Well, here we are.  Middle July and school is just around the corner.  This is a good thing.

I can do without the hot weather I can tell you.  I am not a great fan.  Sun burn is an evil thing, don’t you think?

Oh well, we shall press onward.

Twenty years ago today John Kennedy Jr. died in a plane crash.  Wonder what would have happened had he lived?  I would like to think we would not have a House of Representatives meeting today that looks and sounds like he said she said and liar liar pants on fire.

What the hell are we teaching kids anyway?

Stay silent when you know it is best to speak up for what is right?  That is not the answer.  Political crickets GOP style.

I get asked why I am as hard on the Republicans as I am.  It is easy for me.  I am a Republican.  I just expect more.  The high road rarely goes down Main Street.  1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is nowhere near the high road these days.

If the president knew how to act we would never know about these four freshmen congresswomen getting a limelight they should not be getting but are thanks to a president who can’t get his stuff together.

He can play footsie and fall in love with dictators.  That is easy.

He can tweet and call people names.  That is easy.

He has yet to lead.  Take a look around.

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

Jeff Lynne is the brainchild behind a musical movement that is so unique it has a genre all to itself.  Call it ELO and it moves from a tall hill into a valley and back we all have heard it resonate whether we like or not.  I like it.

Be it in a coffee commercial that features Ken Anderson the old Bengals quarterback sipping at a cup whilst watching game film with the ELO song Hold On Tight To Your Dreams playing or listening to the song Sweet Talkin’ Woman and looking at the one next to you and you both say, “That was a pool song when we were kids!” ELO tunes are never too far away.

Two great things my dear wife, Carrie, and I will probably never see again happen this past Wednesday.  And it almost did not happen.  One, we stood in the middle of Nashville’s iconic Broadway packed with music venues and honky tonks.

I have seen this road closed during the NFL Draft and during the Music City Bowl Parade of Bands, though only on television.  I was shocked we got to walk down the middle of the thing.

The other was seeing Jeff Lynne’s ELO at a sold out and rocking Bridgestone Arena.

No, I did not take this picture.

I took these.

It was a wonderful show that nearly did not happen for us.

I had a facebook post ready to go.  This it was in front of me along with a short narrative explaining that Carrie and I would not be going.

I was going to offer these tickets as a Merry Christmas to the first to contact me.  When I made the would be post I was talking to my Mother on the Telephone Line.  As I was about to press “Share” I told my Mom to hang on.  The stereo speakers I had turned down in an obligatory manner before I called my Mom had a faint sound I needed to turn up for some reason.  The song playing was ELO’s  Don’t Bring Me Down.  That was that.

A weakness from British Rockers is in my soul.  Listening to Jeff Lynne and his merry men and women play the tightest most precise music I have ever heard in my life was a pure joy.  Carrie and I both agreed it was one of those soundtrack of you life concerts like a Billy Joel or Elton John show.

Lending to the 71 year-old Jeff Lynne’s modest stage presence, the 18,000 or so in attendance gave polite applause and never went too crazy with it.  The English gent never asked for anything.  He just delivered the goods and humbly stepped up to the mic on occasion to say thank you.  That was refreshing.

Jeff Lynne’s ELO Nashville setlist

Standin’ in the Rain

Evil Woman

All Over the World

Showdown

Do Ya

When I Was a Boy

Handle With Care (with Dhani Harrison)

Rockaria!

Last Train to London

Xanadu

10538 Overture

Shine a Little Love

Wild West Hero

Sweet Talkin’ Woman

Telephone Line

Don’t Bring Me Down

Turn to Stone

Mr. Blue Sky

Roll Over Beethoven

Yes, listening to George Harrison’s son sing lead on The Traveling Wilbury’s song Handle With Care was nice.  Dhani Harrison, who was the show’s opening act, did a great job.

My favorite song was not played.  I was not disappointed.  Too much goodness for that.

Each time I walk along mid-calf deep in a piece of the Atlantic Ocean that is special to Carrie and me I sing it to myself:

The Floor Fan Still Works!

