Mother's Day

It's absolutely gorgeous here in New England today, with temperatures near 80 F (~26 C) and bright blue skies. That's not unheard of, but is still well above average for this time of year.

Yesterday was equally warm, but added a touch of summer-like humidity. After months and months of bone-dry, utterly arid air, I genuinely did not mind. (My hair, however, felt otherwise. lol) In fact, I  went for a long walk (over three hours).

A bit too long, as it turned out; I was caught about ten minutes shy of home when a line of thunderstorms popped up suddenly and raced through the area. I ran the last half-mile or so, but was still absolutely drenched. Luckily, my new hat helped:

Well, OK, no it didn't, actually. :D But still - tres stylish, no? lol As a bonus, the back of the cap has a shamrock logo. You know, in case anyone can't tell I'm Irish-American...

BTW, after one more, potentially even warmer, day tomorrow, we are back to struggling to escape the low 50s for most of the week. Such is spring in New England!

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Anyway, it's Mother's Day here in the States. I sent my mother flowers, although they *still* hadn't arrived as of a half-hour ago. (Grr....)

I also left a text message for my sister, who worked a double shift at the emergency room so other nurses could spend the morning with their families. (It goes without saying that she is asleep right now!)

Later my parents will go to my brother's house for a cookout; I'm not invited, needless to say. This is the established pattern; they celebrate the actual holidays with my brother and his family, and then I come by a day or two later for leftovers, literally and figuratively.

It is what it is. People make their choices and then live with them. All I can say is that I am 100% comfortable with mine.

In any case, I wanted to share a few of my favorite Mother's Day songs for moms everywhere. There is no more difficult job in the world... although being a Mariners fan is close. :D (Some baseball humor for my fellow seamheads out there!)


Leading off, here’s my favorite Mother’s Day song, courtesy of John Gorka.

He had previously written “Semper Fi,” a moving tribute to his late father, and decided to pay tribute to his mother as well. This beautiful song is the result. Get ready for some misty eyes. :c)

And here are The Everly Brothers with a brilliant cover of Merle Haggard's "Mama Tried," the leadoff track from their 1968 masterpiece, Roots.

This is hands down one of my very favorite albums of all time, and one of my Desert Island Discs.

While they essentially stopped having hits in the States after 1964 or so, they continued to record wonderful albums all along. (They were hugely popular in Great Britain, where the first generation of rock acts were justly revered.)

Roots is considered of the very first county-rock albums (I'm not positive, but I think The Byrds' classic Sweetheart of the Rodeo album was released a few months before this). And it's also a concept album of sorts, before the term came in vogue, in which they look at where they came from and how it made them who they were.

(As an indication of just how prolific - and consistent - the Everlys were, this was released 11 years after their debut album - and they were still only in their twenties! Amazing. Their refusal to chase trends, and their insistence on being true to themselves, has resulted in a discography that stands the test of time.)

They recorded radical new takes on country classics (such as "T for Texas," from Jimmie Rodgers) as well as versions of then-new country songs (such as Merle Haggard's "Mama Tried" and "Sing Me Back Home," which bookend the album, and a great take on Glen Campbell's lovely "Less of Me"). They also re-recorded a brooding update to "I Wonder If I Care As Much," which was one of their earliest hits.

To tie it all together, they wove recordings of themselves performing as children with their mother and father on their daily radio program. The end result is a deeply moving, intensely personal album.

Released in a tumultuous year when it seemed as if the world was on the verge of collapse (MLK, RFK, the Democratic Convention in Chicago, the Mexico City student massacres, the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia, and more), this album, as well as the The Band's debut, Music From Big Pink, must have been a quiet but resonant reminder that there was a place where listeners could feel as if they belonged.

If you are at all interested in country music, buy all means pick this album up (it's still in print). You will not regret it.

As a bonus, here's one more song from the album, a medley that brings together a radical retake on Jimmy Rodgers' "T For Texas" and a brooding remake of "I Wonder If I Care As Much," one of their earliest hits.

Happy Mother’s Day to moms everywhere!