~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
September 26, 2013

★~Today’s Quote:  Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. ~ T. S. Eliot

★~ Johnny Appleseed Day:

An Odd Dude. Some say Johnny Appleseed was a pioneer but I picture him more as an 1800’s hippie. He wore coffee sacks with holes cut out for his arms, rarely wore shoes even in the winter he could walk over the ice and snow barefooted and the skin was so thick on his feet that even a rattlesnake couldn’t bite through it, he wore a mush hat on his head. A leather bag filled with apple seeds was slung over his shoulder. His dream was to plant so many apple seeds no one would ever go hungry. .

★~ Apple Kuchen Day: 

In Honor of Johnny Appleseed’s Birthday, bake up an Apple Kuchen, one of my favorite, easy to make desserts.  Apple Kuchen recipe

★~ Today in History:

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♥~ 1560 – Explorer Francis Drake ended a three-year voyage around the world when he arrived back at his starting point of Plymouth, England. Drake was knighted by Queen Elizabeth less than a year later.

♥~ 1934 – The cruise ship Queen Mary was launched.  It made regular cruises between Europe and the U.S. before it was retired in 1967, and docked in Long Beach, California.

♥~ 1962 – “Come and listen to the story ’bout a man named Jed…” The Beverly Hillbillies aired on CBS-TV. U.S. audiences were enchanted with Jed, Ellie Mae, Granny, Jethro, Miss Jane and that banker feller. Enchanted, as in a trance, in fact, for 216 shows. Bluegrass stars Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs had the honor of composing and recording the theme song and hit record, The Ballad of Jed Clampett.

♥~ 1964 – Gilligan’s Island began its 98-show run on CBS. The TV show starred Bob Denver in the title role, Jim Backus as Mr. Howell, Natalie Schafer as Lovey Howell, Alan Hale as the Skipper, Russell Johnson as the Professor and Dawn Wells and Tina Louise as Mary Ann and Ginger, respectively.

♥~ 1965 –  The first weekly TV cartoon show about living celebrities debuted on ABC.  On “The Beatles” series, the animated adventures portrayed the band members as they looked in 1965.  But during the four years that “The Beatles” aired on network TV, the show did take note of the band’s changes in appearance and musical styles.

♥~ 1983 – The longest winning streak in sports — 132 years — was broken. It was the America’s Cup race and the United States team expected to maintain their title; one they were defending for the 25th time. Challenger Australia II won!

♥~ 1987 – Whitney Houston’s fifth consecutive #1 U.S. single hit the top. Didn’t We Almost Have It All was a cut from her LP, Whitney, which was number one on the album charts from June 27 to Sep 11 that year.

★~ Famous Birthdays:

[vimeo]http://youtu.be/kIHRgisdbeY[/vimeo]

♥~ 1888 – T.S. (Thomas Stearns) Eliot Nobel Prize-winning poet [1948]; The Waste Land, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock; died Jan 4, 1965

♥~ 1925 – Marty Robbins (Robertson)Country Music Hall of Famer; Grammy Award Winner: El Paso [1960], My Woman, My Woman, My Wife [1970]; A White Sport Coat, Don’t Worry, Devil Woman; actor: Road to Nashville, Ballad of a Gunfighter, Hell on Wheels, The Drifter; last Grand Ole Oprey singer to perform in Ryman Auditorium, 1st to perform in new Opryland; died Dec 8, 1982

♥~ 1933 – Donna Douglas actress: Beverly Hillbillies (Ellie Mae), Frankie and Johnny

♥~ 1948 – Olivia Newton-John singer: You’re the One that I Want, If Not for You, Let Me Be There, I Honestly Love You, Have You Never Been Mellow, Please Mr. Please,Physical, Magic; actress: Grease, Xanadu, Two of a Kind

♥~ 1962 – Melissa Sue Anderson actress: Little House on the Prairie (Mary Ingalls), The Loneliest Runner, The Equalizer: Memories of Manon

★~ Good to Know: The First Beetle to Visit America by Eddie Deezen  actor, comedian, and voiceover artist.

It was mid-September of 1963, fifty years ago. The Beatles were already the biggest stars in the history of Great Britain and had a number one song with “She Loves You,” as well as having had a #1 album, their debut album Please Please Me.

But after over a full year of steady recording, playing gigs, and touring, the band finally had a few weeks off for a holiday. John went to Paris with his then-wife Cynthia. Paul and Ringo took off with their respective girlfriends for a vacation in Greece. That left George, who went with his older brother Peter to visit their sister Louise in America. Thus, George Harrison became the first Beatle to visit the U.S. (Ringo had originally planned to go with George, but changed his mind and went on the Greek trip with Paul instead.)

George was to spend 18 days in the States, mostly staying at the home of sister Louise and her husband Gordon Caldwell at 113 McCann Street in the small mining town of Benton, Illinois (population 8,000). After experiencing the hectic crowds of the early stages of Beatlemania in England, George welcomed the comparative peace and solitude of Benton, where he could move about freely in complete anonymity.