You plug it in and hold your breath.  You hope and pray it will still move on.  It did.  My great-grandmother Ivy Nowling’s old house on Bridge Street in Brownston, Indiana may be a memory.  The floor fan that sat in the living room is alive and well and on our back porch.

Geneva-on- the Lake, Ohio.

If you think everything in this country has taken off and moved too fast for your liking, go visit the slow pace of Geneva-on-the Lake, Ohio.  Don’t expect fancy.  Fancy does not live there.  Air-conditioning does not live in most places there.  The breeze off Lake Erie and the short summer will do that to a place.  East of Cleveland and before Erie, Penn, this place is a calming respite to what is zooming a few miles in the other three directions from it.

I won the third annual Geneva Putt Putt Golf Championship; it was close.  My dear wife, Carrie, is a formidable opponent!

And she is not a sore loser either!

Ashtabula has a cool bridge.

The hometown of football coach Urban Meyer, so sayeth the sign into town, Ashtabula, Ohio has a neat draw bridge we got to see in action.

You don’t see this everyday, unless you live in Ashtabula I suppose.

The Oswego 500 time trails.

Bridge Street, Oswego, New York.  Keep thy head on a swivel!  Indianapolis Motor Speedway knows no more daring drivers than this stretch of road..  I am sure there was a future NASCAR or INDY champion in the fray.  They all drove fast!

Sackett’s Harbor, New York.  Bring your long-johns in June.

It was June 14th.  The temperature was 47 degrees and the wind was steady at 25 mph and gusting to 40 mph.  With Lake Ontario at our backs, I have never never never never been so cold in June.  Didn’t know I could be.

Learned about this place in US History class.

Our spot for lunch was much warmer.

They Still Have My Paper Order in The Berkshires.

Hancock, Mass.  At the bottom of the hill from the place we stay there, you will find a country store.

I walk in a little after 7 AM and am greeted. “Hey, Dan!”  I then grab my paper order, New York Times, Boston Hearald, Boston Globe, New York Daily News, and the local Berkshire Eagle from  Pittsfield.  I love newspapers.  On the counter this is individually wrapped homemade goodies.  I’ll grab a crumb-cake or a couple cookies and tell them I will see them the next day.  It’s pretty cool.  They are real folks.

My last pick-up says it all.

The Train to NYC Grand Central Station is a great ride.

We drive down to Poughkeepsie to pick up the Metro North Train to Grand Central.  Off-peak it is a train ride that costs 17.50.  You can’t park a car for 10 minutes in NYC for that.  The ride is a little over an hour and a half.

The rail is to town is next to the Hudson River and there are many great sights.

Had the girls on The Facts of Life ever really taken the train to NYC, this is where they would have boarded to get to here:

One Day at The Met is wonderful and sad…you can’t see all you want to.

Your general admission 25 dollar ticket to enter The Metropolitan Museum along 5th avenue and Central Park is good for three days.  I wish would have had three days to look.  With all the permanent exhibits and galleries with their storied glory, this old rock and roller was looking forward to seeing a temporary exhibit featuring historical rock and roll instruments. A few of the pieces on view:

Buddy Holly was an incredible influence on The Moody Blues.  Justin Hayward speaks freely of his affinity for Buddy and what he means to him.   John Lodge talks of seeing Buddy Holly from the first row of the balcony of a theatre in Birmingham, England when he was teenage and was so moved.  The Moody Blues did those things for me.  Funny, though.  The Moodies sound nothing like Holly and I will never sound like Hayward or Lodge.  The common denominator is that we found a voice that spoke to our voices.

Was never the biggest Bruce Springsteen fan on the block.  Still, I knew this guitar from across the crowded room!

Of course.

One guy I would have wanted to have had a musical conversation with was Ray Manzarek.  He played keyboard for The Doors and I could have listened to him read the phone book and make it interesting.

Keith Emerson’s Moog Synthesizer.  Of Emerson Lake and Palmer fame, I have seen video of Emerson playing this thing.  Strangest musical circumstance I have ever seen.

