WA2K Radio is now on the air

I just remembered, folks. Today is the anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination. It is also the day that my Daddy died.

Remember this song?

Has anybody here seen my old friend Abraham?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
He freed a lot of people,
But it seems the good they die young.
You know, I just looked around and he's gone.

Anybody here seen my old friend John?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
He freed a lot of people,
But it seems the good they die young.
I just looked around and he's gone.

Anybody here seen my old friend Martin?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
He freed a lot of people,
But it seems the good they die young.
I just looked 'round and he's gone.

Didn't you love the things that they stood for?
Didn't they try to find some good for you and me?
And we'll be free
Some day soon, and it's a-gonna be one day ...

Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walk up over the hill,
With Abraham, Martin and John.


I would also like to thank Dutchy for the Jackie Lawson e card.

That one was really the kind of jazz that I like, buddy.

thinking of MULE TRAIN and MULE SKINNER songs brought me to PERRY COMO and the ...

Good evening, all.

hbg, I didn't realize that Mr. laid back Como did that song. I knew that Allan Jones had done it and son Jack followed in his footsteps, but learning of Perry having sung it as well, led me to this,

The sweetest sounds I'll ever hear,
Are still inside my head!
The kindest words I'll ever know,
Are waiting to be said!

The most entrancing sight of all,
Is yet for me to see!
And the dearest love in all the world,
Is waiting somewhere for me,
Is waiting somewhere,
Somewhere for me!

And the dearest love in all the world,
Is waiting somewhere for me,
Is waiting somewhere,
Somewhere for me!

watched an OLDIE last night - the marx brothers in AT THE CIRCUS - total mayhem of course , but certainly good for a laugh
(tonight it'll be ROOM SERVICE with the marx brothers )

particularly groucho singing :wink:

I know that one, too, hbg. It's a history and a geography lesson in itself. Thanks for the genetic memory.

Well, folks, as I looked at the ocean and the moon tonight, I was once again reminded of the sea and its mystery.

A cue from Lydia's tatto led me from the funny to the somber.


The Wreck of the Hesperus
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


It was the schooner Hesperus,
That sailed the wintry sea;
And the skipper had taken his little daughtèr,
To bear him company.

Blue were her eyes as the fairy-flax,
Her cheeks like the dawn of day,
And her bosom white as the hawthorn buds,
That ope in the month of May.

The skipper he stood beside the helm,
His pipe was in his mouth,
And he watched how the veering flaw did blow
The smoke now West, now South.

Then up and spake an old Sailòr,
Had sailed to the Spanish Main,
"I pray thee, put into yonder port,
For I fear a hurricane.

"Last night, the moon had a golden ring,
And to-night no moon we see!"
The skipper, he blew a whiff from his pipe,
And a scornful laugh laughed he.

Colder and louder blew the wind,
A gale from the Northeast,
The snow fell hissing in the brine,
And the billows frothed like yeast.

Down came the storm, and smote amain
The vessel in its strength;
She shuddered and paused, like a frighted steed,
Then leaped her cable's length.

"Come hither! come hither! my little daughtèr,
And do not tremble so;
For I can weather the roughest gale
That ever wind did blow."

He wrapped her warm in his seaman's coat
Against the stinging blast;
He cut a rope from a broken spar,
And bound her to the mast.

"O father! I hear the church-bells ring,
Oh say, what may it be?"
"iT is a fog-bell on a rock-bound coast!"
And he steered for the open sea.

"O father! I hear the sound of guns,
Oh say, what may it be?"
"Some ship in distress, that cannot live
In such an angry sea!"

"O father! I see a gleaming light,
Oh say, what may it be?"
But the father answered never a word,
A frozen corpse was he.

Lashed to the helm, all stiff and stark,
With his face turned to the skies,
The lantern gleamed through the gleaming snow
On his fixed and glassy eyes.

Then the maiden clasped her hands and prayed
That savèd she might be;
And she thought of Christ, who stilled the wave
On the Lake of Galilee.

And fast through the midnight dark and drear,
Through the whistling sleet and snow,
Like a sheeted ghost, the vessel swept
Tow'rds the reef of Norman's Woe.

And ever the fitful gusts between
A sound came from the land;
It was the sound of the trampling surf
On the rocks and the hard sea-sand.

The breakers were right beneath her bows,
She drifted a dreary wreck,
And a whooping billow swept the crew
Like icicles from her deck.

She struck where the white and fleecy waves
Looked soft as carded wool,
But the cruel rocks, they gored her side
Like the horns of an angry bull.

Her rattling shrouds, all sheathed in ice,
With the masts went by the board;
Like a vessel of glass, she stove and sank,
Ho! ho! the breakers roared!

At daybreak, on the bleak sea-beach,
A fisherman stood aghast,
To see the form of a maiden fair,
Lashed close to a drifting mast.

The salt sea was frozen on her breast,
The salt tears in her eyes;
And he saw her hair, like the brown sea-weed,
On the billows fall and rise.

Such was the wreck of the Hesperus,
In the midnight and the snow!
Christ save us all from a death like this,
On the reef of Norman's Woe!

Goodnight, my friends. I hope your day has been good, and that you didn't overeat.

I'm afraid that I have, so I am going to bed with this song.

