This is a Blog site created by Bob Reed (in Florida) for folks who live--or used to live--in Marcus, Iowa. Its purpose is to exchange notes, news, remembrances, and thoughts about life in and about Marcus, or news about one's family, friends or acquaintances.
Max, Thanks for posting the article on Claude Grey. I try to catch Margaret's articles online, but I must have missed this one. Claude Grey was my great-grandfather, Roger and Nancy Nelson are my grandparents. I guess I don't know much about where he came from, so much of it was new to me.
My parents, Greg and Bobbi (Nelson) Taylor still live in Claude and Clara's house on Locust street. It was a great place to grow up. If anyone has any history on the house I'd love to know (who lived in it before the Grey's, etc.).
Growing up in Marcus in the western part of the great state, we got to experience music that our eastern Iowa cousins never really got a hold of. They were oriented to sophisticated Chicago but we seemed to take to -- and relate to -- the wide open prairies of the west.
Perhaps that’s why I get such a kick out of country music -- once called “cowboy” or “hillbilly” music. It didn’t beat those wonderful pop standards of the ’30s and ’40s, but there is an honesty about the titles that is priceless. Consider –-
(1) “ I Wouldn’t Take Her to a Dog Fight, ‘Cause I‘m Afraid She’d Win” (2) ”She Got the Ring and I Got the Finger” (3) “If the Phone Don’t Ring, You Know It’s Me” (4) “My Wife Ran Off with My Best Friend, and I Miss Him” (5) ”I’ll Marry You Tomorrow, but Let’s Honeymoon Tonight!”
And then there’s my all time favorite -- “How Can I Miss You, When You Won’t Go Away?”
The country lyrics of yesterday and today talk of unrequited love, booze, downtimes, and loneliness. They are decidedly and mournfully masculine and, in this day and age, may be offensive to some of the female persuasion (sorry ‘bout that!). The accompanying music is simple, direct, and consists of three chords and the truth. Can’t get much better than that!
The habitués of the Hawkeye (when it was known as Flannigan’s) and the East Side Tavern and McQueen’s were comfortable, back in the ’40s, with those songs on the juke box or swirling in their minds as they nursed a beer .Or stared blankly into an empty glass. In the warm, dark, male sanctuary of my fictitious “He Ain’t Here Pool Hall,” guys were confronted with a handwritten sign behind the bar that pleaded “If You’re Drinkin’ to Forget, Please Pay in Advance!”
Most country songs today seem to belong in a similar safehouse where guys still go to wet their whistle. What are your favorite country music songs -- then and now? Do females relate to them or are they offended? And outside of the radio stations and cable networks where do you hear them in Marcus and elsewhere today?
Bob: Great CW stuff. I was never a big fan until my youngest daughter got me hooked. Her crowd loves it.
I then started listening to some of the local stations and watching some CMT on cable. The Iowa State Fair and local concerts (i.e., college stadiums and local open- air concerts in the summer) are the biggest venues around here (Des Moines) outside of radio and TV. The casinos also draw some big name acts, although I've never been.
I'm partial to George Strait. Probably shows my age. Like the music, love the message.
Some of my favorite titles - not my favorite songs - are: 1."I Still Miss You Baby, But My Aim's Getting Better."
2. "If I Had Shot You When I Wanted To I'd Be Out By Now."
3."It's Hard To Kiss The Lips At Night That Chew Your A** Out All Day Long."
And finally, for the frisky ladies, The Statler Brothers own: "You Can't Have Your Kate and Edith, Too."
For those of you interested in country music, you can go to http://newcountrystar.com and listen to a sample of Tom Wurth's music. If you like his more than the others, you can vote for him to be the favorite male new country star. It's simple and only takes a few minutes to show your support for this Marcus native!
That is good stuff by Tom Wurth. What a great voice and look how he is doing in the voting!!! The Wurth family should be proud of this talented family member and Marcus should be proud to call him one of our own. Would someone back home make sure they try to get him to perform at the Marcus Fair next year if they can afford him!
I talked to Ken Ogren at Farmers State Bank yesterday. He told me that a senior writer for Fortune Magazine was in town recently. He visited to do a story on how ethanol is impacting rural Iowa/America. That visit was followed by a free lance photographer out of New York City who came to Marcus to shoot pictures for the article.
Sounds like it all went well. Ken thought the article would run in November. Watch your Fortune Magazine for an update on Our Hometown.
