Brad's Music Room

The red tailed hawk soared effortlessly over the Current River canyon. This was her terrain. Soon she would return to her nest in a tree anchored in the bluff below. A hoarse raspy screech announced her displeasure with the intruders.

Wally Brown pushed the last flat bottom boat into the stream. He smiled upon hearing the piercing scream from the hawk  circling overhead. The youth group from his church had embarked on a week long journey down this scenic waterway. An avid outdoorsman, this youth minister loved sharing the beauty of God’s creation with the teens in his congregation.

It was to be a week long feast for the senses: the blinding reflection of the sun on the river’s glassy surface; the telltale sound of splashing water as it moved over obstacles in its path, alerting us to rapids up ahead; feet coming into contact with the shockingly cold underwater springs that fed the river; the comforting smell of the campfire as we gathered around for stories and songs; the refreshing taste of spring fed water and the joy of supplementing a week’s supply of freeze-dried food with watercress salads harvested straight from the spring waters.

One night, our group camped on a gravel bar that marked a fork in the river.  Girls on one side of the gravel bar, boys on the other.  Although we had tents, most of the group chose to sleep under the stars.  A rain storm blew in and everyone took refuge in the tents.  The next morning we woke up to discover new springs of water coming out of the sides of the gravel bar. Luckily, our boats had been tied to trees the night before. The river rushing past the gravel bar promised new adventures and a swift ride.

At the end of the week, we were physically fatigued but spiritually renewed, all thanks to a youth minister who had shown us how to connect the dots between the beauty of creation and the beauty of the Creator who designed it all.

This week’s song selection is one I’ve enjoyed for many years. Sometimes, when I sing this song, I imagine I am singing it to Jesus. Rubber Soul is probably my favorite Beatles album because it marked their transition from pop stars to true artists.

“In My Life” is a song by the Beatles released on the 1965 album Rubber Soul, written mainly by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song originated with Lennon, and while Paul McCartney contributed to the final version, he and Lennon later disagreed over the extent of his contributions (specifically the melody). George Martin, who produced the recording, contributed the instrumental bridge. (editor’s note: a rare harpsichord track) It is ranked 23rd on Rolling Stone’s “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” as well as fifth on their list of the Beatles’ 100 Greatest Songs. The song placed second on CBC’s 50 Tracks. Mojo magazine named it the best song of all time in 2000.

Rubber Soul is the sixth studio album by English rock band the Beatles. It was recorded in just over four weeks to make the Christmas market, and was released on 3 December 1965. Unlike the five albums that preceded it, Rubber Soul was recorded during a continuous period, whereas the group had previously made their albums during breaks between tour dates and other commitments.  The project also marked the first time that the Beatles focused on creating an album as an artistic work, an approach that they then developed with Revolver and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band over 1966–67.

The spring showers finally ended. The last remaining clouds drifted to the east leaving behind a brilliant canopy of stars. In Hickory County there were no city lights to interfere with the light show raining down from the heavens. At the center of this display was an electric full moon, the first since the Spring equinox. Thus, this Sunday would be Easter.

Born in Texas and married in front of the Alamo, she moved to Missouri during the Great Depression. Her moral compass pointed due north and her intestinal fortitude carved from metamorphic granite. She had looked forward to this day for some time.  Her grandsons would be arriving soon for their traditional day-before-Easter ritual.  First on the agenda will be venturing into the woods to hunt mushrooms.

Her oldest grandson called her Macaw, a name by which she would be forever known. After the mushroom hunt, Macaw sent the boys to the chicken coop to gather eggs.  She added their contribution to the stash that she had been putting by all week. Once lunch was eaten, the PAAS Easter egg dye was brought out.  Small tablets were dropped into individual bowls of vinegar, revealing six different color dyes. The boys decorated the eggs in a variety of ways.  Wax crayons were used to draw designs on the eggs before dying them.  Some eggs were dipped in multiple colors.  Others needed a sticker or two before they were complete.

When it was time to go, the boys took their decorated eggs with them.  The next day their parents would hide the eggs for the annual Easter egg hunt.  Later, they would get dressed in suits and ties and go to church with the family.  After church there would be a big Easter meal.  Ham was always on the menu.

A kid could only eat so many eggs so the boys would commandeer the extras for an outdoor game of wiffle ball.  There was something satisfying about the “whack” of the bat as it made contact with the hard boiled egg.  Rogue eggs that had escaped discovery during the Easter egg hunt were always uncovered a day or two later by sensitive noses.

“I Need You” is a song by the Beatles and appears on the album Help!, the fifth studio album by the Beatles, and the soundtrack from their film Help!. Produced by George Martin, it contains fourteen songs in its original British form.   “I Need You” is the second George Harrison song the band released after two albums without any songwriting contribution from Harrison.

Warning: This post is rated BP-MA (Blog Post for Mature Audiences). Viewer discretion is advised.

The Majestic Red Oak towered over the landscape below. Once a dense deciduous forest of Oaks, Elms and hedge trees, bulldozers had transformed the land into building lots for a new subdivision. This once regal woodland had been reduced to a simple line of trees a mere 20 yards wide, it’s purpose now a line of demarcation between existing homes and new houses springing up to the West.

At the base of the tree a different type of construction was underway. Pre-teen boys with materials from the new homes’ scrap pile, were building a three room treehouse. Today the boys were celebrating, having driven the last nail to secure the final scrap of shag carpet to the floor of the “make out room,” a dark room without windows. They were sitting on a rock smoking Marlboros and admiring their creation. Soon they would ascend a pull down ladder and emerge through a trap door in the floor to spend time in the “entertainment room.” Here they would engage in card games and admire photos in a recently acquired Hugh Hefner publication. This fortress of solitude provided a rich environment to learn life skills such as ingenuity, creative design and basic carpentry. Escape to this “tree line” had become the boys’ daily activity. Realizing it was getting close to dinnertime they stashed the cigarettes and magazines in a waterproof vault (plastic tub buried in the ground) and covered it with camouflage material. They placed the tools in the trailer (Little Red Wagon), attached it to a Schwinn Stingray bicycle and departed for home.

“Bad Boy” is one of several Larry Williams songs which the Beatles covered during their career.  It is from the album Beatles VI,  the Beatles’ seventh Capitol Records release in the United States (including The Beatles’ Story). It was the ninth album released into that market in less than one and a half years (Vee-Jay Records and United Artists Records also released one album each during that period).  The LP was released in both mono and stereo versions.

Beatles VI reached number one in Billboard for six weeks, beginning on 10 July 1965.