Evening Star
The Bee Gees


If you never rode west of the Arizona border
You can turn the other way boy, but you'll never get far
You be living a lie
If you wanna see the wonders of the age you must follow the Evening Star

Evening Star
Shine a little heaven on the stranger with no dream
Where you are you can see the loneliness I mean
And if I gotta fight I will never play somebody's else's game
I can follow the Evening Star
Starlight - you never need somebody else's name
If you follow the Evening Star

Have you ever know a sunset when the sky's on fire
How you end another day boy
You been seaching too far
Like the desert I rode on any memory is lost in the restless wind
I just lie beneath the Evening Star

Evening Star
Shine a little heaven on a stranger with no dream
Where you are you can see the loneliness I mean
And if I gotta fight I will never play somebody's else's game
I can follow the Evening Star
Starlight - you never need somebody's elses name
If you follow the Evening Star

Have you ever held a woman in the California moonlight
Put your money on a good night
If you never been there it's a sight for sore eyes
If you wanna see the wonders of the age
Making love beneath the Evening Star

Evening Star
Shine a little heaven on a stranger with no dream
Where you are you can see the loneliness I mean
And if I gotta fight I will never play somebody else's game
I can follow the Evening Star
Starlight - you never need somebody else's name
If you follow the Evening Star

From Letty with love

Ev'ry man, has a flaming star
A flaming star, over his shoulder
And when a man, sees his flaming star
He knows his time, his time has come

Flaming star, don't shine on me, flaming star
Flaming star, keep behind me, flaming star
There's a lot of livin' I've got to do
Give me time to make a few dreams come true
Flaming star

When I ride, I feel that flaming star
That flaming star, over my shoulder
And so I ride, front of that flaming star
Never lookin' around, never lookin' around

Flaming star, don't shine on me, flaming star
Flaming star, keep behind me, flaming star
There's a lot of livin' I've got to do
Give me time to make a few dreams come true
Flaming star

One fine day, I'll see that flaming star
That flaming star, over my shoulder
And when I see, that old flaming star
I'll know my time, my time has come

Flaming star, don't shine on me, flaming star
Flaming star, keep behind me, flaming star
There's a lot of livin' I've got to do
Give me time to make a few dreams come true
Flaming star

Elvis Presley

Good morning, WA2K radio audience.

edgar, thanks for the Elvis song. How very sad this line: "...give me time to make a few dreams come true..."

It seems, everyone, that Billy the Kid was born on this day, but there are so many legends surrounding the man that it is hard to tell fact from fiction.

Nevertheless, here is a ballad of Billy by another Billy.


Billy Joel

From a town known as Wheeling, West Virginia
Rode a boy with a six gun in his hand
And his daring life of crime
made him a legend in his time
east and west of the Rio Grande.

Well he started with a bank in Colorado
in the pocket of his vest, a Colt he hid
and his age and his size
took the teller by surprise
and, the word spread of Billy the kid

Well he never travelled heavy
yes he always rode alone
and he soon put many older guns to shame
and he never had a sweetheart
and he never had a home
but the cowboy and the rancher knew his name

Well he robbed his way from Utah to Oklahoma
and the largest could not seem to track him down
and it served his legend well
For the folks they loved to tell about
When Billy the kid came to town.

Well one cold day a posse captured Billy
and the judge said "String him up for what he did."
And the cowboys and their kin
like the sea, came pouring in
to watch the hanging of Billy the kid.

Well he never travelled heavy
yes he always rode alone
and he soon put many older guns to shame
and he never had a sweetheart
but he finally found a home
under the boothill grave that bears his name.

From a town known as Oyster Bay Long Island
Rode a boy with a six pack in his hand
and his daring life of crime
made him a legend in his time
east and west of the Rio Grande.

Billy the Kid

Billy the Kid
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Born November 23, 1859(1859-11-23)
New York City
Died July 14, 1881 (aged 21)
Fort Sumner, New Mexico

Occupation Outlaw
Parents Natural Father: not known, poss. Patrick Henry McCarty or William Bonney

Stepfather: William Antrim
Mother:Catherine McCarty or Katherine McCarty Bonney

Brother:Joseph Antrim

Henry McCarty (November 23, 1859[1] - July 14, 1881), better known as Billy the Kid, but also known by the aliases William Antrim and William Harrison Bonney, was a famous 19th century American frontier outlaw and gunman who was a participant in the Lincoln County War. According to legend he killed 21 men, one for each year of his life.

McCarty was 5'8-5'9 with blue eyes, smooth cheeks, and prominent front teeth. He was said to be friendly and personable at times,[2] but he could also be short-tempered and determined. This made him a very dangerous outlaw, when combined with his shooting skills and cunning. He was also famous for (apparently) always wearing a sugarloaf sombrero hat with a wide green decorative band. He was little known in his own lifetime but was catapulted into legend in the year after his death when his killer, Sheriff Patrick Garrett, published a wildly sensationalistic biography of him called The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid. Beginning with Garrett's account, Billy the Kid grew into a symbolic figure of the American Old West.





Biography

Early life

Little is known about McCarty's background, but he is thought to have been born on Allen Street on the lower east side of Manhattan Island, New York. His parents were of Irish Catholic descent, but their names, and thus McCarty's surname, are not known for certain. Variations for his parents' names include Catherine McCarty or Katherine McCarty Bonney for his mother and William Bonney or Patrick Henry McCarty for his father (who probably died around the end of the American Civil War). Some genealogists say he was born William Henry Bonney and was son of William Harrison Bonney and wife Katherine Boujean, paternal grandson of Levi Bonney and wife Rhoda Pratt and great-grandson of Obadiah Pratt (Saybrook, Connecticut, September 14, 1742 - Canaan, New York, March 2, 1797) and wife Jemima Tolls (New Haven, Connecticut, August 11, 1754 - Washington, New York, November 24, 1812) (who in turn were the grandparents of Mormon leader Parley P. Pratt, making him and Bonney first cousins once removed.).[3] In 1868, his mother met William Antrim, and after several years of moving around the country with Henry and his half-brother Joseph, the couple married and settled in Silver City, New Mexico, in 1873. Antrim found sporadic work as a bartender and carpenter but soon became more interested in prospecting for fortune than in his wife and stepsons. Despite this, young McCarty sometimes referred to himself by the surname "Antrim."

Faced with an indigent husband, McCarty's mother took in boarders in order to provide for her sons. She was afflicted with tuberculosis, even though she was seen by her boarders and neighbors as "a jolly Irish lady, full of life and mischief." The following year, on September 16, 1874, she died, and was buried in the Memory Lane Cemetery in Silver City. At age 14, McCarty was taken in by a neighboring family who operated a hotel where he worked to pay for his keep. The manager was impressed by the youth, boasting that he was the only young man who ever worked for him that did not steal anything. His school teachers said that the young orphan was "no more of a problem than any other boy, always quite willing to help with chores around the schoolhouse."

