despite a plethora of chores that need to be done, a last minute review of esme lennox for book club tonight, various cleaning and emails that need reverting, there is a post that needs to be written. a long overdue post.
in early january, denny doherty died.
who? do you mean the denny from grey’s anatomy? no, that’s denny ducuette.
denny doherty. from the legendary folk group the mamas and papas. and a canadian, i might add.
denny doherty. the mamas and papas.
california dreaming. young girls. dedicated to the one i love. dancing in the streets. dream a little dream…. those mamas and papas. great music, and to this child of the 80’s, great times.
i first became acquainted with the m&p when we bought a wood panelled station wagon in 1984 or so. are you jealous? it had a cassette player and came with a complementary tape that played the some early hall and oates, vera lynn, and the theme song to dallas, to which pam and i did our bust increasing exercises. (remind me to ask for my money back).
after even frugal blake got sick and tired of listening to the free tape, he decided to hit the bargain tape section and bought some 99cent specials. among them were the mamas and papas. graeme and i looked at each other and said, "who"? and made the predictable mama cass jokes, as she stood stolidly planted underneath a tree, sporting a knitted poncho.
blake looked at us and made some comment about "this is good music and the words are even better. better than you take my breath away, and i don’t know what to say. if rex smith has nothing to say, then he shouldn’t say anything instead of wasting five minutes singing that he has nothing to say. what a waste. this kids, is music."
and so it was. during that long drive up and down the mackenzie highway that summer, and through the canadian rocky mountains, graeme and i listened to the tapes, and began memorising the songs. he could match mama cass in hitting the high notes in "young girls", i should add. the mamas and papas, never played during the winter (took the car too long to warm up to play the tape, and besides, i walked everywhere, my parents NEVER gave me rides), were our summer songs, and we never forgot the words, graeme and i.
and we never have. every summer when i see him, we will do a little medley of 80’s songs, but we’ll always get a mamas and papas song in there. they are our history, they flow through us as effortlessly as we recall the lyrics to the songs. good times, good tunes. like with so many other things, frugal blake was right.
what can i say. i look back on the days in the car, and i moaned with my friends about how long and boring they were, but in hindsight, those cassettes were the 80’s versions of dvd players, and singing together brought the whole family together. wrapped up in the blue panelled station wagon, nwt license plate 174, singing together was security, togetherness and love.
denny doherty died in january, but left behind a legacy of great music and memories for me. his life and harmonies made for harmonious times in our car and teen years, and for that, i thank him. RIP, denny.
