The great thing about The Blues Brothers, in my opinion, is that their music reminds me of good times, great people, and special events during the course of my life. Starting with my first week in high school, in September 1969, and stretching as far as the many jobs that I had until 1990.
I majored in Laboratory Techniques in order to go to McKinley Technical High School. I attended a pep rally that first week I was there, and what I experienced was truly awesome. This was the first time that I heard, saw and felt the vibrations, sounds and spectacle of a live African American marching band, with majorettes dancing and twirling their batons to the music as the lights on the stage were changing colors in sync with the sounds.
That was a “wow” moment for me. One of the songs they played was “Gimme Some Lovin’” by Steve Winwood, Spencer Davis and Muff Winwood. I didn’t hear and understand the lyrics to the song until I got The Blues Brothers CD (they covered it), but the way the marching band played the tune with the horn section providing the bass line was very impressive. They were great!
My second experience with a song on the CD was in 1980 when I was working as a senior biomedical engineering technician. I was truly blessed to have the privilege of working under the guidance of Mr. Cecil P. Green. I consider him as “The Master.” During the Jimmy Carter administration, Mr. Green was the architect of the biomedical engineering curriculum that I completed at George Washington University. While I was working under his tutelage, the United Nations asked him to go to the Caribbean and South America to make recommendations for what each country would need to advance the medical services of their hospitals.
One day, we were talking about music and somehow Cab Calloway became the focus of our conversation. Mr. Green shared with me that he had seen Calloway perform when he was in Europe, I believe (it was so long ago). He then began to sing the scat lyrics from “Minnie the Moocher” with so much glee that I got the feeling that he had witnessed an impressive performance that was stuck in his memory. “Hi De Hi De Hi De Hey!” he sang with a smile.
This song, also covered by The Blues Brothers, is so special because it incorporates audience participation to repeat the chorus that Calloway sings. As the chorus becomes more difficult, the majority of the audience is stumped by the next-to-last chorus, after they attempt to sing it, they let out a loud roar. When the song was finished, there was an even louder roar, cheering, laughter and applause.
After I saw this performance on cable at a later time, I understood why Mr. Green sang “Hi De Hi De Hi De Hey!” with such enthusiasm.
The funny part of the lyrics of this song is “….She had a million dollars‘ worth of nickels and dimes; She sat around and counted them all a million times!”
About eight years later, I was working at UCLA Medical Center in the Clinical Engineering Department. One of my responsibilities was to maintain the mass spectrometer for the Respiratory Intensive Care Unit. This machine would monitor and display the carbon dioxide that the patients were exhaling. (If they weren’t exhaling carbon dioxide, they weren’t breathing!) My contact for the RCU worked for the Respiratory Therapy Department. Somehow we got on the subject of The Blues Brothers. And I distinctly remember him singing “Sweet Home Chicago” on several occasions. During that time in my life, my mind was so inundated with my responsibilities that I was unable to relax and enjoy the pleasure of the artistic beauty that this composition gives me today.
These days, I enjoy the singing and the instrumental solos, starting with the lead guitar, baritone saxophone, the trombone, the tenor saxophone and then the piano. And as The Blues Brothers build it up to a crescendo, the trumpet and possibly the tenor sax take the accent to a higher level. Those guys sound great!
I can still hear the music in my head when I ride public transportation these days, as other people may wonder why I seem so happy.
With all of the troubles that confront me in my daily life, I feel that I’m blessed to take time out each day to enjoy the positive things and what’s left of my life.
To be continued. You can read all episodes from Conrad’s “A Musical Experience” series at www.streetsensemedia.org/conrad-cheek
