Tea Manifesto

 Confessions of a Tea Enthusiast

Introduction:  I was once a coffee drinker, but that was prior to December 20, 1993. I remember the date because it marked the beginning my Christmas break that year. I had recently purchased a box of grocery-store tea, and on a whim, decided to make it rather than the usual coffee–I’d been drinking two cups of coffee per day for the previous few years. Around mid-morning, I developed a headache, which lasted until after supper. It wasn’t all that bad, but lingered throughout the day. Wondering whether it was induced by caffeine withdrawal, I made tea rather than coffee again the next day. Another headache appeared, but after a few hours it was gone. On the third day, I did the same thing, and suffered no headache at all. I concluded that my pattern of consuming two cups of coffee per day had caused me to become addicted to the stuff, and decided right then and there to give it up. Cold turkey. Done. Haven’t had a sip since.

Over the next few years, I learned to appreciate tea, and made it by brewing it in my cup, which I believe is common. I was coasting along fine, but one day I wondered if I was making it the right way and whether I could do better. I embarked on a search for the perfect cup of tea. I visited web sites and read a book about tea. Everything I found pointed to the use of a teapot, so I began shopping for one, which isn’t easy since they’re not found in big-box stores or those that offer kitchen appliances. Tea kettles are everywhere, but teapots are scarce in such places of business. (See definition of teapots and tea kettles below.) Cost Plus World Market is the only store I’ve found within an hour’s drive of my home that stocks teapots, and they periodically have some nice ones. Many excellent teapots are also available online. My current favorite are Bee House Teapots. They’re made in Japan and designed with short, study spouts that don’t drip. And they have convenient metal, clip-on lids. With a teapot in hand I was on my way to the perfect cup of tea.

Bee House 18-oz Saturn in Jeans Blue

Tea: A Definition:  Tea is the second-most consumed drink in the world; only water is consumed more. But it’s important to begin with a definition. Tea comes from the tea bush, Camellia sinensis a tropical evergreen species. It is grown in plantations, called estates, in many parts of Asia as well as Africa and South America. Several types of tea are produced from the leaves and buds of this plant: black, green, oolong, and a few sub varieties such as white and red. All other beverages that contain the word tea in their product names are not tea, and are not addressed in this document. These include all herbal teas, which are made from plants other than Camellia sinensis. Nor are decaffeinated teas addressed. The process that removes caffeine also removes some or most of tea’s numerous health benefits. I avoid these products, and don’t know how to make them.

Caffeine in Tea:  Many people believe incorrectly that tea contains more caffeine than coffee. As a general rule, black tea contains about a third as much caffeine as coffee. Oolong tea, which I rarely consume, contains less, and green tea contains the least, at least in the cup. (Technically, the caffeine content of various types of tea before it is brewed is the same, but since green tea is brewed for a shorter period of time using a cooler water temperature, less caffeine finds its way into the finished product.)

Diuretic Effects of Tea:  I read a relatively recent study that said that tea is not all that diuretic. In the study, people who drank only water retained 80% and passed 20% through their urine. Those who drank only tea retained 70%, and passed 30%, only a 10% difference. Since tea not diuretic, it can be used for hydration without worry.

Tea Kettle, Teapot: what’s the difference?  I recently read a review of a stainless steel teapot during which the reviewer said the first time he placed it on his stove, the handle melted. As a result it went right into the trash. Clearly he did not know the difference between teapots and tea kettles, and I'm sure he's not alone. 

- Tea kettles are simply vessels that heat water. Historically they’ve been designed for stove-top use, but electric ones are available. The only advantage I can see of using a tea kettle over a sauce pan is that a kettle facilitates easier pouring. Maybe that’s just me.

- Teapots, on the other hand, are vessels designed to brew tea, and unlike tea kettles, should not to be used on the stove, but rather, heated water is poured into them over tea leaves. I suspect that they came into use because they hold heat well, which is or should be their most important design criteria.

