Thursday, July 21, 2016

BOTB: JOHN FOGERTY KICKS IKE TURNER'S BUTT

Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,

I have the results of my July 15 Battle of the Bands for you. As you probably figured out from the title of this post, Creedence Clearwater Revival triumphs over Ike and Tina Turner on a song written by John Fogerty (a.k.a. John Ford Coley), Proud Mary.

The results are

Creedence Clearwater Revival   15
Ike and Tina Turner                    6

I would have cast my vote for Tina, but not Ike. 

In honor of our winners, I offer you the opportunity to listen to a song with one of the most misunderstood lyrics ever, and then you can enjoy Tina without Ike.


Infinities of love,

Janie Junebug








Friday, July 15, 2016

BATTLE OF THE BANDS: CCR V. IKE & TINA TURNER

Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,


It's time for the July 15, 2016, Battle of the Bands.

Our host, Mr. Stephen T. McCarthy, provides us with this information about the bloghop:

The whole thing is really quite simple: You select two different versions of the same song (versions  you feel might give each other some competition in the voting) and you post them on the 1st and the 15th of each month. On the 7th and 21st of each month, you add your own personal vote to the mix, total up all the votes and announce the winner on your blog.

Beyond that, just try to have fun with it and let your readers/voters have fun with it.




All right! Let's have fun!

Our song for this competition is Proud Mary, written by John Fogerty in 1968 and released by his band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, in early 1969. In March, Proud Mary peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Fogerty stated that he wrote the song during the two days after he left the Air National Guard, the good job left in the city to which the song refers. 

Here's our first contender in today's battle, Creedence Clearwater Revival with Proud Mary:






I like John Fogerty's distinctive voice, but I admit that as a youngster--a very young youngster in 1969--I thought his name was John Ford Coley.  I figured it out.

While it was still on the charts in 1969, Solomon Burke recorded Proud Mary because he saw it as a song recorded by white artists, but he believed it represented the African American experience. Burke, quoted on Wikipedia, states that "the greatest thing I ever did was tell Ike Turner, 'Hey man, you should get on this record . . . I think you and Tina could tear this thing up.'”

Ike and Tina Turner did indeed tear up Proud Mary. Their version reached #4 on the pop charts in March, 1971, and won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Group in 1972.

I could tell you to ignore the video and only listen to the song, but I don't know if it's possible to ignore this performance. Here's our second contender in the current battle, Ike and Tina Turner:



Ike Turner was creepy, but boy, I love Tina.

Your task, if you choose to accept it, is to vote in your comment for your preferred version of Proud Mary. Will you choose CCR or Ike and Tina Turner?

I'll return on July 21 to tell you who our winner is.

Happy listening! Please consider joining our bloghop.


Infinities of love,

Janie Junebug



Voice Your Vote...

@ ‘TOSSING IT OUT’ by clicking HERE.
@ ‘YOUR DAILY DOSE’ by clicking HERE.
@ 'MIKE'S RAMBLINGS' by clicking HERE.
@ 'CURIOUS AS A CATHY' by clicking HERE.
@ 'THE SOUND OF ONE HAND TYPING' by clicking HERE.
@ 'DCRELIEF - BATTLE OF THE BANDS' by clicking HERE.
@ 'THE DOGLADY'S DEN' by clicking HERE.
@ 'CHERDO ON THE FLIPSIDE' by clicking HERE
@ 'ANGELS BARK' by clicking HERE.
@ 'JINGLE JANGLE JUNGLE' by clicking HERE.
@ 'JANIE JUNEBUG, RIGHTING & EDITINGby clicking HERE.
@ 'J.A. SCOTT' by clicking HERE.
@ 'QUIET LAUGHTER' by clicking HERE
@ 'REINVINTAGED' by clicking HERE
@ 'EVIL POP TART' by clicking HERE.  

Monday, July 4, 2016

QUESTION OF THE MONTH: THE FIRST LOVE OF YOUR LITERARY LIFE

Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,

It's the first Monday of the month so it's time for the Question of the Month bloghop,  hosted by Michael D'Agostino of A Life Examined.

Michael's question for July is

“What was the first book (or book series) you really fell in love with?”

This question is an easy one for me, Michael, because my older sisters and I all fell in love with The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I think I was seven when I read the first book in the series, Little House In the Big Woods.



I love the details in the books. I learned about everything from churning butter to digging a well. I also liked the constancy of the relationships in the Ingalls family. They were portrayed as being very independent, but as taking care of each other.

I read The Little House books over and over. When I was pregnant with my daughter and very sick, those were the book that comforted me. I also read the entire series to each of my children.

As I grew older, more authors and researchers studied the Ingalls family and wrote about them. I have some interesting books with background on the family's travels and parts of their lives that Wilder skipped over or changed for the books.

One of my favorite books about the family is



The Ingalls family quite often didn't have enough to eat and when they did have food, they didn't enjoy much variety. It's no wonder that Wilder put a lot of emphasis on meals in her books. The cookbook explains how they really cooked their food, provides recipes, and discusses how cooking has changed. Even the names of some food items are different now. Ma Ingalls used "saleratus" to bake a cake. Do you know what that means?

If you read The Little House books to your children, please take into consideration that you'll have to explain some history and changes in the way we think. Ma comments more than one time that the only good Indian was a dead Indian--and she didn't mean people from India. 

I need to take a blogging break for a few days, or longer, so I can edit a book and do some work around my house. I'll see you soon, and I hope you join the Question of the Month Bloghop.


Infinities of love,

Janie Junebug


Laura Ingalls Wilder at a book signing.
She didn't start writing her books until she was in her sixties.
Her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, was already an established author.
She collaborated on the books with her mother and edited them quite heavily.



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Friday, July 1, 2016

MY BOTB HAS A MIGRAINE

I'm sorry, but I don't have a Battle of the Bands. I have one in my brain. It's great (the battle and my brain).

I've had more migraines in the past year than I've had in the previous ten years or so.

Dim the lights. Please leave quietly.


Infinities of love,

Janie Junebug