Record Bin Roulette

Memorial Day originated after the Civil War, and commemorates soldiers fallen in battle. Record Bin Roulette salutes with song and video.

Musicians generally get along with each other, but when their disagreements happen in public, things get interesting.

It all started when Beyonce portrayed Etta James in the 2008 film Cadillac Records, and sang Etta’s signature song “At Last”. What got Etta angry was when Beyonce sang the song at President Obama’s inaugural dance, prompting Etta to say, “She has no business up there…singing my song that I've been singing forever…she's going to get her a—whipped!” Beyonce harbored no hard feelings and when Etta James died this year Beyonce said she was one of the greatest vocalists of our time. No one could sing “At Last” like Etta:

In a foul and farcical fillip of fate, the woman who created Mother’s Day became its biggest critic. Anna Jarvis worked hard to make Mother’s Day a holiday. She started the effort in 1908, and by 1914 convinced President Woodrow Wilson to declare it an official national holiday. But nine years later, commercialization of the day had become so rampant, that she became a major opponent of the very holiday she helped create. She was actually arrested while protesting against it.

While we lament commercialization, we also don’t want to be ungrateful sons, so we adhere to the Mother’s Day ritual Record Bin Roulette-style.

Anna Jarvis worked hard to make Mother’s Day a holiday. She started the effort in 1908, and by 1914 convinced President Woodrow Wilson to declare it an official national holiday. But nine years later, commercialization of the day had become so rampant, that she became a major opponent of the very holiday she helped create. She was actually arrested while protesting against it.

This week we show our gratitude to Mom with a collection of distinguished sayings…

It’s getting harder to keep a secret these days--between your ATM card, Facebook and the NSA snooping on emails and phone calls, our lives are pretty much on record in some form.  Of course people will continue to lie and try to keep secrets, but even the Secret Service couldn’t keep their Columbian Expedition under cover...

For many of us singing in school or church choir was our first experience making music. By high school we had been assigned to our respective risers. BASS-- for the boys who had matured early. These tended to be football players, many with facial hair in the 9th grade. TENOR-- for those boys who were still waiting for the big change. Some tenors had voices higher than the ALTOS, who were generally more sensitive and bookish than the haughty SOPRANOS, who were generally acknowledged to be the loudest and therefore most important.

 But who would have guessed that a humble school choir could elevate a pop song to the top of the charts? Ray Stevens employed Nashville’s Oak Hill Elementary School chorus to sing on his 1970 smash hit “Everything is Beautiful”.

Aging is a high price to pay for maturity. But, getting old seems to be the only way to live a long time. One advantage of being old … you’ve already learned everything the hard way.

This week we play Doctor, examining those practitioners of psychiatry, proctology and podiatry with our chilly stethoscopes. Now bend over a bit, this may feel a little uncomfortable…