Why Use a Teapot?  The secret of making great tea is water temperature. Black tea should be made with boiling water, and it should be kept as hot as possible while infusing (steeping). Teapots, once properly preheated, hold heat very well and are perfect for making tea. Tea brewed in a cup, on the other hand, loses temperature rapidly, unless a lid that holds heat in is used (and that may be how teapots originally developed).

Making Black Tea:

- Water:  The cleaner and fresher the water, the better the tea. I use filtered water. Clear tap water that contains no aftertaste or odor also works well. Hot or warm water should not be used; it contains less oxygen, which is necessary to create optimum taste. Put the kettle on the stove, and begin heating water. Avoid boiling water for an extended time; that reduces the oxygen content and affects taste of the final product. Rather, the perfect time to pour the water from the kettle into the pot (see below) is when the water just begins to roll in a boil. Since the water inside most tea kettles cannot be seen, a good indication is when steam begins to shoot out of the spout or it begins to whistle. Heating water in a microwave oven works, too, but is not recommended because the water is not uniformly heated, and therefore loses temperature too quickly. Electric tea kettles, on the other hand, are highly recommended. They boil water quickly, and some turn off once the boiling temperature is reached.

- Preheating the Teapot:  If you pour boiling water into a room-temperature teapot, it cools quickly and can't make good black tea. Accordingly it's important to preheat the pot, and it's easy. While the kettle is on the stove, boil about a third of a cup of water in a microwave oven or on the stove. This takes a little over a minute. Pour the boiling water into your teapot, and replace the lid. After it sits for about fifteen seconds, it should be very warm to the touch. At that point, cradle the teapot in both hands, and swirl the water inside gently–to avoid spillage. You should feel the heat rise up the sides of the teapot, and it will soon be too hot to hold. If it’s not that hot, add a bit more boiling water to heat it more thoroughly. Discard the water from the teapot as the kettle approaches boiling. With a preheated teapot the water you add from the kettle will stay at or close to the boiling point--perfect for making black tea. 

- The Infusion Process:  Place the tea bag or loose tea inside the teapot or its infuser, and pour the boiling water from your kettle over it. (If using loose tea, see Using Loose Tea below.) Let the tea steep (or infuse) for four to five minutes, but not more than six, beyond which the tea can become bitter. Do not squeeze the tea bag when removing it. All the stuff (tannins, mostly) that make tea bitter is still in the tea bag, and it will not add quality to the beverage.

Remove the tea bag, pour the tea into your cup, and enjoy. If a sweetener is desired, add honey or sugar.
   
Making Green Tea:  The process for green tea differs from black tea in minor but important ways. Most people don’t like green tea, and I believe that’s because they haven’t learned to make it properly. Most people bring water to a boil like they do with black tea, but that makes it bitter. Green tea can be quite good and delicate, but two things need to be done differently:
1) Don’t let the water boil. Green tea should be made with water that’s 185-190 degrees rather than 212 (boiling). A good rule of thumb is to remove the kettle from the stove when the first wisp of steam escapes the spout.
2) Brewing or infusing time should be between two and three minutes rather than three to four as with black tea.

Loose Tea Vs. Tea Bags:  Tea bags are relatively new on the tea scene. According to Wikipedia, tea bags first become commercially available in 1904. Prior to that only loose tea was available. Tea bags are popular because they’re easy to use and less messy. But many tea blenders or wholesalers chop the tea into tiny pieces, some of which are merely specks that some tea experts call “dust.” Loose tea provides more flavor because the leaf particles are larger and contain more oil, which contributes to taste. But tea bags, because of their ease of use, greatly outsell loose tea. A good cup of tea can be made with a tea bag, but the quality is generally better with loose tea.

Using Loose Tea:  My Bee House Teapot came with an infuser, a screened container that fits inside the teapot. Infusers can be purchased separately but beware that some teapot lids won’t fit over them. If your teapot lid has a little nodule (bump) on one side that helps prevent it from falling off while pouring, it won’t fit over an infuser. To make two cups of tea, I pour a rounded teaspoon of tea into my teapot’s infuser, and pour boiling water over it. Then I vary the amount for subsequent pots if I want it stronger or weaker. The infuser can be lifted out, and the used tea leaves can be easily discarded. I’ve used loose tea without an infuser, too, by placing the tea in the bottom of my preheated teapot. That works well, but removing the wet tea leaves can be messy.
  
