Tosh Berman's Children Songs and Stories

Friday, January 13, 2023

I wandered around where I used to work, Book Soup, looking for a book I ordered for the store, hoping it stayed put because I wanted to read it today.  Charles Perrault is a favorite of mine since I was raised with his fairy tales.  I can never get enough of "The Sleeping Beauty" or "Little Red Riding Hood."   My Mom read them to me as a child, and even though I can never remember the location or that whole day, I have strong memories of her reading these stories to me.  So once I was old enough to read them by myself, it was like another texture was layered on my memory of these stories.  To bounce out the fairy tales, I also purchased Haruki Murakami's "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" and a collection of short stories by Jack London.

Afterward, I took bus line No. 2 to Amoeba Records to purchase a vinyl copy of Tex Ritter’s Children’s Songs and Stories.  I never had an understanding or appreciation for Country recordings, but I decided I needed to make a giant leap into this world, with both feet first, then the head.   My wish was to find a 10" version of the album because I wanted something from the 1950s to give it that authentic appeal or what it is like to discover something from that era.  But that is impossible because I am returning to someone else's nostalgia.  Odd enough, I don't have that feeling for the past, so I need to either share or ride piggyback on someone else's desires for the past.  Luckily I found everything I desired at that moment.

When I got home, I photographed all my new possessions.   It is not enough to have the books and recordings; I also needed a photo representation of some sort as well.  Photos to me are second-hand objects, a remembrance of things past.