On September 23, 1875, McCarty was arrested for hiding a bundle of stolen clothes for a man playing a prank on a Chinese laundryman. Two days after McCarty was thrown in jail, the scrawny teen escaped by worming his way up the jailhouse chimney. From that point on, McCarty was more or less a fugitive. He eventually found work as an itinerant ranch hand and shepherd in southeastern Arizona. In 1877, he became a civilian teamster at Fort Grant Army Post in Arizona with the duty of hauling logs from a timber camp to a sawmill. The civilian blacksmith at the camp, Frank "Windy" Cahill, took pleasure in bullying young McCarty. On August 17, Cahill attacked McCarty after a verbal exchange and threw him to the ground. McCarty retaliated by drawing his gun and shooting Cahill, who died the next day. Once again McCarty was in custody, this time in the Camp's guardhouse awaiting the arrival of the local marshal. Before the marshal could arrive, however, McCarty escaped. It has sometimes been reported that the encounter with Frank Cahill took place in a saloon.

Again on the run, McCarty, who had begun to refer to himself as "Willam H. Bonney," next turned up in the house of Heiskell Jones in Pecos Valley, New Mexico. Apaches had stolen McCarty's horse, which forced him to walk many miles to the nearest settlement, which was Jones's home. She nursed the young man, who was near death, back to health. The Jones family developed a strong attachment to McCarty and gave him one of their horses.


Lincoln County Cattle War

In the autumn of 1877, Bonney (McCarty) moved to Lincoln County, New Mexico, and was hired as a cattle guard by John Tunstall, an English cattle rancher, banker and merchant, and his partner, Alexander McSween, a prominent lawyer. A conflict, known later as the Lincoln County Cattle War, had begun between the established town merchants and the ranchers. Events turned bloody on February 18, 1878, when Tunstall, unarmed, was caught on an open range while herding cattle. Tunstall's murder enraged Bonney and the other ranch hands.

They formed their own group called the Regulators, led by ranch hand Richard "Dick" Brewer, and proceeded to hunt down two of the members of the posse that had killed Tunstall. They captured Bill Morton and Frank Baker on March 6 and killed them on March 9 near Agua Negra. While returning to Lincoln they also killed one of their own members, a man named McCloskey, whom they suspected of being a traitor.[4]

On April 1, Regulators Jim French, Frank McNab, John Middleton, Fred Waite, Henry Brown and Bonney ambushed Sheriff William J. Brady[5] and his deputy,[6] killing them both in the high street of Lincoln itself. McCarty was wounded while trying to retrieve a rifle belonging to him, which Brady had taken in an earlier arrest.[4]

On April 4, they tracked down and killed an old buffalo hunter known as Buckshot Roberts, whom they suspected of involvement in the Tunstall murder, but not before Roberts shot and killed Dick Brewer, who had been the Regulators' leader up until that point. Two other Regulators were wounded during the gun battle, which took place at Blazer's Mill.[4] McCarty took over as leader of the Regulators following Brewer's death. Under indictment for the Brady killing, McCarty and his gang spent the next several months in hiding and were trapped, along with McSween, in McSween's home in Lincoln on July 15, 1878, by members of "The House" and some of Brady's men. After a five day siege, McSween's house was set on fire. McCarty and the other Regulators fled, Henry McCarty killing a "House" member named Bob Beckwith in the process and maybe more. McSween was shot down while fleeing the blaze, and his death essentially marked the end of the Lincoln County Cattle War.


Lew Wallace and amnesty

In the autumn of 1878, former Union Army General Lew Wallace became Governor of the New Mexico Territory. In order to restore peace to Lincoln County, Wallace proclaimed an amnesty for any man involved in the Lincoln County War who was not already under indictment. Bonney, who had fled to Texas after escaping from McSween's house, was under indictment, but Wallace was intrigued by rumors that the young man was willing to surrender himself and testify against other combatants if amnesty could be extended to him. In March 1879 Wallace and McCarty met in Lincoln County to discuss the possibility of a deal. True to form, McCarty greeted the governor with a revolver in one hand and a Winchester rifle in the other. After taking several days to consider Wallace's offer, Bonney agreed to testify in return for amnesty.

The arrangement called for Bonney to submit to a token arrest and a short stay in jail until the conclusion of his courtroom testimony. Although Bonny's testimony helped to indict John Dolan, the district attorney, one of the powerful "House" faction leaders, disregarded Wallace's order to set Bonney free after testifying. He was returned to jail in June 1879, but slipped out of his handcuffs and fled.

For the next year and a half, Bonney survived by rustling, gambling and killing. In January 1880, during a well-documented altercation, he killed a man named Joe Grant in a Fort Sumner saloon. Grant was boasting that he would kill the "Kid" if he saw him, not realizing the man he was playing poker with was "Billy the Kid." In those days people only loaded their revolvers with five bullets, since there were no safeties and a lot of accidents. The "Kid" asked Grant if he could see his ivory handled revolver and, while looking at the weapon, cycled the cylinder so the hammer would fall on the empty chamber. He then let Grant know who he was. When Grant fired, nothing happened, and Bonney then shot him. When asked about the incident later, he remarked, "It was a game for two, and I got there first". Other stories tell the bullet issue differently. One version is that Billy emptied the gun. This version is adapted by the motion picture Young Guns, by the way. Another story tells that Grant just bought the six shot from another man, Chisum cowboy Jack Finan, who just some hours before had shot three rounds without reloading. Grant hadn't reloaded the weapon either, as he didn't know about that. The Kid only turned the empty cartridges up to the hammer.

