Can we identify this bird???  I know many of you are nature lovers.  Skip Wallen, particularly,  is a pro in that arena.  So, I feel the question I'm posing should be easy for the club to answer!

Last week Joan and I were out walking and saw a peculiar bird.  We took a picture but we can't seem to identify it.  Is there anyone in the group that can help?  Place your answer in the comments section of this release.  

I have a small notebook and pen in the car.  I'm constantly listening to (50's and 60's) oldies.  When a good, unique or fun song that I haven't heard for a LONG TIME comes on, I ask Joan to write it down in the book.  "Travelin Music" is the result. 

Here's one!  The Castells "So this is Love".  Do you remember hearing it back in the early 60's?  It reached #21 on the charts in 1962. Great collegiate sound!

Do you remember "Ral Donner"?  I don't!  But I remember the song "Girl of My Best Friend".  I always thought it was Elvis singing.  I heard it recently in the car . . . Joan wrote it down.  

I found that Elvis sang that song too!  So I thought it might be interesting to put the two together and ask which one is best?   Elvis or Ral . . .  Put your votes in the "comments" section.

First Ral Donner;

And now the Elvis version.

OK . . .  which one is best? . . .  Of course I remind myself that there might be those who really, really hate this song!  Some might even dislike Elvis and not give a damn about Ral.  To those folks I say . . .  OK! . . .  don't vote! . . . . 

Next up "Dear One" Larry Finnegan!  1961 - heard it on the radio in car in 1961 and 2015 . . . Coincidence?  I think not!  

Full disclosure!  I did not hear this next song in the car (at least not after the 60's)  Well, I probably did, but I don't remember.  OK maybe I have heard it within the last 5 years . . . could've been  7 years . . . OK let's call it 6 years!  That would have been about 4 years after I retired.  I retired 10 years ago.  Actually 11years ago . . . technically 10 years 11 months! (could've been 10 months)  Oh crap!  I forgot the song . . . . (thanks George)  

Till Next Week

Harv

After a 55 year absence we welcome back fellow Coachmen Vic Schiegg!  Please give your personal "Welcome Back" to Vic . . . his email address is . . .   vschiegg@gmail.com . . .  Make sure you add Vic to your "Coachmen Group"

Vic, I must say, everyone looks forward to "welcoming back" our old members because they get to hear our "Welcome Back" Theme song.  Some members tell me they are "sick to death of this song and promise to inflict suffering and pain if I play it again!"  But I know they secretly LOVE this song.  So . . . here it is again just for you . . .

Back Row left to right - Skip Wallen, John Magnusson, Kenny Chermak, John Torrison, Dick Neuses, John Harvey, Jerry Leyendecker, Pete Christensen and Tom Westover

Front Row left to right - Lynn Wallen, Sharon (Heise) Magnusson, Pat Chermak, Del Torrison, Marie Neuses, Joan Harvey, Donna Christensen, Ginny Westover

Hanging in the background is the banner that was carefully crafted and presented to the club by Tom Westover.  Thank you very much Tom, for your thoughtful gift.  The banner will be signed by all members and soon be on its way back to Seattle for the next step in Tom's program.  

Lightfoot was a featured musical performer at the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta.  He received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree (arts) in 1979 and the Companion of the Order of Canada—Canada's highest civilian honor—in 2003. wiki

Lightfoot's recordings made an impact on the international music charts as well in the 1970s, with songs such as "If You Could Read My Mind" (1970) (#5 on the US chart), "Sundown" (1974), "Carefree Highway" (1974), "Rainy Day People" (1975), all reaching #1, and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (1976) wiki

In November 1997, Lightfoot was awarded the Governor General"s Performing Arts Award, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts.  On February 6, 2012, Lightfoot was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Media by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.  wiki

Bonus
"Me and Bobby McGee".  Most of us are familiar with the Janis Joplin version of this song.  Well, here is a kinder, gentler version of that song.  Hope you like it.

Hey guys!  "Yesterday"  we went to the Courthouse to get our beer cards . . . "today" we go to the Courthouse Pub and drink beer! 
                  Nice change of pace . . .  don't ya think?
  See you at The Courthouse Pub!!!

Ray Smith (October 30, 1934 – November 29, 1979) was an American rockabilly musician.

Smith recorded for Vee-Jay Records, Tollie Records, Smash Records and Sun Records during his career, and had a hit with the song "Rockin' Little Angel" in 1960 on Judd Records.

The record sold over one million copies, earning a gold disc. Smith often recorded material written by Charlie Rich, and was heavily influenced by Elvis Presley.

                                     A Club Toast!
               "May your Hearts Be Ever Young
                          and Souls 
                                   Be Evergreen"

"Hot Rod Lincoln" is a song by American singer-songwriter Charlie Ryan was released in 1959 through Four Star Records, credited to Charlie Ryan and the Timberline Riders. 

Ryan based the description of the eponymous car on his own hot rod, built from a 1948 12-cylinder Lincoln chassis shortened two feet, with a 1930 Ford Model A body fitted to it. Ryan raced his hot rod against a Cadillac sedan driven by a friend in Lewiston, Idaho, driving up the Spiral Highway (former U.S. Route 95 in Idaho) to the top of Lewiston Hill; he incorporated elements from this race in his lyrics to "Hot Rod Lincoln", but changed the setting to Grapevine Hill (a long, nearly straight grade up Grapevine Canyon  to Tejon Pass, near the town of Gorman, California) to fit it within the narrative of "Hot Rod Race".

The Fendermen were an American pop/rockabilly  duo, comprising Jim Sundquist and Phil Humphrey, active in the early 1960s.

Sundquist and Humphrey, both born on November 26, 1937, met as students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the late 1950s. The duo had one hit single, "Mule Skinner blues", released in 1960 on the Cuca Records label which was picked up for national distribution by Soma records. The song hit No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The duo called themselves "the Fendermen" because they played Fender guitars (a Telecaster and a Stratocaster), and they connected them both to the same amplifier. These guitars were the only instruments used in the recording of "Mule Skinner Blues".

Harold Dorman (December 23, 1926 – October 8, 1988) was an American rock and roll singer and songwriter.

He wrote a song called "Mountain of Love", which he released as a single in 1960 on the Rita record label. The song became a hit in the U.S., reaching No. 7 on the R&B singles chart and No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100.  Though it was Dorman's only hit record

Lots of talk this week outside the clubhouse regarding pilots, airplanes, Fords etc. made me think . . . can we put all this together and fit it with my dream for the perfect "daytripper van"?  

Well, after checking around, I found that all those components were already together . . . in 1936!!!

It appears to be the perfect solution for all of us!  Just don't know the proper terminology for navigation . . . do you pilot it, or drive it???

See Ya on the Turntable

Harv