Country Connections By James and Ellen Perry
“Memories, pressed between the pages of my mind
Memories sweetened through the ages just like wine
Quiet thoughts come floating down
And settle softly to the ground
Like golden autumn leaves around my feet
I touched them and they burst apart with sweet memories
Sweet memories
As I sit here on my front porch, listening to Elvis Presley’s version of this beautiful song written in 1968 and first performed by Elvis Presley on his Comeback TV Special that aired on December 3, 1968, memories start flooding my mind and taking me back to my early years as a young boy. This beautiful song was written by Mac Davis and Billy Strange. It was recorded by many artists, especially by Elvis Presley and Barbara Streisand.
Mac Davis also wrote “In the Ghetto” for Elvis Presley. He sadly passed away on September 29, 2020. Mac was from Lubbock, Texas. Before Mac achieved stardom as a songwriter, singer and actor. Another songwriter and singer from Lubbock attained worldwide fame and that was Buddy Holly.
One memory that has stayed in my mind happened on February 4, 1959, when listening to WIVK radio from Knoxville, that Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens were killed in a plane crash in Iowa.
Buddy Holly was 22, the Big Bopper was 28 and Ritchie Valens was 17. This plane crash sent shock waves through the teenagers across the USA. Through the following years many more great singers and musicians lost their lives in plane crashes. Most caused by lack of flight training for the pilots and lack of proper maintenance of the aircraft and one or two accidents because of entertainers with no pilot training flying the aircraft.
Another memory that used to be timely, during September and October was the unveiling of the three American car lines which were Ford, GM, and Chrysler corp. All boys from age 13 and up waited with anticipation to see the new cars. Pickup trucks during the ’30s, ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s were for farm or utility use. Not so today, as some will pay $70,000 and up for the big pickups with tires larger than those on semis. They then suffer a $20,000 depreciation when driven a mile from the dealership.
Another fond memory that happened to take place during the fall―it was time to make sorghum molasses. Strip the leaves from the sorghum and cut the seed pods off to be fed to the chickens, cut the sorghum, have the mule attached to the pole that turned the sorghum mill to extract the juice. Then the juice went to the pan to be cooked down to the right thickness for sorghum molasses. During sorghum molasses making it was amazing how many friends and neighbors came to get a free jar of molasses.
Next memory happened to be of the fall pie supper before it got too cold. The pie supper made up money for improvements to the school. Mothers and girls would make pies and cakes to be auctioned at the pie supper. Teenage boys with girlfriends would have to dig deep to buy their girlfriend’s pie or cake as their friends would up the bid for the treats to make her boyfriend bid more. Whoever bid the highest got to eat the pie or cake with the girl. Tightwads didn’t stand a chance. Good times are never forgotten.
Another good memory was Halloween night with parties and pranks. Lots of outhouses were either moved from their foundations or doors nailed shut. Another outhouse trick was to remove the Sears and Roebuck catalogues.
Possum hunting just happened to be a good exercise sport for teenage boys. All you needed to have a good possum hunt was a couple of good Heinz 57 dogs, a handful of boys and some Lucky Strikes which usually made a few boys sick. Possum hunting gave the boys exercise, comradery and lasting memories. I think the possums enjoyed the sport as none were hurt.
Fox hunting with more Heinz 57 dogs also left good memories. It did, though, lead young boys to not trust old men as the old men lied so much about their fox dogs. The young boys saw through their tall tales, but the boys had been trained to respect their elders, so they just looked at each other when one of the old sages told a big one about their mutts. By the way, if you had a death wish, just harm a fox. The fox hunters wanted to hunt that fox again and again. Treat the fox with respect―or else.
During summer vacation, after getting caught up with our farm work, we would load up in our Daddy’s truck, bring our tools and drive to our grandparents’ farm in Sharps Chapel, Tennessee. On the way we would stop at Bill Graves General Store in Sharps Chapel. Dad would buy three gallons of gas for his truck. The pump was hand driven by a handle you pumped. The gasoline would be pumped into a five-gallon glass container mounted on top of the pump. Gravity would deliver it to Dad’s truck tank.
About once a month we boys (all four of us) would be permitted to get a RC Cola from Bill Graves’ Coke box. I would try to be the first to raise the lid so I could smell the aroma coming from the Coke box. It smelled great. The soft drinks would be standing in water with ice in the water to cool the drinks. The RCs cost a nickel each at this time.
We would help our grandparents with their crops, cutting and putting the hay in the barn, plowing and hoeing the tobacco. The same with Pap’s corn field.
I would go in the woods with my grandmother to gather leaves, bark, inner bark, roots and twigs for her to make her medicine for different sicknesses and ailments. Granny Perry would sometimes, according to what might be in season, pick two of us boys to go and pick blackberries, blueberries, strawberries or apples to use for cobbler pies to serve with dinner. Almost all of her great meals came from their garden and the fields or woods. I’d like to sit at her table after a morning’s work just one more time.
Another memory entered my mind and that’s the smell of our new cap we got the first week after school was out in early May. That cap was the only one we got for the summer work. We learned to take care of our clothes, of which the cap was included. Today’s caps do not have that new smell, sadly.
Another memory is when at the age of seven years old my maternal grandfather gave me my first Daisy BB gun. I carried that gun at least a thousand miles. Sadly, it was stolen with other guns after I left home.
There are so many memories that this beautiful song “Memories” performed by Elvis Presley keeps coming to my mind, but time doesn’t permit me to go farther. Like Lawrence Welk said when closing each show, “Keep A Song In Your Heart” and for me it is a song that soothes the soul and builds your life spirit.
See you next month.