A long time ago

[ted]

A recording made in the sixties of the teenage Ted playing a hymn tune he wrote for his uncle's funeral.

[emill]

hi TED,

What a blasphemous funeral hymn!  
That would be what my grandma would say if she heard your composition.

But really why should a funeral hymn be sad and mournful if it could be something
that would celebrate the "honky-tonk", optimistically happy character of a person.
Perhaps you could fill us in a bit on how you viewed your grandma a person then.

NICE composition .... UNIQUE as a funeral hymn!!!

cleaned it up a bit .... but removing the hiss removed the 60's character of the recording...
hope you like it.

[michael_sayers]

Hi Ted,

I enjoyed hearing that!  Thanks for sharing it.


Mvh,
Michael

[ted]

Thanks for listening, emill and Michael.

hi TED,
What a blasphemous funeral hymn!  
That would be what my grandma would say if she heard your composition.
But really why should a funeral hymn be sad and mournful if it could be something that would celebrate the "honky-tonk", optimistically happy character of a person. Perhaps you could fill us in a bit on how you viewed your grandma a person then.
NICE composition .... UNIQUE as a funeral hymn!!!
cleaned it up a bit .... but removing the hiss removed the 60's character of the recording...
hope you like it.

It was really just a spontaneous personal impression of my uncle's funeral rather than something to actually play at a funeral, a bit of descriptive fun. Neither was it meant to depict either my uncle or my grandmother. I usually just leave hiss in old tape recordings but thanks for your effort, emill.

[rachfan]

Hi Ted,

That has to be a fun piece to play.  It reminds me of some funeral processions in New Orleans  featuring a jazz band leading the family and friends of the deceased to the cemetery.  Cool!

David

[ted]

Thanks for listening David. At that age stride was one of my musical obsessions, along with classical ragtime, and I still enjoy playing both every so often. The piece is written out approximately somewhere I think.