Enough said.

Keith Moon’s drum kit.  No one before or since has created more thunder and finesse on a stool with sticks in hand.

Thought this great to see.

I was delighted to see two young men watching the historical instrument video so intently.

Good old FLW.

Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit at The Met.  Having admired and seen his studio in Oak Park and another home on the South Side of Chicago, it was good to see this old friend.

Speaking of old friends…

My hang it on the wall artistic hero, Edward Hopper, had these two paintings on view.  I looked for them as soon as we left the rock instruments.

Times Square is still an anthill.

The humanity.  Wow.  Sights.  Sounds.  Lights.  Horns. Am I ever glad I watch the ball drop from the couch in the living room after I nudge a sleepy Carrie and tell her its almost time.

Our walk from The Met through Central Park to Times Square was a raining adventure.  We had ponchos on and the old feet were wet on the train back some 27,000 steps later.

Carl likes The Berkshires.

Carl was glad to get some time to himself, I think, as we went into the city for the day.

But he was glad when I prepped some lobster roll.

I got this down to an art.  Fresh lobster helps.

We left The Berkshires and drove over to Walden Pond. 

Crossed most of Massachusetts on two lane roads and it was a grand drive.

Carrie and I walked around the pond.  What a gift for a Transcendentalist period fan of literature.  Thank you, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

From Walden we went to visit Bob and Michelle and their young’uns.  I don’t have a picture of New Hampshire to share.  That speaks to fact that when we are there we feel at home.  And I thank them for that.

And the Picture of The Post Award is:

A look toward Canada.

A look toward America.

Niagara Falls is a humbling sight.  And so many people and languages and perspectives providing refreshment during a time of such uncertainty, unrest, and unbelievable circumstances in this country.

The Strip in Pittsburgh was a pleasant surprise.

Our first trip to Pittsburgh, on the way home, led us to the most iconic road in town The Strip.  Filled with shops and eateries and I don’t know what all.  Easily one of the most diverse stretches of road I have ever seen.  Nothing fancy.  Real.

For a guy who was a staunch Bengals fan in the 1970s thanks to Ken Anderson, I was not a fan of the Steelers.  I did appreciate what they did.  4 Super Bowls in 6 years without deflating footballs is not too shabby.

Great times.

One last thing…

After traveling a few miles I found some of the things I find in my own back yard.  Most people are genuinely friendly.  Some folks out there would complain about the rope at their own hanging.  In some cases truly disadvantaged folks are working their asses off to make this a better place.  In some cases you will find very capable people choosing to be needy for their own purpose.  In all cases we can all do better.  Let’s keep doing that.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

I miss Lewis Grizzard.  He’d have a fit if he knew I just typed that while listening to a Cyndi Lauper song.

I found Lewis on a shelf at Books-A-Million in Clarksville recently.

I have read this book many times.

Lewis Grizzard died in 1994.  Twenty-five years ago for those of you keeping score. Born in Fort Benning in 1946.  Died in Atlanta in 1994.  He was 47 when he died.  He was a good son of Georgia for sure.   Lewis loved the South and so do I.  The passionate football fans.  The sweet tea.  How folks “carry” someone to the grocery instead drive them.  The smell of the pinestraw baking.  A particular dignity resides in the South.  For good or bad, it is there.  At least it was.  I want to believe it is still there.  I do question it though.  So many throwing their snuff cans in the ring of a politician from New York City certainly calls for alarm.

Lewis was an unashamed Republican when it was a great deal easier for some of us to be one.  What I would give to have Lewis on the back porch with me holding forth on the state of national politics today.  I can hear him now.

What strikes me these days is how the roles have been reversed in this country.  Ya know it?  I mean, didn’t we used to despise those liberals cos they were the whiny know it all bunch?  Who the hell has ever whined more than the the guy in the White House right now?  He’d complain about the rope at his own hanging.  But you can’t say that.  You’ll be called a terrorist.  Sound familiar?  We used to call liberals names back in the good old days.  The Republicans are the whiny know it all group now.  And it is uglier than a bowling shoe. 

