Thursday, July 01, 2010

Theme Thursday : Blue

For me, the word blue is a one-way street leading to the blues. But rather than the pure blues, the delta blues or Chicago blues it takes me to the great Jack Teagarden singing what was to become a theme song of his "Meet Me Where They Play The Blues". I was in my teens when I first heard this. Somehow it slotted in well amidst contemporary sounds such as the Beatles and Dylan. I fell in love with both the song and Big T's singing and playing. I've never been able to get it out of my mind since - even during the days of deafness. Many years ago I wrote a story which had a large Greek philosophy professor turned European Commission bureaucrat who would surprise his colleagues by playing the trombone and singing with a Texan accent. The song he sang in the story - Meet Me Where They Play The Blues, of course. To illustrate this post I searched for a YouTube clip of Jack singing the song, but there wasn't one. So I added one. It can count as my contribution to humanity.




For other Theme Thursday posts on the theme of BLUE go to the Theme Thursday Blog.

23 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:14 AM

    Hello Alan, I really enjoyed the music tonight. My husband and brother enjoyed the music in New Orleans recently on their trip.
    Thank you for sharing a wonderful memory and music with us tonight.

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  2. Utterly wonderful......my kind of music. I am a fool for old classic jazz and the blues. My husband, Pete Daily, (cornet) was a contemporary of big T and I believe he may have played with him in some jam sessions....Pete's band was called the Chicagoans......if you would like one of his CD's just let me know at http://loisstearns.blogspot.com....."It's Always Something"

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  3. Great song, greatvideo. My favorite image was the one outside the Cotton Club. Thanks for this!

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  4. i always find it wonderful how music cross so many boundaries. Good take here, Alan.

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  5. nice alan...thanks for adding your mix to the music that makes our world spin...like those blues...

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  6. I know you're a huge fan of jazz. I'm not so much but love this kind of stuff. Reminds me of my Dad drinking whiskey and listening to old speakeasy style blues, someone Lux Lewis. I have the CD somewhere, should drag it out when I haven't got the blues. Oh, completely off topic but I saw a man walking a dog like Amy today, could have been your doppleganger!

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  7. Thank you for this wonderful contribution to humanity.

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  8. What's with the ' error osccured, try again later' message on the little black screen...? I'll be back. I do love you lessons. -j

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  9. 'big t' is great and i love this song. mary coughlan's version is worthy of checking out if you haven't heard it, but beware you will instantly feel as if you are transported to a dark, smoky bar!

    thanks for the contribution to humanity! we appreciate it!

    happy theme thursday!

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  10. I really enjoyed your "blues" post. Thanks Alan.

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  11. Nice! I love blues music!

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  12. I was seriously considering going this direction with my Blue post since I, too, love the blues. Guess there is irony in blues music making one happy. My Theme Thursday is HERE .

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  13. I could listen to that all day - wonderful!

    By the way, have you seen this:
    http://www.historypin.com/

    It looks interesting.

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  14. Great musical clip. Reminds me of standing in the street outside Preservation Hall in "Nawlins" and listening to that great music drift out.

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  15. What a yummy wonderful TT post, Alan! Loved it!

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  16. Thank you for this! I have heard of Teagarden but never HEARD him so this is a treat. I see why you fell in love with his playing and singing.

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  17. Don't you just love it? Oh man I grew up listening to this stuff.

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  18. And you second contribution to humanity will be when you knock out a good batch of Bloggers' Bitter!

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  19. The largest element of my CD collection is Blues; love it.

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  20. Hi Alan,

    That is a great contribution that you did for everyone. It is funny but when I play music on my laptop when it is actually on my lap then I can feel the music on my lap. So I played the video watched the pics, sometimes closed my eyes and could feel the music while listening. It was great. Thank you for sharing this with us.

    God bless.

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  21. Anonymous7:38 PM

    Alan, Nice take on the word!
    :) The Bach

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  22. I've loved Jack Teagarden both as a singer & as a trombonist for many, many years. The song I always think of first for him as a singer is "Stars Fell on Alabama" with the Louis Armstrong All Stars!

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