"Try to get me to go to rehab, I'll say no, no, no."

Yeah, I know.  That's not my traditional salutation for this blog.  Well, this is a very special blog, a tribute.  I'm sure you've all heard by now about the untimely passing of the British R&B artist Amy Winehouse, and those cryptic lyrics to her biggest hit, Rehab, gave us all a clue as to which unfortunate turn her life would end up turning.  And, since her death came at the age of 27, the same age that rock legends Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Corbain, all who used drugs and all who ended up buying the farm, it gives another bit of credence to that old adage, "Those who live hard, and rock hard, end up dying at 27."  How sad that has become.

Also, this particular blog also acts as an oft-told warning about the dangers of doing drugs, something that all of our parents, teachers, and clergy has long told us for many generations.  What has happened to Amy yesterday was a movie we have seen four times before, with the traditionally sad ending that we all have now been accustomed to be expecting.  The Boomers saw it through Jimi, Janis, and Jim, the Xers saw it through Kurt, and now, the Y's and the Millennials are seeing it through Amy. 

However, the one artist that Amy Winehouse reminded me most of all was Billie Holiday, who also tragically lost her life to drug use.  The only difference is that Billie was African American  and Amy was, of course, a Jewish Brit.  But, like Billie, Any had a soulful voice that could have easily passed for a black singer's, and the songs that she sang had that hard-scrapple realism that many of Billie's songs had.  I mean, Amy's songs sounded like they came straight out of 1965.  That's what attracted me to her music in the first place.  But once you heard Amy's songs, well, you knew that , to paraphrase Dorothy from The Wizard Of Oz, you were not in the 60's anymore.  So, in closing, I'd like to say, goodbye, Amy.  Sorry your time on this earthly plane was so short, but thanks for the wonderful music that you did give us.

Well, that's all the time we have for this week.  Until next time, be well, stay well, and remember to help the disaster survivors!

Sincerely,




Marley Sue