Thought blog readers might be interested in watching for this.
Ken: If you read this and I missed anything, feel free to correct.
U can email me at Baylor1980@aol.com and/or call me at 773-755-0239.
BTW, it was a blast being in Waco for homecoming this past weekend. The best part of all was that I got to see my cousin "Derek Hansen" son of Chuck and Karen Hansen and grandson of Ray and Peg Hansen who are all originally from Marcus. Derek is from the Des Moines area and a freshman at Baylor. Another extremely bright kid and handsome to boot with roots to the Marcus community!
Side note......saw a young lady on campus and she was wearing a University of Iowa Hawkeye sweatshirt.....asked her if she was an Iowa girl? Well she was from West Des Moines and a "VALLEY GIRL" who happened to be best friends with my niece while going to high school at Valley. My niece is the daughter of my brother Fred and his wife Linda. Small World!!!!
The Cherokee ChronicleTimes arrives several days late here in Mesa so we just read your article about NASA on Oct. 23. It was very informative. You asked for any other Cherokee Co. connections. There is another Marcus connection. Brian Leavitt, son of Steve and Sheila Leavitt, and grandson of John and Donna Leavitt just moved to Houston to work at NASA. I'm sure his grandparents would fill you in with what he does there.
Thanks. I do read it online but they are very slow at updating. I read your Mom's article in my paper and then the same day it was online when I looked.
Thank you, Baritone Bob, for posting the Cherokee paper online address. I don't subscribe to that paper and enjoyed catching up on Margaret Dorr's column. Bonnie Morgenthaler
Max,
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting the article on Claude Grey. I try to catch Margaret's articles online, but I must have missed this one. Claude Grey was my great-grandfather, Roger and Nancy Nelson are my grandparents. I guess I don't know much about where he came from, so much of it was new to me.
My parents, Greg and Bobbi (Nelson) Taylor still live in Claude and Clara's house on Locust street. It was a great place to grow up. If anyone has any history on the house I'd love to know (who lived in it before the Grey's, etc.).
Jacob Taylor
Dallas, TX
THREE CHORDS AND THE TRUTH
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in Marcus in the western part of the great state, we got to experience music that our eastern Iowa cousins never really got a hold of. They were oriented to sophisticated Chicago but we seemed to take to -- and relate to -- the wide open prairies of the west.
Perhaps that’s why I get such a kick out of country music -- once called “cowboy” or “hillbilly” music. It didn’t beat those wonderful pop standards of the ’30s and ’40s, but there is an honesty about the titles that is priceless. Consider –-
(1) “ I Wouldn’t Take Her to a Dog Fight, ‘Cause I‘m Afraid She’d Win”
(2) ”She Got the Ring and I Got the Finger”
(3) “If the Phone Don’t Ring, You Know It’s Me”
(4) “My Wife Ran Off with My Best Friend, and I Miss Him”
(5) ”I’ll Marry You Tomorrow, but Let’s Honeymoon Tonight!”
And then there’s my all time favorite --
“How Can I Miss You, When You Won’t Go Away?”
The country lyrics of yesterday and today talk of unrequited love, booze, downtimes, and loneliness. They are decidedly and mournfully masculine and, in this day and age, may be offensive to some of the female persuasion (sorry ‘bout that!). The accompanying music is simple, direct, and consists of three chords and the truth. Can’t get much better than that!
The habitués of the Hawkeye (when it was known as Flannigan’s) and the East Side Tavern and McQueen’s were comfortable, back in the ’40s, with those songs on the juke box or swirling in their minds as they nursed a beer .Or stared blankly into an empty glass. In the warm, dark, male sanctuary of my fictitious “He Ain’t Here Pool Hall,” guys were confronted with a handwritten sign behind the bar that pleaded “If You’re Drinkin’ to Forget, Please Pay in Advance!”
Most country songs today seem to belong in a similar safehouse where guys still go to wet their whistle. What are your favorite country music songs -- then and now? Do females relate to them or are they offended? And outside of the radio stations and cable networks where do you hear them in Marcus and elsewhere today?
Bob: Great CW stuff. I was never a big fan until my youngest daughter got me hooked. Her crowd loves it.
ReplyDeleteI then started listening to some of the local stations and watching some CMT on cable. The Iowa State Fair and local concerts (i.e., college stadiums and local open- air concerts in the summer) are the biggest venues around here (Des Moines) outside of radio and TV. The casinos also draw some big name acts, although I've never been.
