Regarding Lee Michaels, I can’t really say it any better than does All Music Guide: “Take It Slow (Out In The Country)” by Lighthouse (Evolution 1052, No.
“Get Down” by Curtis Mayfield (Curtom 1966, No. “Witch Queen of New Orleans” by Redbone (Epic 10746, No. “George Jackson” by Bob Dylan (Columbia 45516, No. “White Lies, Blue Eyes” by Bullet (Big Tree 123, No. “Can I Get A Witness” by Lee Michaels (A&M 1303, No. So I think I’ll stick with opaque hints and keep a little mystery in the season.Ī Six-Pack from the Billboard Hot 100, December 11, 1971 The surprise heightens the joy in both directions, I learned that year. And I think my parents knew that I knew.Īnd as pleased as I was to receive the box set a couple weeks later on Christmas Eve, I think that my knowing what was in the package somehow diminished the joy of the gift for me and – more importantly – for my parents. I knew immediately what it was: The Concert for Bangla Desh, the box set of George Harrison’s epic concert of the previous August, released only a week or so earlier. I tried not to look, but the item in Mom’s hands was unmistakable: It was the size of an LP, and it was dull orange. I remember that I’d gone outside to go somewhere, and then turned around and went back into the house to get something I’d forgotten.Īnd I walked past a doorway and saw my parents busily wrapping Christmas presents in the room. The evening in question, in fact, might have been the evening when Jeannie and I exchanged gifts, just before she headed home to a small town south of St. I’d done my shopping for my family, for Rick and for a gal from school I’d been dating. It was December of 1971, and Christmas was not far off. That’s a lesson I learned through accidental experience. You see, to me, the surprise is the one of the main pleasures of gift-giving, for both the giver and the recipient. “That depends on how large a loaf you have.”Īll of which is true, and all of which leaves the Texas Gal less than enlightened about what she’ll find in her packages, which is my goal. I’m not all that subtle at that any hints I give will either be too easy to figure out or too opaque to be helpful, so in order to maintain the surprise, I go with opaque: Sometimes she prods me, asking for hints as to what I’ve found for her. I much prefer the latter two sources, because then she can truly be surprised. One of the sheer delights of this time of year for me is giving the Texas Gal gifts she truly wants, whether from a brief list, from remembering comments she’s made throughout the year or simply from seeing something somewhere I know she’d like.