Satya and Odell summer 1959
It was already two nights ago on the third and final night of my stay with my older Half-Sister,
Satya and her husband John. This would be the night that Satya would join John and I in a music jam.
Satya on Accordion, John on Mandolin and me on guitar, where I was able. After a tune I asked Satya if she could remember the songs that she and Odell, played for us in the summer of 1959 when one very cool Road Trip reached it's destination with a week visit to her 'real Dad' and his family where we lived in the small village of Round Pond, Maine.
'Of course I remember those tunes.' she told me. We proceeded through a long set list, with various degrees of musical success but definitely with great fun..
Here is a partial set list of what you would have heard in Satya's music room in Surrey BC in 2013 and what you also would have heard in the Meyer living room in Maine on a certainday/evening in the summer of 1959.
Bye Bye Love
How Much Is That Doggie in the Window
Fraulein
Heartaches by the Number
Jambalaya
The Irish Washerwoman
Que Sera'
Here is a little more of the story of their trip. Satya and Odell were 17 and 16 years old, Satya had just graduated High School. She (They) bought a brand new Renault automobile with the engine in the back, she says Renault and VW were competing for business so they were offering pretty good deals. They traded their 10 year old car in as the $75.00 downpayment and off they went.
They had written all kinds of relatives across the country telling of their impending trip, and usually she says they would be sleeping in the car (Satya on the back seat, Odell on the front) every other night and they had enough relatives across the country that they would be put up somewhere with family the next night, they came across the Rockies and across the country when most of the interstate system had not been built. They stopped at their (and mine) Uncle Normie's and Uncle Andy's place first in Massachussetts before finally making it up to Maine. They showed slides with the projector that they brought with them. They brought their accordion and guitar. They stayed with us for a week.
She tells me relatives sent them a little money before the trip began. She tells me my Dad sent $25.00
which I was glad to hear, sounds like real big money though, for a family that didn't have too much.
I can somehow remember the trip out to Loud's Island. I remember the music (kind of). Not much more. I must have been a bit in awe of the whole moment of time.. still am.
10,000 mile round trip total cost $95.00
Am running out of time here at the computer, now a day later, at the Woodstock, Oregon Library... story to continue
.......
Odell was at 16, already a pretty good mechanic. She says she remembers driving through NYC on the return trip with the engine 'sputtering' as she says. Odell had the car back to running well the next day. She created a 2 hour DVD with slides and photos from their entire journey. She tells me they even have a musical soundtrack. I never got to hear it, we just didn't have the time.. maybe next time.
I wish I still had a digital camera and had made some recordings like I used to do... Course there was always the issue if I could ever get around to do anything near as together as Satya's DVD.
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