The King and Queen

Are You Ready for Some Football?

If this were fall, there'd be a game tonight. I remember going to one Huntsville game vividly because Mike Leary had brought a pear to eat. I was sitting with him on the bus, and he was tossing the pear into the air. I made a grab for it and knocked it out the window. Why do I remember things like that, when I can barely remember my own kids' birthdays?

I never knew who came up with the slogans for the football ribbons, and I don't remember many that were this fancy.

The Rest of the Picture

Here's the rest of the left-hand side of the wedding photo that you saw here. Margaret Rife, Sandra, and Marlis are the three bridesmaids on the left. I see by the article that the little kids are Laura Lou Pittman and Ronnie Roark. So is that Marth Roark in front of the candles?

More about the Wedding

Trombone Section, Plus One

There seems to be an extra guy sitting by Claudia.

Claudia Gets Married

To Ray Pugh. It's a "mock marriage" ceremony. Anybody know who the other participants are?

Cindy Walker

Cindy Walker, prolific country songwriter, dies at 87: "Cindy Walker wrote 500 songs, including 'You Don't Know Me' and 'Bubbles in My Beer'
By Michael Corcoran
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, March 24, 2006

She had never stepped inside a honky-tonk before writing 'Bubbles In My Beer,' one of the greatest country and western drinking songs ever, for Bob Wills. Her material ranged from the smooth ballad 'Anne Marie' for country crooner Jim Reeves to the pop of 'Dream Baby' for Roy Orbison to the wacky 'Barstool Cowboy From Old Barstow' for Spike Jones and the City Slickers.

'Cindy Walker never wrote a bad song in her life,' Nashville producer Fred Foster said two years ago when the prolific first lady of country songwriting was feted with a tribute concert at the Paramount Theatre. The spritely, gregarious Walker, whose best-known composition, 'You Don't Know Me,' was recorded by everyone from Eddy Arnold and Ray Charles to Elvis Presley and Michael Bolton, got up and danced a jig in the aisles a few times during the Paramount show. It seemed like she would live forever.

Cindy Walker, legendary Western songwriter, was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame on Friday at the Worthington Hotel in Fort Worth.

But Walker, the subject of a new tribute album by Willie Nelson, died Thursday evening soon after being checked into a hospital in her native Mexia, about 40 miles east of Waco, with respiratory problems. She was 87.

'She affected me and everyone else who came along after her,' Nelson said in a statement announcing the release of 'You Don't Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker,' which hit stores March 14. 'We had to have heard her music before we could do ours.'"

Top Hits for March 1959

The jukebox I mentioned in an e-mail the other day got me interested in the hits of 1959, so I checked out the Rock on Almanac to see what the biggies were in March of that year. Not all of these are on the jukebox.

“Alvin’s Harmonica” – Alvin and the Chipmunk.
“Come Softly to Me” – The Fleetwoods
“Everybody likes to Cha Cha Cha” -- Sam Cooke
“A Fool Such as I” b/w “I Need Your Love Tonight” – Elvis Presley
“The Happy Organ” – Dave “Baby” Cortez
“It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” b/w “Raining in my Heart” – Buddy Holly
“It’s Just a Matter of Time” – Brook Benton
“Never be Anyone Else but You” b/w “It’s Late” – Ricky Nelson
“Pink Shoelaces” – Dodie Stevens
“Please Mr. Sun”– Tommy Edwards
“Pretty Girls Everywhere” – Eugene Church
“Sea Cruise” – Frankie Ford
“Tell Him No” – Travis and Bob
“Where Were You on our Wedding Day?” – Lloyd Price

Downtown Mexia, 1941

This is a shot of Mexia in 1941, the year most of us were born. I remember the Cox & Forrest Drugstore but not its location. The photo's too blurry for me to make out any of the other signs.

Lyrics to Accompany the Picture Below

RUSTY OLD HALO
A rusty old halo, skinny white cloud
Second-hand wings full of patches.
Rusty old halo, skinny white cloud,
A robe so wooly that it scratches.

Some people that have big shiny cars,
Swimming pools, fur coats, and diamonds in jars
Real silver gates, real golden doors.
They get to heaven and trade them all for –

A rusty old halo, skinny white cloud
Second-hand wings full of patches.
Rusty old halo, skinny white cloud,
A robe so wooly that it scratches.

While you're on earth you should shine like a star
Brighten up the corner wherever you are.
Doing each day the best you can do
That way you're sure they'll never hand you --

A rusty old halo, skinny white cloud
Second-hand wings full of patches.
Rusty old halo, skinny white cloud,
A robe so wooly that it scratches.

SWEET VIOLETS
Sweet Violets
Sweeter than the roses
Covered all over from head to toe
Covered all over with sweet violets

There once was a farmer who took a young miss
In back of the barn where he gave her a lecture
On horses and chickens and eggs
And told her that she had such beautiful
Manners that suited a girl of her charms
A girl that he wanted to take in his
Washing and ironing and then if she did
They could get married and raise lots of
Sweet violets
Sweeter than the roses
Covered all over from head to toe
Covered all over with sweet violets

The girl told the farmer that he'd better stop
And she call her father and he called a
Taxi and got there before very long
'Cause some one was doin' his little girl
Right for a change and so that's why he said
If you marry her son, you're better off single
'Cause it's always been my belief
Marriage will bring a man nothing but
Sweet Violets
Sweeter than the roses
Covered all over from head to toe
Covered all over with sweet violets

The farmer decided he wed anyway
And started in planning for his wedding
Suit which he purchased for only one buck
But then he found out he was just out of
Money and so he got left in the lurch
A standin' and waitin' in front of the
End of the story which just goes to show
All a girl wants from a man is his
Sweet Violets
Sweeter than the roses
Covered all over from head to toe
Covered all over with sweet violets

Sweet Violets

NOTRE DAME VICTORY MARCH
We never stagger, we never fall
We sober up on wood alcohol
Send the freshman out for gin
And don’t let a sober sophomore in
Juniors falling out on the floor
Seniors yelling “Give us some more!”
All you sons of MHS
We’re out no the drunk again
Tadadadada

ON TOP OF OLD SMOKEY
On top of Old Smokey,
All covered with snow,
I lost my true lover,
For courting too slow.

