Chattanooga

Fishin’ In The Dark – The Best Of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Rick France 1987, 1988, Classical, Country , , ,
Fishin’ In The Dark
The Best Of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

The song “Fishin’ In The Dark” was the last number one hit for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. First appearing on Hold On in 1987, but I never had a copy until their greatest hits CD years later. I was more interested in their songs that received a little more airplay on the stations I grew up on in Chattanooga back in the 70’s; WFLI, WGOW & KZ106. Songs like “Mr. Bojangles”, “American Dream” and “Make A Little Magic” and yes I know the latter was 1980, but I was Class Of 1980 at Tyner High School so cut me some slack – it counts as the 70’s as far as I’m concerned. Those songs defined The Dirt Band to me, and up until I met Kathy those three songs were pretty much all I knew about the band. Boy was I in for a rude awakening.

After she finally said, “Yes” in late November of 1987, we started making plans for not just our wedding but our lives together. One of our first dilemmas revolved around season tickets. I am a rocker at heart, but I am primarily a “Prog Rocker”. One side effect of Progessive Rock is a love for Classical Music and I had season tickets to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Kathy had season tickets to Lanierland Music Park which had been providing country music fans their country fix since the early 70’s. Needless to say, I had never heard of the place. We both came to the conclusion that we couldn’t keep both sets of tickets and so a decision was made to meet in the middle. Kathy loved ballet and since the Atlanta Symphony played for the Atlanta Ballet we decided to get season tickets to the Atlanta Ballet from that point forward. In my opinion, I was coming out on top in this deal.

After our wedding, since the season for both venues was drawing near an end, we decided to sell those few remaining tickets we had save for one pair to each. Kathy had no preference with the symphony and since I favor strings over brass my favorite classical composer is Mendelssohn, and the Atlanta Symphony was featuring Mendelssohn and Gorski in one of the remaining concerts which is what I chose. For Lanierland, Kathy suggested I might like Restless Heart and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. I had heard one Restless Heart song that sort of sounded like pre-Hotel California Eagles but mainly visions of “Make A Little Magic” and “American Dream” made me go, “yeah, I think that would be a pretty good concert.” So the decision was made, tickets set aside, and date nights established.

The two concerts were a few weeks apart and first up was the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Kathy and I got all dressed up for this one; one of the few times that I put on a coat and tie. I can clean up nicely from time to time, but she on the other hand looked stunning. We had a nice dinner beforehand in Roswell and then made our way to downtown Atlanta for the symphony. I had pretty good seats right in the middle about 30 rows back and the place was packed with everyone in their Sunday best. They first performed Mendelssohn and after a brief intermission finished the night with Gorski. During the intermission most everyone left the auditorium, but we remained behind with a few others. I asked Kathy what she thought so far and she said, “It’s good, but I like violins better when they’re fiddles.”

This one lady that looked like an old schoolmarm about four rows in front of us turned around slowly and pulled her glasses down on her nose and gave us a look that could stop a train. As she turned back around we both cracked up, but the comment and schoolmarm was engrained in our psyche from that day forward to be referenced whenever the situation allowed. The rest of the evening with my new beautiful bride was wonderful with the exception of Kathy standing at the finale and waving a lighter in the air while yelling “Free Bird!” OK, maybe she didn’t really stand up and yell, but it is still one of my favorite jokes to tell regarding that evening.

Next up was Lanierland. I must admit it was much more my style of a blue jean date night. Lanierland Music Park was a fairly small venue so they would have two shows each night of the same bands and our tickets were for the second show. I have been blamed for being cheap and my car at that time fit that bill. It was a white Nissan Sentra straight-shift that had no air conditioning and no radio. We arrived at Lanierland with the windows down on a cool summer evening thanks to the wind blowing off of Lake Lanier. I could tell it was going to be a cool night to enjoy this little “American Dream”, and then without warning – IT HAPPENED! As we pulled up to park the car the first thing I heard was, “You and me goin’ fishin’ in the dark. Lying on our backs and counting the stars where the cool grass grows.”

In total shock I said, “What in the world is that?” I was hoping that the first show was a completely different band.

Unfortunately, Kathy responded with, “That’s Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.”

I’m thinking, “No it’s not! It can’t be! Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is 70’s Rock and that’s not 70’s Rock” but all Kathy did was laugh at me because of the pathetic look on my face.

What I found out real quick was simply this; it ain’t the 70’s no more and this was not my childhood Dirt Band! Nitty Gritty was full blown country and this evening was not going to be “Make A Little Magic” – this evening was “Fishin’ In The Dark” and the two were not the same. I came real close to turning that car around and leaving, but I was quickly reminded by the voices in my head that it was my idea to take her to the symphony and then to this, this, whatever it was. I was here and there was no way of escape.

Oh sure, they did a medley of those 70’s hits – a medley – not the whole songs – a medley. Thank God they did “Mr. Bojangles” in its entirety, but even those 70’s songs seemed to have a bit more of a country twist on them than I remembered. All I can say is I felt more like a fish out of water in the dark than anything else remotely close to that evening. I had been to a lot of concerts at this point in my life, but none had prepared me for this night of music.

