“Happy Birthday Darlene”

“Let “ME” – – be the FIRST…”

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“Let…  “ME” – – sing a few  notes… first …  and then – – I want you’all to chime in…when I  give….     the signal!”

Now… if everybody will get up and stand, take in some fresh air  and  get the lungs full of fresh air.

I want this song to sound so good,  that we all,  just may get an offer to  sing    in “HOLLYWOOD”   where we all,  will be  “BIG STARS”  so let us all,  get ready…  and a  one ….  and  a   two,  and  …

                           “HAPPY BIRTHDAY.”    to you…….

                   “HAPPY BIRTHDAY ‘     DEAR  DARLENE…

           “HAPPY BIRTHDAY  and   MANY , MANY ,  MORE…”

 

“OKAY…. EVERYBODY…

Let’s Do It Again,  I want to hear  you!”

Pearl the Piano Cat (1)

 

“OKAY …  EVERYBODY 

Listen for the  NOTE,  that I want you to use    and let us get it right,   NOW! 

I want  to have some FUN  at this party for  Darlene Aldrich, I want to see if she can blow  out, all of those candles that are on her “BIRTHDAY CAKE!”   and I  sure  do hope she does not  catch on FIRE, almost too many candles for a  BIRTHDAY CAKE!”

Now,   let  me   hear all of you  “older” people –  if you don’t sing, you will not receive a piece of the beautiful Birthday Cake.

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Don’t forget all of us guys, we decorated the outside and some of your  FRIENDS, brought a wheelbarrow  and it is full of  real nice looking gifts,   just for our  “DARLENE’ .

“Happy, Happy, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!


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“Music…Music…Music”

Buddy Holly… WOW!

He just had everything going for him.

 

Rita Hayworth… dances  like we all would like too.

Footloose and fancy free.

 

Gather around and see if you can dance a dance like some of these.

Prop up your feet…  Sit back and enjoy.


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“To My Favorite BEST Person ~ Miss Darlene”

“Baby Beebe!”  “Sending BEST BIRTHDAY WISHES to DARLENE”

**********     “Best Wishes- from Baby Beebe!”  **********

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No  “Birthday”    could be complete, without a very “Happy Birthday to Darlene.” 

 This message  is coming from one of your very favorite  “Chihuahua’s”  little baby pups’  and sister to the smallest of our breed,   you still have  my baby sister,  “little   Miss   Termite” … so a very big  and merry ole “Happy Birthday”  and many more…

I’m sitting on my new owner’s sofa, my new owner “Mary” is just so in  LOVE , with me,  that she has me all dressed up  just so everybody will notice me, that’s because I am so small  and when I am wearing   something   fancy, everybody just has to stop and say  how terrific…  I look  and they are always  so surprised that  – I am full grown  just because… “I’m so little!”

I was just thinking…  that everybody would really have something to talk about, if they saw my baby sister, “Termite” and me together, since she is only half of my size.

  “Termite”  is just a beautiful small,  little and  most delicate  “tea-cup” size Chihuahua  and  the  one and only special Chihuahua!

“Darlene”  I’m sending you a great big hug and kiss from,   me – your little “Beebe!

Also… all friends and relatives up here in the NORTH and colder part of MISSOURI  are sending LOVE and BLESSINGS from our Almighty Yahweh –  to bless you, since you LOVE and care for so many of my ANIMAL FRIENDS and… we  all want this  to be, the very best of BIRTHDAYS  ever,  just for YOU!         D.V.


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“Patsy & Willie: “Crazy””

Patsy Cline’s husband, Charlie Dick, was sitting inside Tootsies Orchid Lounge one night in 1961 when he heard a song playing on the jukebox that caught his attention. They were in search of a song that would be a worthy follow-up to “I Fall to Pieces,” Patsy’s first number one single released in January of that year. He walked over to the jukebox and read the selection card, the song was “Crazy” and the singer was a struggling singer-songwriter named Willie Nelson whose reputation as a gifted, albeit unorthodox, songwriter got him a job writing for Pamper Music thanks to recent success with “Hello Walls” for Faron Young and “Funny How Time Slips Away” for Billy Walker. At the same time, Patsy Cline was enduring her own professional and personal difficulties, her momentum stalled since her 1957 breakthrough with “Walkin’ After Midnight.” 

Willie was a regular at Tootsie’s who had only arrived in Nashville the year before with a notebook full of songs that were destined to become country music standards. “Crazy,” or “Stupid” as it was originally titled, was written in early 1961. The title was changed after he began performing the song and got feedback from listeners as well as other songwriters. Willie wrote the song with Billy Walker in mind, but when he pitched the song, Walker turned it down for the same reason Roy Drusky turned down “I Fall to Pieces” written by Hank Cochran and Harlan Howard the previous year: “it was a girl’s song.” Willie recorded a demo of the song himself and loaded it on the jukebox at Tootsie’s in hopes that someone would hear it and want to record it. 

