Project contribution from Jim Pfefferkorn:  Musical Memories

You may wonder what I do with my time, or even what I’m still able to do.1-blog

One of my ongoing projects has been to select pieces of music which have strong memories attached. I have read of music being an excellent therapy for many with Alzheimer’s, so I am preparing selected files on an MP3 player for easy access in the future. I’m finding this project to be great therapy now as well!

In some cases my strong memories are of an obscure piece like “Frankenstein of ’59,” a mash-up of 1959 hits. My brother still has the 45, but he says I just about wore it out many years ago. In other cases it’s a #1 song, like “Sugar Shack,” the top Billboard song of 1963. I associate this with the dances in the church basement in Platteville in 1964.

But don’t think it’s just pop and rock that I like! Dvorak’s New World Symphony makes the cut, especially the Largo from the Second Movement. This is partially attributable to a 1960s summertime trip to Spillville, Iowa, where it was composed. Of course certain hymns are on the list, along with an abundance of Christmas carols and other Christmas songs. A rather obscure one is my favorite: “In the Bleak Midwinter,” sung by Sissel Kyrkjebø, a Norwegian singer of international renown.

Another category is jazz and jazz/rock, especially pieces I played in the UW-Platteville Jazz Ensemble in the early 1970s, like Buddy Rich’s arrangement of “Norwegian Wood.” And let’s not forget Country, an acquired taste which I rapidly developed in 1981 when the radio station for which I sold advertising switched from “hit music” to “country.” I have a particular soft spot for 1970s and early 80s “outlaw” country, like Willie, Waylon, Merle, and even David Allan Coe.

I feel like I am still just scratching the surface so far, yet I already have almost seven hours of music set aside! I really don’t need more content, but I don’t want to miss any either!

Jim Pfefferkorn from Wisconin

This is also found at Dementia Mentors’ webpage; https://www.dementiamentors.org/writings-from-dementia.html

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