Bob Alspaugh's Songs

1.  May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose by "Little" Jimmy Dickens

2.  Walk Right In by The Rooftop Singers

3.  And I Love You So by Perry Como

4.  Malaguena by Jose Feliciano

5.  You Don't Know Me by Eddy Arnold

6.  He'll Have to Go by Jim Reeves

7.  Maria Elena by Los Indios Tabajaras

8.  Maria Elena by Gene Autry

9.  Your Cheatin' Heart by Hank Williams

10.  King of the Road by Roger Miller

11.  Jackson by Johnny Cash with June Carter Cash

12.  Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry

13.  Bad, Bad Leroy Brown by Jim Croce

14.  Yakety Yak by The Coasters

15.  Make the World Go Away by Eddy Arnold

16.  Dream by Roy Orbison

There are two reasons my life is a playlist.  One is named Marilyn ~ the other one is named Bob.  Bob and Marilyn Alspaugh created an environment where music was like air ~ an essential part of our existence, ever surrounding us, full of purpose, and constantly sought after.  I don't ever remember any music being taboo and it seems like my parents could always find something to enjoy about any genre.  I'm sure that on occasion they told us to turn something down ~ that's inevitable.  I do, however, remember my father referring to the emerging rap craze as "rap crap" but I sincerely believe that in time, if he'd been able to stay with us a little longer, he'd even have found something of credit in rap.  He studied music, not just notes and chords, but he seemed to be able to pull the most amazing facts about a song, artist, or genre out of the air.  He was always teaching, always learning.  He was a heat-seeking missile for information of all kinds and I am so thankful that I've inherited that trait from him.

This play list is his - Robert Dean Alspaugh's.  They are some of the songs that it is impossible for me to hear without thinking of him.  They are songs he sang or played in bands.  They are the songs about which I want to share stories and thoughts.

I double-dipped on this playlist and I imagine that will happen often in my reminiscing but it will always be for a reason.  May the Bird of Paradise . .  heads off the list because, again, a very, very early memory and one of the first songs he taught me.  I loved hearing him sing it and would request it of him often.  He used to carry me around on his shoulders and I would put my little hands around his neck.  I loved to feel his adam's apple bob up and down as he sang and talked.  Sometimes I'd squeeze a little too hard and he'd make this hilarious sound which, of course, made his adam's apple bob even more.  This is where I'd insert a soundtrack of giggles because there were lots of them on dad's shoulders.  Love this man!!  I can't even begin to express it in words.

Walk Right In was a popular song of 1963 and my dad sang it on playing jobs.  I loved hearing him sing but guitar was his greatest gift.  The man could play!!!  He also taught many people in the region.  There are some strong chord progressions in this song and I loved hearing him play them.  I've tried to take guitar lessons several times but was too wimpy to get past the callous-building stage.  It always amazed me that he could both play guitar and sing at the same time.  Anyway, the intro to this song will forever be my dad.

The next song makes me cry - always.  It's a beautiful love song but it is so closely associated with my dad.  My mother always loved it when he sang it and I'd love to have a recording of his rendition but, alas, Perry Como will have to do for now.  When I began singing in our family band I sang harmony with him on the chorus and that is usually what I do now when I hear this song.  Collin Raye also has a lovely version which was Tina's wedding song. 

Malaguena is a classical guitar piece which my father would practice throughout his life.  He did so well but he'd make a little mistake and I'd hear words of frustration (usually NOT swear words) and he'd try it again and again.  Really, it sounded perfect to me, but I learned that no matter how accomplished you are at something, you can always learn more . . . and should.

You Don't Know Me and He'll Have to Go are both songs that were well-suited for my father's voice and were always requested on jobs.  Pretty much anything Eddy or Jim make me think of Dad.

Maria Elena is a special song.  I've included two versions.  The instrumental is such a flashback!  It is identical to how my father played it and was usually one of the songs he'd play at night after we kids were sent to bed.  On jobs, though, he'd sing the words which is why I included Gene Autry's version.  The words were lovely and I'd lay upstairs in bed and sing the words quietly to myself as he'd play the guitar downstairs.  Mmmmm - lovely.

Your Cheatin' Heart was probably the first heartbreak song I ever knew and Dad did a great job with it.  It is also the first song he taught me chords to on the guitar on one of his attempts to teach me.  It was my first realization that playing guitar and singing at the same time were hard!!!