Tell me about it, Lewis.  Tell me about it.

I mean what was better than making fun of Ted Kennedy?  He looks like a diplomatic whiz these days.  And what about…oh…don’t get me started on how John McCain was treated.  Do heroes only mean something when a camera and a parade are around?

Tell me about it, Lewis.  Tell me about it.  Let’s talk about something else.

Okay.  I guess you heard the Southeastern Conference has decided to let member schools decide whether or not they want to sell alcohol at college games.  Isn’t that hypocritical if I am watching an eighteen year-old score the winning touchdown in overtime and he can’t legally declare Miller Time to celebrate?  If that is the case (bad choice of words I suppose), aren’t I a hypocrite if I toast the winning touchdown?  Remember when a guy got on the PA and said a prayer before the game?  If you wanted to take a drink back then, you had to sneak it in.  That is the way it should be.   I don’t like it.  I don’t like schools making an alcohol profit off of a twenty year-old scoring a touchdown.  Cheers should be limited to the ones led by the cheerleaders on the field and not the “Cheers-leader” stumbling around.  If you approve this, go ahead and start making checks out to the college players.  You just lost the last vestige keeping you from it.

Tell me about it, Lewis.  Tell me about it.

Is that The Moody Blues you just put on the CD player?  You know I made fun of them in one of my books a long time ago.  

Yes, Lewis.  I know.  But I also know there is room enough for both of you on my shelves in the office.  And there is more than enough room for you and The Moodies in my heart.  Now, if we can only get John Kasich back in the thick of things.

What I would give to have that conversation with Lewis Grizzard.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

At this moment I am listening to The Moody Blues “Lovely To See You Live”  CD that was released in 2005. The video is in the basement with the workout equipment.

Fourteen years ago today my dear wife, Carrie, and I were at The Fraze Pavilion outside Dayton, Ohio listening to The Moody Blues play their classic rock.

In 2014, Carrie and I returned to The Fraze to see The Moodies again.

In 2017 I took my sister to The Fraze to see The Moodies perform DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED in its entirety.  It was the first time I had heard Days of Future Passed live.  That was the album I fell in love with in 1983 when I was 15.

The concert that Carrie and I went to at The Fraze in 2014 was memorable for a couple reasons.  First, we were hearing The Moody Blues!  Enough said.  Second, we had front row seats.  It was the only time I have had front row seats at a Moody Blues Concert with the exception of a front row seat in the balcony of The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville in 2014 also.  That was nice too.  The Ryman was the last place Carrie and I saw The Moodies in 2017.  They played Days of Future Passed in the second set.

This was photo was taken in 2017.  The band was singing “Tuesday Afternoon”.

My friend Julie Ragins is in the far left hand corner of this picture.  She is quite the musical talent.  She and her husband, Curtis Brengle, are PEAR DUO.  LOOK THEM UP!  You won’t regret it.  She has such a sweet voice.

When Carrie and I were at The Fraze show in 2014 sitting on the front row I asked Carrie if she knew why there was a chalk marked X in front of our seats?  She was not sure.  I then told her that I was certain that was the “mark” for Justin Hayward and John Lodge to hit during the last song of the first set.  The song was THE STORY IN YOUR EYES.  And, I was right.

Here they came.  Their guitar necks were over our heads at one point.  It was all quite awkward in truth.

.

But it was fun.

There is a sound I am missing.  I knew I would.  I saw The Moody Blues more than 50 time between 1986 and 2017 and it was wonderful run!  I don’t see it happening again.  At the last show we saw at The Ryman in 2017, Carrie and I hit the doors before the band was off the stage taking it in.  It was the way I wanted it.