Storing Tea:  Because tea is a leaf, it is sensitive and fragile. It is best if stored properly, which means away from heat and light. Often tea is sold in tin or metal containers. The tin keeps the tea dry, blocks light, and separates it from other aromas from food products in your pantry or cupboard, which also affect taste. If you buy tea that comes in a tin, before long you’ll have a small collection of perfect tea containers. Don’t store tins over the stove; rather, store them away from the heat of your oven. Some tea comes in foil, resealable packets, which are fine storage containers.
  
Health Benefits of Tea:  Scientific research has indicated that tea has many health benefits including improving cardiovascular health, reducing risks of several forms of cancer, aiding the immune system, contributing to oral health, and helping to prevent obesity, osteoporosis, and kidney stones. These apply to both green and black tea. Some forms of flavanoids, which contain antioxidant properties, differ between green and black tea, but the differences are minor. We hear more about the benefits of green tea, mostly because the initial research of the health benefits of tea was conducted in Asia, where green tea is preferred. Later studies involving black tea have found the same benefits with only minor differences. As a result, consumers may follow their taste preferences and receive the same health benefits.

Many web sites contain health information regarding the benefits of tea. Here’s one from WebMD: http://tinyurl.com/ddakal

Cleaning a Teapot:  After a while tannins (byproducts of vegetative material) build up on the inside of teapots. It may not cause a lot of harm, but looks unattractive, and eventually may affect the taste of tea, especially if you brew several different types of tea. A major concern is protecting the glaze on the inside of the teapot. Its smoothness minimizes the build up of tannins, and precludes the growth of things you don’t want in your cup. Accordingly, it’s not a good idea to use harsh scrapers or chemicals on the inside surface. But not to worry; a much easier method of getting rid of the built-up material is at hand, and the item you need is most likely already in your pantry: baking soda.

In a mixing bowl or measuring cup, make a mixture of about a cup of very hot tap water and around a tablespoon of baking soda–doesn’t have to be exact. Stir until the baking soda is dissolved, then pour the mixture into your teapot. (Using an alternate vessel to dissolve baking soda in water precludes using a spoon to stir the mixture in a teapot, which may damage the glaze.) Add hot water to fill the teapot, or so that the level rises above the level of built up tannins. Replace the lid and let it sit until the mixture cools to room temperature–a couple of hours will suffice. 

Rinse with plenty of cold water. A soft sponge can be used to further remove stubborn tannins. If some are still present, repeat the process. I've never had to do it more than twice.

My Bee House teapot, an 18-ounce Saturn. It's about seven years old, and is used at least once every day, more so during winter. Tannins are visible in the photo below, and they often appear within a few weeks of daily use.  

Here is the same teapot after cleaning it with baking soda as described above. 

Odds and Ends (and weird musings):

- Tea Bag Design: The original tea bags were cloth envelopes. Today they’re made of paper similar to that used in coffee filters, or nylon. In 1952 Thomas Lipton patented the “flow-through tea bag,” and they’re still in use today, not only by Lipton but by other reputable tea companies. Tea expands as it is brewed, and the bag must have sufficient room to allow for its expansion, and that’s the only design criteria that matters. It seems to me that flow-through tea bags are too confining. I like pyramid-shaped tea bags such as those used by PG Tips, a tea blend from England. They have plenty of room for the tea leaves to expand during the infusion process. Some of Lipton’s better teas now come in pyramid-shaped bags, and I’m puzzled why any companies still use flow-through bags, unless it’s a matter of economics. I see the design as little more than a marketing gimmick.

- My Favorite Teas:  I like estate teas. These are grown in tea plantations, known as estates. They are not blended, but rather are picked from the same estate, then collectively processed. Each estate tea has its own quality with regard to taste and boldness, and I haven't found a bad one yet. The factors that produce individual qualities of tea include climate, elevation, soil quality, and a few other factors.