In November 1880, a posse pursued and trapped Bonney's gang inside a ranch-house (owned by friend James Greathouse at Anton Chico in the White Oaks area). A posse member named James Carlysle[7] ventured into the house under white flag in an attempt to negotiate the group's surrender, with Greathouse being sent out as a hostage for the posse. At some point in the night it became apparent to Carlysle that the outlaws were stalling, when suddenly a shot was accidentally fired from outside. Carlysle, assuming the posse members had shot Greathouse, decided to run for his life, crashing through a window into the snow outside. As he did so, the posse, mistaking Carlysle for one of the gang, fired and killed him. Realizing what they had done and now demoralized, the posse scattered, allowing Bonney and his gang to slip away. Bonney later wrote to Governor Wallace claiming innocence in the killing of Carlysle and of involvement in cattle rustling in general.


Pat Garrett

During this time, the Kid also developed a friendship with an ambitious local bartender and former buffalo hunter named Pat Garrett. Running on a pledge to rid the area of rustlers, Garrett was elected as sheriff of Lincoln County in November 1880, and in early December he put together a posse and set out to arrest Bonney, now known almost exclusively as Billy the Kid, and carrying a $500 bounty on his head.

The posse led by Garrett fared much better, and his men closed in quickly. On December 19, Bonney barely escaped the posse's midnight ambush in Fort Sumner, during which one of the gang, Tom O'Folliard, was shot and killed. On December 23, he was tracked to an abandoned stone building located in a remote location called Stinking Springs. While Bonney and his gang were asleep inside, Garrett's posse surrounded the building and waited for sunrise. The next morning, a cattle rustler named Charlie Bowdre stepped outside to feed his horse. Mistaken for Bonney, he was killed by the posse. Soon afterward somebody from within the building reached for the horse's halter rope, but Garrett shot and killed the horse, the body of which then blocked the only exit. As the lawmen began to cook breakfast over an open fire, Garrett and Bonney engaged in a friendly exchange, with Garrett inviting Bonney outside to eat, and Bonney inviting Garrett to "go to hell." Realizing that they had no hope of escape, the besieged and hungry outlaws finally surrendered later that day and were allowed to join in the meal.


Escape from Lincoln

Bonney was jailed in the town of Mesilla while waiting for his April 1881 trial and spent his time giving newspaper interviews and also peppering Governor Wallace with letters seeking clemency. Wallace, however, refused to intervene. Bonney's trial took one day and resulted in his conviction for killing Sheriff Brady; the only conviction ever secured against any of the combatants in the Lincoln County Cattle War. On April 13, he was sentenced by Judge Warren Bristol to hang. The execution was scheduled for May 13, and he was sent to Lincoln to await this date, held under guard by two of Garrett's deputies, James Bell and Robert Ollinger, on the top floor of the town's courthouse. On April 28, while Garrett was out of town, Bonney stunned the territory by killing both of his guards and escaping.

The details of the escape are unclear. Some historians believe that a friend or Regulator sympathizer left a pistol in a nearby privy that Bonney was allowed to use, under escort, each day. Bonney then retrieved this gun and after Bell had led him back to the courthouse, turned it on his guard as the two of them reached the top of a flight of stairs inside. Another theory holds that Bonney slipped his manacles at the top of the stairs, struck Bell[8] over the head with them and then grabbed Bell's own gun and shot him.[4]

However it happened, Bell staggered out into the street and collapsed, mortally wounded. Meanwhile, Bonney scooped up Ollinger's[9] ten-gauge double barrel shotgun and waited at the upstairs window for Ollinger, who had been across the street with some other prisoners, to come to Bell's aid. As Ollinger came running into view, Bonney leveled the shotgun at him, called out "Hello Bob!" and shot him dead. The townsfolk supposedly gave him an hour that he used to remove his leg iron. The hour was granted in thanks for his work as part of "The Regulators." After cutting his leg irons with an axe, the young outlaw borrowed (or stole) a horse and rode leisurely out of town, reportedly singing. The horse was returned two days later.[4]


Death

Responding to rumours that Bonney was still lurking in the vicinity of Fort Sumner almost three months after his escape, Sheriff Garrett and two deputies set out on July 14, 1881, to question one of the town's residents, a friend of Bonney's named Pedro Maxwell. Near midnight, as Garrett and Maxwell sat talking in Maxwell's darkened bedroom, Bonney unexpectedly entered the room. There are at least two versions of what happened next.

One version says that as the Kid entered, he could not recognize Garrett in the poor light. Bonney drew his pistol and backed away, asking "¿Quién es? ¿Quién es?" (Spanish for "Who is it? Who is it?"). Recognizing Bonney's voice, Garrett drew his own pistol and fired twice, the first bullet hitting McCarty just above his heart and killing him instantly. In a second version, Bonney entered carrying a knife, evidently headed to a kitchen area. He noticed someone in the darkness, and uttered the words "¿Quién es? ¿Quién es?", at which point he was shot and killed in ambush style.

Although the popularity of the first story persists, and portrays Garrett in a better light, many historians contend that the second version is probably the accurate one.[10][11] A markedly different theory, in which Garrett and his posse set a trap for Bonney, has also been suggested, most recently being investigated in the Discovery Channel documentary "Billy the Kid: Unmasked". The theory contends that Garrett went to the bedroom of Pedro Maxwell's sister, Paulita, and tied her up in her bed. Paulita was an acquaintance of Billy the Kid, and the two had possibly considered getting married. When Bonney arrived, Garrett was waiting behind Paulita's bed and shot the Kid.

