Music to Write By, and Other Rambling

I’ve never been one to have music playing when I write, but lately for some reason I find that I have a CD going more often than not. Most of the time I’ve been alternating between Dimitri Tiomkin’s score for RED RIVER, Max Steiner’s score for KING KONG, and that DRIVE TIME compilation CD I mentioned a while back, which includes music by Tiomkin again, Elmer Bernstein, Ennio Morricone, Aaron Copland, and a few others. I’ve discovered that I really like Copland’s music, enough so that I may look for some other CDs of his work. This CD closes with a rather odd pairing of songs, the theme from “Route 66” by Nelson Riddle and “Happy Trails” by Roy and Dale. “Route 66” is one of those series I wouldn’t mind sampling again. I watched it some when it was on the air originally, but I was fairly young and have a feeling a lot of the storylines went over my head. Really like the theme song, though.

Depending on my mood I have other CDs I play. Lots of Western music, some jazz and lounge stuff, Herb Alpert (both on his own and with the Tijuana Brass), Norah Jones and Diana Krall, a Greatest Hits of Steely Dan CD, and HISTORY: AMERICA’S GREATEST HITS. Now, I’ll admit that America was a pretty cheesy band, but their “A Horse With No Name” was a huge hit the second semester of my freshman year in college, at good old Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos (now known as Texas State University). The radio station we always listened to, KRMA ( “Radio Karma”, get it? Cool!) played “A Horse With No Name” what seemed like twenty-four hours a day. When my roommate and I weren’t listening to that, we were listening to Cheech & Chong’s LP, BIG BAMBU. It’s a wonder I have any brain cells left, not because of ingesting any illegal substances, which I actually didn’t, but a steady diet of Cheech & Chong and “A Horse With No Name” can’t be good for a person. The other vivid memories I have from that year are of watching The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and reading comic books and Doc Savage and Nick Carter paperbacks. Just don’t ask me about any of the classes I took. On the other hand, what better preparation could a person have for a life of writing paperback fiction?