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Plethora of Pop’s Thanks/Giving Challenge
Thanksgiving Eve 1973
Thankful moments in song and time
Some moments truly seem as if they’re on repeat, a stuck needle on an otherwise flawless vinyl record. At Thanksgiving 1973, I was a high school senior, looking vaguely forward to the last part of my secondary ed life, unsure how all the time had passed, and stunned to have a friend group like the one that we had cemented in place.
You could have recorded us for a twelve song LP and never wondered at how well we got along, or how we could turn a casual night before Thanksgiving into a medley of sound and rhythm. I could be overly romantic, nostalgic, and even sentimental here, something I’m accused of often.
“Gonna take a sentimental journey…”
Maybe I’ve never loved that song, but like a roasted turkey and cornbread dressing, it’s been a part of my life for as long as I can recall.
But back to my friends.
There was Jimbo, the instigator, the one who centered us with plans and outrageous ideas — who insisted we attend live Birmingham theater (high school kids on their own attending The Threepenny Opera and Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris surely means something if you dig into Bessemer/Birmingham circa the early…