- Tea Blends:  Most tea is blended, which is to say tea from various plantations are mixed together to produce a certain taste sensation or quality. Some blends contain ten or more different teas, some of which are available only during certain seasons. When some teas are out of season, blenders replace them with  one or two others–a mini-blend if you will–which maintains the original taste. A benefit is that blends offer the same quality and taste regardless of the season.

- Restaurant Tea:  Most tea connoisseurs do not order tea in restaurants because they don’t serve a good cup of tea as described above. The problem usually relates once again to water temperature. They have “hot water” but it comes from the coffee machine or similar appliance and is heated only to about 180- to 185-degrees fahrenheit. For good black tea, as we’ve seen, the water must come to a boil, or 212-degrees F. Green tea might be okay in most American restaurants provided you remove the tea bag after 2 to 3 minutes, but not black tea. An exception to the restaurant policy involves Chinese restaurants; their tea is fine.

- The Humble Teaspoon:  I suspect, but haven't been able to confirm, that teaspoons were originally used to measure loose tea. Tablespoons may have been used during meals, hence the name. I've read that teaspoons were originally used to stir tea, but that doesn't make sense to me. Anything could be used for that. But a smaller spoon became a useful measuring implement for measuring tea. Why else would they be called teaspoons? As further evidence, one need not look far to learn that teaspoons were originally smaller than they are today--1/4th of a tablespoon, at the time tea was first beginning to show up in Europe. As it became more common and less expensive, more of it was used to make a cup of tea, and teaspoons were increased to their current size, 1/3rd of a tablespoon. If it were only used for stirring, the size wouldn't have been important.

- Why I Use an 18-ounce Teapot:   I make two cups of tea at a time. I measured the volume of the mugs I own, and they average 9-ounces. So an 18-ounce teapot is the perfect size for making two cups of tea.

Final Note:  If you’re still reading, congratulations. Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question. I am definitely not a tea expert, but I may be able to answer a few questions. Otherwise, I hope this helps you to make a fine cup of tea!


Roger Hayes
Carlyle, Illinois, USA
rhayes17@gmail.com

The Porters

I played in several rock groups in the 60s and 70s in Freeport, Illinois, my hometown, beginning the year I graduated from high school and extending over the next eight years, with the exception of two I spent in the Army.

My first band was the Rebels with my brother on drums. It lasted about a year until Dan, the bass player, went off to college. The next band lasted until I was drafted.

Shortly after returning home from the Army I was asked to join what became the most successful group I played with. They were the Porters--the name came from Freeporters, dropping the free part. Don Herbig, whom I played with in the Rebels, was on lead guitar, and I played rhythm. Tom Meinders was the main lead vocalist. Tom was from my high school class, and we grew up in the same Sunday School class. The bass player and drummer, respectively, were Denny Kuhl and Tony Cannova formerly of Freeport's most popular group in history, the Nomadds.

I learned the band's material and sang lead on about a third of the group's repertoire. The band's trademark was three-part harmony, and the band was popular and had quite a following. We played every weekend for about a year, and then Don Herbig enlisted in the Army because he was about to get drafted. (Enlisted soldiers had more choice over military assignments.) We couldn't find another lead guitarist, but we knew a keyboardist from another town who was willing to join. That meant that if the band were to continue, I would have to learn to play lead guitar.

I didn't work at the time, and spent many days sitting on my bed with my guitar on my lap listening to songs on the radio and others I'd recorded on a mono cassette recorder and trying to pick out individual lead notes and riffs. Slowly but surely I got the hang of it well enough for the band to resume practicing, and we went on as popular as ever.

The Porters, September 1970, Freeport, Illinois

Performing in Cuba City, Wisconsin in 1971

After about another year Denny Kuhl left the group to play bass with a country band. So we picked up the brother of our keyboard player to replace him, on the left in the above photo. I recorded the band's rehearsals as we were breaking in our new bass player. One of the songs we rehearsed one night in the basement of Tony Cannova's parents' home, was The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore by the Walker Brothers, a British group. Just before we played it, I pressed "record" on my mono cassette recorder. The result has become my all-time favorite recording of the Porters. Here it is with the talented Tom Meinders on lead vocals and me on guitar--the Gibson Les Paul Junior pictured above--and singing high harmony.