Still, I looked at this beautiful woman standing beside me singing every word to every song. The smile on her face as she danced and swayed to the music and all I could think was that I was the luckiest man alive. The style of music may not have been to my taste at that time, but that night was more than I could ever imagine. I was in love with this country music loving girl and there was no place on earth that I would rather be than right there with her. Crickets were singin’ and lightning bugs were floatin’ on the breeze and it felt so good to be right there with her and I would do it again right now if the opportunity arose.

What can I say? She’s a little bit country and I’m a little bit rock n’ roll. They say opposites attract and you can’t get more opposite than the two of us. I’ve always said and maintain to this day that if two people are just alike then one of them is unnecessary. Through the years, I have grown to enjoy and appreciate some of Kathy’s country music which is probably something I would never have done on my own accord. Plus, “Fishin’ In The Dark” has become our unofficial song because every time we hear it one of us will always say, “they’re playing our song.”

Might I suggest that next time you and the one you love look up and see a lazy yellow moon shinin’ through the trees that you take a little walk across the fields down to where the creek turns back and try a little Fishin’ In The Dark.

Rick E. France

 

All The World’s A Stage – Rush

Rick France 1976, Hard Rock, Prog Rock , , ,
All The Worlds A Stage
Rush

Dubbed The Musician’s Musicians and rightfully so, Rush was the first to merge Prog and Hard Rock together. Very few would disagree that The Professor, Neil Peart, is THE BEST Drummer in the world bar none. I would also argue that you would be hard pressed to find a better bassist in the world than Geddy Lee and in my humble opinion Alex Lifeson would make anyone’s list of “Top 10 Greatest Guitarist Of All Time”. This is just one awesome trio of musicians and about as close to the perfect band as you can get – but then there are vocals – that’s why I said close to the perfect band. Still they are such good musicians and songwriters that I actually can overlook the vocals in this case – besides, Geddy does sing on key and his voice seems to fit the style of music too. So while Geddy is no John Elefante he is distinctive and the perfect lead singer for Rush.

Now before anyone starts to question the inclusion of a “secular” band on this here blog, it is a blog about the soundtrack of my life. My musical retrospective in the key of life did not start once I became a Christian, and in the words of Steve Taylor, I do not only drink milk from a Christian cow. I am pretty selective when it comes to secular music in regards to my faith but I do eat at both Chick-fil-A and McDonald’s so I see no reason I can’t enjoy both Petra and Rush. If that offends you, then that’s your problem not mine.

While All The World’s A Stage is not what I would label as the best album Rush has ever created, it does have a special place in my memory bank. This live album came out in 1976 after the tour for what is one of their best albums, 2112. It was about this same time that I met my best friend in Jr High and High School, Steve Core. In my youth I was fortunate to have two best friends actually, and both were named Steve (I wonder if that is why I named my son Stephen?) but Steve Jackson had been my best friend since 2nd grade. According to Brian Regan one can have two favorite snow cones, grape being the favorite but if they’re out of grape cherry’s ok because it’s a favorite too. Therefore I conclude that one can have two best friends growing up because they’re both best. Core was grape and Jackson was cherry – simple as that.

Core was the new kid on the block (no relationship to the boy band) having moved from up north about a year or two earlier. We would jam together with the Jacksons (also no relationship to that boy band), Billy, Mark & Steven, in the Jackson’s garage on Davidson Ave along with Mike Rodgers. The six of us played the song “2112” A LOT! But the story of the garage band is for another day.

While I knew and jammed with Core prior to 1976, it was about this time that he became my best friend. I use to hang out in Core’s room and he would put All The World’s A Stage on so we could play along. Steve did not own a drum set at the time. If I recall correctly, he sold it before the move down south. He did have a weight bench in his room with books strategically stacked around it. He would point his drumstick at various weights and books and say, “This is my crash, this is my ride and here’s my hat. This stack of books is my floor and this one’s my snare” and so on until he had accounted for and described his entire kit that he was someday going to buy. Then he would place the needle right on “Ladies and Gentlemen, The Professor on the drum kit” and Core would proceed to play that solo right along with Neil Peart.

I thought Core had to be the best drummer in the world too because he was tearing those weights and books up! I would play my guitar while he would play those weights and books pretty much every day it seemed like. “Fly By Night”, “Working Man”, “Bastille Day”, “By-Tor & The Snow Dog”, we could play them all. In hindsight, maybe not quite as good as I thought especially since I have always been a rhythm guitarist, but in that bedroom we were awesome! We were the original Wyld Stallyns. We just needed Geddy Lee instead of Van Halen.

It wasn’t too long after that before Core finally bought his Rogers drum set that he still plays today and a couple of years ago when I went to see him play live, those drums still sounded so good. In hindsight though and after years of listening to Peart, maybe Core was not hitting every click of that drum solo – he’s a great drummer and probably the best I have ever known personally or played with but we are talking The Professor here. What I do know without a shadow of doubt is Peart can’t hold a candle to Core on a set of weights and a stack of books. And I think those were some of the best jam sessions of my entire life because in my mind’s eye I was playing guitar with a drum superstar that was my best grape friend.

