Nancy Keeler

My own album

In 2000 I did a self-titled album in Nashville. It was mostly a demo, a sampler of my music and lyrics to showcase for other artists to potentially cover. Although it wasn’t perfect—it was self produced, for creative reasons, and on a tight budget—I was proud of it. I thought my songs were pretty good, my musicians were fantastic, and my CD materials were polished and professional.

I’ve even questioned my decision to share this music here, rather than keep it mostly hidden like I’ve pretty much done for a couple of decades now. It’s risky. But maybe by sharing here, on a website dedicated to my writing, I’m reintegrating a piece of myself that isn’t sure where it belongs.

This is writing too, after all.

Samples

I still like some of my songs. There’s a mix of genres, from traditional country to blues and even classical influences. And of themes, ranging from the usual country heartbreak and end of a marriage to loneliness and trauma. I also wanted to include spiritual elements, but not religious. The language is pretty traditional there; it wouldn’t be now.

So here are five of the ten songs from my album, my favorites. There are still a few copies of the CD on Amazon.

There’s a reference to “knees” in the song “Rita.” Someone asked me whether I intended the reference to mean prayer, or something else. I responded “prayer.” Of course? The something else hadn’t even occurred to me when writing the song. Naive much? But context is everything.

When I was living in Southern California I met then coordinator of music resources for Unity Council of Churches. After hearing “Love’s A Prayer” he invited me to send it for possible inclusion in the Unity songbooks. I needed to score it, though, and could neither do it myself nor afford to have it scored! So I missed out.

I also performed “Love’s A Prayer” at the wedding of an entertainer friend in Nashville.

Some favorites from childhood and youth

I don’t perform music anymore, as I don’t like performing and I have vocal cord issues. I also don’t listen to music—I watch it. I like music videos and old TV themes, sometimes just for fun and sometimes as inspiration for themes and periods that I’m writing about.

And while I don’t go looking for new music to like, I do have some more recent favorites. I don’t just listen to—or watch—old stuff. I’ll have links for some of those favorites later.

Sometimes I de-stress and process my thoughts by watching favorite videos. Sometimes I’ll adopt one that particularly speaks to me and I’ll watch it over and over. I spent a whole Sunday afternoon once just watching “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay.

Elementary school playtime

In elementary school, we usually had our recess outdoors, in organized sports or games such as kickball, my favorite. But I really loved when we had to take recess indoors, which often meant dancing—or maybe I would play the piano. Boogie-Woogie was my first claim to fame; I sat down at a rainy recess we had in 1st grade and played, by ear. I don’t even remember learning to play; it seems I always just knew how. And I was a big ham back then.

These were some other favorite recess activities. Thanks to YouTube, the infinite cosmos of culture is at our fingertips. We can materialize just about any memory at the click of a search engine:

Tinikling, a traditional Phillipine folk dance, which I never knew the origin of but found on YouTube. They’re doing it fancy here. We didn’t; you just danced back and forth through the poles for as much time as you could get on your turn.

The Tennessee Wig Walk was another from childhood, which I thought just a silly kid’s dance maybe only done in the South. Boy was I wrong! I found numerous international versions, mostly with adults dancing, so had to look a bit for the one most closely resembling what I remember from childhood. I learned the song was composed by Larry Coleman and with lyrics by Norman Gimbel, and was recorded by Bonnie Lou in 1953.

TV and movies – childhood

Most of my music memories from childhood come in the form of TV themes, movie songs and showtunes. Often I played them on the piano too:

“National Velvet,” starring Lori Martin. Both this series and the movie by the same name starring Elizabeth Taylor were based on a 1935 novel by Enid Bagnold. This clip is from David Gideon’s YouTube channel. He has lots of good old stuff. I recently bought the copy of Jack and Jill magazine from 1961 on Ebay that I had just missed with Lori Martin in it. When I learned about the mag in the library I found it had come out the month before I started school. I couldn’t get a copy of it back then, but in a sort of micro time travel I was able to get it now!

Having a horse, living in California, and being a star were my childhood dreams. I did get my horse at age 9. Did make it to California at age 48—briefly, unfortunately. I will always love California. Haven’t achieved stardom yet and not sure I still want it. I think now it’s probably more trouble than it’s worth.

“Wagon Train” These horse operas were all over the airwaves when I was little, and I loved loved loved them. They kicked off my love of both horses and wanting to be a TV cowgirl. I followed my idol Robert Fuller over from “Laramie” to this show, when he replaced Robert Horton here in the cast. This YouTube channel, TeeVees Greatest, has lots of good old stuff too.

