I went to see Ben E King in concert last night. I was surprised both that he seems so frail (he's only just 75 - in a week's time) and also that his voice is almost unchanged. He still has that magic in his vocal chords that made him the star he is. And, with a good backing band, he still manages to convey that slightly Latin swinging rhythm that used to get us all going. Needless to say, we had a great time.
My one regret though was that he seemed to forget the words of Spanish Harlem. There I was singing along to the second verse, while he resang the first. Hmm. I felt like shouting out that we weren't just there to SEE him; we wanted to hear the songs too.
Anyway, talking about singing along - here's the embarrassing bit. As he broke into Under The Boardwalk, the whole audience leapt to its feet and waved its arms in the air and sang along with him. And I suddenly remembered my parents, probably returning from the same theatre, waving their arms about and singing Roll Out The Barrel with their friends. And I thought, Oh God (we didn't say OMG in those days), I do hope I never get like that. And yet there I was . . . metaphorically singing Roll Out The Barrel with my friends! Ugh, I hope my children never get like that.
I doubt Take That and Lady Gaga will live in memory long enough for this generation to do the arm waving thing.
ReplyDeleteI assumed the arm-waving and singing along would commence with 'Stand By Me'.
ReplyDeleteStand by Me was a sort of climax and we did indeed sing along (despite my embarrassment), but he'd already called on a supporting singer to help him through; I think 1 hour of singing had taxed him rather.
DeleteYou are so amusing. I have quoted my father so many times this week that I am scared and I am only 69. I totally understand your comments.
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