Larry Grams

Reflections from the back nine

Larry Adamson and his Corvette

Archives for August 2019

“HE STOPPED LOVING HER TODAY”

Just some thoughts::
 
                  “HE STOPPED LOVING HER TODAY”
 
I was leaving a music venue the other night when I saw Bobby Braddock. Braddock is one of the most successful songwriters ever in Nashville. I never see him but what I don’t think of one song in particular that he and Curly Putman wrote. Critics have called it the greatest country song ever. “He stopped loving her today.” A song about a love lost and a broken heart that remained with this fella the rest of his life. Every time I see Braddock I want to tell him, “Hey you know that song you wrote I know a story that goes with those lyrics. I once saw it happen.” But I bet that story has been repeated more times than what one might count.
 
Image result for picture of bobby braddock
 
It was very early one cold winter morning when he came into the store where as a young kid I worked mornings before going to school. He was good friends with the man who opened the store each morning. As I went about my store chores I heard him tell this story to his friend. He and his long time girlfriend had recently broken-up. He was a couple years old than her. She in her last year of high school, a cheerleader. On the rebound of their long time relationship she had taken up with the high school star and now found herself in a family way. He cried on this morning as he shared his story. It was evident he was crushed.
 
Little did he know that just a few nights prior at a high school basketball game I had witnessed the two of them. It was half-time of a ball game. I had gone out to the lobby area to get some popcorn. (Indiana basketball you had to have some popcorn.)  That’s when I saw them in a hallway. I could hear their conversation and from their body language one could tell it was a serious exchange. 
 
We all returned to the gym for the rest of the game. The two of them, he now sitting alone a few rows up in the bleachers and she on the floor with the other cheerleaders. At times they exchanged looks. A few times he even mouthed words to her. As the game neared the end I watched as he walked to the end of the gym, turned and waved to her. It was a sad wave.  She waved back.
 
Unhappy couple sitting after fight, girl with flowers, problem in relationship
 
She would go on to marry the high school star. The old boyfriend, he never married. In one of my trips back home I asked someone about him. “You know he never married, if your remembered he and ———-went together all thru high school but he never married. He lives out on that horse farm.”  Another source shared even more about him and his life.
Just a few years ago I was back home on business when I walked into this office where I had an appointment. Sitting at the receptionist desk was the lady in this story. The once pretty high school cheerleader. She did not know me. She had no reason to as we had never met. But I had always known who she was. A hundred questions ran thru my mind. But none were asked.
 
I often wondered about the happiness of the two of them, the once pretty cheerleader and the cowboy type guy.
 
“You’ll forget in time” But in the words of another country song (Vince Gill)  “It’ll take dying to get it done.”
 
From what had once been shared with me about the fella, I wondered if that even happened.  
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September 1, 2019
Keep on,
Larry Adamson
  

MISFORTUNE TO FORTUNE

 

 

Just some thoughts:

 
                            MISFORTUNE TO FORTUNE
  
 
Often one’s misfortune can become another’s good fortune.
 
That was the case with baseball player Joe Swell.  In 1920  the young ball player, who in 1977 would be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, got his start in the big leagues because of the game’s greatest tragedy. Sewell was the player called up from the minors after the death of Ray Chapman. Chapman was the Cleveland Indians player who in 1920 was hit in the head and died.  
 
Sewell had one of the most remarkable records in the history of baseball.  He had a lifetime batting average of .312 but he was the hardest man in the history of baseball to strike out. In fourteen seasons in the majors he stuck out only 114 times. Remarkable. He once went 437 consecutive times at the plate without striking out. In two seasons 1930 and 1932 he struck out only three times. 
 
Here is a guy when told he was being called up to the majors said to his manager, “I can’t go I’m not good enough to play in the majors.” He went from “not being good enough” to being one of the best and the hardest guy in baseball  to strike out. 
 
Sewell would later retire to his home in Alabama and become the baseball coach at the University of Alabama.
 
“It was funny how things worked out,” said Sewell. “In some ways he had enjoyed the type of career that had been predicted for Chapman. As I look back, I know it was Chapman’s death that made a star out of me.”
                            The Pitch that Killed–Mike Sewell 
Sadly all this because of the tragedy of another. Unfortunately we all have seen this happen, someone’s misfortune becomes another’s fortune. That’s life.
 