But today, as I listened to Justin Hayward’s guitar solo on the song I’M JUST A SINGER IN A ROCK AND ROLL BAND written by John Lodge, I felt so lonely.  That was the one thing in the Moodies shows I enjoyed the most, seeing Justin Hayward and John Lodge tear up that guitar solo. Through it all.  That guitar solo was it for me.  Why?  Cos I always wanted to play a good guitar solo.   I can’t.  I don’t know how.  I am a songwriter and a chord guy.  I am not a lead guitar guy.

That is why I have the ULTIMATE RESPECT for Justin Hayward.  He writes, sings, and he plays lead.  There are not too many of those guys.  Not to take away from John Lodge and Graeme Edge.  I have made enough recordings to know that the rhythm lets the rest of it happen.

Thank you, Justin, John and Graeme and Ray.  I don’t  think I write songs and record them with you in mind…but you have always been there in my musical journey nonetheless.

Your music has mattered to me.  I will never cease to be moved when I listen to your tunes.  They are a great part of the soundtrack of my life.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

Oh my.  I get a little wistful when I think about Memorial Day.  It’s based on loss, isn’t it?

Earlier this month on these very pages I wrote about the Bartholomew County Veterans Memorial on the courthouse lawn in Columbus the town I was born in.  It was a solemn experience to read those letters to home from soldiers whose letters made it but they did not.

Vibrant boys and men whose words hung heavy in the air and are now in stone not unlike the meaning their lives had on so many of us.

Today my dear wife, Carrie, and I took a walk down at Hayswood Park.  We put in five miles.  At the top of the hill there were flags that were placed to honor those we remember on Memorial Day.

The walkway to what is below…

So many flags.  So much loss.  So much to remember.  So much to be thankful for.   So much to be ashamed of.  So much to pray for.  So much to hope for.  So much to never forget.

Like so many towns, we fly the colors and remember and pray and hope that Memorial Day thankfulness will never be lost on the future.  History books seem to be getting thinner as time goes on.  That does not make sense to me.

Thankful and proud to be an American for sure.

Thank you for your service, Raymond.  We could have been born in the same town.  You won’t be forgotten.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

I have seen my share of British Rock Royalty.

I have seen Paul McCartney sing four times.  Be still my beating heart.

I have heard The Moody Blues sing Nights in White Satin fifty-six times.

Pink Floyd?  Saw them in 1987 during The Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour.

Saw Roger Waters, the Pink Floyd brain, two years ago in Louisville.

Know that I would not take a free ticket to see The Rolling Stones.   That is just me.

I didn’t think I would ever see another British Rock Royalty group after my dear wife, Carrie, and I walked out of The Ryman Auditorium in July of 2017 after seeing The Moody Blues.  I made a conscious decision that I would see The Moodies for the last time in the most iconic indoor venue in North America, The Ryman.  We saw them at Red Rocks in 2011.  Mission accomplished.

Two things happened to me to lead us to The Who last weekend.  I read Roger Daltrey’s autobiography over spring break.  It was a wonderful read.  Best musical autobiography since John Fogerty’s a couple years back.

I read Roger’s book.  I have also been so moved by The Who’s involvement in The Concert for New York after what happened on 9/11.  I listen to that concert on CD now and again and I am in awe of The Who’s performance.

Has The Who been a part of the soundtrack of my life?  Yes.  Of course, how could they not.  Have I had chances to see them before?  Yes.  Why now?

Roger Daltrey is 75 and Pete Townsend turned 74 two days ago.  I know what that means.  I sing.

These guys didn’t just show up.  They brought it.  They were real.  They were earnest.  It was a musical treat I did not think I would find again.

Buoyed by an 44 piece orchestra they blew us away with 7 songs from Tommy and 7 songs from Quadrophenia and 3 songs from Who’s Next.  Include Substitute from the 60s and You Better You Better You Bet from the 80s inside the 24 song set and you had something special.

Baba O’Riley.

Won’t Get Fool Again.

Love, Reign O’er Me.

Oh my.  It was wonderful.  Twenty-six years earlier I saw The Moody Blues at Deer Creek with an Orchestra.  I still call it Deer Creek, the outdoor amphitheater in Noblesville, Indiana that is now 30 years old.  It has had a few name changes over the years.  It is not Klipsh or Verizon Wireless or Ruoff Home Mortgage to me….it is still Deer Creek.

