Have I Lost My Marbles?

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

Nah, I’m all right–I just felt like hearing this: That Happy Feeling, by Bert Kaempfert and his orchestra, from way back when. As one of the theme songs for Sandy Becker’s show, it was a staple of my childhood. I’m glad I’ve not forgotten it.

15 comments on “Have I Lost My Marbles?”

  2. Music like this is healing. Listen often brother. I remember this also. Plus many other such songs from those long ago days. Good music comes from our Lord and God. I wouldn’t mind if you would post this kind of music from time to time.

    When an evil spirit troubled King Saul. They sought out someone who could play music for Saul. And they found a cunning player, who knew how to play, the son of Jesse, David. “And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him” (I Sam. 16:23).

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  4. I have been listening over and over to this. I love watching the video, and seeing all those making the music, and putting it all together. And yes, I do get “That Happy Feeling” listening to this.

    This brings back memories of good times in my life, and there was a great deal more peace throughout the whole nation; and most of my aunts and uncles and grandparents were still alive.

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  5. Where do I start. I know very little about Sandy Becker, and there are apparently few copies of his show in existence. Apparently they were never archived. From what I have seen, he was very talented and provided good entertainment for children, which didn’t talk down to them. Playing the Kaempfert music, IMO, showed respect for his audience. He was playing quality music for these children, which sure beats a lot of what passes for music, these days.

    Anyone familiar with this blog knows that music is a very important part of my life. I believe that the ability to make music is a gift from God, and as such, it should be used in a way which builds up our fellow man. As Mike reminded us, David was used in this very capacity. Music has power, and can affect its listeners for years, because music sticks in our memories.

    Looking at Burt Kaempfert, I see a well groomed man whom conducts himself, and his orchestra, with dignity. I certainly prefer this over the unkempt look which has dominated so much of popular music since the ‘60s.

    It was enjoyable to see the orchestra at work. The beat was modern, for its time, and still quite good today. The contrast between the piccolos and the bass drum, then the bass drum and the Fender bass, is very effective. Kaempfert was able to incorporate new developments, such as the electric bass guitar, into his orchestral music, quite effectively. It doesn’t sound forced.

    The call and response between the flugelhorn and the trombone is great. These are two of my favorite instruments from the brass family, and played quite well.

    After many decades of playing music, as a hobby, and at times as an occupation, I’ve learned a lot about not only music, but the history of music in our day, and some of the people who have created this music. One thing I’ve noticed is that the kind of music an artist creates, relates to the personality of the person creating the music.

    Artists who create turbulent, anarchic music, frequently have turbulent, anarchic lives. Interestingly, musicians who have made improvements in their lives, frequently play as brilliantly as ever, but the anarchy is no longer reflected in their music. More than a few artists with serious drug and alcohol problems have successfully overcome these things, and in some cases, have become Christians. Eric Clapton comes to mind, having overcome heroin addiction and serious alcohol problems, and now considers himself a Christian.

    In the final analysis, our music either honors God, or it doesn’t. Just yesterday, I say with a classical guitar and played some Antonio Carlos Jobim Bossa Novas, with chord progressions of unrivaled beauty. That beauty is possible, because our Maker created sound in such a way that mathematical proportions allow combinations of notes to be very pleasing to the ear. Music is not simply an accident of sound; it was a deliberate act of creation. We can use music to craft all sorts of moods, and express many different feelings, but music is at its best when it is used to build up, and not to tear down.

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    2. I recently began to watch a documentary about a very famous band of the sixties. The conduct and attitude of the leader was so loathsome that I didn’t finish watching it. It was as if he craved to be obscene and contentious. I quickly found out hidden meanings I had not imagined, and came away in revulsion.

      Sadly, this is not uncommon. It happens all too frequently in such biographies. At its root, it is a moral problem, and many people cheer on moral decay.

    4. I was still in grade school when the counterculture of the ‘60s started gaining popularity, and I wasn’t impressed, even then. I try to be open minded, but self destructive behavior is never a good thing, and even as a child, I could see that this course was self destructive.

      Somewhere between February 9th, 1964, the Beatles first appearance on Ed Sullivan, and the end of the decade, it became fashionable to appear disheveled and to flaunt one’s substance abuse. Immorality became celebrated. It’s not that I think that the Beatles of early 1964 were innocent schoolboys; they weren’t, but at least they tried to project a positive image. Look at album covers from the mid ‘60s onward, and many of these artists wanted to look unkempt.

      If you read the histories of various Rock Stars, you read all too frequently about drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and a nearly endless string of meaningless relationships. Somehow, that was never scrutinized, because Rock Stars of the era were never criticized.

      We used to hear about drug overdoses, but these days, overdoses are almost always framed as being related to pain management gone awry. I suspect that “recreational” use is still at the heart of many of these problems. I don’t criticize therapeutic uses of medications, under the management of a conscientious physician, but there are a lot of people out there whom simply want to alter their mental state, and abusing pain medications is an avenue that is frequently used.

      Drugs is but one symptom of our cultural decline, albeit a very prominent one. Keep in mind where we came from; starting with a shipload of Protestant separatists who wanted to worship as they saw fit, without interference from the Church of England. The settlers of the Plymouth Colony were far from perfect, but they sought to establish a community that gave godly people the freedom to worship as they saw fit. It is all but forgotten, but the Mayflower Compact was foundational to the establishment of the US. The early US was a God fearing nation, and as D’Tocqueville stated, our greatness was in our goodness.

      All these years later, and goodness is no longer fashionable with many people. In fact, in some quarters, goodness is ridiculed, if not scorned. IMHO, this is what has poisoned our culture. The America of my childhood was far different from the America of today. When I was 11 years old, I had the run of the city we lived near to. I went shopping on my own and rode my bike everywhere. No one worried about something untoward happening to me. As long as I was home by suppertime, my parents weren’t worried.

      All I can do, at this point, is pray for our Creator to provide for those whom want to do the right thing.

    5. I can’t say I enjoyed the 1960s.
      It wasn’t just the music. I think the music was only a symptom. The whole culture got uglified–even the architecture, to say nothing of painting and sculpture, etc.

      I think those two world wars, and too many smaller ones, took something out of our civilization.

    6. That coincides with the time period when heavily distorted guitar sounds became all the rage in popular music. I think that there is a relationship between music, drugs, and any number of antisocial trends. IMO, the causes are much, much deeper.

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