Comments on: Famous people I have known

By: Earl

Earl — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:47:54 +0000

@Sadie: You don’t HAVE to be able to sing…that’s what I wanted to get across to everyone. It’s this that I think turns off some of the “real musicians” I’ve taken to Sacred Harp. ANYone can participate, because the point of it all is praising the Lord with our voices, and we can all do that. But there isn’t much similarity with a typical church (or other) choir – it’s “primitive” music, and some folks can’t handle that.

Also, don’t get the idea that you must be religious to enjoy it — it’s also a cultural experience, and I’ve got atheist friends who will hardly miss any gathering within a hundred miles. If you feel embarrassed at your voice, just sit in the tenor section (we generally sing the melody, there) and let the music do its work. If you’re not at least humming along by the third or fourth song, I’ll be surprised.

Even if you’re not truly “hooked” by the music, you may choose to go back for the potluck lunch! Yum. This is another reason to introduce yourself at an all-day singing – first, the music is better, and second is the potluck. I’ve never been to one outside the south, so you’re on your own anywhere but there – but in GA, TN, and AL, I can highly recommend sticking around for lunch!

By: SADIE

SADIE — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:28:14 +0000

Charles Martel, so glad you enjoyed the link. Book’s salon opens the door to the most interesting gathering of people with such varied insights, stories and tastes. A buffet for the brain!
Earl, your enthusiasm is catchy. I can’t sing a lick – it’s awful… even in the shower. I am reduced to being listener.

By: suek

suek — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:17:19 +0000

>>I’ve just checked her on Wikipedia, and it says she left SF for LA at 10 years old — now I don’t know what to make of Dad’s stories!!>>

Two thoughts: First, Hollywood and the vanity of women of that period. If she didn’t want to ‘fess up to her actual age, she might have dropped some years. (So that, if she was 20 when she left, but had told people she was born in year xx + 10), there might have been some identifiable year that she had to manipulate. Never underestimate the tendency of famous people to manipulate the facts when convenient.
My father remarried after my mother died. The woman he married was supposedly 4 years younger than he was – they’d known each other socially for some 20 years. By the time they actually married, somehow she was the same age he was. By the time she died, it seemed that she was actually 4 years older than he was. They went back to the northeast to get married, so that my Dad could make it a family event (he still had 4 living siblings). They stopped in Philadelphia to get a copy of her birth certificate, but it couldn’t be found. I suspect that she gave them the wrong birth year…that _will_ make old documents hard to find! Apparently, that wasn’t a really big bridge to cross, as they were married anyway.

Secondly, our memories tend to blur a bit as we get older. Your Dad could have remembered her as someone he knew in his youth, identified her as same when she became a star, and blurred the two physical images as he got older. One image superceded the other, so to speak.

By: Earl

Earl — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:04:51 +0000

Ha! My Dad went to school in S.F. with Lana Turner! Before she was “Lana Turner”, of course. He remembered her as another blond in a sweater – at least that’s what he always SAID! I’ve just checked her on Wikipedia, and it says she left SF for LA at 10 years old — now I don’t know what to make of Dad’s stories!! Ah well.

Back to Sacred Harp – I loved your You-Tube link, Sadie. That song is in the Denson book, and we’ve sung it a lot….but “our” version doesn’t sound the same as that. Traditional Sacred Harp is a very different sound, especially when you’re singing something “familiar”, like Amazing Grace. The harmonies are not the same as with “modern” music…Raymond Hamrick, the 90-year old Georgia watch repairman interviewed for the documentary Awake My Soul, says that the “better music boys” came over from Europe in the 1830s or so and introduced gospel music to the U.S. – THAT is what today’s religious music is based on. Sacred Harp sounds more like a combination of medieval and Renaissance. To some degree I’m just blowing smoke here – repeating what I’ve read, because I’m emphatically not a musician – but I know enough to be certain that Sacred Harp is another creature entirely from the music we sing in church.

A warning….I do not like listening to MOST Sacred Harp recordings. In fact, had my buddy Frank played some of the stuff I’ve seen on You-Tube, or heard at Sacred Harp sites on the Web, I doubt I would ever have gone to a singing. The power in Sacred Harp is to sit there in the square and SING. There is no “performance” involved, folks — never an “audience”, because everyone who comes sits in one of the four sections (tenor facing alto, with basses to the left facing the trebles on the right) and SINGS. Full-voice, too…there is no modulation, everyone makes a joyful noise to the Lord, including people who are much less a musician than I am. I have sat next to a brother or sister who joyfully sang all morning in a monotone, and no one minds. I suspect this may be why I don’t listen to recordings of Sacred Harp – although I listen to very little music, so that may be part of the explanation, as well.