King of the Road was another popular song of the day and it was requested often.  It is also another 'Sunday drive' song which we'd sing as we rolled along.  It always grossed me out, the thought of smoking "old stogies I have found."  Ew!!  

Jackson is a fun song!  Such a tongue-in-cheek song about a rascal and his woman telling him like it is!  Dad was Johnny and I sang June's part.  I always wished I could make my voice growl like she could.  Every now and then I give it a try . . .  nope, still can't.

Johnny B. Goode is a blast to perform!  The intro guitar part is the announcement and it lets everyone in the room know ~ You better grab your partner because it's time to dance!!!  It was ALWAYS a hit and quite often would be requested for a do-over later.  Mom would rock on the keyboard and Dad, of course, had the guitar down pat!  I sang back up and there are good memories here.  Lots of 'em!

Bad, Bad Leroy Brown came along later but Dad did such a good job on it.  I sang an echo back up part on the chorus.  Dad was always careful with his language and when I heard him rehearsing this song I thought, "Hmmm.  What's he going to do about the damn on the chorus?"  Well, he said darn instead.  He always kept it clean ~ and if there was a theme in a song that was a little questionable he always had a way to make some changes and clean it up.  For instance, he sang a song by Billy Swan called I Can Help and in the song they say "If your child needs a dad, I Can Help."  I'm thinking even that was a little risque because he sang, "If your child needs a bath, I can help."  He'd always give me a little grin as he sang it, like he'd just gotten away with something. 

Yakety Yak was another fun song which I loved.  My parents had a band with another couple, Roy and Carole Gage.  Roy sang and played bass and Carole did lead vocals.  Roy's voice was very deep and on Yakety Yak he chimed in the "don't talk back" part.  Perhaps someday I'll do a playlist of Roy and Carole songs, too.  They were a huge part of my life.  They had no children of their own and always looked on us kids as part of their family.  The Coasters might have made this song a hit, but it will always be Bob and Roy's voices I hear.

I closed the list with Dream and I might just do that with every playlist.  Again, this is a song so closely related to my dad that it is a part of him.  It closed every job I ever played.  It was the amen to our musical supplications.  

From the Get-Go

1.  Tumbling Tumbleweeds by The Sons of the Pioneers

2.  May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose by Little Jimmy Dickens

3.  Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba (My Bambino Go To Sleep) by Perry Como

4.  Yakety Axe by Chet Atkins

5.  I Left My Heart in San Francisco by Tony Bennett

6.  Blue Velvet by Bobby Vinton

7.  He'll Have to Go by Jim Reeves

8.  Moon River by Henry Mancini

9.  Alley Cat by Chet Atkins

10.  Wipe Out by The Surfaris

11.  Dream by Roy Orbison

12.  Exodus by Ferrante & Teicher

13.  Theme from "A Summer Place" by Percy Faith & His Orchestra

14.  Cryin' Time by Buck Owens

15.  I'm Sorry by Brenda Lee

16.  El Paso by Marty Robbins

17.  Cryin' Time by Ray Charles

18.  Dream by Chet Atkins

These are the songs I have the most earliest memories of and which seem to have been part of the fabric of my life from the get-go.  Perhaps they weren't released as of May 14, 1960 but they probably were soon after.  

Tumbling Tumbleweeds and Cryin' Time are both songs I remember being taught to harmonize to.  We'd be riding in the car to visit family or friends or just out for a Sunday drive (that's what we did before TV and the internet) and my parents would sit in the front seat and start singing.  They'd turn around to us kids and say, "Hey, why don't you pick up the harmony on the chorus?"  And we did.  I think maybe just hearing it over and over again like that made us instinctively know how to do it.  We never had formal voice training, but my parents were always pointing out harmony to songs and had us kids listen and then participate.  It was great fun.  Once in awhile they'd choose one of us to "take it" and we'd get to do our solo part with everyone else chiming in with harmony or backup.  I'm smiling now just remembering it.  All of us could sing.  Weird, huh?  With both of these songs, there are different versions.  I struggled with whether to use Gene Autry's Tumbleweeds or 

The Sons of the Pioneers' version, but finally opted with The Sons of the Pioneers' because their phrasing most closely matched those that I remember.  And Cryin' Time is most well-known as Ray Charles' song but Buck Owens wrote it and I love Buck's version best.  It's probably the one we sang along to.  I included both because they're equally lovely.

