Hey, everyone. It's a stormy night and I'm up late. I'm sipping a bit of red wine as I begin this latest blog post.
Just as an aside, there is an app on the App store that you can download for free. This app will enable you to watch concerts that will be held in London every night during July. The name of the app is I-Tunes Festival, London. I have to admit that most of the groups are too modern for me to be familiar with them, but that doesn't mean they won't be any good. They are probably very famous for those whose music tastes are arrayed in the present century. The main reason I got the app was because of the very first act on July 1st. Paul Simon, the terrific songwriter and musician leads off these concerts and I fully intend to watch him.
I should mention another cool app that is available. It's titled Science 360 For I-Pad. This app is very highly rated and the reason is simple. It's free and it's good. Here's the recipe. You have a wall full of cool pictures about animals, inventions and other phenomena. You click on any of them to see a story or video of scientific significance. If you even remotely like science, this is a must have. Like I said, it's free, so why not indulge? I will say that those of you who do the 3G thing should be aware that this app uses a lot of bytes. There is actually a warning to that effect when you open it.
At one time, the best selling record of all time was a mammoth hit by the name of Ode To Billie Joe. This song came out in July 1967. I was a teen at the time and I certainly remember it well. It was so popular that you literally could not turn on the radio without hearing it.
It was the third of June, another sleepy dusty Delta day.
I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was bailing hay.
The song was written by an attractive young lady by the name of Bobbie Gentry. She was from Chickasaw County, Mississippi. It hit #1 in the U.S. and won three Grammies. It sold three million copies. I had the single on a 45 and still remember the odd color combination of the label, which was orange and yellow in a sort of yin/yang design.
The theme of the song is this. As a family goes about their routine day, they are eating supper and someone remarks that Billie Joe McCallister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge. This bridge crossed the Mississippi at a place called Money, Mississippi. This is fitting because the song certainly made a lot of money. It is mentioned that the teenage girl of this family was seen with Billie Joe prior to his demise, and they were throwing something off the bridge. This is where the mystery and intrigue starts.
1. Why did Billie Joe commit suicide?
2. Were the girl and Billie Joe involved?
3. Did they break up, which led to his death?
4. Was their relationship frowned upon due to racial bias?
5. What were they throwing off the bridge?
6. Why did the young preacher rat the girl out? Was he sweet on the girl himself?
7. Is this story rooted in actual events?
Well, I got most of this information from Wikipedia, but I have drawn my own conclusions. Before I reveal these, let me tell you a bit more. There was a movie made about this song in 1976. I haven't seen it. The song was left a mystery which many believe is the reason for it's popularity. Bobbie Gentry told someone that the song meant nothing, that she had just made it up. Could it have been a fragment of the writer's own life? That seems unlikely. Hey, I like conspiracy theories and all that. But I figure that it's like the songwriter Don McLean said about his monster hit titled American Pie. When asked what the song meant, he smiled and said, "It means I never have to work again."
If you have time, check out the song, Ode To Billie Joe. If you've never heard it, try American Pie also.
From the author's green retreat, I'm CE Wills.
Just as an aside, there is an app on the App store that you can download for free. This app will enable you to watch concerts that will be held in London every night during July. The name of the app is I-Tunes Festival, London. I have to admit that most of the groups are too modern for me to be familiar with them, but that doesn't mean they won't be any good. They are probably very famous for those whose music tastes are arrayed in the present century. The main reason I got the app was because of the very first act on July 1st. Paul Simon, the terrific songwriter and musician leads off these concerts and I fully intend to watch him.
I should mention another cool app that is available. It's titled Science 360 For I-Pad. This app is very highly rated and the reason is simple. It's free and it's good. Here's the recipe. You have a wall full of cool pictures about animals, inventions and other phenomena. You click on any of them to see a story or video of scientific significance. If you even remotely like science, this is a must have. Like I said, it's free, so why not indulge? I will say that those of you who do the 3G thing should be aware that this app uses a lot of bytes. There is actually a warning to that effect when you open it.
At one time, the best selling record of all time was a mammoth hit by the name of Ode To Billie Joe. This song came out in July 1967. I was a teen at the time and I certainly remember it well. It was so popular that you literally could not turn on the radio without hearing it.
It was the third of June, another sleepy dusty Delta day.
I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was bailing hay.
The song was written by an attractive young lady by the name of Bobbie Gentry. She was from Chickasaw County, Mississippi. It hit #1 in the U.S. and won three Grammies. It sold three million copies. I had the single on a 45 and still remember the odd color combination of the label, which was orange and yellow in a sort of yin/yang design.
The theme of the song is this. As a family goes about their routine day, they are eating supper and someone remarks that Billie Joe McCallister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge. This bridge crossed the Mississippi at a place called Money, Mississippi. This is fitting because the song certainly made a lot of money. It is mentioned that the teenage girl of this family was seen with Billie Joe prior to his demise, and they were throwing something off the bridge. This is where the mystery and intrigue starts.
1. Why did Billie Joe commit suicide?
2. Were the girl and Billie Joe involved?
3. Did they break up, which led to his death?
4. Was their relationship frowned upon due to racial bias?
5. What were they throwing off the bridge?
6. Why did the young preacher rat the girl out? Was he sweet on the girl himself?
7. Is this story rooted in actual events?
Well, I got most of this information from Wikipedia, but I have drawn my own conclusions. Before I reveal these, let me tell you a bit more. There was a movie made about this song in 1976. I haven't seen it. The song was left a mystery which many believe is the reason for it's popularity. Bobbie Gentry told someone that the song meant nothing, that she had just made it up. Could it have been a fragment of the writer's own life? That seems unlikely. Hey, I like conspiracy theories and all that. But I figure that it's like the songwriter Don McLean said about his monster hit titled American Pie. When asked what the song meant, he smiled and said, "It means I never have to work again."
If you have time, check out the song, Ode To Billie Joe. If you've never heard it, try American Pie also.
From the author's green retreat, I'm CE Wills.
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