Awakenings: ♫Still Going Strong♫

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

♫Still Going Strong♫

First we are going to step back to yesterday's big music news for you do not want to miss out on the 'grits' incident, especially if you are from the South. To a Southerner, eating grits is practically a religion with breakfast without grits being unthinkable. If you are a Southern gal, then you are one of the true GRITS - Girls Raised In The South. Throughout history, the South has relished its grits, making them a symbol of its diet, its customs, its humor, and its hospitality. They have been epitomized in film, song and catch phrases but one of the most bizarre incidents happened in 1974.

Today in Music History: October 18 Music Incident

Al Green

Soul singer Al Green's "Grits Incident":

In the early 70s, Al Green is one at the top of the charts, a Touring Machine, a man happy with his life until...

1974 After a recording session on October 18, a stewardess friend of Green's, Carlotta Williams and his off-again, on-again girlfriend, Mary Woodson [who had walked away from her family] joined Green at his Memphis mansion. Green was about to shower when he saw Woodson's reflection in the mirror. Woodson assaulted him before committing suicide.

In a split second, my world exploded into a thousand splatters of pure agony. Mary had added grits to the water she was boiling, making a thick, rolling-boil hot paste. With all her strength, she hurled it at me, splashing the bathroom walls and scorching my naked back. The pain was so intense that I wasn’t sure what was happening for a moment.”

Green was taken to Baptist Hospital with second degree burns on his body where he received a series of skin grafts. A year before the incident Al Green had become a born-again Christian so at this time he spent much of his recovery reading the Bible and praying. The seriousness of the incident was not lost on Green. By 1976, Green became an ordained minister and bought the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Memphis, where he continues to preach when not on tour.

Al Green is known for the hit song 'Let's Stay Together', which has become a very popular wedding song.

"The Rev" Al Green is 'Still in Love' with Music

Today in Music History: October 19

Cyndi Lauper

A true renaissance woman with 30 sterling years and global record sales in excess of 50 million, Cyndi Lauper is still going strong and continues to reach new heights as a career artist.

1986 Cyndi Lauper's 'True Colors', written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, hits #1 on October 19. The song is about looking below the surface to see what a person is really like. It becomes an anthem of acceptance being reinterpreted many times over the years. 'True Colors' was used in a Kodak campaign to advertise their film processing, was covered by Australian country music star Kasey Chambers and used as the 2003 Rugby World Cup theme song.