"The now-famous name came from a story about Australian aborigines who, on cold nights in the outback, sleep with their dogs for warmth. The coldest evenings are known as three dog nights."
That explanation came from their "official" website. I have also seen it said that the story was Eskimo/Inuit. Whichever... They were one of my earliest musical memories. They did so many, many fine songs. It would be impossible for me to pick just one as my "favorite". Tho I have spent hours and days and weeks pondering the words to this one:
Three Dog Night - Black & White
It came out in 1972 or 1973. I was 5 or 6 years old. Up to that time I had not seen many people who were not white. Except the older black couple who would come to my Granny's back door to sell their cakes. Yummy cakes they were, too. But they would never come to the front door, only the back. Curiouser and curiouser to a young girl who had never actually been taught to be prejudice. Anyway... like I said, their music made me think from a very young age.
Like this "One" which came out in 1969, when I was all of 3. It made me listen, it made me think, it made me feel... something... even at that tender age.
Three Dog Night - One
BJ Thomas had that effect on me too. His music is also one of my earliest memories. I still love his voice to this day. Besides, even at 5-6 years old I could see he was quite handsome. (I'm not kidding, he was, is, what ever...)
B.J. Thomas - Hooked On A Feeling
The point is: as a human being, we are born with the ability, the instinct to love and to want love. We learn to hate as we grow. It is something we have to be taught. As a child, growing up in the South, I didn't understand that I was supposed to think of those two old black people any differently than I thought of any older person in my church or neighborhood. I showed them respect just like I did my Granny and her friends. I didn't understand why they didn't ever come to the front door just like everyone else. And thank the Lord that's a lesson I never did learn.
As many of you know, we had to take Thomas to the emergency room late Wed. night/early Thur. morning (May 8) because of strong abdominal pain. It was an "enlarged" appendix. Thank God it was caught before full blown Appendicitis struck. He had it removed about 2pm Thur. afternoon. He had a reaction to the anesthetic, so they kept him in the hospital an extra day to make sure it was all out of his system. Naturally I stayed at the hospital with him the whole time. Except for a couple hours I took right after his surgery (while he was still sleeping it off) to go home and eat a real supper and take a shower and grab my meds. We came home Saturday, the 10th. Sunday, Mother's Day, he and I just slept all day and lazed around. We are recovering nicely now. Thomas has not asked for any of his pain medication. He is eating and sleeping normally. The only problem I have is keeping him from doing anything too strenuous. He can't lift anything, or be pullng and pushing on stuff until the staples come out. I will take him to see the doctor on the 20th to get that done and then he should be pretty much back to normal.
I have had an eventful few weeks and I hope all the excitement is over for now.
6 comments:
I loved BJ Thomas (Oh I love a rainy night) and thouroughly enjoyed his voice growing up :D
I never did understand prejudice.. and being a girl that got her fill.. I still don't understand it. We weren't born deficient.. with others didn't think that way. Heck.. I can't get my father to stop thinking that way.. /groan...
Thanks for the update on Thomas. Was about to ask about him! Glad they caught it fast and happy he's recovering just nicely. Don't worry about Sunday.. the fact that you were home in your own bed lounging around is a gift onto itself :)
I am so excited. Someone finally posted about songs that I know and like. Thanks Holly...maybe I am not so old after all. I have always liked Hooked on a Feeling.
So happy to hear that Thomas is doing so well. Kids are a wonder. We would be moping around for weeks.
I'm very happy to hear that Thomas is doing so well.
"...Barack Obama and race relations being in the news so much lately."
Again, this must be a demographic thing. Obama's race really has never been an issue here in California.
When I was a teen and I visited my Dad in South Carolina, I got the chance to met my stepmom's family. We went over to her aunt's house and hung out- ate, watch t.v., that sort of stuff. Her aunt had a daughter about my age, so I was looking forward to hanging out with someone.
Anyhow, everyone was sitting around watching "In Living Color" (do you remember the show?) There was a really funny bit on, and the young girl turned to me and said, "Those n*****s are so funny." My jaw dropped in complete shock.
If I said anything like that in front of my mother, she'd would have washed my mouth out with soap (and rightfully so!!)
I never knew what Three Dog Night's group name meant so that was very educational! I just thought they were three guys. Also, I didn't know they did the "Black and White" song so that was a nice addition.
Although racism does exist in California, the most prevalent type of prejudice I see in our area is money or financial status. We're a superficial state!
Enjoyed the BJ Thomas song as well. It's been a while since I've heard the original (I have the Blue Suede version from one of those 70's AM Classics CDs)
Glad to hear Thomas is doing better.
Oh Mr. Mike.. We get everything here.. I know India has a caste system.. but we have it here.. It's the ghetto poor and the filthy rich (and even then the line moves further and further back.. that would constitute ANYONE making more than $40k a year.... sad isn't it).
The thing I had in my house was polar opposites.. My Dad is a flaming racist.. anyone that is not Male (yes he's sexist) and Puerto Rican (FROM the island.. none of these "basterdized born in the USA people calling themselves Rican".. .. Then you had my Mom who truly is tolerant (true sense of the word none of this liberal crap these days where they call everyone biggots if they don't believe the same way they do).. You can imagine the clashes over the years between these 2 and us 3 kids stuck in the middle.. To top it off my 2 older sisters were from my Mom's first relationship (she never married the dirtbag..) so you had the kid hate too going on with my sisters.
Outside our doors was ghetto North Philadelphia with enough hate to fill several cities. The few good things I remember about my Mom (I count my sister as properly raising me.. that's another story) is that she taught us English.. to speak it properly. To be respectful. To be a contributing member of society.. Funny though.. she had one more line "Because you don't want to give them another reason to hate you"... I never forgot that. I knew I was behind the eightball because of who I was when I was born... to this day I get "oh you are so educated".. like I was some person born with a difficiency.. Morons..
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