Today as I sit here in my office looking out over the the Old Union School and the historic Eaton Church, I was struck by the fact that since I came to this little hamlet in 1984 things have changed drastically. The change has been not for the better in many cases.
The old friends I used to treasure are for the most part gone, many relatives gone, associates gone, and most original museum members are gone. An old friend Nellie Wooten taught me so much about the people she knew each time we walked in the cemetery...once on the way down to town she looked back over her shoulder and said wistfully with sadness...all my friends and relatives are here...I miss them.
Maybe because of my tiredness and depression caused by the fact that I have not accomplished more in this short summer that is slipping away...whatever it is... I could not stop singing or humming a very sad song…"Deep Purple"!
When the deep purple falls..
Over sleepy garden walls?…
And the stars begin to twinkle in the night..
In the mist of a memory ..
You wander on back to me..
Breathing my name with a sigh..
As of course, you would suspect …the song has an unbelievable history. This piece of music was written originally as a piano piece written by pianist Peter DeRose, who broadcast, 1923 to 1939, with May Singhi as "The Sweethearts of the Air" on the NBC radio network.
"Deep Purple" was published in 1933 as a piano composition. The following year, Paul Whiteman had it scored for his suave "big band" orchestra that was "making a lady out of jazz" in Whiteman's phrase. "Deep Purple" became so popular in sheet music sales that Mitchell Parish added lyrics in 1938 or 1939.
It was recorded so many times by different bands and sung by different singers that it is amazing. On the hit charts it was a number 1 song in 1939 with Larry Witman, it was also number 2 for Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra, a number 9 for Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians, number14 on the charts for Bing Crosby, number 17 for Artie Shaw and His Orchestra….. all in 1939.
By January 1949 Paul Weston and His Orchestra recorded it as well as Billy Ward and His Dominoes in September. For us 70 year olds it became number 1 again for Nino Tempo and April Stevens in September 1963 and also a hit for Donny and Marie Osmond in December 1975.
It just seems to remind you of every love, every person you ever knew.. and how loneliness feels at night in this small town.
In the still of the night
Once again I hold you tight..
Though you're gone,
Your love lives on when moonlight beams
And as long as my heart will beat,
Sweet loved ones we'll always meet..
Here in my deep purple dreams…
I have been working all summer on my house that was going to the bulldozer when I bought it...Mr Woods house... and part of the old school. It has survived 200 plus years of floods, wars, trees falling on it, and this past two a fire...I am still working on it.
I am working on a growing website of history for Eaton, another website to try and help people understand the importance of fixing their animals called 4 Community Cats, my blog View from the BackStreet that reflects my thoughts on history on the area, and a perhaps a bit of hope.
My hope rises as the Stone Morse House on the hill is finally being saved, plus all in all we still have here Eaton Fire Department, a Community Bible Church, a well kept EatonVillage Cemetery, the Old Town of Eaton Museum, a store and gas station... as well as a beautiful scenic place to live. A place we can just look out at the world with all its wars, sorrows, and disasters from.
Depressed...yes I am...but filled with some hope for the future.