The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore

Army Photo Album

July 1968: Back from R&R in Japan with chopsticks in my pocket and an umbrella in my hands. I still have the chopsticks. The bunker belongs to my squad, and was used as a sleeping as well as fighting position.

Checking what's left of an enemy bunker after a battle involving a air strike. Note how the vegetation is most likely destroyed.

Members of my platoon hunkered down after a firefight--low enough to avoid becoming targets yet high enough to see what's going on. Except for the guy standing up on the left taking a leak.

Displaying a captured AK-47 from the back of our squad's armored personnel carrier (M113). I'm wearing new boots; my original pair had worn out. I wore that set of fatigues, the only one I had at the time, for about three months until they rotted off my body.

Firing my captured AK-47 on full automatic. Note my toes--the recoil is throwing me backward. In a year of combat I never fired my weapon in combat on full auto. I did this time only for a photo opportunity.

Three members of my squad waiting for darkness before embarking on an ambush patrol. I'm on the left wearing my normal combat equipment including four hand grenades and 16 magazines of M16 ammunition. Over my shoulder is a belt of M60 ammo for our machine gunner.

A medical evacuation (called dust off) of wounded soldiers following a firefight. Not a good day.

Each squad had an armored personnel carrier, and we always rode on top because of mines and RPGs. Drivers came from our infantry ranks. Crossing rice paddy dikes was a skill our drivers mastered--eventually--climb slowly, then balance on top before descending on the other side. Any deviation ended up with riders thrown to the ground.

My disassembled M16. At first we were issued the original M16s, which jammed frequently. The replacements, which we received in December 1967, were a lot better, but I still cleaned it every day. When sufficient time was available, I even took apart the trigger assembly, as shown.

A friendly poker game by soldiers recovering from wounds in our division base camp at Cu Chi. Note crutches along the wall, and the hint of a bandage on the chest of the soldier on the right, a friend named Bob Ordy.

The Black Virgin Mountain, Nui ba den in Vietnamese, dominated the skyline of our division's area of operations. With minor exceptions, it was the only rise in the landscape, and is etched forever in the memories of soldiers who fought in its shadow. Nui ba den, translated, means Black Lady Mountain. Occasionally we set up at the mountain's base, providing security for a company of engineers who worked there crushing rocks into gravel. I snapped this photo as we were leaving for an operation. The track (armored personnel carrier) behind us is maintaining the proper distance in this area where land mines and ambushes were a concern.

My platoon returning to our company perimeter (right) after a sweep during a hot afternoon. We relaxed as we approached safety, as can be discerned by the way weapons are carried. That's our lieutenant walking in front of the RTO (the guy who carried the radio). Both were prime targets if we made contact. To slay a dragon, chop off its head. Next, cut off communication.

Our company perimeter during the monsoon season from the air. Sandbag bunkers and tracks line the perimeter while the mortar platoon, HQ, and our company's cooks are on the inside. Although it appears haphazard and unruly, it was highly organized and effective.

Our company's chow line in the field. Stations are spread apart in the event of a mortar attack. Our chances of surviving such an attack increased if we were not clustered together.

An afternoon squad patrol while providing security for Tan Son Nhut Air Force Base.

In the rear recuperating from my fourth and last wound, the brass casing from an AK-47 round that penetrated to the bone in my arm during a battle on 19 August 68. I recovered full use of my arm after a month, and because I was due to return home shortly, didn't return to the field.

Military Me--On Point

In a Nutshell:  In May of 1967 I was drafted and for two years became a soldier in the US Army. After six months of training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and subsequently Fort Polk, Louisiana, I flew to what was then South Vietnam to participate in ground action against Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army forces. I served with the second platoon of Charlie Company, 1/5 (Mech) Infantry, 25th Infantry Division--nicknamed Tropic Lightning. I went over as a private first class and eventually became a squad leader. I returned wearing sergeant stripes having been wounded on four occasions.

