MUSIC AND GETTING LOST...A FAMILY TRADITION!

Tonight's story by my lifetime friend, Carol Kahn.

Anita,

Like many other Anita stories, my Anita story also involves music and adventures getting lost, but I’ll add sewing to the mix!  

A particular sewing memory stands out—that of you making costumes for the ill-fated trip to Georgia Southern high school music competition.  Margaret, Sue, and Adrian did a beautiful job singing, especially on the a Capella song, “Blues Around My Head”—I can’t believe I remember that!  I was the one who got lost in nerves on the piano for the second song, “Sunrise, Sunset.”   We were woefully under prepared given the competition, but it was definitely an adventure :o  !!!

Then, there’s the story of Margaret and me getting lost in Linville picking blackberries and hiking with Snowball, but that’s another story for another time….

Love, Carol
(scroll down for the link to Blues Around My Head.")

My Note: We were in 10th grade at Country Day. A music competition was new news to Country Day. We learned later that the public schools had been active for some years. (Read: They knew what they were doing.) Our friend Sue first had the idea of creating a girls' trio. She loved the Chad Mitchell Trio and knew just the song we could sing. First order of business: finding a willing third. Second order of business: writing down the mandatory score to hand to the judges. We roped a semi-willing third, Adrian, and then headed for my house. Picture this.

Next to the front door in our living room was the record player. Down the hallway at the other end of our house sat the piano. Sue didn't read music or play the piano. I didn't know the song and had never tried to write down music. And there were, of course, three parts. So here we go. Carefully place the needle on the record(!) to hear the first note. Stop. Hum that note as we both ran back to the piano. Rummage around the keys until one matched our continuous single note. Grab a pencil and figure out how to write that note. Sometimes we managed to get a few notes at a time. We did this for the WHOLE SONG ! With great fervor,  purpose, and delight.

With each passing afternoon, we remained undeterred. As we were doing our laps from Chad Mitchell in the living room to piano in the back room, Mother--piano major in college with a great eye for a challenge-- cheered us on. 

Having learned this song by heart and then having taught it to our increasingly reluctant third, Adrian, we relaxed with confidence as we expected a little breather before the competition. (As you might guess, I could sing all parts in my sleep to this day.) But wait!  Every trio must have TWO songs! Someone forgot to mention this part. No time to schmooze with Chad Mitchell again; so Sue and I ran to all the music stores (there were two on Broughton Street), frantically looking for something that would work. (Note skill level: Sue still didn't play or read music; neither of us had ever sung in much of anything organized; I had taken 3 years of half-hearted piano and had quit because I never practiced.) 

With one week left before the competition, on the dusty second floor of Portman's Music downtown, we chose the only song that sounded familiar: Sunrise, Sunset from Fiddler on the Roof. Immediate next steps:learn another three-part harmony AND find someone to learn it on the piano in a week. Enter Carol Kahn, accomplished piano student by virtue of the fact that she hadn't quit taking lessons. (Singers had to memorize, but accompanists could use music. Most accompanists would have had more than a week.) 

About that time, a thought about outfits popped up. We were working in our own little world (surprise, surprise). It was 1972, and we decided that maybe we should have matching outfits. No budget,  no stylist on board, but with Carol's mother and Anita willing to sew for us, we managed to find the ugliest, most tragic  material on the bargain table to make 4 long, baby doll jumpers. More suitable for washrags, it bore our school green and gold colors, and it appeased Adrian, borderline defector throughout the adventure, who didn't want to shell out money for this nightmare.

The judges said that if we'd performed both songs the way we sang Blues Around My Head, we would've placed. Sunrise, Sunset brought snickers from the audience which were most audible during the piano pause, followed by each singer losing her place in domino fashion. I was relieved that we managed to finish the piece at all-- even if in unison-- with piano intact. We humbly crept off stage in our washrag dresses as we watched our competition in matching prom dresses float by. 

Most likely, none of this would have happened had it not been for my mother Anita who encouraged us all the way through, made at least 3 of the 4 dresses, and I think took us to the competition. (I'm not sure where any school officials were in this entire venture; their presence was strangely not present.) In true Anita fashion, never mind that we were the only trio that didn't place. Never mind tragic outfits and glaring mistakes. We had taken on a Great Adventure, learned one song really well, learned lots more than we bargained for, and we made it to the Finish Line together with a great story to tell!

Music, getting lost, outlandish costumes, good company, great fun. I can hear the Apple Tree chuckling now, "Remember where you came from, Little Apple. You haven't fallen so far after all."

Catch a glimpse of what you missed and listen to the Chad Mitchell trio singing Blues Around My Head, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCy1BYiLFks