gun but not playing Russian roulette. According to Thornton, Ace pointed the gun at his girlfriend and another woman who were sitting nearby but did not fire. He then pointed the gun toward himself, bragging that he knew which chamber was loaded. The gun went off, shooting him in the side of the head.

According to his biographer Nick Tosches, Ace shot himself with a .32 pistol, not a .22, and it happened little more than an hour after he had bought a new 1955 Oldsmobile.

Ace's funeral was held on January 2, 1955, at Clayborn Temple AME church in Memphis. It was attended by an estimated 5,000 people. His remains were buried at New Park Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee.

"Pledging My Love" was a posthumous R&B number 1 hit for ten weeks beginning February 12, 1955. As Billboard bluntly put it, Ace's death "created one of the biggest demands for a record that has occurred since the death of Hank Williams just over two years ago."^[10] His single recordings were compiled and released as The Johnny Ace Memorial Album.

Tributes

Bob Dylan and Joan Baez performed "Never Let Me Go" on tour with the Rolling Thunder Revue in 1975.

Elvis Presley recorded "Pledging My Love" in his last studio session, in 1976. The song appeared on the album Moody Blue in 1977.

Paul Simon wrote and performed the song "The Late Great Johnny Ace", in which a boy, upon hearing of the death of Ace, orders a photograph of the deceased singer: "It came all the way from Texas / With a sad and simple face / And they signed it on the bottom / From the Late Great Johnny Ace." The song develops a touching counterpoint with the death of two other Johnnies – John Lennon and John F. Kennedy. Simon also performed "Pledging My Love" on his tour of Europe and North America in 2000.

David Allan Coe covered "Pledging My Love", introducing the song with his own recollections of hearing the news of Ace's death.

Ace is mentioned in "House Band in Hell", by Root Boy Slim, and in the song "Johnny Ace", by Dash Rip Rock.

"Pledging My Love" was used in the 1973 film Mean Streets, directed by Martin Scorsese; the 1983 film Christine, directed by John Carpenter; the 1985 film Back to the Future, directed by Robert Zemeckis; and the 1992 film Bad Lieutenant, directed by Abel Ferrara.

The Teen Queens' song "Eddie My Love", originally entitled "Johnny My Love", was written in memory of Ace.

The Swiss singer Polo Hofer and the Schmetterband wrote the song "Johnny Ace" in 1985; it was released on the album Giggerig.

Rock-and-roll historian Harry Hepcat noted that "Johnny Ace was a crooner who sounded like Johnny Mathis with soul. ....Soon after the death of Johnny Ace, Varetta Dillard recorded "Johnny Has Gone" for Savoy Records in early 1955. She incorporated many of Ace's song titles in the lyrics. This was the first of the many teen tragedy records that were to follow in the later 50s and early 1960s."

Will Oldham noted Ace's death in the lyrics of his song "Let the Wires Ring", on his 2000 albbum Guarapero/Lost Blues 2.

Dave Alvin's 2011 album, Eleven Eleven, contains the song "Johnny Ace is Dead", about Ace's death.

The Squirrel Nut Zippers' Christmas album, Christmas Caravan, contains the song "A Johnny Ace Christmas", a love song about Ace killing himself on Christmas.

Friday, May 26, 2017

Friday Night Steam

We are off to Canada tonight! Watch how great working men made great working steam engines. I don't think these giants could be made today as most of the skills needed are lost to time....

.

A must read article about these giants:

http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/photos/cpr_steam/3100.htm

:o)

Today's funny :o)

Odds 'n Ends.....

Have been under the weather for a wee bit and haven't been doing too much - so the pics aren't too exciting.....

Momma and her babies - this pond is just down the road from us.

A cardinal sitting on the fire pit screen:

There are several here in Coopville :

These clouds look like fingers!

Thunder clouds!

A BIG big on the door:

Thought these clouds were pretty neat - reminded me of ocean waves:

These are going every-which-way:

Charlie found a worm in the grass - see Betty run to get to it first!

:o)

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Why and Because

1. WHY?

Why do men's clothes have buttons on the right while women's clothes have buttons on the left?

BECAUSE

When buttons were invented, they were very expensive and worn primarily by the rich. Since most people are right-handed, it is easier to push buttons on the right through holes on the left. Because wealthy women were dressed by maids, dressmakers put the buttons on the maid's right. And that's where women's buttons have remained since.

2. WHY?

Why do ships and aircraft use 'mayday' as their call for help?

BECAUSE

This comes from the French word ‘m'aidez’ - meaning 'help me' - and it is pronounced, approximately, 'mayday'.

3. WHY?

Why are zero scores in tennis called 'love'?

BECAUSE

In France, where tennis became popular, the round zero on the scoreboard looked like an egg and was called 'l'oeuf', which is French for 'the egg'. When tennis was introduced in the US, Americans mispronounced it to 'love'.

4. WHY?

Why do X's at the end of a letter signify kisses?

BECAUSE

In the Middle Ages, when many people were unable to read or write, documents were often signed using an X. Kissing the X represented an oath to fulfill obligations specified in the document. The X and the kiss eventually became synonymous.

5. WHY?

Why is shifting responsibility to someone else called passing the buck'?

BECAUSE

In card games, it was once customary to pass an item, called a buck, from player to player to indicate whose turn it was to deal. If a player did not wish to assume the responsibility of dealing, he would 'pass the buck' to the next player.

6. WHY?

Why do people clink their glasses before drinking a toast?

BECAUSE

In earlier times, it used to be common for someone to try to kill an enemy by offering him a poisoned drink. To prove to a guest that a drink was safe, it became customary for a guest to pour a small amount of his drink into the glass of the host. Both men would drink it simultaneously. When a guest trusted his host, he would only touch or clink the host's glass with his own.

7. WHY?

Why are people in the public eye said to be ‘in the limelight'?

BECAUSE

Invented in 1825, limelight was used in lighthouses and theatres by burning a cylinder of lime which produced a brilliant light. In the theatre, a performer 'in the limelight' was the center of attention.

8. WHY?

Why is someone, who is feeling great, 'on cloud nine'?

BECAUSE

Types of clouds are numbered according to the altitudes they attain, with nine being the highest cloud. If someone is said to be on cloud nine, that person is floating well above worldly cares.

9. WHY?

In golf, where did the term 'caddie' come from?

BECAUSE

When Mary Queen of Scots went to France as a young girl, Louis, King of France, learned that she loved the Scottish game 'golf'. He had the first course outside of Scotland built for her enjoyment. To make sure she was properly chaperoned (and guarded) while she played, Louis hired cadets from a military school to accompany her. Mary liked this a lot and, when she returned to Scotland (not a very good idea in the long run), she took the practice with her. In French, the word cadet is pronounced 'ca-day' and the Scots changed it into caddie.

10. WHY?

Why are many coin collection jar banks shaped like pigs?

BECAUSE

Long ago, dishes and cookware in Europe were made of dense orange clay called 'pygg'. When people saved coins in jars made of this clay, the jars became known as 'pygg banks'. When an English potter misunderstood the word, he made a container that resembled a pig and it caught on.