The Who gave us a reason to celebrate.  And we did.

Speaking the musical rights…

Danny Johnson

This past weekend my dear wife, Carrie, and I spent time in the town I born in, Columbus, Indiana.

It was refreshing.  At the hotel we checked into they asked the occasion.  Many were there to attend IU graduation in Bloomington.  We were just there to get take it easy for a few days.  When we told a young lady the Kentucky Derby was upon our area heavy, she said, “Oh, is that going on?  Is that like the Indy 500 for us?”  I told her I thought so.

She wasn’t the only one.  At another a museum we visited I made mention of the Derby.  A guy made mention it was the beginning of May.  67 miles north of Louisville on Interstate 65 they are not quite impressed by the Derby.  Like I always tell my Mother, the rain has to start and stop somewhere.

Carrie and I discovered Indiana history, Hoosier history, American history, Hero history.

The Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum is at the Columbus Airport.

We read about and saw displays about much history.

On the Bartholomew County Courthouse grounds we found this.  It was a humbling experience.  Carrie and I have a son that was in helicopter that was shot down in Afghanistan.  When he was in active duty in the Army, his job was being a crew chief on a Blackhawk helicopter hanging out of the side door with a 50 caliber machine gun between his legs.  That will give you a perspective I hope no one has to endure.

\

I wish more kids could understand this.  Does that make me old?

Or does it make me wise?

Speaking the thankful rights…

Danny Johnson

I am in the top one percent.  Seems that may not be good enough for some these days.  The times they are…a changing?  Nah.  Some folks just like to complain.

I got my new CD Take Me There this week.  The Cover Art Design was done by Jerry Brown of Celery Inc. Medora, Indiana.  Thank you, Jerry.

I am so proud of this project.  Having my name on the cover is tough to a degree.  I know I know…I wrote all the songs.  I sang them all.  Still.  This doesn’t  represent what went in to this endeavor.

I am so thankful.  On Saturday, April 27th @ 6:30 PM,  I go back to the old home place, Brownstown, Indiana. I last lived in Brownstown 40 years ago and all these years on I am going back to sing and share with old friends. Who does that?  Well, my dear friend, Barry Hall, has helped me do this.  One of the sponsors of the Brownstown Central Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Barry made this possible.

My musical journey is a great story.  There is not enough room here for me to begin that.

So what I am doing this evening?  I am listening to the multiple CDs that hold the keys and the individual sessions that led to final product Take Me There.  I still have the CD from the December 2011 demo session that started this all.

There is a twinge of sadness that goes with the completion of a project like this.  It started with demo sessions  December 21, 2011.  That was a special day.  We were on to something.  On April 23, 2019 CDs were delivered.  The end result?  Something I have no words to express the gratitude and appreciation I have for the folks that helped make this real.  All-Star lineup.  That is what Jefferson Carpenter brought together.

Rod Wurtele, Jeff Guernsey, John Burgard, Dan Trisko, Barry King, Jason Sturgill, John Hayse, Gene Wickliffe, Robbie Bartlett, Tim Krekel, Jim Baugher, Aaron Montgomery, my sister, Lynn Benson, and myself.  We did it under the careful watch of the great Jefferson Carpenter at his Al Fresco’s Place Recording Studio.  And man it sounds great.  Thank you all.

You have taken me there!

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

I am sitting on the back porch this evening after a great day of family and sharing and vittles on this same porch.

Happy Easter everyone!

Though the years have flown, the images and sounds are still lively ingrained in my mind and my heart.

The choir at the Brownstown Baptist Church, which included my parents, were there on Easter Sunday singing a hearty version of:

“UP FROM THE GRAVE HE AROSE…WITH A MIGHTY TRIUMP O’RE HIS FOES…”

That is a classic.

The Easter service Carrie and I attended this weekend was missing that song, though it was a still a meaningful and good service.

I am blessed and I am thankful.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson