Slip Note Piano

I grew up with music all around me. Dad played guitar, but what I really loved most was the piano playing of his friend, Cecil Pryor. Cecil is a great piano player. He was influenced by Floyd Cramer. Cecil was my influence, and still is. At an early age, I copied one of the things Cecil would do on the piano. I didn't find out until later that it is known as 'Slip Note Piano.'

Don Robertson wrote songs for many famous singers like Eddy Arnold, Hank Snow, Les Paul & Mary Ford, Kitty Wells, Elvis Presley, Nat King Cole, Waylon Jennings and many others, but perhaps his greatest contribution to music came in 1960, when he co-wrote 'Please Help Me I'm Falling.' Today it is considered a country standard. When singer Hank Locklin, first heard Don's demo recording, he asked Floyd Cramer if he could copy the piano style he heard on the demo for the record. It was a major departure from the percussive piano style, which was popular in the late 1950s.

Slip note piano changed the sound of music, especially country music, thanks to Don Robertson. Slip note piano is where an adjacent note slides effortlessly into the correct note. Floyd Cramer adopted and popularized the style with his many recordings, like Last Date. A couple of months ago I had the pleasure of hearing Cecil Pryor play his piano and he played slip note piano style on that very song. I stood in awe. The memories I have of watching and listening to him when I was young came rushing back. It was great.

A Naked Man, A Rifle, A Lit Candle and a Laptop

Say, did you hear the one about the naked guy, a rifle, a burning candle and a laptop? 

Police here said that over the weekend, someone called them to report that a naked man, armed with a high-powered rifle, a lit candle and a laptop was standing beside his pickup truck on a county road. When a deputy sheriff arrived at the scene, the man pointed the rifle at him. When the officer unsnapped his holster, the man fled into a nearby barn, where he held authorities at bay for over three hours before surrendering peacefully. The man, who is reportedly from North Carolina, was arrested on several charges and lodged in the local jail under a $25,000 cash bond.

Dignity

Does patriotism matter? I remember in the early 1980's, when Lee Greenwood released the song God Bless The U.S.A., once voted the most recognizable patriotic song in America! That is because the song allows us to say what we truly feel...that we are PROUD to be an American! Patriotism did not just arise with 9/11 or with Desert Storm. Patriotism was just as popular in the year 1776 as it is in 2011. But why? Is it because we are a free nation? That's part of it.  We owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to the American Soldier and we should never fail to remember those who have fought and/or died for the freedoms we enjoy. Yes, showing patriotism means remembering our troops and it means remembering our freedoms, but the biggest thing about patriotism is that it gives you....DIGNITY! Having dignity means having a sense of self-importance. One thing in life is certain, people let people down. Your job will let you down. Your government will let you down. You may lose a lot of things during your lifetime, like faith or hope in some ONE or some THING, but the one thing you should always try to keep ahold of is your dignity. The soldier that died on the battlefield while fighting for your freedom died with dignity. For that we should be grateful.  Always. Does patriotism matter? The answer is - it mattered yesterday, it matters today and it will matter tomorrow. When all else fails in America, there will be someone who will still be patriotic. That's America. To borrow the line from Lee Greenwood's song....I proudly say, with dignity, I am proud to be an American! God bless the USA!

Freedom's Holy Light

You can say what you want about the little town I live in, but I am mightly proud of it. The first settlers who came to Stockton's Valley (now Albany) near the very end of the 18th century were proud Americans. They were veterans, or sons and daughters of veterans, of the American Revolution. The struggle to win independence was not just political, it was also spiritual, and those who came here before us were a part of both. 

In the early 1700's the moving of God’s Spirit touched, convicted, and converted thousands of Americans. The Reformed denominations (Presbyterian, Congregationalist, and Dutch Reformed) found themselves swept along in a mighty outpouring of God’s saving grace. Another phase of this great revival occurred not in the North, but in the South; not among the Reformed groups of New England, but among the Sandy Creek Baptists of North Carolina.

The man responsible for carrying the fervor of the Great Awakening to the South, Shubal Stearns, was among those influenced by George Whitefield, the powerful English evangelist of the Great Awakening. Stearns was born in Boston in 1706. After his conversion to Christ around 1740, he eventually became a minister with the Baptists. In 1754 God called Stearns from his home in Connecticut to fields farther South. He labored for a short time in Virginia, then moved to Sandy Creek, North Carolina.

Backwoods North Carolina was a spiritual as well as a physical wilderness, and into this religiously barren land came Stearns and his family. The small church at Sandy Creek began with sixteen members, half of whom were Stearns’ own family, but when Stearns began preaching, God’s Spirit began to move. In a short time, the Sandy Creek church swelled from sixteen members to over six hundred.

The churches that grew out of Stearns’s ministry banded together in 1758 as the Sandy Creek Baptist Association. This group, under Stearns’s benevolent but firm leadership, sought to advance God’s work throughout the southern colonies. Aflame with revival, the churches in the association continued to increase in number and influence.

But trouble was brewing within the officials of North Carolina who regarded Baptists and Quakers as enemies of Anglican order and, because of the success of the evangelism of Stearns and others, a hindrance to the growth of the Episcopal Church, which was the state Church of the colony. Governor William Tryon and his appointed agents who ruled the colony of North Carolina had imposed unjust taxation on the frontier settlers. The frontier regulators organized resistance to these injustices and on May 1, 1771, confronted Tryon's select militia in The Battle of Alamance, not far from Sandy Creek Baptist Church. Tryon's militia attacked the poorly armed and poorly led frontiersmen and defeated them. After the battle, Tryon hanged 12 of the Regulators and laid waste to many Baptist plantations in the area.

Shubal Stearns died on November 20, 1771 and within a year of the battle that had taken place a few months earlier, Sandy Creek Seperate Baptist Church dropped from over 600 members to a level below that with which it had started.

The Awakening ended, but the story did not.

The majority of the Sandy Creek refugees fled to Washington County, Tennessee, where they established Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church. Its first pastor was Tidence Lane. In his youth, Tidence had been convicted and converted under the ministry of Shubal Stearns. Most exciting stories had been told about the piercing glance of his eye and the melting tones of his voice as he preached the word of God. Tidence once held "the most hateful feelings toward Baptists," but it was curiosity that led him to make a horseback trip of some forty miles to see and hear Shubal Stearns speak.

"When the fame of Mr. Stearns' preaching reached the Yadkin River, where I lived, I felt a curiosity to go and hear him. Upon my arrival I saw a venerable old man sitting under a peach tree with a book in his hand and the people gathering about him. He fixed his eyes upon me immediately, which made me feel in such a manner as I had never felt before. I turned to quit the place, but could not proceed far. I walked about, Sometimes catching his eyes as I walked. My uneasiness increased and became intolerable. I went up to him, thinking that a salutation and shaking of hands would relieve me, but it happened otherwise. I began to think he had an evil eye and ought to be shunned, but shunning him I could no more effect than a bird can shun the rattlesnake when it fixes its eyes upon it. When he began to preach my perturbations increased, so that nature could no longer support them, and I sank to the ground." Morgan Edwards' unpublished manuscript.)Among those who helped start Buffalo Ridge Church in 1779, were the Denton and Crouch families. Later, those two families migrated West to a new frontier that had opened up in Kentucky. They settled at Stockton's Valley, which later became Albany.

To me, what's special about this story is how Tidence Lane was saved under the preaching of the legendary preacher, Shubal Stearns, and how that when he began preaching, one of his converts was 18-year-old Isaac Denton, who helped organize Clear Fork Baptist Church soon after the Crouch and Denton families migrated to Stockton's Valley. Not only did he help organize the Church, he was her first pastor, serving for 46 years. 


Today, most people say we are in need of another 'Great Awakening." In Church yesterday, we sang the song, "My Country Tis Of Thee," also known as "America." When we got to the second line in the fourth verse, I had to stop singing as I was unable to move past that line.

