Since it was going to be cooler today, I thought a little “Black Velvet” would heat things up. In 1990 this was a hot #1 hit for Canadian artist Alannah Myles.
Whenever I hear this song, I am transported back to Gregory, South Dakota in the summer of 1990. My mother’s two sisters live in the small south-central town of Gregory so it was always a summer treat for us to go and visit them a couple of times during summer vacation. I loved Gregory mostly because:
1) it was always oppressively hot in Gregory and I love the heat
2) “Pizza Burgers” from the drive-in
3) Bouche’s (pronounced Boo-ees) Grocery Store that would rent R-rated movies to a bunch of lying 10-year-olds (“…it’s for our mom”)
3) a Ben Franklin Variety store because it had things (less than $5) I could afford
4) riding my cousin’s 4-wheelers and horses
5) taunting the carnies at the 4th of July Main Street carnival
6) the exciting imminent fear and danger of being bitten by rattlesnakes
All of these things were very Indiana Jones for my 5 cousins and my sister and I. Basically we could run around as a wild pack and do what we wanted while my mom and her sisters were talking and drinking iced-tea for 4 days.
“Black Velvet” made a great soundtrack to that summer. I didn’t really know what it was about until years later. It’s about Elvis Presley’s life. It tells his haunting story of fame and fall through Alannah’s seductive voice and gritty guitar. The title refers to Elvis liking to have his portrait painted on black velvet.
The boy could sing, knew how to move, everything/Always wanting more, he’d leave you longing for… black velvet”.
Even when I go back to Gregory now, Magic 93 hasn’t really updated their play list since 1989 so I will hear some of the songs I loved visiting there in my youth. Like this one.
Tags: 90s, Alannah Myles, Carnies
Oh this is really great! Hope my sisters from Gregory read this! Great memories of all my little nieces and nephew in Gregory town!
ha! we were pulling a lot of tricks you didn’t know about! Good times and fond memories!
Those were the “good ole days”, Cassie, when you girls would come visit and have so much fun! I guess I didn’t realize that you sweet things were renting R rated movies cuz you always acted so innocent!!!
Oh, Cassie! I didn’t realize you kids were renting “R” rated movies either!!haha I’m sure it was all Tom’s fault too!!!haha There was one thing I missed in your “overview” of coming to Gregory and that was the lemon drops you’d get at Ben Franklin!! Fun Times for sure!