I've had an upswell of core memories of late. The 70's were rich in them, but sometimes I surprise even myself with what I have the ability to dredge up.
We had one of those console hi-fi units in our living room back in the day. Those things are an affordable collectible among retro technology enthusiasts even to this day. You know the ones. They doubled as a piece of furniture. Lengthy wood (or faux wood) units with a flat solid top. There was a lid you could pull up giving you access to a radio band and a turntable, and in the case of many, an 8-track tape player.
These things are the best. I just love 'em.
The one we had in Somers, WI was pretty cool, and fairly loud. My Ma used to listen to her Patsy Cline and Engelbert Humperdinck records on it. It also blasted out the Old Man's Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash LPs. Elvis Presley's Viva Las Vegas Via Satellite Live!. Jim Nabors and Bing Crosby could be heard around the holidays. One time, my sister Randee was trying to display the amazingness that was Queen's News of the World, but I was so terrified by that album cover that I couldn't process the genius.
But, there was one record that ruled over all. Like the one ring. The Precious. It seems before I was born my parents had made a Florida trek and visited Busch Gardens and the legendary Disneyland while they were there. On that little pilgrimage they picked up a vinyl copy of the tunes from the Disney Country Bears Jamboree stage show. A collection of country western-based tunes performed by various famous Disney bears, it was truly entertaining. This was when Disney was post-Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and pre-Beauty and the Beast/Pixar, so they were throwing Spaghetti at the wall, methinks.
As a youthful little music enthusiast, I loved that record. One track still sticks out to this day, and that was Blood on the Saddle, a Tex Ritter original performed by my favorite bear Big Al. The whole thing can be enjoyed in the video below. Just scrolling through the images in the clip brought back vivid memories of the photographs in the booklet contained within the album's gatefold. The scroll also provided the nostalgia breeze I've become accustomed to while digging up those things that were once so familiar, but are now relegated to the back of the cerebrum while still surviving in my heart.
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