Charlie wanted Patsy to hear the song immediately but was unable to find a copy of it anywhere. Later that week, he managed to track down Willie Nelson who gave him a copy of “Crazy.” He returned home and played it for Patsy who was not impressed. She did not like the way Nelson’s demo “spoke” the lyrics ahead of and behind the beat, stating that she “couldn’t sing like that.” Dick continued playing the song into the night, trying to change her mind. An annoyed Cline remarked that, “I don’t care what you say. I don’t like it and I ain’t gonna record it. And that’s that.” 

Charlie Dick irritated his wife by playing the song so much that she didn’t even want to hear Willie Nelson’s name mentioned. Several days later, Willie and fellow Pamper Music writer Hank Cochran came to her house with another demo of the song on tape.  After being told of Patsy’s reaction to the song, Willie refused to go inside. He hid in the car until Cline went out to retrieve “that little son of a bitch” herself. 

Unable to change her mind, Dick took the demo to Cline’s producer Owen Bradley who loved the song and thought its complex melody suited Cline’s vocal talent perfectly. He also saw the potential to do something special and innovative on the production side with its jazz based chord changes and musical structure. He agreed to assist Dick in persuading Patsy to record “Crazy” and scheduled a recording session for August 17th. 

Cline was still recovering from a horrific car crash that nearly took her life just two months before the session. The accident left her hospitalized in critical condition after being thrown through the windshield of her car. While they were successful in convincing her to record “Crazy”, broken ribs made it difficult for her to hit the high notes of the song. Bradley sent her home to rest and continued working on the song with just the studio musicians. While that’s not out of the ordinary by today’s standards, at a time when four songs were recorded in a typical four hour session, it was incredible attention to detail. 

A few days later, on August 21, she recorded the lead vocal in one take while standing on crutches. 

“Crazy” would go on to become Patsy Cline’s biggest hit and a country music standard. The song expanded the crossover audience she had established with her prior hits. The single was released in November of 1961 and stayed on the charts for 21 weeks, peaking at #9 on the pop charts and #2 on the country charts with Leroy Van Dyke’s “Walk On By” keeping it from ever attaining the #1 spot. 

It was included on her second studio LP “Patsy Cline Showcase” also released by Decca Records on November 27th. The album featured both major hits from that year and re-recorded versions of “Walkin’ After Midnight” and “A Poor Man’s Roses (Or a Rich Man’s Gold).” According to the Amusement And Music Operators Association, “Crazy” was the most-played song on jukeboxes of all-time. 

Willie Nelson stated that PATSY Cline’s version of “Crazy” was his favorite song of his that anybody has recorded because it “was a lot of magic”. 

She died in a plane crash two years later. She was 30 years old.


Recommended Albums:

 


 


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“Saying goodbye to Willie Nelson”

 

 

There wasn’t a dry eye in the concert after Willie Nelson’s powerful and moving performance last weekend.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the concert after Willie Nelson’s powerful and moving performance last weekend.
TERENCE J. FITZWATER/GONZALES INQUIRER
Posted 

I went to Las Vegas to be a Parrot Head over the weekend.

Instead, I came home having had an epiphany about Willie Nelson and his legacy in music. Now he is “Always on My Mind.” After what I experienced in Las Vegas on Friday night, it is crystal clear to me that Willie Nelson is the greatest country singer in the history of country western music. The sheer size, scope and depth of the man and his music not only begs for him to be considered the greatest of all time, but the record demands it.

To some of you, that may seem obvious. He started singing and playing music over 60 years ago. In the 1950s he was writing classic country songs like “Crazy” for the legendary Patsy Cline and “Hello Walls” among others. His legendary songs, his leading role in popularizing Outlaw Country and then performing with the seminal Highway Men is known to everyone.

What we have seen and witnessed is an amazing history of growth, production and musical metamorphosis unmatched in the annals of country music. We have witnessed Willie Nelson first-hand for over six decades. We have watched and chronicled the transformation and growth of Willie Nelson from a raw and unproven disc jockey in Pleasanton, Texas to the megastar legend he is today. It is unfathomable to comprehend this robust career with all its twists, turns and layers.

This man has evolved into more than just a country music singer and song writer. He likes jazz, the blues, blue grass and all forms of music. He is a big Frank Sinatra fan. But what I didn’t know is how well he can the sing the blues. I found out he is a master blues singer on Friday night.

What we are witnessing right now is the life and times of a legend. We shall never see the likes of a Willie Nelson again. He is a national treasurer that we should embrace and honor while he is still alive.

Willie is 86 years old now. His voice is not what it once was, and he has had to make adjustments to his playing and singing style. I think he realizes his life has passed before him, and he is coming to grips with his own mortality.

On Friday evening, Oct. 18, I got to witness one of the great moments in time of a legend putting on a performance different from any he has ever done before. I saw Willie Nelson say goodbye.

Miss Kasey and I went to Las Vegas to see Jimmy Buffet play on Saturday night at the MGM Grand, but on Friday evening we found out Willie was playing at the Venetian. I called the box office and there were a few tickets left — although the seats were not together. Miss Kasey overheard my conversation with the box office and quickly chimed in that it didn’t matter to her if we sat together, what was important is that we see Willie before he is gone. We got our tickets, hopped into a cab, and got there just before the show started.

