Remembering...

This has been a time of reflection for me, prompted by the observance of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. I remember where I was when we heard he had been shot. My mom, two of my sisters, Cassie and Willadeene, and I were leaving the Starday recording studio on Dickerson Road in Nashville that evening. We were recording the gospel album "In The Garden".

As we drove away from the studio, we heard over the car radio that Dr. King had been shot. We were greatly saddened by this tragedy. Mama talked about Corretta Scott King being left alone to raise her children. Someone with Dr. King's desire to help the downtrodden being so violently taken from his mission affected us all profoundly.

To this day, I wonder what would have happened if Dr. King had survived. With the greatness that his short life engendered, I wonder what his life would have entailed had the assassins bullet not taken his life?

The music of that time was reflected in the struggle of people. Johnny Cash recorded a live album at Folsom Prison which becomes a big hit. Elvis Presley made a comeback, Janis Joplin was huge and so was Jimi Hendrix. James Brown sang,"Say It Loud- I'm Black and I'm Proud". The Vietnam war raged on. My son was born in November of that year. And Judy Collins' song "Who Knows Where The Time Goes" was a hit.

Oh well, it has been quite a ride.

Little did I know that with the invention of the first word processor at Stanford University that same eventful year that we would be taken over by computers. Shucks, I can't even find spell check on this thing. Oh well, just remembering.

Love ya,

Stella.