WTIT: The Blog

Thanks to The Gal for authoring this meme. Click on the Sat-9 title of song on the next line below to play.

Saturday 9: Ode to Billie Joe (1967)

If you’re not familiar with today’s song, you can hear it here.

1) This song takes places on “the third of June,” which is described as “another sleepy, dusty” day. Describe the weather where you were on Friday, June 3, 2016. A tidal wave of sorts will blast New England like a tsunami killing every inhabitant, animal and all plant life. Molten lava is expected to rise from the earth’s center to cover the area. The outlook for the weekend is sunny and pleasant.

2) In this song, the family sits down to eat and discuss the doings of their friends and neighbors. Mama, Papa, Brother and Sister were at the table. Who did you have dinner with on Friday? That would be my wife Kathy.

3) Young Billie Joe MacAllister playfully put a frog down another kid’s back. Do you see many frogs where you live? I live with a nearly 300 square mile state park in my back yard. But I live in the WTIT Studio. So no.

4) This song made Mississippi’s Tallahatchie Bridge famous. What’s the name of a bridge in your neighborhood? We are near the Connecticut River so there are a ton of bridges that I cross every day. But do I know one’s name? Nope.

Did you know for a while he was in The beach Boys?

5) Bobbie Gentry often performed with Glen Campbell. Mr. Campbell’s family is very open about Glen’s battle with Alzheimer’s. Is anyone in your life facing this terrible disease? Not yet. But it’s a big family.

6) “Ode to Billie Joe” was made into a movie directed by Max Baer, Jr. Mr. Baer is better known for playing Jethro Bodine in a famous 1960s era sitcom. Can you name it? When you’re resorting to Beverly Hillbillies trivia you are showing your age…

7) Bobbie Gentry made one of her last public appearances in 1981 on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Johnny is now seen in reruns on the Antenna TV channel. Think of the last TV show you watched. Was it new or was it a rerun? I think those terms will soon be antiquated. With the binge watching of shows (Kathy and I had never seen “Mad Men”. Before its last season we watched the entire series. We watched the pilot for “Nurse Jackie” the other night. It’s got two seasons in the book. So I guess it was a “rerun” but we watched it on Netflix.

8) In 1967, when this song was popular, Sweden changed its traffic laws and Swedes began driving on the right. Have you ever driven in a foreign country? If so, did you have a hard time adapting to their laws? No. But when I was in England I took cabs.

9) Random question: Which would you rather have more of — compliments or hugs? Random answer: It depends on who they’re from.

We hope you’ve had a great week! Enjoy the weekend. Join us next time. Same time. Same blog.

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