As for Rush, this particular live album focuses mainly on their pre-prog days which was pretty good in its own right. The linear notes state that it is “the end of the first chapter of Rush”. The music that follows this album is simply prog-history. But when I listen to this one, I hear drumsticks hitting weights and books and very few things in life sound cooler than that! It just goes to show you that even in a teenager’s bedroom we find that All The World’s A Stage!

Rick E. France

 

In Another Land – Larry Norman

Rick France 1985, Classic Rock , , , ,
In Another Land Larry Norman
In Another Land
Larry Norman

When Ed Peace posted on Facebook the other day the information of how I turned my life over to Jesus while listening to this album, I was at first amazed that he remembered this at all. It had to be over 20 or 25 years ago that I had told him that story. The next thought was that when I got home I was going to grab that CD and listen to it again which I have done several times over the last couple of days. More times than I think Kathy can tolerate but she has not complained out loud at least.

You see, July 7, 1985 was the most important day in my life but the back story begins much earlier. First of all, I grew up in a Christian home with a mom and dad that were dedicated to living out their faith. At an early age my brother Rod introduced me to some great Christian music and Larry Norman’s In Another Land was one of the first albums I ever purchased. It reminded me of Abbey Road both stylistically as well as in the way that it used numerous songs in non-stop medley’s moving seamlessly from song to song. The songs were so well written and produced that even as a non-Christian I would listen to this album time and time again making it a staple in my life.

While I won’t go into detail of my life after I moved to Atlanta in 1983, in late March of 1985 I was arrested for a DUI. Since the statute of limitations has long passed I can admit that I was fortunate that was all I was cited for because I was wearing clothes with a lot of pockets and had an eight ball on me divided up into single gram packages. They could have easily hit me up for a lot more than a DUI. For some reason, the officers never searched me and I flushed everything down the toilet once they put me in a cell.

Within what seemed like a half hour, everyone that was in the jail that night had been bailed out except for me. I was stuck there for almost 24 hours all alone in complete silence with nothing to do but think. I honestly believe that fire and brimstone would be nothing compared to the torment of the thought for all of eternity of “How did I wind up here? I know better!” because that is all that ran through my head for the entire time and the thought haunted me relentlessly for the next few months.

Fast forward to Friday, July 5  and I decided to make the trek to the Cumberland Grove Wesleyan Campgrounds in Jamestown, TN where I went to camp meetings growing up over the 4th of July week for my entire childhood. I do not remember who the evangelist was that year. I don’t remember what he spoke on. I don’t remember what old friends I ran into and what we talked about or did. What I do remember is the drive home to Atlanta that Sunday night or at least the first part of the drive. As I headed south on Highway 127 I popped in the first cassette I laid my hands on which was Larry Norman’s In Another Land. For those of you under the age of thirty, a cassette was an ancient method for storing audio data and replaying it on your mobile device which today would be known as an iWalkman.

I probably was singing right along as I always do to “The Rock That Doesn’t Roll” but at some point I began to just listen to the words and I was relating to the lyrics in a way I never had before. I had searched all around the world to find a place of peace and there was none to be found. I had searched for a grain of truth and there was no truth in my life. I was a good person and I was a righteous rocker. After all, I listened to Christian music here and there and I went to church from time to time but without love you ain’t nothing and I was definitely without love.

Then the big bomb suddenly dropped: Now think back to when you were a child, your soul was free, your heart ran wild. Each day was different and life was a thrill. You knew tomorrow would be better still. But things have changed you’re much older now. If you’re unhappy and you don’t know how, why don’t you look into Jesus? He’s got the answer.

I had tried everything else to no avail. Why don’t you look into Jesus? I knew all about Him, but I didn’t know Him. Why don’t you look into Jesus? I could quote verses about Him, but I didn’t follow Him. I didn’t trust Him with my life. Why don’t you look into Jesus? I knew who He claimed to be but I didn’t look to Him for meaning and purpose in life. Why don’t you look into Jesus? He’s got the answer.

When the next song started, “I Am A Servant”, I broke down in tears and began to pray. I don’t remember the words I prayed. I don’t even remember driving home. The next thing I realized I was in my driveway at home in Atlanta and my life had changed. I was a new creation and for the first time in my life I knew that I was serving Jesus Christ and He was my friend and I had given Him the key to my life and that He was driving from that point forward.

While I have had the chance to meet and speak with many Christian artists through the years, I never got the opportunity to meet Larry Norman before he passed away and to tell him how instrumental he was in leading me to Christ. Still I believe that he is in heaven today and he knows the impact of his faithfulness on me that Sunday night. Oh sure, there were many others after that night in jail through that camp meeting in July that dropped seeds all around me but Larry was the one that got to bring in the harvest and as a result this album holds a special place in my heart. This album ushered me into a relationship that changed my life forever and for that I will be forever grateful to Larry Norman. Someday I’ll have the chance to thank him face to face, In Another Land.

Rick E. France

I’ve Searched All Around

Righteous Rocker #3

Deja Vu (If God Is My Father)

Deja Vu (Why Don’t You Look Into Jesus)

I Am A Servant