September 1968, Dau Tieng Basecamp, South Vietnam

On Point:  Given the above, one might surmise that I would have several anecdotes to share, and that hunch would be correct. I wrote extensively about my experiences in the military, and was fortunate to have it published in May 2000 by Presidio Press as a military memoir entitled On Point: A Rifleman's Year in the Boonies: Vietnam 1967 - 1968. The next year St. Martin's Press purchased paperback rights to the book. Shortly thereafter the large-print rights were bought by ISIS Publishing, located in Oxford, England, and they published hardback and paperback editions. The book won a Distinguished Book Award from the Army Historical Foundation, an organization dedicated to the preservation of the history of the American soldier. It also won the Stanley Larsen Award from the 25th Infantry Division Association, an organization comprised of veterans who served with the division.

Army Buddies:  Men at war form some of the closest bonds of society. I came home from Vietnam in 1968, and returned to civilian life in 1969 but to this day some of my closest friends are those from my Vietnam platoon or company. We keep in touch on an almost daily basis, which is wonderful.  

Citation of the Larsen Award

L to R: Presidio Press, St. Martin's Press, ISIS Publishing

Naturalist Me

How I Became A Naturalist: I returned home to Freeport, Illinois from the US Army in May 1969. A friend from my boy scout troop, Jeff, served two tours in Vietnam as a medic, after which he also returned to Freeport, arriving a couple of months after me. About once a week he would call and say, "I can't take it anymore; you wanna go?" After spending a year in the boonies, crowds, busy intersections, honking horns, and other signs of civilization that differed from the jungles of southeast Asia seemed foreign to us. We felt more at home in the woods. So we'd head out. Often we built a fire and roasted hot dogs. Sometimes we camped. Jeff had a canoe, and on several occasions we paddled down Yellow Creek, which flows through Stephenson County, to find a spot we had not previously explored.

It was during these jaunts with Jeff that what I term my scientific curiosity kicked in. I remember the exact moment it happened. We had found a patch of woods we wanted to explore, and we tied Jeff's canoe to a tree, and scampered up a wooded hill. I was the first to reach the top--Jeff was still tying up the canoe--and came face to face with a mysterious bird in the lower branches of a pine tree. It looked at me calmly for a few seconds then flitted away. I was intrigued, wondering what this bird could be. The next day I bought a bird book, and carried it with me when we went to the woods. Soon I added tree and flower field guides, and carried all three books in a backpack.

I identified everything that stood still, and while doing so developed an appreciation for nature which hasn't faded after all these years; rather, it has snowballed. The things I learned led to further appreciation for the natural world, which in turn prompted the desire to learn more.

For the previous few years I had been making my living as a musician, but I was married with a child on the way, so it was time for more financial stability. I decided I wanted to work in wildlife management or ecology--something to do with the natural world I had come to love. My uncle, my mom's brother, was a forester in Virginia, and was offered an honorary PHD and became the Director of the Applied Forestry Research Institute, Syracuse University. I wrote to him for advice. He said I could study Ecology, Biology, or Wildlife Management, but from his experience most of the people doing work in those fields had Forestry degrees. So he recommended that I study Forestry, and at the worst I'd get a job related to what I wanted to do.

That made sense to me, so our small family moved to Carbondale, Illinois and set up housekeeping in a rented mobile home. I attended Southern Illinois University and earned a degree in Forestry (with Specialization in Natural Resources Management). That led to a career as a Park Ranger for the US Army Corps of Engineers, a great job from which after twenty-eight years I am retired.

The mystery bird? It was a Black-capped Chickadee. 

Family

I've been married for 43-years to a girl, the former Lonnie Ferrari, I met in Freeport, Illinois, my hometown.We have two grown sons and four grandkids. Our oldest son, an actor with a day job, lives in LA. He and his wife have a son and a daughter. Our younger son lives half an hour away, and is a musician, also with a day job. He has a son from a previous marriage, and he and his wife have a daughter.

My parents divorced when I was in my early 20s, and Mom remarried and moved to Tucson. Lonnie's parents retired, sold their house, and became full-time RVers. In the mid 70s they found themselves in Arizona where they stayed for the next 35-years. My mom and Lonnie's parents got together regularly while in Arizona.

