Music Plays Through The Heart Of The Family

1. Music Plays Through The Heart Of The Family Momma and Daddy loved music. It was rare for the house to be silent; well, as silent as possible with six children running around. Momma preferred classical music and if she wasn’t listening to one of her records (they had about 200), the radio (WGKA 90.1) was tuned to the equivalent of today’s public radio. It was rare to get up on a Saturday morning and not enter the kitchen with the classical music of the “Second Cup Concert” being heard on the radio. While in the Navy, Daddy learned a lot about electronics and was completely unafraid to take radios and sound systems apart. I remember the attic being full of radio parts with lots of old tubes in them (long before transistors). We were probably one of the first families in Clarkston to have true “stereophonic” music. Daddy would put together sound systems that were incredible for that time. I remember going to the Buckhead area of Atlanta with Momma to get replacement diamond tipped needles from a store called “High Fidelity SSS” which is actually still a company in Norcross. We always had a main “stereo cabinet” in the living room that contained the turntable and two speakers.

2. We later had extension speakers on the other side of the living room and speaker extensions in the den. In this Christmas picture from 1980 on the right, you can see a really large, freestanding speaker cabinet behind Aunt Reggie under the phone on the wall. Daddy was rightfully proud of his stereo and would demonstrate the sound for any captive audience. His favorite music to showcase his system was Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. The cannons would boom from side to side and the windows would rattle! He would have loved today’s surround sound and subwoofer systems!

3. Though Momma and Daddy had a lot of similar tastes in music, they each had some particular favorites. Momma’s favorites included: *Tchaikovsky – everything! *Grieg – Peer Gynt Suites *Mussorgsky – Night on Bald Mountain *Dvorak – New World Symphony *Rimsky-Korsakov – Scheherazade *Ravel – Bolero *Rachmaninoff – Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini *Gershwin – Everything *Bernstein – Everything *Opera singers Mario Lanza *Nelson Eddy and Jannette McDonald *Anything by Rogers and Hammerstein – She was always humming or singing show tunes. Daddy’s favorites: *Tchaikovsky – 1812 Overture *Pianist Roger Williams *Duet Pianists Ferrante and Teicher *Elvis Presley *Martin Denny – Hawaiian music – Daddy must have heard a good bit of in Hawaii while stationed there in 1940-41. Check out “Quiet Village” on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDr01eVrHIQ *Trumpeter – Bert Kaempfert – Especially the song “Wonderland by Night” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnU_nMYb0C4 *His all-time favorite song was the old English folksong called Greensleeves. Reggie and I often played it for him, especially at Christmas.

4. Our first piano was an old upright. Momma painted a picture of a barbershop quartet on the front. I (Andie) don’t remember much about this piano; in fact, until Reggie reminded me of it, it had completely slipped my mind. It had a really cool black swivel stool that had claws with glass balls for feet. The second piano was a black baby grand piano that sat in the living room in front of the windows This was the piano that Reggie and I played the most. One of the most interesting yearly events was tuning the grand piano. We used a company in Decatur called “Alverson’s Piano.” Their piano tuner was a blind man that they would send out to the house (with a driver of course) and he would tune it completely by feeling and listening. It was amazing to watch! In addition to the piano, we also had an organ. The picture on the left is of Reggie, and the one on the right is me in my recital dress (1958). After a couple of years, we got a new Thomas “electronic” organ that was much larger and had two octaves on the foot pedals. Imagine the difficulty of playing different things with two hands and two feet! You even had to practice scales with your feet!

5. Not long after buying the second organ, Alverson’s Piano sent a photographer out to the house to take a picture to use in their store to promote organ sales. According to Reggie, the photo with Momma and Daddy (next page) was framed and placed in their store. If you look closely in that picture you can see the baby grand piano behind Barbara. She is sitting on the piano bench. We cannot locate any other pictures of the piano. These two pictures were taken about 1962. Left to Right: Barbara, Andie, Reggie at the organ, Terry, Linda

7. In 1963 Reggie competed in the Miss CHS (Clarkston High School) pageant. Daddy had our organ moved to the school on the night of the competition. She played the song “Autumn Leaves” and won. Our parents convinced her to go to Shorter College and major in music. Once there she met David Cross and the rest is history.

8. Attempts were made to get Terry, Linda, and Barbara to play the piano, but they did not stick with it very long. Though Linda and Barbara did not play the piano, they did participate in the Clarkston High School chorus and Clarkston Baptist Church choir. In the summer of 1969, Linda attended the Georgia Governor’s Honors program in science and while there, she auditioned and won a singing part in Guys and Dolls. The following summer she attended the honors program in art. Linda also participated in the 1970 Miss CHS contest, and her musical talent was her voice. Reggie played the piano for her as she sang the beautiful song from Fiddler on the Roof called “Sunrise, Sunset.” She has a beautiful voice!

9. In addition to music at home, there was one concert season (late 1960 – early 1961) when we had tickets to attend performances at the old Atlanta Municipal Auditorium. The line-up was one that Momma couldn’t pass up. Reggie and I went with them to see Polish pianist Arthur Rubinstein, composer Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic, pianist Van Cliburn, and Britain’s Coldstream Guards with the Cameron Highlanders. One of my most cherished musical memories was the night we went to see the Coldstream Guards. It was the first time I had ever heard bagpipes. The pipers started playing in the back of the auditorium and came down the aisles marching and playing as the sound echoed throughout the hall. I now have a great appreciation and love of Celtic music, all begun on that winter night in 1960. Today, Reggie and I are amazed that Momma and Daddy were willing to let us stay out so late on school nights. Reggie still has the programs that show the concerts as occurring on Monday and Thursday nights at 8:30. I was 12 and Reggie was 14. I wonder who babysat those evenings for Terry, Linda, and Barbara – maybe Raymond? Van Cliburn Leonard Bernstein Arthur Rubinstein

10. Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent. Victor Hugo – French author (1802-1885)