"...long may our land be bright with freedom's holy light."

America has suffered over the years because so many families, our schools, even our leaders do not put God first. Our country was founded on biblical principals that are not outdated as some claim. God's Holy Word is unwavering. It was a solid rock and shield for our forefathers and it should still be that today. Americans should honor God always. During the American Revolution, it was not simply freedom's light that shone bright across this great land, it was freedom's HOLY light.

God Bless America!

The Apple And The Tree

In 2005, country music singer Travis Tritt released a song entitled, "I See Me." Written by Atlanta Falcons punter Chris Mohr and famed songwriter Casey Beathard, the song tells the story of a rambunctious child as seen through his father's eyes. It was written about Mohr's young son, Garrett, but whenever I listen to the song, I cannot help but think about my own life, my children and my dad.



It used to aggravate me when my kids would not stop playing in the pew and turn around and sit up straight, like my dad always wanted me to. And, then I realized that they were just being me, and when I think of them in that aspect, it puts things in a whole knew perspective.

I see so much of me in them, and to be honest that scares me.

"...I look at him and I'm so amazed, I'm so proud and then so afraid that the apple didn't fall quite far enough from the tree."

That line in the song haunts me. I've felt most of everything that life can throw at a person: roadblocks, heartbreak, mistakes, happiness and yet...lots of stupid stuff. Most of the bad things were my fault. My dad and mom raised me like a child should be raised. My Church family did that same, so all the stupid things were definitely my fault.

My dad did all the things that a dad should do with his children...fishing, ball playing, swimming, eating watermelon under the shade tree. He made sure we were always in Church. He picked us up when we fell and wiped the dust from our jeans. Somewhere along the way, as I grew older, I stumbled and fell and sometimes made a pretty big mess of things. My prayer for my children will always be that the apple has fallen far enough from the tree that my kids won't be like me, that they won't do the stupid things I did, or stumble and fall like I did. Someone once said that we all fall short, and while I cannot say for sure about you, I do know for a fact that I fail miserably.

"...I look at him and I'm so amazed, I'm so proud and then so afraid that the apple didn't fall quite far enough from the tree."

I can't help but wonder if my dad were alive today and heard this song, would he think the same thing about me? One thing is for sure...before I die, I want to be just like my dad.

In the song, "Life Ain't Always Beautiful," Gary Allan sings..."life ain't always beautiful, sometimes it's just plain hard." and..."but the struggles makes me stronger and the changes make me wise." That reminds me of dad. He had his share of struggles, but he overcame and I thank God for that.

Happy Father's Day!

Whose Side Is The Lord On?

During the Civil War, soldiers on both sides prayed for victory before each battle. Both presidents, Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, asked their supporters to pray for victories. The average citizen leaned on their faith to get them through the war. That was never more true for the citizens of Albany, who were terrorized pretty much throughout the entire campaign by one of the war's most feared guerrilla's, Champ Ferguson. Religious people used their faith to get them through the war, and in the end it was their faith that helped them come to terms with the outcome and pretty much the whole entire meaning of the war. Each side in the war, as in any war, believed God was on their side and in the end, said the outcome was simply God's will.

We often hear the question asked, "Who is on the Lord's side?" But, in war, have you ever wondered which side the Lord is on?

