My earliest memories of music being played in our house was Mom playing Christmas music. Back then it was the Goodyear Christmas albums with various artists and performers, Perry Como, and an all time favorite, Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians, "Twas the Night Before Christmas". I LOVED listening to these albums. I remember Mom singing along with the New Christy Minstrels and "We need a Little Christmas" and Ray Connif's "Frosty the Snowman". Another favorite of hers was "O Holy Night" by Andy Williams. I used to play it on the organ for her. She also liked "Little Altar Boy" by Glenn Campbell. A few years ago I finally found a digital copy of some of the Fred Waring songs and made a copy for Mom and Dad. I remember last year they said they listened to it while going to Bloomington one day and they really, really enjoyed it. That one song always made me cry, but now it will even more. Back in the '80's, I introduced them to the Mannheim Steamroller Christmas CDs. I'm not sure they liked all of it, but I know they liked some of it and I made copies of them to take in the car with them. One of Mom's all time favorite songs was "Greensleeves." There is a beautiful version of this song on the "A Fresh Aire Christmas" CD. Mom really liked it. It always made me cry and now it surely will. Dad liked Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole. I bought him some of their Christmas CDs and one night I went over there and he was in the basement listening to Nat King Cole. He really liked music, but didn't play it often. He liked Classical music, too. (Mom would always tell him to turn that "longhair" music down.) :-) That was one thing that Dad and I could share a little--our love of music.
I'm rambling. I'm just missing them a lot today.
Love,
Susie
Hello. I hope this works for everybody. Not sure if it will, but I wanted to have an online spot where family and friends could post anything they wanted to share or anything they were feeling about Mom and Dad. I hope to use it as a place where we can share memories or how we're getting through all this or whatever. Please post whatever you like. I might use it as a daily journal to record my thoughts. You can do the same. Then we can share in this together. Love, Susie
Dad and Mom
11/16/23--2/9/07; 3/29/29--2/9/07
2 comments:
Hello:
I came across your blog page and was delighted to read that you are a Fred Waring fan (especially at this time of year). I have Fred's name and the "Pennsylvanians" entered into a Google News search engine, and it brings me daily listings of all the Waring postings on the Internet. Why, you ask? Well, I was a member of the Pennsylvanians for 5 years and still keep in close contact with the organization. Just before Fred died in 1984, he arranged for all his papers, recordings, choral arrangements, radio and television show air checks, photos and memorabilia to be housed at Penn State University, his alma mater. Today, the Fred Waring's America Special Collection is a marvelous storehouse of showbiz history of the 20th century.
You may want to visit the Collection's site (http://www.libraries.psu.edu/waring/default.html ) and look under "Sales." There are lots of recordings for sale, including information on how to obtain Christmas albums.
Shoot me a note if I can be of any further assistance...Merry Christmas!
Pete Misiak
You weren't rambling at all, but rather, remembering. I know a lot of those old songs and artists too and love that they are a part of my heritage.
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