Henry McCarty, alias Henry Antrim, alias William H. Bonney, alias Billy the Kid, was buried the next day in Fort Sumner's old military cemetery, between his fallen companions Tom O'Folliard and Charlie Bowdre. A single tombstone was later erected over the graves, giving the three outlaws' names and with the word "Pals" also carved into it. The tombstone has been stolen and recovered three times since being placed in the 1940s, and the entire gravesite is now enclosed by a steel cage.[1]

Another version of Billy The Kid's death was not a death at all. According to legend, when the time came to kill The Kid, Garrett let him go. Some sources say Garrett arranged for McCarty to escape from Maxwell's farm on a horse and make it to Mexico. The body of Billy The Kid was actually that of a ranch hand.[citation needed]


Notoriety, fact vs reputation

As with many men of the old west dubbed gunfighters, Billy the Kid's reputation exaggerated the actual facts of gunfights in which he was involved. Despite being credited with the killing of 21 men in his lifetime, he is believed to have participated in the killing of only nine men. Five of them died during shootouts in which several of the "Regulators" took part (including the revenge killing of Sheriff Brady, who had murdered Billy's employer, Englishman John Tunstall); of the other four, two were in self-defense gunfights and the other two were the killings of Deputies Bell and Olinger during the Kid's jail escape. Still, Billy the Kid, with the Winchester rifle given him by John Tunstall (and taken from him by Sheriff Brady), was the best shot to emerge from the Lincoln County War. After killing Brady, Billy walked coolly over to the body and recovered his rifle.[12]


Left-handed or right-handed?

In the 20th century, it was widely assumed that Billy the Kid was left-handed. This belief came from the fact that the only known photograph of McCarty, an undated ferrotype, shows him with a Model 1873 Winchester rifle in his right hand and a gun belt with a holster on his left side, where a left handed person would typically wear a pistol. The belief became so entrenched that in 1958, a biographical film was made about Billy the Kid called The Left Handed Gun starring Paul Newman. Late in the 20th century, it was discovered that the familiar ferrotype was actually a reverse image. This version shows his Model 1873 Winchester with the loading port on the left side. All Model 1873s had the loading port on the right side, proving the image was reversed, and that he was, in fact, wearing his pistol on his right hip. Even though the image has been proven to be reversed, the idea of a left handed Billy the Kid continues to widely circulate. Perhaps because many people heard both of these arguments and confused them, it is widely believed that Billy the Kid was ambidextrous. Many Billy the Kid sites describe him as such, and the fact is still widely disputed.[2][3] [4][5]


Imposters

Brushy Bill

In 1950, a paralegal named William Morrison located a man in West Texas named Ollie P. Roberts, nicknamed Brushy Bill, who claimed to be the actual Billy the Kid, and that he indeed had not been shot and killed by Pat Garrett in 1881. Almost all historians reject the Brushy Bill claim. Among other problems, the real Billy the Kid was believed to have spoken Spanish fluently and could read and write (the Kid wrote several letters to New Mexico Governor Lew Wallace, seeking a pardon), whereas Brushy Bill apparently could not speak Spanish at all and was in fact, illiterate. However, Morrison has claimed that Brushy Bill did speak fluent Spanish and was very literate. Despite this and discrepancies in birth dates and physical appearance, the town of Hico, Texas (Brushy Bill's residence) has capitalized on the Kid's infamy by opening the Billy The Kid Museum.


John Miller

Another claimant to the title of Billy the Kid was John Miller, whose family claimed him posthumously to be Billy the Kid in 1938. Miller was buried at the state-owned Pioneers' Home Cemetery in Prescott, Arizona. Tom Sullivan, former sheriff of Lincoln County, and Steve Sederwall, former mayor of Capitan, disinterred the bones of John Miller in May 2005.[13] DNA samples from the remains were sent to a lab in Dallas, Texas, to be compared against traces of blood taken from a bench that was believed to be the one McCarty's body was placed on after he was shot to death. The pair had been searching for the physical remains of McCarty since 2003, beginning in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, and eventually ending up in Arizona. To date, no results of the DNA tests have been made public, although Sederwall has obliquely stated that "What I know is not what's written in history. What I know about this case differs from history." [6]

Harpo Marx
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Born November 23, 1888(1888-11-23)
New York, New York
Died September 28, 1964 (aged 75)
Los Angeles, California

Nationality American
Known for "Duck Soup," "A Night at the Opera"
Occupation Comedian, Actor, Mime
Religious stance Judaism
Spouse Susan Fleming
Children Bill Marx, Alex Marx, Jimmie Marx, Minnie Marx
Parents Minnie Schoenberg and Sam "Frenchie" Marx
Relatives Al Shean, Chico Marx, Groucho Marx, Gummo Marx, Zeppo Marx

Arthur Marx (previously Adolph Marx), popularly known as Harpo Marx, (November 23, 1888 - September 28, 1964) was one of the Marx Brothers, a group of Vaudeville and Broadway theatre entertainers who later achieved fame as comedians in the Motion Picture industry. He was well known by his trademarks: he played the harp; he never talked during performances, although he often blew a horn or whistled to communicate with people; and he frequently used props.




Early life and career

In January of 1910, Harpo joined two of his brothers, Julius (later "Groucho") and Milton, to form "The Three Nightingales". Harpo was inspired to develop his "silent" routine after reading a review of one of their performances which had been largely ad-libbed. The theater critic wrote, "Adolph Marx performed beautiful pantomime which was ruined whenever he spoke."

Harpo got his stage name during a card game at the Orpheum Theatre in Galesburg, Illinois: the dealer (Art Fisher) called him "Harpo" because he played the harp. His other brothers were given names to match their personalities or hobbies; Leonard became "Chicko" (Chico) because he was always chasing women ("chicks"); Julius became "Groucho" because of his "grouch bag" (a pocketbook with a hidden money compartment); and his brother Milton became "Gummo" because he wore gum-soled shoes.

He taught himself to play the harp because he could not sing, or dance, and did not talk very well, so he needed something to do. Al Shean sent him a harp[citation needed] (in Harpo's autobiography, he says that mother Minnie Marx sent him the harp), and Harpo learned how to hold it properly by going to a five-and-dime store where he found a picture of a girl playing a harp. No one in town knew how to play the harp, so Harpo tuned it as best he could, starting with one basic note and tuning it from there. Three years later he found out he had tuned it incorrectly, but he could not tune it properly because if he had, the strings would have broken each night. His way placed much less tension on the strings. Although he played this way for the rest of his life, he did try to learn how to play correctly, and he spent considerable money hiring the best teachers. They, however, spent their time listening to him, fascinated by the way he played. In the movies he is actually playing the harp with his own alternate tuning.