      “You never know what’s ahead of you until you try”-
                                      -Joe Sewell
 
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August 30, 2019
Keep on,
Larry Adamson

FUNDEMENTALS

Just some thoughts:

                                   THE FUNDAMENTALS 
 
My old basketball coach used to shout this word. I used to hear a football coaching yelling these words to his team at outdoor practice. I don’t think either had these “fundamentals” in mind. But I kinda like them.
 
Image result for two kids exchanging a kiss
 
                                     You must remember this 
                                           A kiss is just a kiss
                   Remember the fundamentals things they apply 
 
                  Remember: To say I love you—(never gets old) 
                             No matter what the future brings
 
                  Cause: Moonlight and love songs they
                                       are never out of date.
 
Image result for mrs bush and george exchanging a kissImage result for mrs bush and george exchanging a kiss
 
And hearing someone say I love you…..never gets old….
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August 30, 2019
Keep on,
Larry Adamson

“GIVE HIM MY TIME”

Just some thoughts:

                                “GIVE HIM MY SECOND NUMBER.”
 
Note: The following story was told to me by a friend who was standing backstage at the Opry and saw this happen.
 
The oldest continuous radio show in the country is the country music show The Grand Ole Opry. 
 
Some of you may be familiar with the show. It has been on the radio out of Nashville,TN since 1925  on station WSM. The show is made up of a collection of performers unlike what you would see if you went to a concert today. It is divided into four or five thirty-minutes segments with three or four performers generally doing one number. Each segment has a host, that host will do two or three numbers and will always close that portion of the show. 
 
Image result for picture of vince gill
 
Over the years a friend of mine has made some guest appearances on the Opry. Quite an honor. He has been a very successful performer and is also in the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. On this particular evening, the current evening host or star of the of the segment was scheduled to do at least two songs and then close the show with a last number from him.
 
My friend told me that he observed the star doing something that is almost never done by a performer. “I saw………go to the program/stage manager and say something to him, and I heard the program manager say, 
‘Are you sure that’s what you want to do?” The featured performer for that segment has said to the stage manager, “Give him my second number and my closing number, give him my time, I want him to close the show.”
 
My friend said, “In this business, you just don’t see someone giving up their time to be out front and center, on stage, to another performer, let alone letting another close the show.” That stage and airtime however short it may be is money and exposure to a performer. 
 

 
The person appearing in the star’s segment of the show was an old veteran to the business. Some would say that his time had passed. The current day start remembered when this man was on top, and he had since fallen on hard times. The star was not thinking of himself but the welfare of another. So seldom today do we see another giving up what their’s to another. “Give him my time and second number and we will let him close the show.”
 
The star, the one giving up his time personally I think he is one of the most talented people to ever come to Nashville. Not only is he talented but he has a gift of kindness. That is Vince Gill. 
 
By the way he has a new album that either has been or very shortly will be released “Okie.” 
 
     “Being kind means more than being right.”—Vince Gill 
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August 29, 2019
Keep on,
Larry Adamson

 

TWENTY-FIVE

Just some thoughts:
 
Image result for picture with numbers 25
 
                                 ANOTHER TWENTY-FIVE
 
Just some thoughts I have had over the past week. Most often sitting alone with a cup of coffee. Sometimes early morning, other times late at night. 
 
1.Mileage does not erase memories.
 
2.Sometimes hope can be about the only thing one can reach for.
 
3.This coffee is too strong.
 
4.Mental pain can be just as hard to deal with as physical      in some cases.
 
5.Will Charlie ever make it off the MTA?
 
6.Who should he vote for? 
 
7.I once had a car that would not go in reverse.
 
8.If you have a book with you, you have always got a
    friend  with you.
 
9.Time. Time can mutilate some folks.
 
10.I still think about my folks buying me a college class
      ring.
 
11.Love this line: “She was as pretty as sunshine on a
     rose.”
 
12. I’ve seen that kind of pretty before.
 
13.There is no way to make someone like you if they don’t
      want to.
 
14.Who choose the music in this place?
 
15.Much of what we are is where we came from.
 