Don’t let this put you off, please….go and try it, at least once at a real “singing” where a lot of good singers get together for a couple of days. Small groups are OK – once you’re hooked, it won’t matter the size of the group, but for a “newbie” they don’t offer the genuine experience. But, in any case it’s not for everyone, and we have good friends who love music who have come with us and never gone again. That’s OK, but Gail and I were both hooked the very first time we tried it. There is tremendous power in this music – sometimes it’s John Newton’s words that choke me up and cause the tears to run, and other times it’s the harmony that stabs me to the heart (Raymond Hamrick’s song #503 is an example). Give yourself the opportunity…..find an all-day singing somewhere, and go. ESPECIALLY if you are in the TN/GA/AL area – look up Liberty Church in Henagar, or go to Pine Grove Baptist Church in Collinsville in August, or sing in the New Year with the Wooten’s in Ider. You may fall in love!

By: Bookworm

Bookworm — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:40:40 +0000

Gringo’s post reminds me that I went to school for years with Naomi Wolf. I never think of her as a famous person, even tho’ she is, simply because I find her so embarrassing. If you were to mention my name to her, I’m sure she would say she doesn’t remember me, either because she truly doesn’t or because I’m not important enough — all of which boils down to the same thing.

By: Gringo

Gringo — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:13:26 +0000

Earl, I blew off your posting on sacred harp music, until I saw the endorsements you got. I went to a link you gave, and I liked it so much I am bookmarking it. As my bias is towards choral singing, I am not surprised I liked it so much.

“Famous people:” the brightest person in my high school class is working in the NObama White House. He at least fits the self-image the Demos have of all the bright,well-educated people being on their side. Which does not fit the other self-image the Demos have of being the party of the People. Not unless you are from Lake Wobegon.

By: Susan

Susan — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:22:38 +0000

It really boils down to definition, I guess. I mean, I’m an MIT student, so I know people who are very well-regarded or well-known within their field, but if you aren’t interested in science you’ll likely not hear of them. I’ve taken classes with Joe Haldeman and corresponded with Dr. Jerry Pournelle, but are they “famous” in the way you mean? They’re both good people. I’ve sung songs with people in filk music who are well-known (within the community) in several states, but does that make them “famous?”
Probably not. It’s a neat semantic issue to chew on, though.

By: Charles Martel

Charles Martel — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:52:13 +0000

Earl and Sadie, it’s people like you that make me love this site so.

Sadie, I went to your Youtube link and was instantly taken away. What gorgeous, soulful music! Earl, I’m going to explore your links, too. I’ve got the feeling I’m on the verge of spending some very happy hours in a beautiful, unknown land.

Thank you both.

By: SADIE

SADIE — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:40:59 +0000

Earl ... I don't know their individual names, but this was my introduction into Sacred Harp music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKbH6Dga3zo

By: Earl

Earl — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 05:53:27 +0000

Hmmmmm….someone whose name would elicit an “Oh Cool” from the hearers….
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That’s an interesting criterion, actually – if I dropped “Willie Mays” among my daughter’s late 20-something friends, I don’t think most of them would know who I was talking about. But, he was a HUGE deal to my generation, at least if you were into baseball at all. (No, I don’t know Willie – sigh)
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I actually DO know some very famous people…famous in a relatively small group, though. David Ivey is one – I know him, and he knows me, and by name. I also know Rodney (his brother) and Coy (Dad) Ivey, and they would definitely recognize me, although they might not call me by name. Additionally, I know Richard DeLong, and Terry Wooten, and Hugh McGraw…..
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Now, I’m guessing that no one reading this blog has any clue who these fellows are, but if I were to attend a Sacred Harp singing in San Francisco, or Portland, or Berkeley, or ‘most anywhere, and tell the people that I knew these guys, I’d be immediately surrounded and people would be looking for the slot to put their quarter in, so they could touch me!
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Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but they would be VERY impressed! These guys are the “big leaguers” of Sacred Harp singing – some of them are on the title page of the book we sing out of – the 1991 (fourth) revision of the original 1844 songbook. A few of them have songs they wrote *in* the book. Richard and Hugh toured the U.S. in the ’70s, spreading the “gospel of Sacred Harp” and they started the Berkeley group that’s still going. David flies all over the U.S. and to Europe to attend singings as the guest of the singers there. These are genuine celebrities. Gail and I know them because of our five years in Tennessee, and thanks to a friend (Frank Clayton) who introduced us to Sacred Harp singing, the best musical experience of my entire life.
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You can get acquainted with Sacred Harp at http://awakemysoul.com/ – give it a chance! Watch the trailer – we sang with all those people, including the 90+ year old watchmaker who wrote my favorite song in the whole book! Netflix has the documentary, so you don’t even have to buy it. Then give Sacred Harp a try, yourself….find the nearest singing here: http://fasola.org/ …just click on “Singings” to the left and (first) scroll down and look in your state, then scroll back up and click on “Annual Sacred Harp Singings – Denson book (our favorite)” and search by date.