During the 1st Kentucky Cavalry was organized at Liberty, Burkesville and Monticello and mustered in for a three year enlistment on October 28, 1861 under the command of Colonel Frank Wolford of Liberty. The unit included 85 volunteers from Albany. They were known as The Wildcats after a battle on Wildcat Mountain near London, Kentucky. There were several brave and gallant men in the 1st Kentucky Calvary, including Colonel William Hoskins, Captain John Morrison and Major J.A. Brents of Albany, but no one was more dedicated to the troops of the First Kentucky Calvary than its Chaplin, W. H. Honnell of Harrodsburg. At age 35, he was a model clergyman, not that he preached much, or appeared sanctimonious, or intruded his religious notions upon any one, but because of his devotion to the sick and wounded. Not a soldier could be taken sick without his knowing it. He visited and conversed with all, ascertained their wants, and had them supplied if it was possible. Nor was this conduct occasional, it was continual and unceasing. His name was blessed a thousand times by sick and helpless soldiers. When any died, he was foremost in providing them a decent and Christian burial. He was not only kind and tender to the sick and wounded, but treated every one with gentleness and respect. Further, he was no coward. He delighted to be upon the battlefield, encouraging the soldiers by his presence, waiting upon and caring for the wounded, and praying for the success of arms while the battle was in progress. When marching, he was always in front near his gallant Colonel, and when the conflict raged, he could be seen where the danger was greatest. He was at the battle of Mill Springs, administering to the necessities of the disabled, and was near General Felix Zollicoffer when he fell. Dismounting from his horse, the chaplain lifted the General from out of the road, where excited combatants were dashing to and fro, and carried his dying form to a place where it would not be trampled beneath the horses' feet.

Chaplain Honnell was also at the front during the fight at Lebanon, Tennessee. He became separated from his regiment, and rode into the rebel ranks, mistaking them for Union troops...

Colonel Morgan: "You take a position yonder," directing him to the rear.
Honnell: "I desire to go to my own regiment."
Morgan: "I told you where to go."
Honnell: "I don't like to be treated in such a way. I am chaplain of the 1st Kentucky cavalry, and want to go to my regiment."
Morgan: "It is hard for you to understand that I am Colonel Morgan, and you are my prisoner. My men need your prayers as well as Wolford's."

Honnell saw the position he was in, and submitted quietly. When Morgan commenced his retreat, he took Honnell along with him. After traveling at a pretty rapid gait for some distance, and the Unionists getting pretty close to them, Morgan said, "Well, Chaplain, I suppose we will have to separate, but before going you must pray." About this time a squad of Union cavalry dashed up, and Morgan had to proceed without the Chaplain's prayer.

As the above story indicates, during the Civil War both sides believed that God was on their side. During his second inaugural address on March 5, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln said “Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Each looked for an easier triumph. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other.”

So how could God be on BOTH sides?

Lincoln reframed the question and offered a startling conclusion: Neither side could claim God’s special favor. “The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes.”

President George W. Bush once said, "Faith teaches us to respect those with whom we disagree. It teaches us to tolerate one another. And it teaches us that the proper way to treat human beings created in the divine image is with civility. Yet, you also know that civility does not require us to abandon deeply held beliefs. Civility and firm resolve can live easily with one another."

When we have deeply held beliefs, like most do, it is tempting to believe God is only on our side. But, there is a chance that He may very well be on their side, too!

So, then what?

Like it or not, the fact is God's offer of mercy is for ALL people.

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

Ode To A Mule

James Arness died today. Gunsmoke was every one's favorite TV show back when I was a kid. For years, at my house, we watched every single episode that came on the TV. There's isn't any need to explain the show because I am sure that most of you have seen an episode of Gunsmoke at one time or another.

When I heard that Mr. Arness has passed away, I went online, because I wanted to read some quotes from the TV show - more specifically, I wanted to read some dialogue between Festus, played by singer Ken Curtis (Sons of the Pioneers), and the rest of the cast. Festus had a way of speaking, but he always spoke the truth and what he said always made sense, well in a Festus-sort-of way, I guess.

So, I went online to do that, and well, one click led to another click, and then another and another, and before I knew it, I found myself on YouTube, and that's when I heard, for the first time in many years, this beautiful story that I want to share with you.

If you paid close attention to Gunsmoke, you know that Festus took care of mules and all their names were Ruth -- even if they were jacks. Festus' mule was always a jack but HIS name was always RUTH!

In the words of Festus Hagen, here's why.....

You ask how come I call my old mule, Ruth, when in fact the solemn truth is that he's a jack, and not no jenny, that's for sure. Well, they's no call for you to know, but since you asked, I'll tell you so just settle back and heed to what I say.