For courting's a pleasure,
But parting is grief,
And a false-hearted lover,
Is worse than a thief.

A thief will just rob you,
And take what you have,
But a false-hearted lover,
Will lead you to your grave.

The grave will decay you,
And turn you to dust,
Not one boy in a hundred
A poor girl can trust.

They'll hug you and kiss you,
And tell you more lies,
Than crossties on a railroad,
Or stars in the sky.

So come ye young maidens,
And listen to me,
Never place your affection
In a green willow tree.

For the leaves they will wither,
The roots they will die,
And you'll be forsaken,
And never know why.

Are We Having Fun Yet?

Ann looks as if she's asleep, Johnny's imitating The Thinker, Gladys looks bored, Joy looks bored, too, and Mary looks lonely. Claudia doesn't look exactly thrilled. I seem to be staring out the window. I though being in the back of the bus was supposed to be fun.

Musical Moments

Ken, Joe Edd, and a Cool Pair of Shades

Graduation Day

See that goofy grin on my face? I guess I thought my life would always be like that, a beautiful girl on either side of me and no more responsibility than to get them home on time. I remember that red shirt well. It was a graduation present, and I've always had a fondness for loud-colored shirts. I remember the belt I was wearing, another graduation present, an elastic job with a tiny silver clasp. Life was good.

On the Menu

A Little Help From Her Friends

Claudia gets a push from Dolly and Mary

The Great Mexia Fire

Fort Parker

Commerce Street

The Post Office

Don't know when this was taken, but it was obviously a long time ago.

A Visit

Gladys, Dolly, Betty, and Claudia pay a visit to Sadie Jo Black.

Candyland -- Jr./Sr. Prom

The Clubhouse

I thought that after yesterday's aerial view of the peninsula, we needed a shot of the Clubhouse.

A Peninsula

The Mexia Blackcat Band on Stage, 1955

Some of us are in the picture, but I can't see it well enough to recognize anybody. You can click on it and enlarge it, but that doesn't help much.

E. G. O'Quinn

The Men and Women in World War II from Navarro County: "O'QUINN, EUGENE G., JR.
Y 3/C (T) Eugene G. O'Quinn, son of Mrs. Emma O'Quinn, Richland, attended Mildred High School and Tyler Commercial College. Entered Navy, 1944, trained with Navy at San Diego. Has served in Cuba, Pearl Harbor, Guam, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and now on duty aboard an L.S.T. in the Pacific. Wears Pacific Ribbon with Bronze Star."

I thought of Mr. O'Quinn the other day and wondered whatever happened to him. I did a google search. This is all that turned up. I never took biology, so I was never in his class, but I did attend a short series of informal talks with him back when we were in 8th grade.

Girl Gang

Lance Baty, Dolly Pinson, Mary Clark, Linda Phillips, Theresa Carroll, Pat Bryan. And that might be Margaret Ann Bleakney peeking out between Mary and Linda, but I'm not sure.

Old City Hall and Fire Station

Not long ago I posted a black and white picture of this building, which eventually became the National Guard Armory. (You can see the other version if you click here.)

I remember walking by this place often on my way downtown to the Palace Theater or some other swanky destination. There was a bench on the McKinney Street side in those days, and the old guys (probably our age) sat there and talked. Anybody remember the monkey?

Another Party

Okay, I'm guessing here. Help me out. Dolly, front left. Margaret Ann behind her. Joyce, Marcella, Gladys, Johnny, Mary, Lance. Marvin's head in back between Marcella and Gladys. Pat in front between them. Marion on right in front. Don't know who's between him and Pat. Can't tell who's peeking out from behind Dolly (Pat Bryan?) or who's behind Joyce (Ray Pugh?).

It's been pretty well confirmed that the above names are correct. Margaret Ann and Sandra tell me that the girl in front is Mary Martin. Here's what Margaret Ann says:

"That is Mary Martin in front. She dropped out early in high school and married a man named Blackmon. He had a used car lot and she worked at the old Safeway store as a checker. I used to see her often when I would go to the grocery store for my mother." This proves (as if there was ever any doubt) that Margaret Ann's memory is a lot better than mine.

Guys

From the left: John Black, Wilbert McBeth, Joe Edd New, Jerry Welch.

Class of '57 End of School Picnic

You can probably identify more of these people than I can. I thought I'd include it in the blog in memory of Cecil Stephens. That's Glenn Sewell at the left in the white t-shirt. He'd got some kid by the head, and seated next to that kid is Cecil. I recognize more of the boys than girls in this one. I see Miss Johnson's head in the middle of the back row.

This Should Come as no Surprise

BBC NEWS | Americas | Simpsons 'trump' First Amendment:
"The Simpsons are household names all over the world
Americans know more about The Simpsons TV show than the US Constitution's First Amendment, an opinion poll says.

Only one in four could name more than one of the five freedoms it upholds but more than half could name at least two members of the cartoon family.

About one in five thought the right to own a pet was one of the freedoms.

A new museum dedicated to the First Amendment said the findings showed there was a pressing need to explain one of America's basic laws better."

Party Time