Thoughts of a one-time Band Guy

Some thoughts on the people of Georgia and our culture. When I was about 11 years old I got involved in playing the saxophone. There in my Southwest Georgia town of Cairo I wanted to join the band. I loved music. I had me a good band and instrument instructor. Oh he was a tough man of hard discipline, but things worked out fairly well. The thing that frustrated me was all the social weirdness that started coming my way. Back then football dominated everything. And socially the good looking girls could not stand the band boys, who are now called band geeks. I got bugged because like most mixed up young males I did not want to be treated like a nothing or meaningless soul. So I got more and more into culture. My school had a good drama program so I started enjoying acting. The biggest joy in my life came when I did well in a feisty one-act play by the great Russian playwright, Chekov. Most of the people in my class could not hardly ever figure us thinking types out. They thought we were creeps who read too much and liked music and the arts. One of the amusing things in my life now is the fact I have enjoyed the steadily increasing popularity of the interesting television show 'Glee' which tries to show the fun that can be had with good music and dance programs for young people. I feel good knowing that some teenagers now can really have fun and not just be subjugated by the crass social mechanisms of football mania with all its intense social pushing around of young minds.

Magnificent, this great time of fall

Right now in my Georgia stompin' grounds the leaves have got so much gold, green brown and a bit of red. A huge cornucopia of all kinds of delicious naturalism. Setting all pistons firing is the fact big football Georgia style is about to spring forth. I got so many memories of the wild games. Never will forget the power running all systems go and the intense gladiator-style defensive units. Listened to some truly steamin' good blues style licks by the great one today. I'm speaking of Mr. Stevie Ray Vaughan. What a man for getting all the right sounds and truly punching it home.It is not too scalding hot today. It's great the big artistic bonanza that is fall has now come upon us. How invigorating is this scenario they call the time of early September.

Dancin' and prancin' good 'ole Athens

Once upon a time there was a good 'ole town called Athens, Georgia. So many blips of time ago (when I was there in the early and mid 1960s) there was a ferocious yet innocent sleek ambiance about the nice so kickingly good town. Going to the big ga. dawgs games were really something else. I had a class with a sensational defensive player named George Patton. The man named Patton had true style. He was one of the first guys coached by a defensive footballin' genius named Erk Russell. This joyous town knew what fun was all about. The games with their bright-colored outfitted men and women in the old stands...well they were a real lark. But Lord after the gridiron battles the sounds of the wild would surely come forth. The boogeyin' down at places like the grand Allen's on the historic street known as Prince was something fierce and right on to see. Nothing like those doggone bright green madras coats, the girls in the a-line fashions and of course the tons of weejun shoes. The main kind of music then was a brilliant whoop it up tonic of tough, strutting blues. Nothing like good Georgia memories. For a long time, they'll stick right there with you.