One year — 1961, to be specific — in the life of the Blumenau family of Stamford, Connecticut, as jointly interpreted by William H. Blumenau (calendar entries) and Charles A. Berry (text):
American history and practical math
You’re studying hard, hoping to pass
January 23-24.
Cruising and playing the radio
With no particular place to go
January 27.
She just don’t have the appetite
For gas somehow,
And Dad, I got four carburetors
Hooked up on it now.
I tried to hook another
To see if I’d do a little good,
But ain’t no place to put it
‘Less I perforate the hood
February 2.
If she’s in the mood no need to break it
I got the chance and I oughta take it
If she can dance we can make it
C’mon, Queenie, let’s shake it
February 11.
Well I looked at my watch, it was 10:05
Man, I didn’t know if I was dead or alive
February 23.
Don’t care to hear ’em play the tango
I’m in no mood to dig a mambo
February 25.
I go to court tomorrow morning
And I got the same judge I had before
Lord, I know he won’t have no mercy on me
‘Cause he told me not to come back no more
April 7.
Sweet little sixteen
She’s just got to have
About half a million
Framed autographs
Her wallet filled with pictures
She gets ’em one by one
April 9.
Nothin’ outrun my V-8 Ford
May 1. (The new car in question really *was* a V-8 Ford, if memory serves.)
In the heat of the day down in Mobile, Alabama
Workin’ on the railroad with a steel-drivin’ hammer
August 10.
Ring! ring! goes the bell
September 6.
I must admit they had a rockin’ band
Man, they was blowin’ like a hurr-i-can
September 21.
All day long you’ve been wantin’ to dance
September 27.
Roll over, Beethoven
And tell Tchaikovsky the news
October 2.
The engine with blood was sweaty and damp
And brilliantly lit with a brimstone lamp
And imps for fuel was shoveling bones
While the furnace rang with a thousand groans
October 31.
November 7.
December 5.
It’s got a backbeat, you can’t lose it
Any old time you use it
It’s gotta be rock ‘n’ roll music
If you wanna dance with me
If you wanna dance with me.
December 30.
Thanks for everything, Chuck.
Brilliant!
Tx!
Thank you.
That piece was almost as cool as Chuck himself!
Thank you.
P.S.This piece is the blog version of “American Grafitti”! Also, now I can’t get “Mabelline” out of my mind, although,”No Particular Place to Go” and “Johnny Be Good” were my favorites! Thanks for memorializing Chuck to the family events of the time!
On a certain level, the entire blog is American graffiti … it’s all based on writing on the wall.
This is magnificent. I don’t know the alchemy by which you figured out how to do it, or that you could, but I’m glad you did.
Thank you, sir.
My friend Susie enjoyed this blog entry, as I forwarded it to her! (Tie down the furniture)
If it wouldn’t be giving away trade secrets, did you start with Chuck lyrics and look for calendar entries or vice versa?
It went both ways. I think the school-related calendar entries made me think of lines from “School Days (Ring! Ring! Goes the Bell)” and it kinda developed from there.
I admit to intentionally picking a year in which you were in HS and Elaine was in middle school, which provided lots of potential tie-ins with classic Chuck lyrical subjects (school, dancing, cruising).
The calendar for, say, 1975 is all about signing up for Social Security, going to see the grandkids, and going to doctors’ appointments, none of which are common threads in Chuck Berry songs. 😉