Our two moms: mine on the left; Lonnie's on the right.

Family Trees:   Because of space limitations, five generations are shown although they go back a lot further. Ancestry research was conducted only on American shores, so flags of origin are used to denote immigrant ancestors.

Roger's Tree

Lonnie's Tree

The Hayes Line in Illinois:    The first Hayes to move to Stephenson County, where I was born and raised, was Lemuel, my great-grandfather. (My dad's middle name was Lemuel, but he didn't like it, so don't tell anyone.) Lemuel was born in Colesville, Broome County, New York. Records do not indicate why he left New York, but apparently he did so alone, and settled in Illinois. He lived for a time in Nauvoo, where he worked as a wagon maker. In the early 1850s, he moved north to Stephenson County, and purchased 110 acres, on which he established a farm. He married his neighbor's daughter, and the couple raised sixteen children, the youngest of whom was my grandfather, Ralph E. Hayes. The farm is located midway on a line extending from Lena to Stockton, and half a mile north of US Route 20. 

Lemuel's farm, identified by the white border:

As it appears today--well, make that last winter.

In April 2013 our family was together--with both sons and their families.

Zander 15, Miranda 2, Autumn 7, Arden 5

Musician Me

How it started:  When I was seven, my family visited my Uncle Hans and Aunt Helen at their home in Monroe, Wisconsin. After supper I explored his home, which was an intriguing log cabin. In a closet within view of the adults sitting at the table drinking coffee and chatting, I found a black instrument case. As the adults watched, I carefully pulled it from the closet and placed it on the floor. Opening the case revealed a banjo. Its intricate design and numerous parts captivated me, and I examined it for several minutes. Then without touching it, I closed the case and returned it to the closet. My parents took notice, and on my next birthday I received a ukulele--the one shown below.
It came with a pamphlet with tuning tips and charts showing about a dozen chords. A few songs with chords superimposed were in the booklet, and that got me started as it was designed to do. The first song I learned was "How Much Is That Doggy In The Window." Thankfully no audio clips from that era exist.

My first ukulele--1955

When I was 12 I added two lower strings and switched to guitar. That was a long time ago, and I recently returned to my ukulele roots after visiting my son in LA, and playing with his ukulele.

Here's me in my kitchen (good acoustics) performing You Make Me Feel So Young.

I also have a digital, multi-track recorder, and have recorded bunches of stuff, mostly from the 1940s, a period of music I have grown to love. My recording process is as follows: First I record my guitar (rhythm guitar). Next I record the lead vocal while listening to the guitar on track 1 in my headphones. Then I add harmony parts, bass, and a second guitar part if applicable. Then when it's all done, I re-record the lead vocal. At that point it's like singing with an orchestra rather than a guitar. It's more fun, and I can do better.

 Here's Moonlight Becomes You, from the 1942 film, Road To Morocco, starring Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.

Moonlight Becomes You

Note: after this song concludes, another starts, but it's not me. If I can find a way, I'll turn that feature off. Meanwhile, feel free to stop the song. 


Music from the 1940s: Back in the 70s I watched a televised mini series about World War II (the big one). In the soundtrack were songs from the period, some of which were by the Glenn Miller Orchestra. I knew just enough to recognize the sound of Glenn Miller, and considered it rather catchy.  A month or so later I found a double album--back in the LP days--on sale, and brought it home. When I put it on the turntable, I was surprised to hear vocalists; I thought it was mostly instrumental. I had a lot to learn. Or maybe relearn since we heard much of this music on our family radio when my siblings are I were kids.

I grew to appreciate the music I heard on that album, and eventually branched out to include Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, and a few others. Since I was a musician, it was only natural to try to play some of the songs I heard via those albums, although the chord progressions are challenging at best.

Another of my favorites is this one, written for the 1941 film Sun Valley Serenade, set at a ski lodge and starring Sonja Henie, John Payne, Lynn Bari, and featuring the Glenn Miller Orchestra.

I Know Why (and So Do You)
 

Ohio Buckeye and Fall Colors