1937: Da jeg var en liten gutt, Øystein Sunde

The title means "When I was a little boy" and is a look back on boyhood from the vantage point of fatherhood, recalling being shushed in the back seat, and now the melancholy feeling of being the shusher and driver himself. Cars figure heavily in much of Sunde's work, and this is no exception: "My grandpa had a Plymouth, I'm sure it looked fine in '37"(only reference to a year)...Sunde's father bought the car from his own father, and it of course reminded me of our '49 Plymouth (sold in '64 for 15 dollars, when we upgraded to a '55 model).

The song is on his album "Kjekt å ha" from 1989, recorded in Nashville. "Kjekt å ha" translates loosely to "Comes in handy". Sunde is a crack guitarist and banjo player, has jammed with Chet Atkins in Nashville but lives outside of Oslo, where Egil knows him from RC model glider flying. Other musicians on the album are Mark O'Connor, Jonas Fjeld, Jerry Douglas, Bela Fleck, Kenny Malone, Roy Huskey, jr., Ray Flacke, Bruce Bouton, and Einar Mjølsnes. Norwegian folksinger Kirsten Bråten Berg does back-up vocals on one traditional song as well. Even if you understand none of the lyrics, this is a great album.

It is amazing how an idea like this can wreak havoc on my best laid plans to accomplish things.

You rat!

Rachel