Grammys | Karen McFarland

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Did y’all watch the Grammy’s?

It was heartbreaking to watch Jackson Browne and the Eagles play together as a tribute to Glenn Frey who passed away on January 18th. They performed “Take It Easy”, which Jackson Browne wrote with a little assistance from his upstairs neighbor Glenn, while living in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles.

Jackson would end up giving this song to the Eagles and it became their first #1 hit on their first album in 1972.

There’s been many other times that Browne and the Eagles have played together throughout the years. And one of those times I remember with fondness, because I was there along with the other 55,000 in attendance.

It was the most anticipated concert of the year, the twentieth anniversary of the death of James Dean just two days away; a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, the skies clear and blue, the temperature perfect for an outdoor concert at Anaheim Stadium in Orange County, California. My boyfriend (now husband) had asked me out on a date and purchased tickets to see one of my favorite groups. I was so excited. I had only been to a couple of concerts before and this was my first outdoor concert at a stadium and it was huge.

Huge perhaps is an understatement. Yes, there was a huge crowd. Yes, there was huge anticipation. Yet, it was the performers that made this concert such a huge event.

You see, the Eagles weren’t the only band who played that day. Besides the opening act Toots and the Maytals, we were entertained by Linda Ronstadt and Jackson Browne with his two year old son frolicking across the stage. Cute!

Do you see how much it cost for this concert?

Ten bucks! Ha, ha, ha! Mind you, ten dollars only bought you general admission. But that just meant it was festival seating. Since the stage was set up in center field, everyone stood and sat as close as possible. Yet, as it turned out, we were at an advantage because those with assigned seats were clear in the back.

Score!

First to perform was the group Toots and the Maytals. While they never achieved the commercial success of the Wailers, Toots & the Maytals were nearly as important in the history of Jamaican music as Bob Marley.

Next came Jackson Browne. Okay, I’ll just come clean right now and tell you I had a huge crush on Jackson Browne. What girl didn’t? And when he sang Doctor My Eyes, no girl in the audience had a problem with their eyes. We could see just fine. My, oh my. ☺

(This was taken at the concert. I told you Jackson Browne’s son was cute!)

Then Linda Ronstadt took the stage and wow what a voice. “You’re no good, you’re no good, you’re no good, baby you’re no good.” I don’t know who or what she was talking about because she sounded really good to me.

Finally, last but not least, the Eagles walked on stage. Now you have to know this was quite a turn of events since the Eagles were once the backup band for Linda Ronstadt. Oh what a difference a few short years can make. But that’s the amount of success the Eagles had achieved even before their Greatest Hits album was released the following year becoming the best selling album of the 20th century.

And to think this occurred before the Hotel California album.

Huge indeed!

(EaglesOnlineCentral)

Yet, here we were rocking out to hits such as Already Gone; Witchy Woman; On the Border; One of These Nights; James Dean; Take It to the Limit; Peaceful, Easy Feeling; Desperado; Best of My Love; Along with the rich harmonization of Take It Easy and Lyin’ Eyes.

Now how many bands do you know can kick out a stream of hits such as these in a matter of 3 years?

But that wasn’t the end of the concert.

As the Eagles began to end their set, a surprise guest walked on stage.

Joe Walsh.

The crowd went crazy. None of us knew this was his initial introduction into the band. We had no idea he would be there. His name wasn’t on the ticket.

He began strumming a riff with his guitar. Over and over, the notes flowed through the airwaves and took over the entire stadium. We all knew we were in for a special treat when we recognized the song.

Oh yeah, baby. Rocky Mountain Way.

The crowd went wild. Everyone was on their feet, including those in the back in their seats. People were dancing, jumping up and down, hootin’ and hollerin’. And when we turned around, we noticed something strange, something quite frightening.

We watched as the whole upper first tier of the stadium tottered. We’re talking reinforced concrete nodding up and down like an ocean wave filled with row upon row of bouncing people.

Was it an earthquake? Were we actually having an earthquake? After all, this was California.

We had no idea if the tier would collapse, or if the people would live through the song, until it became evident that the tier bobbed up and down to the beat. Ah, this was no earthquake. The girders were reacting to the weight as everyone danced and stomped to the rhythm of the music.

I looked over to my boyfriend who knew a thing or two about construction and he reassured me that the building was made to give with weight or in case of an earthquake. Okay, that made me feel a little bit better. But at the end of the song, they made an announcement from the stage asking everyone on the first tier to sit through the encore.

What an experience. It was a one of a kind experience that I will never forget.

This memory brings me back to the other night. I was surprised and amazed how Don Henley and the rest of the band were able to pull it together so soon after their founder and close friend had died. Although, if you watch closely, you can see the strain and bittersweet sorrow on their face, as each respectable member cladded in black, struggled to make it to the end of the song. In fact, when Jackson Browne sang the line, “but we will never be here again,” he almost lost it.

Well, I lost it and so did many other fans. Yes, it would’ve been nice if they’d had a more formal introduction. And of course the fans would have loved to hear more than one song.

