I try to get a portion of my news from the internet. It seems like it comes in quickly on the net and I like getting caught up on the news and events quickly, however,  last week I read some news that made my heart drop, yet filled my head with memories and it got me thinking….

How many people have fond memories of the song by Etta James, At Last? I know I have several memories that make my heart flutter and the death of Etta James I have no doubt, has many people looking at old memories. James voice was her instrument of choice, and so diverse was she as a singer she was categorized as jazz, R&B, gospel, Doo-Wop pop, blues, and rockabilly.

Etta James was born in 1938 and originally was a gospel singer. In fact, some said she was a “gospel prodigy” and sang in her church choir at the young age of five. Too young to be a singer? Well by the time James was 12 she was singing in a trio with Johnny Otis the bandleader. She sang with a variety of people and in 1955 she went solo.

Etta James hit the charts as a solo artist with such hits as All I Could Do Was Cry, Trust in Me, Tell Mamma, Something’s Got a Hold On Me, Losers Weepers, and her big hit At Last. So great were her hits that she won six Grammys and 17 Blues Music Awards. I never realized until I started researching Etta James that in 1978, she was the opening act for The Rolling Stones. Sadly, she disappeared after that for over ten years and she began to fight a heroin and alcohol addiction.

Like all strong women, Etta came back and she came back bigger, better and stronger. In fact so strong was her return James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well as the Blues Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Now that is saying a great deal for this singer. She started over 60 years ago and made history with her accomplishments as a singer.

So this past week, the world mourned this wonderful singer, but what she has left us with a mind full of music and a soul  filled with memories that only Etta could have given us. So here’s to you Ms. James and may you rest in peace.

I could not help but read the news yesterday that there is another soap opera that will be going off the air. Some of the soap operas that are going off the air are ones I recall my mother watching and they are still on.  I was reading in the paper how upset people were that some of these long-lived soap operas are going and it got me thinking…

When we think of soap operas many of us think of the long running TV shows like One Live to Live, General Hospital, As the World Turns. Truth is, for those who might not have known, soap operas did not originate on television rather they had their start in radio. That’s right, back then it was called “domestic radio dramas” which I must say I love the way that sounds. So popular where these radio dramas that by the early 40s, these radio shows dominated the air waves and were responsible for over 90% of commercially-sponsored daytime broadcast.

So where did the term soap opera come from? The term came from soap manufacturers who were prominent sponsors to these dramatic shows like Tide, Duz, and Ivory. In fact, Procter and Gamble, maker of several soap products, produced the first network soap opera for TV in 1950. It was called The First hundred years and lasted only two years and would be replaced by The Guiding Light. Search for Tomorrow soon followed.

In 1956 As the World Turns hit TV stations and yep, it was Procter and Gamble once again along with CBS that were involved. They were smart and knew who to target. That’s right the homemakers because they knew that in the 50′s the husband did not buy soap!  Don’t think that radio soaps went off the air completely though as that did not happen until 1960.
In 1963, the medical soaps launched and General Hospital and the Doctors came on the air.

Soaps were taking the country by storm. Women from the age of 18-49 were glued to the TV. I recall my mother watching the soap operas, though I suspect to this day the only soap she will claim she watched was Dark Shadows, and I must admit, I too would run home from school to watch this vampire soap. I loved that show! I recently watched old Episodes on Netflix and giggled a bit because as a child it scared me, as an adult I wonder what spooked me so much? Still I loved the show.

The bottom line is soaps come and go. There have been a variety of soaps like Search for Tomorrow, Love of Life, The Guiding Light, As the World Turns, Secret Storm, and The Edge of Night, One Life to Live, Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, The Bold and the Beautiful, All My Children, The Young and the Restless and Ryan’s Hope to name a few.

One needs to give credit to the soap opera as they have really made TV history. Alas, like all good things, there is an end. I think more and more people are growing tired of the soap opera genera and networks are losing money. What will replace this 60 some odd year television genera? Will it be more cooking shows? Will it be more reality shows? Will it be more magazine or talk shows? Stay tuned to find out…

Happy New year to everyone. I am not one to go out on New
Year’s Eve. I believe too many people drink and drive and can cause accidents. Therefore, I play it safe and stay at home enjoying myself and having fun. I flipped on the TV to watch a little of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve 2012. What?? The great Carlos Santana is going to play with Justin Bieber? I had to quickly turn it off. I respect Carlos and wanted to remember him pre-Bieber but it got me thinking…

A friend sent me the link to the show and told me to watch Carlos play with Beiber. Listening to Carlos reminds me that when he is up front on stage, nothing else matters. You do not hear anything else but the guitar that this magical musician plays and I really understood the performance was all about Carlos.

Still, many young people might have woken up the next day saying, “who the heck is Carlos Santana?”  For people who need to ask that, I am here to tell you that Carlos is a great guitar player, not some musician who backs the
Beiber.  Maybe it was on his bucket list to play with a teen Idol. Maybe it was part of his goal to back up anyone and everyone since Carlos has played with anyone and everyone.  What is important is this Hall of Famer has earned the right to do what he wants and play with whom he wants after over 40 years in the music business and selling over 90 million records.

Carlos started a band in the late 60s called Santana and it was a different kind of sound that people weren’t familiar with. He played rock music and infused salsa and jazz and created a series of hits that landed him 10 Grammy Awards.

Santana got their big break in 1969 when they played at Woodstock. They performed a style of music that tilted the rock and roll scale. Their eclectic style of music has produced such hits as Evil Ways, Black Magic Woman and Oye Como Va.

Carlos was more than just a musician. He began to help through music by performing benefits such as San Francisco Earthquake Relief, Doctors Without Borders, Indigenous People Fund, Hispanic Media & Education
Group, Amnesty International, LA Museum of Tolerance, the Aids project and more than I have room to write. Still, this humble humanitarian didn’t stop there. He and his wife started the Milagro Foundation, which contributed almost 2 million dollars to help underprivileged youths.

If you have not heard of Santana or at least Carlos Santana, I invite you to go to Yotube  and take a look at what a real musician is. Santana is the type of music that moves you to the core of your soul and wanting more.

By the way what was your favorie Santana album? Mine is Abraxas.