by G E Barr

Created on: January 13, 2009

SMOOTH OPERATORS

Can anything any richer than the Staple Singers come out of Mississippi? Before you answer that, go to imeem.com and listen to Cleotha and Yvonne spin the silken, I'll Take You There, just for your ears. I cannot listen to it and sit still. I couldn't at 12 years old either. It touches my soul like no other song I've ever listened to. I can be terribly angry and listen to Cleotha and Yvonne Staples, and all I can think is, I really do know a place. Or was it Mavis? Forward, forward we go through this place we are all born to and we go through so fast. Come on now, play on it.

Rather than be concerned about my lack and loneliness, I can be content with my back porch, watermelon life, swimming in those glorious voices. The very song reminds me that I am alive. It is just that grass roots, watching the sun sink into a field kind of song.

I can listen to that song and dance like I'm on my way to heaven and nothing can stop me. I can look into the tragedy of life and feel the pain and smile, because I know a place. And it reminds me that I cannot hide from humanity. Those upright, bipedals are everywhere. I just dance around them.

Yes, every now and then I have church on my own and Cleotha, Yvonne and Pops provide the music. It isn't about colors and more about a place where none of it matters.

Nat King Cole singing Unforgettable is unforgettable. Nat King Cole's voice reminds me of the aroma of fresh linen and dewy roses. He rarely is my pick for a good listen, but I grew up in the 60's and 70's and the music I preferred back then, was what we called soul. I did not come to appreciate Led Zeppelin until I was 40.

Another great unforgettable is Louis Armstrong belting out Hello Dolly...and then there's Wonderful World. The lyrics to Wonderful World are like a note written by an innocent child in his old age. It's just so inspiring to one's connection to humanity and the hope that there could be souls who see beyond the tragedy to behold the wonderful world. Louis Armstrong was magical and transcended the viscosity of fear and hatred because he knew about the never ending river and he flowed with it.

Yes, to me Black is beautiful in many ways. I do not attempt to define it, just as I don't attempt to define White beauty. There are simply human beings who ease me and deep beyond the hardness, my soul flutters with memory of something good.

The beauty of music is that it requires no politics or social events to listen to it. Funny how I never feel alone when I listen to The Staple Singers and no, I can't take you there.

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