In his autobiography, Harpo recounts how Chico got him jobs playing piano to accompany silent movies. Unlike Chico, Harpo could only play two songs on the piano, Waltz Me Around Again, Willie and Love Me and the World Is Mine, but he adapted this small repertoire in different tempos to suit the action on the screen. He was also seen playing chords on the piano in A Night at the Opera, in such a way that the piano sounded much like a harp, as a prelude to actually playing the harp in that scene.

Harpo changed his name from Adolph to Arthur by 1911. This was due primarily to his dislike for the name Adolph (as a child, he was routinely called "Ahdie" instead). Urban legends to the effect that the name change came about during World War I (due to anti-German sentiment in the US) or during World War II (due to the stigma that Adolf Hitler imposed on the name) are groundless.[1]


In film

He appeared without his brothers in Too Many Kisses, four years before the brothers' first widely-released film, The Cocoanuts. In Too Many Kisses, Harpo spoke the only line he would ever speak on-camera in a movie: "You sure you can't move?" Fittingly, it was a silent movie, and the audience only saw his lips move and saw the line on a title card.

In the Marx Brothers' movie At the Circus, however, Harpo spoke in a movie with the brothers for the one and only time. In the scene in which he visits the room of Little Professor Atom (Jerry Marenghi), Harpo sneezes--clearly saying "At-choo!"

Harpo gained notoriety for prop-laden sight gags. In Horse Feathers, Groucho tells him that Harpo cannot "burn the candle at both ends." He immediately produces, from within his coat, a lit candle burning at both ends. (As author Joe Adamson put it his book, "Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Sometimes Zeppo": "The president of the college has been shouted down by a mute.")

His non-speaking in films was occasionally referenced by the other Marx Brothers, who were careful to imply that his character's not speaking was a choice rather than a disability. They would make joking reference to this part of his act. For example, in one early film his character was ironically dubbed "The Professor." In another film, this exchange occurred:

Groucho: Who is this?
Chico: 'At's-a my partner, but he no speak.
Groucho: Oh, that's your silent partner!

Harpo further distinguished his character by wearing a "fright wig." Early in his career it was dyed pink, as evidenced by color film posters of the time and by allusions to it in films, with character names such as "Pinky." It tended to show as blonde on-screen. Over time, he darkened the pink to more of a reddish color, again alluded to in films with names such as "Rusty."


In other media

In 1933, following U.S. diplomatic recognition of the Soviet Union, he spent six weeks in Moscow as a performer and goodwill ambassador[1]. His tour was a huge success.

Harpo also took an interest in painting, and a few of his works can be seen in his autobiography. In the book, Marx tells a story about how he tried to paint a nude female model, but froze up because he simply didn't know how to paint properly. The model took pity on him, however, showing him a few basic strokes with a brush, until finally Harpo (fully clothed) took the model's place as the subject and the naked woman painted his portrait.

In 1955, Harpo made a memorable appearance on Lucille Ball's popular sitcom I Love Lucy, in which they re-enacted the famous mirror scene from the Marx Brothers movie Duck Soup.

Harpo recorded an album of harp music for RCA Victor (Harp by Harpo, 1952) and two for Mercury Records (Harpo in Hi-Fi, 1957; Harpo at Work, 1958).


Personal life

He married actress Susan Fleming on September 28, 1936. Unlike most of his brothers, who were unlucky in love (Groucho was divorced three times, Chico and Zeppo were divorced once each), Harpo's marriage to Susan was lifelong. The couple adopted four children: Bill, Alex, Jimmy and Minnie. Harpo often said that he wanted to see one child in each window of his home when he returned from work each day.


Harpo Marx as rendered by DalíHarpo was good friends with theater critic Alexander Woollcott and because of this became a regular member of the Algonquin Round Table. Harpo, who was quiet in his personal life, said his main contribution was to be the audience in that group of wits. George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart based the character of "Banjo" in their play The Man Who Came to Dinner on Harpo and later played the role in Los Angeles opposite Alexander Woolcott who had inspired the character of Sheridan Whiteside.

In 1961, Harpo published his autobiography, Harpo Speaks. In it, he tells one story of a man who did not believe that Harpo could actually talk. Many people believed he was mute. In fact, recordings of his voice can be found on the Internet, documentaries, and on bonus materials of Marx Brothers DVDs. In one story, he had a fairly distinguished voice like a professional announcer, though he did have a New York accent his entire life (for example: "girls" he would pronounce "goils"; hear, for instance, these audio recordings.) Harpo actually had a much deeper and more resonant speaking voice than Groucho, which some suspect may be the real reason he was dissuaded from ever speaking in the act. For reference, his voice was fairly similar to Chico's, perhaps too similar, which would be another reason he developed his unique stage persona. He forged a career in after-dinner speaking. He would often open with the line "Unaccustomed as I am to speaking...." to choruses of laughter.

Harpo's final time before the public came in 1964, when he appeared on stage with singer/comedian Allan Sherman. Sherman burst into tears when Harpo announced his retirement.


Death

Harpo Marx died on September 28, 1964, after undergoing open heart surgery. He was 75. [2] Groucho's son Arthur Marx has said that Harpo's funeral was the only time he ever saw his father cry.

His remains were reportedly sprinkled into the sand trap off the seventh fairway of his favorite golf course. In his will, he donated his trademark harp to the nation of Israel.[citations needed]


Trivia


According to family and friends, he often sent gag telegrams on occasion that kept with his silent persona on screen. They reportedly read, "NO MESSAGE - HARPO."
In each of his films, Harpo can be seen making a signature face where his eyes bug out and his tongue seems to fill the space left by his open mouth. The face is called a "Gookie", named for a cigar maker in the Marx's Yorkville neighborhood in New York. Harpo used to watch Gookie make the face while making cigars and started to mimic him, the first character he ever developed.
When asked for someone he loved in Animal Crackers he shows a picture of a horse, while in Horse Feathers he whistles a love theme to a horse and feeds it flowers, then proceeds to eat them himself. In Duck Soup he is actually seen in bed with a horse!