I'm partial to George Strait. Probably shows my age. Like the music, love the message.
Some of my favorite titles - not my favorite songs - are:
1."I Still Miss You Baby, But My Aim's Getting Better."
2. "If I Had Shot You When I Wanted To I'd Be Out By Now."
3."It's Hard To Kiss The Lips At Night That Chew Your A** Out All Day Long."
And finally, for the frisky ladies, The Statler Brothers own: "You Can't Have Your Kate and Edith, Too."
Fred
For those of you interested in country music, you can go to
ReplyDeletehttp://newcountrystar.com
and listen to a sample of Tom Wurth's music. If you like his more than the others, you can vote for him to be the favorite male new country star. It's simple and only takes a few minutes to show your support for this Marcus native!
anonymous:
ReplyDeleteThat is good stuff by Tom Wurth. What a great voice and look how he is doing in the voting!!! The Wurth family should be proud of this talented family member and Marcus should be proud to call him one of our own. Would someone back home make sure they try to get him to perform at the Marcus Fair next year if they can afford him!
Marcus Iowa takes on Wall Street!
ReplyDeleteAgain, you'll have to cut and paste this link -- sorry just no time to get the computer lingo down.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061010/20061010005513.html?.v=1
An interesting story about a stock (that was doing great today accordig to my husband) and its connections to Little Sioux Processors of Marcus...
I agree! I think it'd be great to have a Tom Wurth concert at the Marcus Fair!!! He's really good! I want a chance to get my CD signed!!!
ReplyDeleteI talked to Ken Ogren at Farmers State Bank yesterday. He told me that a senior writer for Fortune Magazine was in town recently. He visited to do a story on how ethanol is impacting rural Iowa/America. That visit was followed by a free lance photographer out of New York City who came to Marcus to shoot pictures for the article.
ReplyDeleteSounds like it all went well. Ken thought the article would run in November. Watch your Fortune Magazine for an update on Our Hometown.
Thought blog readers might be interested in watching for this.
Ken: If you read this and I missed anything, feel free to correct.
Fred
Sharon:
ReplyDeleteU can email me at Baylor1980@aol.com and/or call me at 773-755-0239.
BTW, it was a blast being in Waco for homecoming this past weekend. The best part of all was that I got to see my cousin "Derek Hansen" son of Chuck and Karen Hansen and grandson of Ray and Peg Hansen who are all originally from Marcus. Derek is from the Des Moines area and a freshman at Baylor. Another extremely bright kid and handsome to boot with roots to the Marcus community!
Side note......saw a young lady on campus and she was wearing a University of Iowa Hawkeye sweatshirt.....asked her if she was an Iowa girl? Well she was from West Des Moines and a "VALLEY GIRL" who happened to be best friends with my niece while going to high school at Valley. My niece is the daughter of my brother Fred and his wife Linda. Small World!!!!
Sic 'Em Bears!
To Margaret Dorr,
ReplyDeleteThe Cherokee ChronicleTimes arrives several days late here in Mesa so we just read your article about NASA on Oct. 23. It was very informative. You asked for any other Cherokee Co. connections. There is another Marcus connection. Brian Leavitt, son of Steve and Sheila Leavitt, and grandson of John and Donna Leavitt just moved to Houston to work at NASA. I'm sure his grandparents would fill you in with what he does there.
Pat Ducommun
Pat:
ReplyDeleteU can get the Cherokee paper online. That way you can read the paper in a more timely manner!
Phil,
ReplyDeleteThanks. I do read it online but they are very slow at updating. I read your Mom's article in my paper and then the same day it was online when I looked.
Have a good day.
Pat
There is a considerable archive of Margaret Dorr's Chronicle Times columns available online. See http://www.chronicletimes.com/columns/gray-matter
ReplyDeleteMargaret,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your reply. We'll be looking for the posting about the Historical Society. We heard about some of the meeting last night from Dr. Wiese.
Pat
Thank you, Baritone Bob, for posting the Cherokee paper online address. I don't subscribe to that paper and enjoyed catching up on Margaret Dorr's column. Bonnie Morgenthaler
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteMargaret,
ReplyDeleteThanks to Elaine for correcting my error. I knew better.
Keep warm. We are here in Mesa.
Pat