It started in 1861, the war, well it had just begun to be a war. I wasn't much, so to speak, a mule skinner, not one to seek fame nor fortune, especially in no war.

Now, every man's got a pride. Most times it's deep inside about his job and mine was attending mules. My favorite was a long-eared jenny. Now, I reckon you'll think that I'm a ninny 'cause I loved her just like I'd love my mother. She was faithful, stout and she was smart, and friend, she had lots of heart. If she'd been a man, I'd a loved her like a brother.

Well, we'd fought back with all we had, but still the war was a going bad, for in '64 Schofield hit us Tennessee boys hard, and just thirty miles away, at dawn, near Spring Hill on a early 'morn, five generals that wore Confederate gray had chitin's and bacon and eggs and grits. Lord, they'd planned to give 'em fits but the tide of war just went the other way. The five brave men that led Hood's charge was met by a artillery barrage that mowed 'em down just like so much hay.

Now, somebody had to get them men and, by golly I can't remember when I've ever been so proud as I was that day. "Just take 'ol Ruth," the Captain said, and when it got dark, I slowly led my jenny to the Harpeth Rivers bank. I'd found them boys in gray and when on Ruth's back they stiffly lay, I started back, but then my spirit sorta sank. A dad-blamed sentry opened fire and them Yankee's did conspire to add me to their list of casualties. Well, 'ol Ruth, she just plowed along not a listening to the bullet song, just brushed 'em off like they was a swarm of bee's.

Well, somehow we got back that night, and I thanked God I was alright. I'd brought them boys from where they was a laying. I hadn't even got a scratch, so I lit my pipe and when the match flared up, I seen 'ol Ruth was just a swaying'. Blood was running down her side. My throat choked up and then I cried, and she looked at me and her eyes was soft and brown. She seemed to say, "Now, don't cry for me, we had a job to do, you see!" And, then 'old Ruth just seemed to slide right down.

There's a marker that I put on her grave that reads, "Here lies a mule that gave her life and that's the truth. Now, every mule I'll ever own will bare your name. So, be it known while I'm alive, they'll always be a Ruth "

Yeah, they'll always be a Ruth.

What a beautiful story, in the words of Festus Hagen. Now, to get the full effect, you have to click on the video below and hear 'Festus' tell it. It is a very moving and inspirational piece. By the way, Ken Curtis died in 1991.

R.I.P. Marshall Dillon!

The Water Is Wide ~ James Taylor

For Amy.

Remembering The Storekeeper

Henry Clay Huffaker was born in 1832 at Beaver Creek in Wayne County. He married Margaret Shearer in 1855 and to their union were born thirteen children, seven boys and six girls. The 8th born was Juliann "Hettie" Huffaker. Hettie married Ulysses Grant Frost in 1889. Their youngest child, Vada, was my grandmother. Hettie's second oldest sister, Laura, married Daniel Rector. Their youngest child, Wendell, married Lela Cooper. After the family moved to Albany, the oldest child, Clay, left home for the U.S. Navy, never to return again. He was aboard the USS Arizona when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

The first torpedo in the assault on Pearl Harbor hit the USS Raleigh at about 7:55 a.m., Sunday morning. Battleship Row was hit at 7:57 a.m. The USS ARIZONA was moored inboard of the repair ship Vestal when the attack occurred. At 8:10 a.m. a Japanese Type 97 Attack Bomber dropped a bomb that struck the Arizona between the No. 1 and No. 2 turret. This bomb was a converted armor piercing artillery shell that ignited the Arizona's forward magazine. Blazing furiously, the once majestic battleship Arizona violently exploded, sinking to the bottom of the harbor. .

This December 7th will mark 70 years that 1,177 men, including Storekeeper 3rd Class Clay Cooper Rector of Albany, rest at the bottom of the harbor, encased in the Arizona's rusty hull. In the Navy's known history, there has never been a ship that has taken so many of its crew down with her.

