7/2017
Mom was fighting hard to make ends meet and take care of my brother and me after Dad died. My sister had married and left and it was just the 3 of us. Starting about age 15 or so, my job was to help Mom fix up houses so she could “flip” them (although that term wasn’t in use back then) and make some money. I’d do yard work, minor repairs, and for the most part paint, clean and haul trash. It was lonely work.
Most think of me as a recluse anyway, but I’d be working in a vacant house most of the day by myself. No MP3 players or iPods. No, not even a Walkman. They just had not been invented yet. So I took a junky old record player and 1 album. Yeah, one of those vinyl turn style thingys. Janis would belt out (that’s the only way to describe Janis Joplin’s style of singing) “Piece of my Heart”, “Ball and Chain” and “Me and Bobby McGee” at volumes not heard since. No wonder I’m almost deaf now.
While driving to work today, I heard some interesting backstory.
Bobby Berns (not the Scottish poet) was a songwriter. When he was about 15 (back in the 40-50s), he got rheumatic fever. Rheumatic fever (which most of us have not had) is strep throat (which most of us have had) with a phage infection (A virus that attacks the group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal bacteria that causes strep throat) that attacks the heart valves. He dropped out of school and became a bum for the next 15 years or so. At about age 30, he began to rise in fame for songwriting (“Hang on Sloopy”, “Twist and Shout”).
According to legend, ever since he recovered (a relative term as the effects after rheumatic fever scar one for life) from his childhood illness, he had a phrase turn over and over in his head, take another piece of my heart. He could not shake it. Finally, he met up with Jerry Ragovoy and together they fleshed out the song “Piece of my Heart”. The song was originally recorded by Erma Franklin but hit #1 when Janis recorded it. In my humble opinion, no one will ever sing that song as well as Janis.
I don’t know how I missed it but I just didn’t think of the immuno-microbiologic pathophysiology of heart endomyocardium when I listened to Janis sing, “Take another little piece of my heart, now baby….” back in the day.
Reminiscences of your grumpy Uncle/Brother Dave.
Weary.