Real People with Real Problems

“Skid Row Sounds”  Songs and Stories from the Salvation Army.  1968.

Little Lowell Sings Praise the Lord!

“Something Worth Living For” Donnie Saxe. On the Crusade label. Donnie was born in 1948. Was paralyzed from the neck down from Polio in 1956. And was born again in 1973 at the West United Methodist Church in Ellery, Illinois. Donnie must sleep with an iron lung each night. Side one is Donny’s story and his testimony.

Thanks to all for suggesting titles for this post.  Check out the comments for some funny ones.  In the end, I went with a take on one of my favorite Aretha Franklin songs.  (Being a Matty myself you know!)  Thanks to Lp cover lover Daniel Andre for sharing this amazing cover.

She gives cheesecake a bad name!

Ljuba Alicic “Hvala Ti Sto Me Trazis” on Diskos, Yugoslavia.
Classic Eastern European pop album. (Courtesy of Kevin Romaniuk)

What’s that on the tip of his nose?

“The Glory (????) of the Human Voice”  “A Faust Travesty”  RCA Records.  Ms. Jenkins was a wealthy benefactor to the arts in the first half of the twentieth century.  She fancied herself an opera singer despite her complete lack of talent, pitch or range.  Never-the-less she performed and recorded with the utmost earnesty for friends and family.  She even went so far as to rent out Carnegie Hall and a full orchestra to perform with.  How or why RCA got involved, I have no idea.  Check her out on youtube.  Someone wrote that David Bowie is a fan of this record.

Oh the irony.  I’m fascinated by this kind of faith-inspiring story put to vinyl and wonder if people found comfort in knowing that a crippled little girl found “an” answer (not however “the” answer) through prayer. I don’t know what the question was (but I’d guess “why me?”).

Esther Lee “Where Glory Began” Private press label (1974) Produced by The Ministering Carpenter, recorded at Ye old Garage Studio.