“Death Valley Days” intro, and “Death Valley Days”outro. It’s not that this was one of my favorites, but more that I remember it fondly as being on while Mama was cooking supper. Very early. You know, Ronald Reagan the actor announced some of the later episodes.

“The Beverly Hillbillies” Watched the debut as a little kid with my parents. Donna Douglas was my other TV idol at the time. Much later in life when I was working in pet supply retailing, Earl Scruggs, of Flatt and Scruggs who played the memorable theme, was among many local music notables who shopped in my store in Nashville.

“Flipper” I remember watching the show on a Saturday night over at my sister’s house on Morton Ave., next to the University of GA campus. Somehow that’s my favorite of the places she and her family lived over the years. Other than when they lived next door to us—but that wasn’t about the place. It was because they were there.

“Daniel Boone” I learned in the course of my Ancestry.com membership when I was invited to join the Daniel Boone family tree, that my great grandfather Lafayette Robert Johnson was related by marriage to Boone’s great granddaughter. It sounds like one of those “related by rumor” things as in “Perfect Strangers.”

“The Virginian” I didn’t pay much attention to this show or theme, by Percy Faith, back then—maybe because Robert Fuller wasn’t in it (although James Drury was quite good looking himself)—but the rhythmic strumming and interplay between the horns and woodwinds make it really exciting to me now.

“The High Chaparral,” composed and conducted by David Rose. This was my favorite Western theme as a kid as far as just the music itself. Anybody else notice, though, how much this sounds like “Telstar” by the Tornados? I used to hear it on the radio sometimes in the morning as a little kid and finally tracked it down.

“Gunsmoke,” closing theme. Okay, I couldn’t leave this one out. It ran for so long, and has so many memories attached to its run, and at one time it was my favorite show.

“Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” among my own personal theme songs involving dreams and longing. I think I’ve seen “The Wizard of Oz” every year of my life. So special.

“The Sound of Music,” opening credits. Released in 1965 when I was 10, I was fortunate to be able to see it for the second time in Europe when I toured with the U.S. Honor Band and Choir in 1973, the summer after high school graduation. A small group of us got special permission to stay out past curfew when it was playing in a theater in Copenhagen.

“Marian the Librarian,” from one of my favorites, “The Music Man.” Lots of catchy well-known tunes. And I tend to see metaphysical meaning in movies others may not see. I had a special weakness for this number because of being a blond librarian type myself, and wanting to someday play the role of Marian…missed that boat. Believe it or not, this movie was an influence in my decision to major in history. Although I didn’t end up in American history.

“Moon River,” from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” I was always a sucker for these tunes that represented longing, wandering, yearning to fulfill a dream. This was one of many movies I loved as a kid. “Saturday Night at the Movies” was a thing then on TV, with lots of memorable old films. I tend to think I’ve lost my youthful romanticism, but when I watch things like this I feel it peek through.

Early bands—childhood

All time favorite: the Beach Boys. Their music never fails to lift me a bit.

“Darlin” I could mention any number of Beach Boys songs, but I’ll use this one because it figures in an episode of my all time favorite sitcom (especially in the latter seasons), “The Big Bang Theory.” Sung by Carl.

“God Only Knows,” also sung by Carl, is just beautiful. It’s funny interesting; someone can live their whole life and die, and you don’t know anything about them other than watching them sing a few songs. This old black and white clip has Dennis on drums, looking like…Dennis. Rest in peace, Brian Wilson. You were the mastermind.

“Be My Baby” This one came along before I really started following music on my own. I include it here because it’s a great tribute to the late Ronnie Spector, with whom my close friend has a family tie.

The Beatles’ first appearance was on Ed Sullivan in February 1964, when I had just turned 9. I watched their debut at my sister’s on Morton Ave. in Athens, next to the UGA campus, and sometime later, my slightly older cousin M. and I would sit in front of the TV and scream for Paul.

“Please Please Me” really emblemizes the ushering in of that period to me. This clip is a video mix over what sounds like the studio recording.

That period played into, or possibly kicked off, my love of rain. The rainy English Yardley-type weather, you know? There used to be those Yardley ads and somehow I remember them as rainy, though maybe they weren’t. I also envisioned Paris as rainy. So books like A Cat of Paris played right into that. I liked rainy weather and sunny weather, and there were songs, books, and play times for both.

