Wowie. I’m all sentimental today. I sort of like that part of me, as long as it doesn’t take over for weeks. It’s great to see little things and really know how wonderful they are. And big things, too… I’m really appreciating my life right now.
Brian worked really hard last night and this morning, on cleaning up a couple of my songs and one of his, for the new Moon, June, Spoon CD we plan to release very, very soon. He’s just wonderful at this, editing the tracks to make them sound just right. It’s hard work, very nitpicky. Very frustrating at times.
This morning he did a bunch of work and then the program crashed and he lost some really good work. I know that did not start out his day well, but he’s always easy to get along with even on his bad days (unlike his bounce-off-the-walls-sometimes wife). I hope his work day went well to make up for it.
Today I got home just at 3pm, when the Flaming Ukulele Radio Hour starts. I wasn’t too worried, because I know he starts the show with the song “The Flaming Ukulele in the Sky.” It is a great song, but I’ve heard it before so missing it once would not be horrible. I figured I had enough time to connect before there were new songs I’d not heard yet.
I have to listen to the show as streaming audio on my computer. This means I go to a web page for the radio station, click a link, and that takes me to a place where I click another link which starts my streaming audio. Well, I just had a horrible time getting connected today. I went to wnti.org‘s website to click on “listen live” and the page would NOT load. It is a three-column page and the third column, the one I needed, would not load even when I refreshed after minutes and minutes. It took three tries to get the page loaded.
Worst of all, one time when I refreshed, it said in the On The Air section at the top of the page, that they were playing Brian. He was singing “I Want a Girl” (just like the girl that married dear old dad). I guess Uke Jackson, the DJ, was on a sort of pre-Mother’s Day theme. I was so bummed to miss it. (I will be able to hear it on the replay hour, Wednesday night, so all is not lost, but it still was a disappointment.)
It took me FOREVER to get connected, and I think I missed three songs, including Brian’s! What a disappointment that was. But I love the music, no matter what is played, so I finally connected and listened to the rest of the hour.
Toward the end of the show, after playing the excellent “When I’m Cleaning Windows” by George Formby (1904-1961), Uke played “Ain’t That a Grand and Glorious Feelin.” That is the single song we burned on CD and sent to him a few weeks back. The song will be on our next CD project… the one after Moon, June, Spoon.
I tell you what, I’m really proud of that piece. It just makes you wanna smile! And my voice was just exactly as I wanted it to be, the day we recorded it. After so many months of having no voice, or almost none, it is really exciting to hear myself sound confident when singing again.
I was suitably weepy hearing myself sing on the radio. Then after our piece, Uke played a song by Geoff Muldaur, just a fabulous entertainer who has been in the business for decades. What great company we had on the air today!
After the Geoff Muldaur piece, Uke started to announce Brian’s song “Mother, I’m Wild” (also on the Mother’s Day theme). Somehow he got cut off before he started playing the song. I think he ran out of time. It was still a thrill to hear Brian’s name announced.
The song we missed hearing, is from Brian’s solo CD (of the same title) that he released about a month ago. (My man is on a serious roll, recording these days.) If you click the link above, you can download that song and all the others on that album, in their entirety. I’m very fond of the title track, and “Rose of Washington Square.” And a bunch more, of course, but I could bore you.
The Mother, I’m Wild song is just a hoot. Here’s an excerpt: “…I am drinking Coca-Cola now. On the level, I’m a little devil…. cannibals compared to me are mild… Oh, Mother, I’m wild!”
There were some very good humorous lyricists a good long while ago. Brian is very good at finding songs like that to sing, they really work well with his voice. And when people who know our music come to hear us perform, those are the songs that get requested over and over again. I’ve got the sweet voice, but he has the fun songs. Fun will win out every time!
…Anyway, I’m feeling a bit like the lyrics to “Ain’t that a Grand and Glorious Feelin’.” To quote one verse:
When you’re blessed with the wealth of good name and good health,
Ain’t that a grand and glorious feelin’?
When whatever you’ve got, you’re content with your lot,
Ain’t that a grand and glorious feelin’?
You just go your way, always nice and kind,
Learning every day,
Happiness is in your mind, and
When you’ve nothing to fear, ’cause your conscience is clear,
Ain’t that a grand and glorious feelin’?
OK, I don’t exactly feel *that* great, I am human and feel guilt sometimes weighing on my mind, but when I was listening to myself sing… and my voice sounded just the way I wanted it to sound… and I really started feeling how fine this man is who loves me… and who makes us sound so good… well, for a moment I only felt good things. And I was truly grateful for “whatever I’ve got.” Which is plenty!
I don’t know why it is, but this recording project just makes me feel more married than ever before. We have been married about 7.5 years. I can’t think of anything more joy-producing I’ve ever done, than be married with Brian.
I told you I was sentimental today…