Crank up the Victrola

Back in the days of the hand cranked Victrola these old 78 rpm records brought music to folks with limited access to the larger world. Radio stations broadcast songs of A.P. Carter, Sarah, and Mother Maybell, across the airwaves from Bristol Virginia/Tennessee, into mountain homes with battery powered radios. The records, like the one above, were recorded live and cut onto a metal disc that was then used to press the vinyl records. Classical and Jazz records were a hit as well. I still don’t understand how a scratching needle can make beautiful music!

We have come a long way from 78 rpms of my childhood. Digital sound is amazing as it comes from many devices manufactured today. Interestingly the old 45 rpm and 33 1/3 rpm players are not making a comeback with the younger generation! There is something magical about putting a record on, watching it spin and listening to the music come pouring out! The old ways weren’t so bad after all!

RCA Victor

Music coming from a horn

Flappers dance to Swing

***

Photo from Robert’s Books in Lincoln City, Oregon – Dwight L. Roth

Music

Street Musicians – Tuba Skinny – in New Orleans French Quarter

Music

Music is life

The very essence of love

lost in sweet lyrics.

Lethal dose cuts to the heart

Deafeningly loud / lit and wild

Today, Bjorn at d’Verse, asked to write a poem using a list from google search. By putting in a word or two and a letter, the search fill in the rest for us. I used bing search and typed in Music is l… It filled in Music is life and then gave a sub-list of additional l words for music is life. See below.

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

The poem above is in tanka form, based on the theme Music is Life… I highlighted the other words from the sub-list.

The music in the video is a group know as Tuba Skinny. They are a group of street performers in the French Quarter of New Orleans. I love listening to their music. The couples in the video dance so effortlessly as though the music flows right through them. Enjoy!

music is life

• music is love
• music is love lyrics
• music is lit
• music is loud
• music is lethal

music is life quote

• life is good song
• music is life tattoo
• music is life gifts

Music in the Key of C

Music, when combined with poetry, leaves imprints on our hearts and souls. I remember the exact time I first heard Folk Music. Three high school kids had formed a group and were singing the Folk Songs of the 1960s. When I heard Blowin’ in the Wind for the first time, I was hooked. Peter, Paul and Mary along with Joan Baez reinforced what I had heard. It became forever embedded in my soul. I have been playing and singing these songs for over fifty years.

Words and melodies take us back or make us dream of something more. Songs lift our spirits, challenge a nation, and sometimes make us cry. What would life be like without a song to sing? Michael Jonathan, of the Wood Song Old Time Radio Hour says: “You can’t fight and sing at the same time!” You can on the other hand walk hand in hand and protest injustice while singing! Perhaps our nation needs some new songs to sing.

Music notes like words

Never ending melodies

Sing of summer’s end

***

Painting of G Clef: Dwight L. Roth

Old Musicians

Old musicians die

But their music lives on

Beautiful tributes

To the power they harnessed

That changed the world

Challenged politics

Social Norms

And, brought about revolutions

Music that touches the soul

Reaches all the way to Heaven

And Hell

Yes, old musicians die

But their music is alive and well

Today at d’Verse, it is open link night. Linda, our host talked about her love for the Beatles and the Rolling Stones when she was young. Some musicians that we enjoyed have passed on for various reasons. John Lennon’s music Imagine will last into the next generation and beyond. I loved country music, which lost a number of its iconic singers early in life. I think of Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, who died in their prime. Buddy Holly also left us way too soon. Even so, their music lives on. This poem is a tribute to them.

I painted my old Harmony guitar a few years ago. I found it many years ago at a yard sale, coming apart at the seams. I glued it back together and it works fine. It was one you could have ordered from the Sears and Roebuck Catalogue back in the 1950s. I laid the guitar on the canvas and traced it off full size and then painted it.

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

Photo: Ruth Roth

Play Me Some Real Music

Where have all the Bass men gone

Those with deep lowdown voices

Sounding like echoes from a fifty-five gallon oil drum

Deep vibes rattling speakers and vibrating the floor?

 

Where are all the Baritone voices

with their rich celloed smooth tones

that entered deep into the souls of listeners?

 

Seems all we have these days are high pitched

parakeet voices singing in falsetto

lacking depth and sounding like untuned violins

singing so high it sounds like someone

is squeezing them just a little too tight.