“I’m Into Something Good,” sung by Herman’s Hermits, was playing one morning in 4th grade when I got to school, and the kids who walked to school were milling around, maybe dancing. It was the only time I remember being envious of the kids who walked to school instead of riding the bus.

“Don’t Sleep in the Subway,” sung by Petula Clark, was one of many songs whose words I couldn’t completely understand. And when I couldn’t understand the words, I would interpolate that it was something dirty I wasn’t understanding.

The Monkees came along when I was 11—a teenybopper. My best friend and I were both Micky girls—for me, it was especially because I had watched him on Saturday mornings as “Circus Boy.” We were fanatics. RIP all you guys; Davy and Mike both shared my birthday, December 30th. I still like Micky. He seems like a nice person. Waves to Micky!

Still pissed that they didn’t make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

“Last Train to Clarksville” suddenly played on the loudspeaker one moment at camp during the early summer of 1967. I was 12 and it was the first time I’d had to miss an episode–oh no! When I heard it, I took off running across the field toward it.

The Summer of 1967—-“The Summer of Love”

This was a turning point for me. As a little kid I had felt like the star of the school—I may have been a legend in my own mind—but now with changes in my body and mind, changes at home, and new schools and classmates, there would be a turning of the tides. That summer, though I remember it fondly, actually represents the end of a golden era for me.

“Malibu U” was a summer replacement TV show that I enjoyed at the time. I liked the surfer girl look and went for that, with my blond hair parted in the middle. That, and with love beads, are how I started junior high. I wasn’t really cut out for the surfer girl look though. My hair had just enough curl and frizz in it to just look kind of goofy I suppose.

“San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair),” is emblematic of that period. That time held fantasies for me of running away to S.F., but I was too young.

“A Whiter Shade of Pale,” I seem to remember listening to this song while sunbathing on the front lawn, while my mother watched soap operas on the other side of the screen door. Here’s another version of “A Whiter Shade of Pale” from a 2006 performance of Procol Harum with the Danish National Concert Orchestra and Choir. An absolutely beautiful rendition.

“Six O’Clock,” a relatively obscure single, I think, by one of my favorite bands, the Lovin’ Spoonful. It had a sort of haunting, lonely quality that made it good to play into the night. Always had a longstanding crush on John Sebastian.

“Buy for Me the Rain” is an audio only video (I know, sounds contradictory). There is one right now that includes a photo montage but I think it distracts from the lyrics, and the words here are key. Sung by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, this one sounds across the ages. I have bittersweet memories of listening to it as a preteen, sitting under my psychedelic paper light shade, alone in the night after my parents were in bed. A little dark, to this day, its reflections on sadness, nature, and the passage of time make it to me one of the most beautiful songs ever. Though I’m not a gusher, I had a chance to tell Jeff Hanna of the band how much the song had meant to me many years before, when he came into the pet supply store in Nashville where I was working.

Junior high, high school

“Heaven Held,” by the Cowsills, buoyed me when not much else did. It was a dark period. Such a lush, beautiful song. I liked the Cowsills very much, though didn’t talk about it as I considered them uncool. As if I were cool myself. Barry, the second youngest boy, was the one my age. He died in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina. I used to get Sixteen magazine and had the ones containing many of the photos used in this video montage.

“Cherish,” by The Association, the first band I saw in concert. They had a lot of good stuff. I was only in my early teens, and my parents took me to see them. But I got to sit with some friends who I ran into there.

“Twelve Thirty,” The Mamas & The Papas. I loved a lot of their stuff: of course, “California Dreamin’,” and I sang lead with an ensemble doing “Monday, Monday” in a talent show in 7th grade. But now, this one is kind of my favorite.

“Scarborough Fair/Canticle,” audio only, by Simon and Garfunkle. On my first summer visit to stay at my cousin M.’s, her sister’s husband had “The Graduate” soundtrack and we listened all the way down on the two hour drive. That would prove to be an eventful set of visits; ultimately a mixed bag but mostly a lifeline.

“Lay Lady Lay,” (audio only) by Bob Dylan, was popular that first summer at my cousin M.’s. At first I liked it particularly because the boy I liked did. Now it really haunts me of that week or two and the happy things I remember of my time there, with M., who has passed on now: the choir parties, progressive dinners, and my first sort of date.