16.”She was only sixteen–she was too young to fall in
        love.”  great song line…(Sam Cooke)
 
17.Be careful what you tell a girl in the dark, chances are 
     good she will repeat it in the light.
 
18.There comes a time when children have to think of
      their parents  other than parents.
 
19.Whose idea was it for ball caps to be wore backwards?
 
20. I like the word “shortcomings” better than “faults.”
 
21.Sometimes if one doesn’t know what “was” they can’t
     appreciate what “is.”
 
22.There are some people in life who believe some folks 
     should not have more than they have.
 
23.Listening to Patsy Cline and Elvis never gets old to
      me.
 
24.”Once was and now”….are not the same
 
25.Wonder how many people have to live with “once
      was”rather “now?”
 
=======================================August 28, 2019
Keep on,
Larry Adamson 

AT&T

Just some thoughts:
 
                                              AT&T
 
Dallas Headquarters
 
Ma Bell please come back.
 
We have our television service with AT&T. Three sets in our house  not working properly or gone out. Nothing, no notice, nothing, anything just this week quit service. Today I go to our local AT&T store and explain the problem. “Oh no we don’t do nothing like that here, we just sell stuff.” Seriously what I was told. “Well can you be of any help at all so I don’t have to get on the phone wait three hours for a body, who knows is located where and I cannot understand anything they say comes on the line.” Fella hands me a card underlines a number, “call this.” Yippee.
 
I go to my car call this number and here is what I get. A recording that says, “Leave your number and someone will call you in the next seven business days.” I kid you not. Exactly what was said, “Leave your number and someone will call you in seven business days.” Yea, I bet they will call. I have a better chance of winning a bet on Dan Patch to win the Hambletonian this year than they returning my call. And Dan Patch is dead. Has been for ages.  Just like service anymore. Customer service what a dead word that is.
 
To top it off shortly after my call to AT&T my cell phone rings. A recording, “Mr.Adamson we would like to help you with your college loan debts.” Follow that call with another call on my cell phone, “We notice that your service contract for  auto repairs is about to expire.” Hard for something to expire when it was never agreed to in the first place. Never had such a contract. And last phone rings again, “Mr.Adamson you are the recipient of a home security system please hold and we will put you on the line with our service rep.” All three calls within two hours of my AT&T call. Now tomorrow I can get the one about “Your computer is not working properly, are you at your computer now?”
 
You know these calls,  I have been getting them for some time now, really weeks. Each of them was given these words “Please take me off your calling list.” As Lorrie Morgan used to sing “What Part of No Don’t You Understand?”
 
Image result for picture of barney fife on phone with sarah
 
I’m ready to return to the days of “Mayberry.” I  bet Andy and Barney got better service by just calling Sarah and saying, “Get me Thelma Lou.”
 
Really “Leave your number and someone will call you in seven business days.” What a way to run a business. But sadly that is where we now are with so many places of business. “Seven days and we’ll call you.”
=======================================
August 28, 2019
Keep on,
Larry Adamson

THE FASCINATORS

Just some thoughts:
 
The early days of rock n’ roll in Terre Haute, Indiana
 
                                              The Fascinators
Posted August 28, 2019
Larry Adamson

AMERICAN BANDSTAND

Just some thoughts:

                                AMERICAN BANDSTAND
 
“Bandstand, I wouldn’t miss it for free Scrambler rides and all the cotton candy I could eat at the country fair.”  Quote–Lewis Grizzard
 
“Where is Philadelphia, anyway?” he quipped one afternoon as we watched the kids on Bandstand do the Hop to Danny and the Junior’s “At the Hop.” “Pennsylvania,” I told him. “How far is that?” “Thousands of miles.” “Wish I could go.” “To see Bandstand?” “See it up close.” “Wish we lived in Philadelphia.” “We’d go on Bandstand every day, wouldn’t we?”  
 
Teens dance on 'American Bandstand' : News Photo
 
Quote of a conversation between teenagers Lewis Grizzard and his boyhood friend Danny Thompson.
 
arlenekenny.jpg (60714 bytes)Image result for american bandstand pictur of justine and bob
 
What Lewis and Danny were wishing for is what many teenagers of the time, late 1950s’ wished.
Hum…….Bob and Justine……I wonder….—
=========================================
August 28, 2019
Keep on,
Larry Adamson

GUILT

Just some thoughts:: 

                                                GUILT
 
Now keep in mind those first three words at the top: “Just some thought.”
 