 

Where are the real men who can sing four-part-harmony

With blends so sweet they sound like one voice

Take me back to men like Johnny Cash

and the Statler Brothers

To Tennessee Ernie Ford singing, “Big Bad John”

Songs from Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard,

and Kris Kristopherson…

and the Oak Ridge Boys and Alabama singing…

“Play Me Some Mountain Music…”

 

I long for real music once more

Music that stirs me deep down in my soul

Music with substance that actually says something,

*****************

Today at d’Verse we are doing stream of consciousness writing. This is something I really enjoy and do most of the time when I write. I was going to post a photo, but Word Press, for some reason, has switched me to this awful block style and I have not figured out how to load them. So all you get today is words!! Well I finally got a photo of my first guitar loaded. That was many years ago and I am still playing some!

Join us at; https://dversepoets.com

Woodland Symphony

Music pours out from shadow and tree

Calling us all to enjoy a reprieve

A melodious symphony straight from the heart

Each tiny instrument playing its part

Miniature voices in perfect pitch

Unwritten scores of notes that are rich

Filled with a beauty beyond man or pen

A symphony of music that will never end

*

Mocking birds solo sopranos and basses

Finding their notes in so many spaces

Piccolo warblers and wren solos start

Antiphonal melodies straight from the heart

*

The bassoon bull frog comes in now and then

Cicadas’ strings play background blends

Crickets and blue jays fill the air

The snare of the trees adds depth to the pair

Woodpeckers drumming on old hollow trees

A staccato rhythm that floats on the breeze

*

Suddenly right out of the blue

The feline conductor brings all in on cue

With a growing crescendo from blue jay and friend

Celloed instruments calling, “This is the end!”

The squirrel plays percussion with his raspy scolding

As the woods fills with music the finale’s unfolding

*

A thunderous applause from the balcony on high

Brings all to their feet flashes crossing the sky

The concert is over the conductor’s gone home

Performers take bows the music is gone

*

Painting: Dwight L. Roth

This is a painting and poem are from a few years ago.  I wrote this as I sat under the trees listening to all that was going on above me. I love the idea of the birds and animals creating an orchestral piece brought on by the neighbors cat!

Kaleidoscope of the Soul

This poem evolved from the poem I posted yesterday. An added inspiration!

Imagination… a kaleidoscope of the soul
Drawn from the depths of body soul and spirit
Living colors flowing forth
in music, painting, and written word;
Reshaping the matter of the mind
Like sourdough starter in the bread
Rising to become delectable morsels
for others to enjoy and be inspired

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Stain-Glass from Strasbourg Cathedral

 

Poetry in Song

Some of my very favorite poetry is found in the songs people write. Songs tell stories of love and rejection. Some write about objects like trains or jet planes. Simon and Garfunkle wrote about the city of New York in Sound of Silence. On of my favorites is a song by Steve Goodman about a train they called the City of New Orleans.  The mix of  images and metaphors is wonderful, down to earth, and unforgettable. The music is just the icing on the cake!

Poems, and Prayers, and Promises blend with melodies and harmonies transporting us to other places and times with unforgettable lyrics. They share life as it really is as they connect to more than one part of the brain. Some of the greatest poets of our time are singer songwriters. Their songs can take us to locations and situations we have not visited in fifty years. Although many over the years considered country music repetitive and uncouth,  Merle Haggard was considered the Poet of the Common Man.  Perhaps the critics should take a second look… or listen and enjoy this train ride with Steve Goodman on the City of New Orleans. This is Americana and poetry at its best!

Poems and melody

Connecting words with the heart

Spring poetry sings

***

Song clip from You Tube

Posted on d’Verse poets open link night…. https://dversepoets.com

Music Crossroads

I  really enjoy Ken Burns PBS video series on the History of Country Music. The beauty of it all is reflected in the way music was passed back and forth across the social and racial divides. The influences of all the cultural groups are reflected in the music. Great music speaks to everyone’s soul. It has no boundaries.

Soul melodies flow
Music // blood only runs red
Crossing all bound’ries

**********

Music // an ever renewable energy source
Costs nothing //earns great sums for some
A soft song or rhythm with a driving force
Music can be loud // or only a small hum

Painting: Dwight L. Roth

Can you tell what melody is written on the painting…  Start at the clef and work upward…

My DeWALT Bass!

The Poetry of Sound…

I saw people making cigar box guitars on YouTube. Only one or two tried making a bass. I decided to see if I could make a 2 string fretless bass. I did not have a cigar box, so I decided to use my DeWalt reciprocating saw case. It was good hard plastic and locked down tight. I had a piece of hickory, from a tree behind my house, that I ran through my table saw to make the neck. I took the grinder and ground out the partitions and drilled holes in the top with my door hole saw. I got a cheap piezo stick-on pick-up on amazon. It seems to work well and has a good sound when I hook it up to my small amp. I tuned it to a low C and E on my piano.

These photos show some of the process:

Photos: Dwight L. Roth & Ruth Roth