Having a very bad day

You Know You're Having a Bad Day When...


Your horn sticks on the freeway behind 32 Hell's Angels motorcyclists.


You've been at work 3 hours before you notice that your fly is open or your blouse unbuttoned.


Your twin sister forgets your birthday.


Your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles.


You call the suicide prevention hotline and they put you on hold.


You have to sit down to brush your teeth in the morning.


Everyone avoids you the morning after the company office party.


Your income tax refund check bounces.


The bird singing outside your window is a vulture.


You wake up and your braces are stuck together.


Your blind date turns out to be your ex-wife/husband.


You put both contacts into the same eye.


Your mother approves of the person you're dating.


Your doctor tells you that you're allergic to chocolate.


You have to borrow from your Visa card to pay your Mastercard.


Nothing you own is actually paid for.


Everyone loves your driver's licence picture, but you think it looks awful.


The health inspector condems your office coffee maker.


You invite the peeping Tom in... and he says no.


The Gypsy fortune teller offers to refund your money when she sees your future.


People think that you're 40 and you're only 25.


When the doctor tells you are in fine health for someone twice your age.


You call your spouse and tell them that you'd like to eat out tonight and when you get home, your find a sandwich on the front porch.


You start to put on the clothes that you wore home from the party last night...... and there aren't any.


It costs more to fill up your car than it did to buy it.

Good morning.

I thought I was having a bad day until I read Bob's post. Thanks, Bob.

A bit of trivia:
I see that last night Letty posted the lyrics to "The Sweetest Sounds" by Perry Como and was wondering if Perry had any stringed instruments in the background of his recording. That song is from Richard Rodgers' B'Way musical "No Strings", the only show he ever wrote without a collaborator and as the title implies, no stringed instruments. I have the original cast recording with Richard Kiley (Man of La Mancha) and Diahann Carroll .

Quote from Wikipedia:

The issue of civil rights - voter registration for blacks, integration, and fairness and equality in the workplace - was starting to gain momentum in the country in the early 1960s, but it was a topic largely absent on Broadway. Whether or not it was Taylor and Rodgers' intent to break new ground is unclear, since neither the book nor score make specific mention of race, nor does it impact upon any decisions made by the couple. Other than the model's reference to growing up north of Central Park (seemingly an allusion to Harlem), there is nothing in the script to suggest she's African-American. It was only in the casting of Carroll and Richard Kiley as the star-crossed lovers that the subject of interracial romance surfaced, but any production of the show easily could be cast with two leads of the same race without changing the content in any significant way. Nevertheless, the casting was socially progressive at the time.[citation needed]

And today's B.D. celebs:

There's guns across the river aimin' at ya
Lawman on your trail, he'd like to catch ya
Bounty hunters, too, they'd like to get ya
Billy, they don't like you to be so free.

Campin' out all night on the berenda
Dealin' cards 'til dawn in the hacienda
Up to Boot Hill they'd like to send ya
Billy, don't you turn your back on me.

Playin' around with some sweet senorita
Into her dark hallway she will lead ya
In some lonesome shadows she will greet ya
Billy, you're so far away from home.

There's eyes behind the mirrors in empty places
Bullet holes and scars between the spaces
There's always one more notch and ten more paces
Billy, and you're walkin' all alone.

They say that Pat Garrett's got your number
So sleep with one eye open when you slumber
Every little sound just might be thunder
Thunder from the barrel of his gun.

Guitars will play your grand finale
Down in some Tularosa alley,
Maybe in the Rio Pecos valley
Billy, you're so far away from home.

There's always some new stranger sneakin' glances
Some trigger-happy fool willin' to take chances
And some old whore from San Pedro to make advances
Advances on your spirit and your soul.

The businessmen from Taos want you to go down
They've hired Pat Garrett to force a showdown.
Billy, don't it make ya feel so low-down
To be shot down by the man who was your friend?

Hang on to your woman if you got one
Remember in El Paso, once, you shot one.
She may have been a whore, but she was a hot one
Billy, you been runnin' for so long.

Guitars will play your grand finale
Down in some Tularosa alley
Maybe in the Rio Pecos valley
Billy, you're so far away from home.

Bob Dylan

Mama, take this badge off of me
I can't use it anymore.
It's gettin' dark, too dark for me to see
I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door.

Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door

Mama, put my guns in the ground
I can't shoot them anymore.
That long black cloud is comin' down
I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door.

Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door

Alberta let your hair hang low
I saw her first on an april morn'
As she walked through the mist in a field of hay
Her hair lit the world with its golden glow
And the smile on her face burned my heart away

Alberta let your hair hang low
Alberta let your hair hang low
I'll give you more gold than your apron can hold
if you'll only let your hair hang low

I thought my golden time would last
But the field of hay was soon cut down
In a short few weeks it all was past
And my golden girl just a painful song

Alberta what's on your mind
Alberta what's on your mind
My heart is so sad 'cause you treat me so bad
Alberta what's on your mind
Alberta let your hair hang low

Doc Watson

... all in good time ... Ron Sexsmith

It all seems so obvious now
When I look back over my life
There were times that I really felt down
To think it passed me by

But in these hours of serious doubt
Through the coal black lonely night
Something told me, "it'll work out"
Something deep inside
Was comforting me

All in good time
All in good time
It said all in good time
The bad times will be gone

"Hold your horses", a willow tree cried
While the sun called to me, "where's the fire?"
"Run your course my feverish child,"
Came a voice from even higher
Inspiring me