But you know what? How they got through that one song is beyond comprehension. These men were dealing with raw emotion. Their hearts were still bleeding from the unexpected loss of their colleague and friend, and the knowledge that they might never play as the Eagles again.

We’re all going to miss you Glenn.

“There’s a hole in the world tonight,
There’s a cloud of fear and sorrow,
There’s a hole in the world tonight,
Don’t let there be a hole in the world tomorrow”

So even though Glenn Frey is already gone, let’s hope his memory will still linger on.

So what do you think? Did you watch the Grammy’s? Are you an Eagles fan? Who is your favorite group? What fond memory do you have of your favorite concert?

Cheers everyone! I hope that life is treating you well. And, as always, thank you so much for all your support and wonderful comments!
Karen

I stole that phrase from my sister Janet who just happens to be a faithful follower of my blog by the way. Say hi to Janet everyone! Sisters rock, don’t they? She’s so dying right now. LOL! Gotcha! *wink*

Anyway, for breakfast and dinner, but not for lunch?

What in the world does she mean by that?

One could only guess. But when you’ve been married as long as she and I have, you and your mate seem to blend into one. This doesn’t mean you’ve lost your own identity. It just means that you may finish each other’s sentences. It means you know each other’s moves and decision making process. In fact, I sometimes wonder why we even bother to talk to each other at all.

Just kidding! 🙂

Yet, during the course of a normal day, a couple may not spend all that much time together. They may both leave for work. Or one may go to work, while the other stays home with the children. And yes that is work. The point is, you both go about your day in a different direction.

Thus, you see each other for breakfast and dinner, but not for lunch.

Unless…You’re Pat Benatar.

(Photo: Stephen Lovekin)

For over thirty years Pat Benatar and her husband Neil Giraldo have been tied at the hip. “It’s kind of an incestuous relationship,” Pat told Parade magazine about her marriage. “There isn’t any part of our lives that isn’t intertwined. So even when there’s a conflict, you just have to resolve it.”

Neil interjected, “It was a partnership from the very beginning. We were just two missing pieces that found each other.”

Okay Pat, he is definitely a keeper!

Yet, Pat and her husband Neil’s relationship didn’t start out way. In her autobiography released in 2010, “Between a Heart and a Rock Place,” Pat says that when they met, she was separated from an army soldier that she had married at age 19. In fact, she knew on the day they wed that she was making a terrible mistake. At the same time, Neil wasn’t really free either because he was in a relationship with actress Linda Blair.

So what happened, considering that Pat says she wasn’t even looking for a boyfriend?

She said, “The most drop-dead gorgeous man I had ever seen in my life” walked in to her rehearsal one day and she thought, “Girl, you have just seen the father of your children.”

Then, while they were on tour, rehearsing and recording her debut album, Neil asked Pat to have a drink with him—alone. During their conversation at the restaurant that night, Neil confessed to her that he suspected Blair of having an affair. After he said that, she remembered thinking, “You…Are…Mine.”

Okay, he was a goner. Yet, how do we know these things girls?

It only took a few weeks before they became an official couple. Then, after Pat’s divorce came through in 1979, she and Neil married in Hawaii a few years later. From that time on, they have collaborated on a professional and personal level for thirty years and are still going strong.

Since Pat and Neil met, their journey has taken them through a dozen albums and more than 20 tours while they watched 19 hit singles reach the Top 40 chart. Pat’s won four Grammys, yet she insists that she and Neil “met as regular People” and that’s what helped them plant their relationship on terra firma.

Pat Benatar turned 60 last week and is still as dynamic as ever. She and her husband were on tour during last summer and will be in concert at selected cities around the U.S. throughout the spring.

“Treat Me Right” and I’ll be there in a heartbeat Pat.

Pat’s long partnership with her husband Neil is a result of mutual respect and acceptance that failure just isn’t an option. “I feel about him now the way I felt about him the very first moment I saw him, and I am so grateful for that,” Pat said to Parade. “We’re nuts about each other.”

Sounds like Pat and her husband are together not only for breakfast and dinner, but also for lunch. And something about that just doesn’t sound normal. Do you know what I’m saying?

Yet, the funny thing is, I know how Pat feels. And I have to admit I too feel the same way. Over the many years, my DH and I still share the same spark we felt when we first met. Although, I can’t say we’ve spent that many lunches together.

Well, until recently. 🙂

For some couples, this could be a cause of strain, as in, “Love Is A Battlefield.” Yet, I tend to agree with Pat. When two people are intertwined as a couple like we are, you need to have mutual respect and acceptance. And if there’s conflict, you just have to fix it. Failure is not an option because, “We Belong Together.”

So you may want to remember this…For Breakfast and Dinner, but not for Lunch. For you never know. It might just be the adage that saves your marriage.

Say, what do you think? How long have you been together with your special someone? Are you tied at the hip? Or do you find a unique time for yourself, interspersed with that significant other? What is the common thread that keeps you together?

Thank you so much for dropping by and for all your wonderful comments!
Karen

Karen McFarland

Life Happens

Tag Archives: Grammys

Already Gone

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For Breakfast & Dinner, But Not For Lunch!

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