This Memorial Day, the Notorious Meddler pauses to remember Clay Cooper Rector, and the others aboard the USS ARIZONA who paid the supreme sacrifice while in service to the United States of America.

David Williams Is Not The First Gubernatorial Candidate Born In Cumberland County

Kentucky State Senator David Williams of Burkesville is not the first gubernatorial candidate born in Cumberland County. Two other gentlemen, born in Cumberland County, actually served as Governor.

Thomas Elliot Bramlette was Governor of Kentucky from 1863 to 1867. He was born January 3, 1817, to Ambrose Shrewsbury Bramlette and Sarah Elliott Bramlette, in a part of Cumberland County that is now in Clinton County. In 1841, Thomas Bramlette was elected representative of Clinton County in the State Legislature. In 1852 he moved to Adair County. In 1856, he was elected Judge for the 6th District. In 1861 he accepted a colonel's commission in the Federal Army and raised the Third Kentucky Regiment of Infantry. In 1862 he resigned from the Army and accepted President Lincoln's offer of the United States District Attorney ship. In 1863 he was commissioned major-general and while organizing his division was nominated as the Union candidate for governor of Kentucky, which was followed by his election in August, by a large majority. As governor, he acted to curb Confederate guerilla raids. Bramlette opposed the Freedmen’s Bureau and the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. He advocated the establishment of what became the University of Kentucky. During his service he was offered a seat in congress, but declined to become a candidate. In 1864 the convention in Louisville instructed their delegates to vote for McClellan and Bramlette as their candidates for president and vice-president, but he again declined to allow his name to be used. On his retirement from office he resumed the practice of law in Louisville. Thomas Bramlette died on January 12, 1875 in Louisville. He is buried at Cave Hill Cemetery. As a wartime governor, Bramlette disagreed with President Lincoln over the enlistment of African American troops, the suspension of habeas corpus, and civilian arrests. After Lincoln’s assassination the governor recognized the enduring legacy of Lincoln’s policies. He said, "We may differ with him, and have differed with him, but when the judgment of future events has come, we found we were differing blindly; that he was right and we were wrong . . . experience and time have demonstrated that his was the only line of salvation for our country."

Preston Hopkins Leslie was Governor of Kentucky Governor from 1871 to 1875. Like Bramlette, he was born on March 8, 1819 in a part of Cumberland County that is now in Clinton County. He was a member of the same Church I am a member of -- Clear Fork Baptist Church. Leslie studied law and was admitted to the bar on October 10, 1840, and served as the deputy clerk of the Clinton County courts. On November 11, 1841, he married Louisa Black. The couple had seven children. In 1841, Leslie moved his family to Monroe County, where he became county attorney in 1842. When his wife died in 1858, Leslie married Mary Kuykendall and they had three children. Leslie was elected as a Whig to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1844. In 1850 he was elected State Senator for Barren and Monroe counties. When the Whig Party faded from prominence Leslie became a Democrat. He declined nominations for a seat in the United States Congress and on the Kentucky Court of Appeals, choosing instead to work on his farm. Leslie returned to the state Senate in 1867. He was Senate president from 1869 to 1871. When Governor John Stevenson resigned in February of 1871, because there was no lieutenant governor at the time, Leslie, as Senate president became the Governor. Later that same year he was elected to his own term. During his tenure, an educational system for blacks was created, the sale of liquor was controlled and the penal system was improved. Leslie was appointed territorial governor of Montana in 1887, but two years later the territory's political machinery turned against him and he was removed from office. Later, he was appointed district attorney for Montana. He continued to practice law well into his nineties, and was being considered for a district court judgeship in Montana when he fell ill with pneumonia and died on February 7, 1907, at the age of 94. He is buried at Forest Vale Cemetery in Helena.

This past Tuesday, David Williams and his running mate, Ritchie Farmer, the fomer Kentucky Wildcat basketball star, and current Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture, won the Republican nomination for Governor and Lieutenant Governor.

Marina and Ian's Prom 2011

Watch "Marina & Ian's Prom 2011" on YouTube