All in good time
All in good time
It said all in good time

We rise and fall
We try and fail
And people may judge us
But angels know us darling
All in good time

It all seems so obvious now
When I look back over my life
There's a need for sorrow and doubt
For darkness and for light
It's how it must be

All in good time
All in good time
It said all in good time
All in good time
The bad time will be gone

Just when you think you know me, think again
(Corinna, Corinna, Corinna)
Hmm, ain't nothin' like my Corinna (Corinna)
(Corinna) Hmm, ain't nothin' like my Corinna (Corinna)
I got a bird wanna whistles
Baby, got a bird
Honey got a bird will sing
Baby, got a bird
Honey got a bird will sing

Without my Corinna
Sure don't mean
Sure don't mean a natural thing
Oh, I learned to love you
Baby, for I call
Honey, for I call your name
Baby, for I call
Honey, for I call out your name
I wouldn't trade your love for money
Baby, you're my warm hearts
Honey, you're my warm hearts flame
Oh, oh, oh (Corinna)
(Hmm, ain't nothing like my Corinna)
(Na, na, na, na, na, na, na (Corinna)
(Hmm, ain't nothing like my Corinna)
Have mercy, have mercy, baby
Honey, you're my hard luck
Baby, you're my hard luck soul
Honey, you're my hard luck
Women, on my hard luck soul
Got a rainbow round my shoulder
Shine like silver
Looks like some ol' fools' gold

-Musical interlude-

(Ooh, ah, ooh)
(Corinna) Oh, oh
(Hmm, ain't nothing like my Corinna)
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, ooh
(Corinna) (Hmm, ain't nothing like my Corinna)

Well, I love you so much, honey
Gotta tell the world
Baby, baby, tell the world I do
(Corinna)
Oh, honey tell the world
Baby, tell the world I do
You know, you know, you know, you know
Ain't no man, ain't no man in fourteen countries
Gonna love me baby
Baby like the way you do
Hey, hey, hey
I got a bird wanna whistle
Baby, got a bird
Honey, got a bird will sing
Honey got a bird
Baby, got a bird that will sing
Oh, without my Corinna
Sure don't mean
Sure don't mean a natural thing
Gotta say it one more time (Corinna) Oh
(Hmm, ain't nothing like my Corinna)
Oh (Corinna)
(Hmm, ain't nothing like my Corinna)
Ain't nothin, nothin, nothin, nothin
(Hmm, ain't nothin like my Corinna)
Tell the world, tell the world about it (Corinna)
(Hmm, ain't nothin like my Corinna) Sing!
(Corinna) (Hmm) Ooh
(Ain't nothin like my Corinna) hee, hee
I like it when you...
(Hmm, ain't nothin like my)
Oh, oh, oh, oh, (Corinna) Oh
Corinna (Corinna)
(Hmm, ain't nothin like my Corinna)
Corinna, Corinna (Corinna)
(Hmm, ain't nothin like my Corinna)
Corinna, oh, oh, Corinna (Corinna)
(Hmm, ain't nothin like my Corinna)...


Taj Mahal

Childhood living is easy to do
The things you wanted I bought them for you
Graceless lady you know who I am
You know I cant let you slide through my hands

Wild horses couldnt drag me away
Wild, wild horses, couldnt drag me away

I watched you suffer a dull aching pain
Now you decided to show me the same
No sweeping exits or offstage lines
Could make me feel bitter or treat you unkind

Wild horses couldnt drag me away
Wild, wild horses, couldnt drag me away

I know I dreamed you a sin and a lie
I have my freedom but I dont have much time
Faith has been broken, tears must be cried
Lets do some living after we die

Wild horses couldnt drag me away
Wild, wild horses, well ride them some day

Wild horses couldnt drag me away
Wild, wild horses, well ride them some day

Rolling Stones

First, folks, allow me to thank Bob of Boston for the triple threat of Billy, Boris and Harpo. Your bad day observation about the gas being more expensive than the car is approaching reality, hawkman.

Raggedy, thanks for the sepia faces to match. Now a confession. I had no idea that those lyrics came from No Strings, PA. As a matter of record, I didn't even know that Perry sang that song. I just knew that I knew it. I did vaguely recognize Richard Kiley, but wasn't aware of his role in the play, nor that he and Diane did a "star-crossed lovers" combo. That was quite a break through for the era. Thanks, gal.

Hey, it's good to see edgar, dys, and ehBeth back in our studio. Our dys must be feeling better, and that is one of the good day signs. It is my belief that when the cowboy is up, Diane is as well.

So, folks, here is a song for the day ahead by Perry

Oh! It's a good day, for singin' a song,
An' it's a good day for movin' along,
Yes, it's a good day, how could anything go wrong?
A good day from mornin' 'till night!

Yes it's a good day, ( it's a lovely day for shinin' ) for shinin' your shoes
An' it's a good day ( if you wan' a silver linin' ) for losin' the blues
( You got . . . ) Everything t' gain ( everythin' t' gain and nuthin' ) and nuthin' t' lose,
'Cuz it's a good day from mornin' to night! ( You're right! )

I said to the sun, "Good Mornin' Sun!"
"Rise an' shine t'day!"
You kno' you gotta get goin' if you're gonna make a showin'
And you kno' you got the right of way!

'Cause it's a good day for payin' your bills,
And it's a good day for curin' your ills,
So, take a deep breath, throw away all your pills,
'Cause it's a good day from mornin' 'till night!

Just this very day, I said to the sun, "Good Mornin' Sun!"
"Rise an' shine, why don't you rise and shine?"
You kno' you gotta get goin' if you wanna make a showin'
And you kno' you've got the right of way!

'Cause it's a good day for payin' your bills,
And it's a ' gooood ' day for curin' your ills,
So, take a deep breath ( Ahhh! ) throw away all your pills,
'Cause it's a good day from mornin' 'till night! ( Say that again! )
Oh it's a good day from mornin' 'till night ( That's what he said! )
Yes it's a good day from mornin' 'till night!