Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Once upon a time...


The other day I was reading blogs about concerts Allison and Julie have been to lately...it made me look back semi-recently and several decades ago and thought about some my wife and I went to as well as with the girls

Elvis at Forum in Inglewood with mother-in-law and our family…was mother-in-law’s favorite person in the world…for sure I wasn't her fave...she once called me a whop!... she had Elvis clothes, plates (that were hung on the wall alongside Norman Rockwell plates), books, records and albums (I think all the kids we had at the time came along)…it was when Elvis was getting on the chubby side…

B.B. King…enjoyed him in Costa Mesa with Leesa and Jonathon…he IS the King

Ray Charles…many times, twice in early sixties in Anaheim at a theater in-the-round that’s no longer there; at the L.A.Palladium a couple of years later, and a few times more…I loved this man’s singing since my teenage-hood in Montreal…I hardly remember those days except my folks kept on slamming doors shut while I was listening to him…they were not hip to Rock 'n Roll and the Blues

Dr. John… I love this guy’s piano playing and music…we saw him at least three times, once with Debby, Sarah and Sunny at Claremont College and Sunny danced her head off in front of the stage...

Rufus Wainwright… at the Hollywood Bowl with Sunny, Sarah and Debby…picnic before the show; a grassy spot in the parking lot ; I think we had cinnamon rolls and wine…Sunny loved Rufus and could sing just about all his songs…we’d play him all day long at the old office when Sarah and Debby worked there…Sunny was a baby and came to work every day until she went to school…she could ‘click and drag’ a computer at three and get on line at Barbie.com, knew how to color Barbie’s dresses and run prints by herself…

Neil Diamond… years ago at Universal I think, and had to go with Dann and Gail…he was their all time best entertainer...I tried to forget almost everything about this concert and I’m over it!...was decades ago and Dann bought the tickets…lotsa strange people there…

James Taylor…still the greatest…treated by our daughters at Hollywood Bowl…

Peter Frampton,”Show(ed) me the way”…at the Forum in Inglewood, lots of pressure from Julie to see him…she still loves him…saw him on the tube recently…I relate to him...there’s something about old bald guys…

Elton John…two or three times…the first time, we had tickets to Universal Studios with all the girls, got to the front of the line and discovered the tickets were for the previous night!!! (Hell, Shit and Damn!) No problem…got in the box office line and bought better seats than we would have had the night before…was an unforgettable, exciting and expensive evening…we ate bread, beans and lotsa pasta until next pay day…

4 comments:

Julie Hibbard said...

What a GREAT blog!!! I love this one. Never knew you saw Ray Charles! Lucky you!! I will never forget that night at Universal and the day-old Elton John tickets!! What the heck! Didn't anyone check out the date?? Thanks for taking us anyway!! The pasta was great!
I am going to steal this idea!
:)

Allison said...

I love this post! However, I must correct you...My mother and I treated you to James Taylor...not your daughters...Please mention me in the ONE Kick-A concert we attended together!

PETE Di LALLO said...

Dearest Allison,
Forgive me please...memory is first thing to go, then hair and other things...

HEY EVERYONE, I'M NO SMARTER THAN OTHER GRANDFATHERS...IT WAS ALLISON AND JULIE WHO TREATED US TO JAMES TAYLOR...

It was a sa-weet evening!!!Thanks one more time Alli...

Heather McTaggart said...

WOW, quite the concert-go'er! I have been to maybe 3 or 4 total but James Taylor is on my list of "have to's" before I die (also Van Morrison)!