And what a show it was. It was more than a concert; it was a bravura performance. It was a moment that only comes along once in a blue moon. It was a man playing past his prime, but it was Willie Nelson playing with a sincerity and passion that transcends generation and boundaries. He played with the knowledge and love of his craft in a different genre of music — the blues — and with a depth and feeling you seldom see.

It was not Willie Nelson singing his old songs. It was Willie Nelson singing the blues. His songs, Hank Sr. songs, and many others. But he sang it in the genre of the blues, and his voice was perfect for that style. His bluesy renditions of old favorites, Hank Sr., and some of his latest songs on his album “Ride Me Back Home” was stunning. Up on the stage, Willie was singing about his life with a depth and feeling that I have not seen in him before. His ballads reflect the wisdom of his life and his coming to grips with his own mortality. It was stunning to watch and hear. Everyone who was there was in awe of this man and his life as he stood up on stage and told us his life story. And he did it with all the class and dignity we have come to expect from Willie over his long and storied career.

While listening to Willie play, I couldn’t help but see some of the parallels in my own life. Willie is coming face-to-face with the reality he will not be with us a lot longer. His lyrics reflect that. He has come to grips with his own mortality, and he is made peace with it. I too have faced death squarely in the face in the last five years with cancer, and the reality of your death can’t help but change and transform you and your outlook on life.

Willie has. His latest album, Ride Me Back Home, is filled with songs and ballads reflecting on his life, times and loves. It is a marvelous album and one everyone should listen to. The title track of “Ride Me Back Home” is a homage to the reflection of life and its boundless possibilities when you are younger. He pays homage to his immigrant grandfather in “Immigrant Eyes.” “My Favorite Picture of You” is an insightful look at the loves of his life. “Seven Year Itch” is a blues masterpiece in and of itself.

But the real clincher on the reality of losing Willie is “Come on Time.” In it, Willie writes and sings about the role of time, and the realization that he doesn’t have much of it left.

Time is my friend, my friend

The more I reject it, the more it kicks in.

Just enough to keep me on my toes.

I say come on time—I’ve beat you before.

Come on time, what have you got for me this time.

Time, you’re not fooling me

You’re something that I can’t kill

You’re flying like a mighty wind

You’re never standing still.

Time, as you’ve passed me by

Why did you leave these lines on my face?

You sure have put me in my place

Come on time, come on time

It looks like you’re winning the race

On Friday night, Willie Nelson said goodbye. I took the measure of the man and felt his pain, reflection, wisdom and peacefulness. It was powerful and moving. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house at the end.

In his own way Willie is telling us all that the end is near. His performance and lyrics gave searing insight into the man and his life as the sun sets on the horizon. He is at peace with himself and his life. There is joy and happiness in seeing this in Willie, just as there is melancholy and sadness at the realization of the inevitable end of our own existence.

His message should resonate with all of us who contemplate our future and our own death. Willie Nelson has shown us his way, and I think it is a great blessing to hear that message and be able to take the wisdom and grace from it.

And please Willie, you wrote on your album that you have one more song to write. Please write it, and many more for all of us to witness and give testimony to having seen the greatest country western performer of all time.

Thank you, Willie, for being a small part of my life. You will be missed for the ages.

Godspeed Willie Hugh Nelson.


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“Three Extra Special Wishes…Darlene!”

“Your Birthday starts with some fun celebrating  today…  just before the Birth Date “30th”… and  then… you should follow up with more  BIG TIME celebrating  for a whole week”

“Three Extra Special Wishes…Darlene!”

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This is the “BIG DAY” for DARLENE  and since you love little   bundles of Sweetness and  JOY, we are sending these  three sweet little “sisters” and each has a special  WISH …  just for you,  DARLENE …  just for your extra special   “BIRTHDAY!”

The first special WISH… is for lots of HAPPINESS, in all that you do and for as long as you live!    NOW,   for an extra  special WISH… for  all the best  of  GOOD HEALTH,  that is for real good and HEALTHY HEALTH… today…  tomorrow, and forever,  because without good health,  how can  you enjoy all  of these sweet little “KITTIES” and all of the LOVE … that they will bring especially  and  just for you!

There is an extra special wish  and   it is the best of all!  

Each  little “KITTY” will bring  just a little more  LOVE  than the bundle of LOVE  of that precious  little  “KITTY”  and this is  because each “KITTY” will always  be giving to you so much LOVE  making this so  extra special to that “KITTY”  and as each “KITTY” has their  very own unique amount of LOVE,  that when you combine them, these three little LOVES  being in your LIFE,    will …  ALWAYS   FEEL LIKE A “MILLION!”

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“Hey… MOM, you know…  that all of us… the  inside kittens … are always here for you, too!”  – Just so you know…

 “We  all have clean “mittens” … and we all … are ready for some of that  “APPLE PIE”  –  that we all know … that you like and  are  making… so that you can  share with us… especially  on your  “big day” …  your BIRTHDAY!”

 

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY” …  “Mo Ma MIA” –  “MEOW – MEOW – MEOW!” 


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