My favorite memory from yesterday's gift exchange with the family. My 10 year old boy and I frequently stop into this odds n' sods second hand store...you know, the place where they have a little of everything for sale (predominantly movies, books and music) but lots of obscure things from historical action figures, old gaming systems and card collections. It is gloriously unorganized, cramped and chaotic. I'm not a shopper in general, with the notable exception of Record Stores, of course, but these are the types of shops I like to explore when shopping is in order.
We usually stop in so the boy...Ethan...can pick up some hockey cards. (Screw the NHL by the way...I gets me lots of hockey as Ethan plays on an advanced team, which means ice time 5 times a week at least). On Xmas eve the boy and I are strolling the vibrant main street of the nearby little town and he asks to go into the shop. He wants to buy my gift. So, in we go. There are enough nooks and crannies that I can 'disappear' quite effectively for 15 minutes and let him shop.
Fast forward to Xmas morning and the first gift I am to open...at his insistence...is his. He digs it out from under the tree. It is obviously vinyl. That in itself would be enough. I have not got the gift of vinyl in close to three decades. I am all aglow from his thoughtfulness and have no idea what to expect. He would have no idea really of what I have in my collection. The options are endless. So, I open the present. Two albums (@ $2.00 per) from....Glenn Frey.
"From all those boxes of 2nd hand vinyl, what made you pick that bud?" ... "I liked his name."
So, I've never been an Eagles fan, nor have I heard any of Mr. Frey's solo material. I have no idea what to expect. Nonetheless, I am beyond pleased with his thoughtfulness. So I pull the sleeve for the first album and the song note for the first song - "I Found Somebody" reads in part "In 1971, on my first trip to Alabama, a guitar player named
Eddie Hinton showed me the fingereing for what I call the Booby Womack Chinese soul licks. I am ever grateful" Then I note that on 3 of the songs, Papa Hood is playing bass. After grinning at these connections, I think, man, at the very least, this guy, despite the co-writes with Huey Lewis, must have more cred than Don Henley.
Now, enjoying a cup of coffee, I am typing this as I listen to my 'new' vinyl. In this case, it doesn't really matter what I think of the songs. These records will always be connected to this moment in time. A moment of pure thoughtfulness and in some round about way, confirmation, that maybe, just maybe, the Kids are Alright.
Peace and Happiness to all of you from the hinterland. Off to the rink in a few.
Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them. - Thoreau