MY DAD'S DESK

Hello neighbor. Glad you stopped by.

After my sister and I grew up and married we left the farm. After my Grandmother had passed away, Mom and Dad decided to sell the house that he built and move into the old farm house. When you went up the front steps, across the porch and entered the house, right there in the corner was my Dad's desk.  I have no idea where that desk came from or how old it is now, but it was just my Dad's desk.

Dad was still doing his musical stuff, a dance band, and sometimes playing in a church somewhere. But mostly he would be sitting there with a ball point pen in his hand. It is hard to believe that Dad wrote every note on every piece of sheet music  paper for every tune that the band played and the arrangement for every instrument that was in the band.

There were great big thick green note books in piles all around his desk. The note books could never be closed because there were so many sheets of music in each one you could not snap the rings closed to close the cover. But the guys always manged to be able to find the song they needed when Dad called out a song number at a dance somewhere.

Dad not only did all that writing for playing, but he also wrote a number of songs himself.  ''Taking my Time'' was the only song that he had published. I don't think he had any others copyrighted.  He wrote one called "Listen Little Fellow" but never got around to get it published. I have copies of it in his stuff that I have saved. He wrote a very nice song that I sang a number of times at churches. It is called "I've Got A Friend".

I don't know how many of you might be aware that the 23rd Psalm has been put to music by a number of writers. As far as I know none of them follow the words exactly as they are in the Book of Psalms.  Dad put it to music word for word just as it is in the King James Bible. Dad had a way of  using notes in unusual ways and sometimes his music is not as easy to play or sing. I have sung that one also in a number of churches.

Dad wrote a special song he dedicated to our son, Albert, for his wedding. It was called "Take My Hand". He wrote a cover for it that said, " To Al and Linda from Gramp with Love, Your very own wedding song." I sang that at their wedding.  That is a nice memory to share and keep.

His biggest song hit was one he wrote for the State of Maine Bicentennial celebration. It is called, "Maine Bicentennial March" original arrangement - Music and Lyrics by Foster Beach as rendered by the Bank of Maine Bicentennial singers and the University of Maine Bicentennial Band. I love the words to this song and have sung it a number of times. That song was played all over the state by various bands.

 I suppose there are others that I do not know about or have found. I just know that he was always sitting at his desk and with pen in hand writing notes, filling up pages and pages of sheet music papers.

That desk know sits in our daughter's office at Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA where she is a professor of 18th century English Literature. So the desk is still being used for good writing.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you will again some time soon.