During his visit, George dressed inconspicuously, usually wearing a white shirt, jeans or dark pants, no tie, and often sandals. The only unusual feature of George’s appearance was his then-super-long Beatle haircut, which slightly shocked many of Benton’s citizens. According to one friend, after seeing George’s hair, “I thought of Moe Howard of the Three Stooges.”

George, Peter, and Louise happily spent a few nights camping out in Shawnee National Forest. He and Peter also visited a local eatery where they were served by waitresses on roller skates. Louis’s friend, bass player Gabe McCarty, took George shopping at the town’s only record store, where George bought “about 30” albums and a few singles, including Booker T. and the MG’s first album Green Onions plus some Bobby Bland and the record “Got My Mind Set On You” by James Ray. George recorded that song almost 25 years later.

George asked the salesperson if they carried any records by the Beatles and was met with a blank stare of complete unawareness and non-recognition. This introverted George slightly, along with the jarring moment when he saw England’s biggest rock star, Cliff Richard, in his recent move Summer Holiday being played as a second string feature at the local drive-in. These two incidents stayed with George, and when he reported back to the other Beatles upon his return to England, we wondered if they could make it in the States, and actually thought they would flop.

With Louise, he visited the small local radio station WFRX in West Frankfort, where he gave an interview to DJ Marcia Schafer (now Raubach). George gave Marcia a copy of the Beatles’ recent record “She Love You” and signed a Beatles photo for her. Marcia was to play the band’s record “From me To You” several Saturdays in a row and thus became the first radio DJ to play a Beatles record on the air in America.

One day, George was taken to a Mt. Vernon music store, where he purchased a red Fireglo 420 Rickenbacker guitar. He paid $400 for the guitar and asked the salesman if he could dye it black “like John Lennon’s Rickenbacker.” (George had American money, but he didn’t know what it was worth and always needed to ask his family and friends to help him calculate his spending.) At the store, George and Gabe jammed for 30 or 40 minutes, with George happily playing his new purchase.

George made two public appearances during his visit. He visited a small local club called The Boneyard Boccie Ball Club of Benton and sang “Happy Birthday” to a young woman. But the final Saturday of his visit, the day before he left, was to be the highlight of George’s historic visit.

A local four-man band called The Four Vests were scheduled to play a four-hour gig at the VFW club in Eldorado. Gabe McCarty was a member of the band and asked George if he wanted to come along and see them play. George agreed to attend and contentedly watched the band’s first set.

Then after being introduced to the large crowd as “the Elvis Presley of England,” George took over the lead guitar for the band’s second set. the Four Vests’ lead guitarist handed his guitar over to George and graciously sat down at a table to watch. George sang and played lead guitar on Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven” and Hank Williams’ “Your Cheatin’ Heart.” According to his sister Louise, the crowd, who had previously been quiet, stomped their feet, applauded, and whistled wildly as George played.

After the 40-minute set was over, someone in the crowd came over and told George that “with the right breaks, you could really go places.” The Four Vests were approached by excited audience members who advised them to “sign up that guy who auditioned for you.”

George had such a good time on his visit to Benton, he and Louise promised each other that they’d “do it again next year.” He enjoyed the VFW gig so much, he even scheduled a Beatles concert there for the following year.

George left Benton the next day and briefly visited New York City and St. Louis before returning to his Beatle bandmates. While visiting New York, George again walked around in anonymity. There is a picture of him walking alone among the visitors on top of the Empire State Building.

During his visit to Benton, no one, including George himself, could have possibly imagined the soon-to-be worldwide popularity of the Beatles. The Beatles came to America together less than five months later, in February of 1964, taking the country by storm. By this time, there was no looking back for Beatle George Harrison, and his little-known trip to Benton, Illinois was to remain unique and isolated experience and memory.

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Tomorrow, I may not be here . . .it is just a matter of days before I die of green chili roasting affixation.  One expects the smell of green chilies roasting to permeate the air from supermarkets, roadside stands and backyards in New Mexico in the fall. One (Me) does not expect the smell of green chili to fill their backyard in Chicago. I do not like the smell or taste of green chili. I may have an undiagnosed, latent allergy to them; or maybe I just hate them, a lot. In any case, my new neighbors with all due respect to their customs, obviously have not noticed we live in Chicago where one buys ready made roasted chili’s  at one of the many Hispanic grocery stories. We don’t roast them in our backyards and asphyxiate our neighbors. It’s not friendly. My eyes water, my nose runs, my throat starts to close up, a red itchy rash starts to cover my entire body, and I develop the green chili shakes. Ok, maybe I don’t suffer all those symptoms, but I feel like all of those things could happen. When the neighbors fired up the chili roaster this past Sunday, I thought it would be a one day event. HA. Looks like they are roasting at least a bushel full of those dam chills, maybe a gunny sake full. Cough. Cough. Well, I’ll just have to suffer silently for a few more days, of-course, if I die my silence will be everlasting. Will you miss me something fierce? Including, my run on sentences….????!!!

Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday.

♥~

Odd Loves Company!