Cause that is what this is. Just some thoughts that kept running thru my mind as I sat alone this morning over early morning coffee.
 
#We cannot or should not carry around the guilt of  bad
   decisions  made in life forever. I’ll use a stronger word     
   than bad decisions—Sin.
 
#The results possibly yes/ not the guilt if sincere     
    “sorry/repentance” is there.
 
#And we should not/never/ be a party to making one carry
   them.
 
Remember what Henry David Thoreau once said and I have repeated it numerous times.  
 
Image result for picture of henry david thoreau and his quote about add to the quality of life
This morning as I left my coffee place I slipped in an old Chuck Wagon Gang cd. Now most of you have no clue who that group was and if you did you probably wouldn’t be interested at all. Old gospel group that is still going. I saw them this past year in a little country church here in Tennessee. And I’ll go back the next time they are passing thru.
 
Image result for picture of the church wagon gangImage result for picture of the church wagon gang
 
First song that came on from the cd said:
 
                            “Each day I’ll do a golden deed 
               I’ll try to help some troubled soul along life’s way.”
 
Saying the same thing ole Thoreau was thinking. Trying to help another. One of the ways we can do that is by helping those who might be carrying a burden/ a thought/ a guilt.
 
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August 27, 2019
Keep on,
Larry Adamson  

GET YOUR OWN

Just some thoughts:

                                      GET YOUR OWN
 
I am an advocate for families having dogs. I grew up at a very early age with having dogs in our family.  
 
There was Sport, Millie, Bing, Toots  just a few of the names of dogs my family once had. All three of our kids today have dogs (among other animals) Tux, Little Jimmy, Lucy, and Skye. 
 
We can learn a lot  from having pets. They can teach us about life. I think one of the lessons we learn from pets is life is not forever. Maybe we learn about our own mortality and the mortality of those we love by having pets in our lives. 
 
Image result for picture of a old chocolate lab dog
 
I remember I was in my teens when one of our dogs was killed. Some way she had gotten outside  and was hit by a train. I went searching for her, found her and brought her home. I went in and told my parents I had found her then I went to our garage to be alone and cried. I thought I was “too old” to cry in front of my mom and dad. As I sat on the back bumper of our 57′ Chevy the garage door opened and my dad walked in. I have never forgotten how he did not make light of my sadness, my tears. In fact he sat down on the bumper with me and we talked. “She was a good dog wasn’t she, we will miss her,” his words. These many years later and I still recall that day. The day my dad sat and listen to me. I’m not sure he didn’t cry a bit also. If not outward at least inward. I think moms and dads, they cry a lot of “silent” tears when they see their children hurt. 
 
My good friend here in Nashville is a songwriter. Dan Harrell wrote a song about dads, dogs and dying based on a real happening. This father had the grave task of telling their son that his dog was going to die. He tried to come up with what he thought was a good way of breaking the news to his small boy.  I thank Dan for sharing his lyrics with me. 
 
                                                 “Tell Jesus” 
 
                 We had that chocolate lab since he was a pup
                                   Best dog that I ever saw
                       The vet said: “he’s gotten old and all stove up
                      I’ll have to put him down that’s all I know to do” 
                           I had to go back home and tell my boy
                          He was cryin’ he was five years old I guess
         I said “Jesus needs your dog in heaven to live with him”
                               What my boy said I never will forget 
 
                   Let Jesus get his own dog He don’t need mine
                                  He can have any dog he wants
                                 You said he Healed a blind man
                                     And turned water into wine
                    So let Jesus get his won dog He don’t need mine
 
                     I’ll tell you now that dog lived five more years
                             I believe that love kept him alive
                         I learned a lot about a God who cares
              Sometimes prayers are the teardrops in your eyes
                       I try hard not to judge my fellow man
                      Or tell somebody else what Jesus needs
              Just when I think that He could use a helping hand
                         I remember what my boy said to me
Image result for picture of a old dog
                         I try no to judge my fellow man
                  or tell somebody else what Jesus needs
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August 27, 2019
Keep on,
Larry Adamson