“Vincent,” by Don McLean, has rich emotional imagery that came to mean a lot to me, in spite of the fact that this one too I originally liked especially because the boy I carried a torch for throughout high school said he liked it. It could be on a list of Songs for Depressives who Want to Wallow. This video allows us to enjoy some of van Gogh’s art.

“Long Long Time,” by one of the greatest singers ever. I worshiped Linda Ronstadt. And this one was especially meaningful as I was carrying the torch for someone who didn’t carry it back.

Bach’s “Air on the G String.” I didn’t just listen and play rock music as a youth, but a lot of classical as well. (And we were often singing classical in choir.) This version is only 5 mins. There’s a longer version that runs for three hours on “Classical Music” channel; I’d post it here but I’m part way through and I’d have to jump through hoops to get it to post back at the beginning. I only listen to this when I want to be weepy, or when I want to remember a time when I was weepy.

The U.S. Honor Band and Choir was led by directors from UCLA and San Jose State University, out of something called American Music Abroad, and comprised of high school students and recent grads from around the country. A first soprano, I was among students invited to audition after participating in AllState Chorus and possibly other honors programs.

This video I’ve posted of “Ain’a That Good News” is sung by the Owatonna HS Concert Choir, and is the closest I could find to the arrangement we used of this Dawson spiritual. Seems a little faster sung here. I have a recording on vinyl, but have never made the transfer. We sang on tour in Europe the summer of 1973, right after I graduated from high school.

The first time we rehearsed this, in a rehearsal hall in Upsala, Sweden, it rang out through the hall as if we had been singing together all our lives. It was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever heard in my life.

Some video song favorites from 1980s on

Like I said earlier, I don’t live in the past; I just write about it mostly—maybe gets some of that clutter out of the subconscious. I do have some newer favorites, depending on what you call “new.”

“Do It Like This,” Daphne Willis —Can’t help but dance to this one. My favorite version here, features dancer Shereen Jenkins.

“I’m Yours,” Jason Mraz —Fun.

“All I Want,” Toad the Wet Sprocket —Live performance.

“Viva La Vida,” Coldplay —A work of moving art.

“I Bet My Life,” Imagine Dragons. —A little film.

1980s: “Uptown Girl,” from piano man Billy Joel. I just had to include this because it’s such a well choreographed, artistic video. I love the incongruity of the dancing auto mechanics; the glamorous Christie Brinkley’s head tilt causing the black circular brim of her hat to go diagonally linear, catching split light and dark; the round headlamps becoming candescent focal points as the guys trace the length of the car, in contrast with the angles and color of the neon; the way the dancers move into and out of frame. The backup dancing customers. It’s an interplay of geometry, light, movement. One of my favorite videos ever.

“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” —U2. Okay, another from the 80s. I’ll stop now. I could go on if I could but I can’t.

Some TV theme favorites from 1980s on

“Hill Street Blues” Fun theme, fun to play. Mixed memories of that time in my life. First husband (of two) loved this show, and it capped off a night dedicated to TV watching, when we weren’t bowling.

“Dallas” At first I refused to watch “Dallas,” as I don’t like a heavy dose of people being sinister. But I eventually got sucked in. At least it had a counterpoint to J.R. in Bobby; he was very nice.

“Falcon Crest” One after the other, “Dallas” and “Falcon Crest” on a Friday night. Sinisterness here too. Hard to believe it was created by Earl Hamner, the same guy as created “The Waltons, which I’ve always loved. Most of the evening soaps did have good themes. But if I had to pick just one TV theme of all, I think this one might be it. Love the bass line, and combined with all the orchestra’s got going on…absolutely magnificent.

“Picket Fences” Love this theme, loved the cast, loved the show. Loved the courtroom scenes. Even has Ray Walston, “My Favorite Martian” when I was little! Happened to find myself once sitting next to a cast member at First Unitarian Universalist Nashville–won’t say who in consideration of her privacy; had a nice brief exchange during the greeting portion. Bothers me: Did I remember to invite her for the coffee time afterwards? I think she said she had to get to the set of a movie she was filming in the area.

I’m going to include the following song just because it’s personally meaningful to me:

“If Heaven” is a sad one, so skip it if you need to. I include it here because as I write this, I may be about to lose a close family member. By Gretchen Peters, this beautiful song was recorded by country artist Andy Griggs in a gorgeous version that changed the date to 1985. But as a contemporary of Gretchen, her 1965 date works for me. Poignant and meaningful.

Dedicated to all the family members, friends and associates I have lost, and most especially, the one I may be about to.