I remember lots of nights listening to my grandmother play The Tennessee Waltz. It was a favorite in her home and with her friends. My mother would often hum it and my father could sing it word for word and with great feeling. I'm sure that many of you (of a certain age) remember the song well.
Years later, I would impress the family by telling them I was going to school with one of her nephews.☺ (She grew up in a large family and had a great many nieces and nephews.)
Most recently, and that was five years ago, I wrote about attending a concert at the Fryeburg Fair...
But I wasn't there for any of the above, I just wanted to see Patti Page who was the featured performer of the evening. She of "How Much is that Doggie in the Window" and "Tennessee Waltz" fame. My earliest memories of her are from her picture featured on sheet music that sat on my grandmother's piano. Last night Miss Page was in fine voice singing before an extremely large crowd...standing room only. (I was one of the chain link fence huggers.) I learned a few new things about her last evening and one is that she's in the maple syrup business as she and her husband own a farm in New Hampshire where they harvest maple syrup.
I see from the treasures I have of that evening that somewhere in this house is a cd of Christmas music. I'm on a search.
Patti Page left us on New Year's Day, though we have our memories and recordings of her smooth, mellow voice. I will remember her as one who had a great deal of pluck right into her senior years.
Do you have a favorite Patti Page song?