May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose is a hilarious song and I remember giggling hysterically to it as my dad would sing it - again in the car on the way to who knows where.  I remember it took me what seemed like forever to get the words to that song down.  You really should check it out.  Funny stuff!  Oh, and by the way, it's currently Kenny's ringtone.  

Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba is one of the first songs I remember being taught to sing for company.  I love it. I've sung it to each of you kids as a lullaby.

I'm surprised at how many of the songs ended up being instrumentals.  Orchestral scores must have been huge then.  I try to think of purely instrumental songs nowadays and have a hard time thinking of any.  These are particularly beautiful and memorable.  It's a heady experience to ride in a car on a lovely summer day, windows down (no A/C) and the strings singing through the air on the radio.  Mmmmmmmm - nice!  

Chet Atkins - he was like a God in our house.  He still is in my book.  If you EVER want to feel your Grandpa Alspaugh near, play some Chet Atkins - this works for me.  I loved it when my Dad would play the guitar, especially at night after us kids were in bed.  Did he do this on purpose?  I wonder.  But the strains of his guitar would float up to us and there was nothing better to ride off to sleep on than the music he played.  Alley Cat is sweet and impish.  I included Chet's cover of Dream but I mainly remember that being sung by my Dad.  But Chet's cover is soooo wonderful.  Dream was the song that my parents' band and our family band ended every job with.  It's a sweet sendoff.  Two versions included, the popular one and my personal favorite.

Exodus was very popular at the time and I included it because it gives me such warm memories of my oldest brother, Ed.  He sang this song for some occasion, I think.  I just remember him standing at the piano, my Mom playing, and practicing this song and thinking, "He has such a wonderful voice!  He's going to be famous someday!"  I loved hearing him sing. This is an instrumental version - check out one with the words sometime!  Or ask Ed to sing it for you!

Wipe Out is really out of place musically, it seems, but it still fits the theme.  Often my parents would have band practice at our house and it would go late into the night.  We'd be sent off to bed, but instead of the sweet guitar solos floating up, we'd get full band numbers rocking the house.  Did it bother us?  Heck no!  I know I loved it!  I learned many things about music by listening to their practices.  And when Wipe Out was played it struck a chord deep inside - tickling a part of me that I would come to know much better as I grew up.  I LOVE RHYTHM!  I LOVE DRIVING BEATS!  As some of you may well know!  Of all the drummers I've heard rock this song, my favorite is my brother, Kevin.  

I have one Bobby Vinton song on this playlist.  I can promise that more will come later.  He COULD  be worthy of his own playlist.  But more on that later . . . 

My Life is a Playlist

My family and I love to make playlists.  Find a new favorite book?  We not only refer you to the book, but could quite possibly give you a CD with a playlist we've come up with to go along with the book!  Family vacation?  Another playlist - which will most likely have something to do with either where we're going or what we're planning on doing when we get there.  Girls weekend?  Yep - a kickin' playlist to go with it all about girl power!!  I also make playlists for my workout routines.  I tried watching TV while on the treadmill but it just seemed to drag on forever.  I got the idea to make a playlist of songs that were the same tempo as my speed on the treadmill.  It worked so well that I have metered almost my entire iTunes library (I know, I know - get over it already!) so whenever I'm ready for a new one I just go to my catalog and in minutes I have a new workout CD.  It has the added benefit of being helpful when I am out walking.  As long as I walk to the beat of the music, I know I'm walking as fast as I need to be.  I think it's quite brilliant actually.

About a year or so ago, my oldest daughter, Becca, suggested I make a playlist of songs that would act as a soundtrack to my life.  I thought it was a great idea!  But I soon realized that it would be enormous!  How could I possibly whittle it down?  So I decided that I would tell stories about my life, in a sort of journal if you will, and for each story or anecdote, I'd create a playlist that would go along with it.  My family would not only learn what songs were influential in my life but they'd hear the stories, too.  Why wait until I'm dead to read about it?  Why not tell it now - and if they have questions, maybe I'll answer them!  And I thought I'd throw in some recipes here and there as well because - well - food and music - they are who I am!!!  So here goes . . . .