"Little Green Apples'' has been recorded by no fewer than 27 artists, but nobody did it better than O.C. Smith.
The sweet Bobby Russell song coulda, shoulda and probably woulda been a No. 1 hit in 1968, if not for the Beatles' "Hey Jude,'' which blocked several contenders during its nine-week run atop the Billboard chart. Even so, it sold a million copies and won a well-deserved Grammy award for Russell. Remember the setup?
And I wake up in the mornin'
With my hair down in my eyes and she says "Hi"
And I stumble to the breakfast table
While the kids are goin' off to school... goodbye
And she reaches out 'n' takes my hand
And squeezes it 'n' says "How ya feelin' hon?"
And I look across at smilin' lips
That warm my heart and see my mornin' sun
The song works because God DID make little green apples, and it DOES snow in Minneapolis when the winter comes. And there ARE such things as make-believe, puppy dogs and autumn leaves and BB guns.
I'm tapping this out while sipping a cup of joe at Alterra, corner of North Avenue and Swan Boulevard in Wauwatosa, my new hometown. Wauwatosa is a Potawatomi name for firefly. The locals just call it Tosa, which suits me just fine.
The leaves here, by the way, are in full color and I just met a puppy dog named Reggie. A nearly perfect day.
Thanks for the plug Jimbo.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, do not miss the story in NYT today about Hugh Culverhouse's daughter and former Bucs players who have apparently sustained head damage - including Richard Wood and Scot Brantley.
I covered Scot Brantley in high school (Ocala Forest) and college (Florida), and without question he was the hardest hitting player I've ever seen. Brutal, savage, punishing. A head injury ended his career with the Gators, but the Bucs still picked him in the third round. No telling the abuse his brain took in the NFL.
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