My Southern Side and Elizabeth LaPrelle

I am Southern even though I live in the north. We moved away from Tennessee for the last time in early 70's.  Even though I lived a short time in the state of my birth it calls me from time to time.  It must be in my DNA somewhere.  Movies like Song Catcher and O Brother where are thou? stir up my southern side and tries to entice me to move back "home". I think about it often, very often.  But I would miss my brother and sister and I did when I tried to break away at the turn of the century. And yet it still calls me from the distance. 

Lately, I have been listening to old Southern ballads, only to find that they are really English ballads. I have the CD Song Catcher and have memorized nearly all of the songs. Two of my favorites from the CD are Pretty Saro sung by Iris DeMent and All my tears sung by Julie Miller. Which leads me to a singer by the name of Elizabeth LaPrelle.  She sings in the old Southern style that I love.  I discovered her on Youtube and have listened to her belt out ballads that came from the British Isles many, many years ago.  If you like country music then you will probably like this singer.    

Music of my Youth and a Whole lot of Shaking Going on...

Music is such a big part of my life, especially when I was young.  We grew up listening to Jerry Lee Lewis, Conway Twitty, Elvis, Merle Haggard, and Dolly Parton.  I loved to listen to Donny Osmond, Barry Manilow, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Tom Jones.  I would wake up very early in the morning and put a Barry Manilow record on, singing right along with him while I got ready for school.  It would drive my family crazy.  In those days, we played albums on a record player.  I had one that was portable and I would take it with me outside on the porch so that I could continue listening to my favorite singers. 

Yesterday, I looked at videos of Jerry Lee Lewis on line. As I wrote before, my dad was a big fan of his.  There isn't a record out there of Jerry Lee that my dad didn't have. I found a video that made me laugh, clap my hands, and shake my stuff. Plus Tom Jones was in the video too. I liked Tom Jones as a girl, besides he was gorgeous. While watching the videos, my thoughts took me back to a time when I remember dancing with my mother and brother in the living room. I was a teenager then and dancing with ones mother was not cool. But we didn't care. The music was loud. I grabbed my mom's hand and we would dance to the music together.  The video is from 1969 and honestly, I love going back and listening to this music. It has soul, part of my soul!

With Love, Jerry Lee Lewis

My fathers favorite singer was Jerry Lee Lewis. There wasn't an albumn out there that my father didn't have. He was called a rockabilly back in the day. Whenever Jerry Lee came anywhere close to where we lived, my dad was right there to see him.  One year he came to a place called Buck Lake Ranch here in Indiana.  My dad wanted to get his autograph so badly.  Since he was a bit shy, dad had me to come with him so that he could stand in awe of the singer while I asked for Jerry Lee's signature.  I think that he had his shirt open as I approached. I was very impressionable back then and he was so handsome!