About George Thompson
Location: Missouri
Occupation: Writer
Bio: Bio I was born in the small town of Ironton, Missouri in the mid-40s. My father was a minister and my mother was the devoted pastor’s wife. We moved when I was three to Kansas City where Dad pastored several churches, then moved to Fulton in 1960 where I graduated from Fulton High School in 1962. Dad was pastor at the Southside Baptist Church from 1960 through 1967. It was during those teenage years that I started writing poetry, articles, short stories and novels. Many poems were of a “grim” nature because I was usually either frustrated or felt depressed when I wrote them. Further in-depth study of myself helped me to see matters in a different, more enlightened way and gave me a much greater peace Bio of mind. That feeling came about when I realized that a Higher Power held control over my life and although I felt free here on earth to explore many things because God gave me the mind to make my own decisions based on the “terms” I had set for myself it was I who set the terms and levels of frustration and worry. Once I turned everything over to God, my writings became more positive and that feeling of emptiness I once had was lifted. My faith in God and the good intentions of mankind grows daily. I believe in the power of words, whether they are written, spoken or through the motions and spelling in sign language. They can be used to empower or defeat, accept or deny. My poetry is just one of many means of communicating. Retired now, I make my home in Ironton once again after being gone for sixty years. I write a poem every day, an article or two a week and have a continuing column at wickedwordsmith.com on the Web. My pleasures are writing, feeding birds and taking care of my new cat, Mandi.
Posts: 146
More from this author
This is an enchanting CD of Christmas music that brings back lots of memories for me. The list reads like any regular list you’d expect people to be singing during this joyous season. I did sort of find “Here Comes Santa Claus” a little out of place as well as “I’m in Love,” and “What Can I Buy You?” since they are not Christmas songs at all. Nor or they religious oriented, either. Okay, I’ll call it a mixture because even the title tune is not religious. You win!
The Isley Brothers are backed by a big band on every song except one and that’s “The Christmas Song” which only uses an electric guitar. I thought that a very unique trick. Sort of reminiscent of Chet Atkins and some of his tunes in the past. I wasn’t up for the organ prelude on one of the songs because it made the song seem it was being sung in a church and none of the others seemed that way.
The orchestral arrangements are perfect; the choir accompanies without a hitch. In fact, in some places it’s difficult to tell that the choir is actually singing along. You have to listen closely to separate the voices from the music. Now, that takes talent and excellent direction on the part of the musical coordinator. Congratulations to him and all the others who put this CD together.
It’s amazing how many people who do not know the words to these popular songs and when I opened the program notes I thought the lyrics would be included; they weren’t. Each song was included and listed all the instruments used in the song, whether the song was ASCAP or BMI, who wrote the song, who wrote the lyrics (if different), etc. I was a little disappointed by that.
There are ten songs on the CD and the Isleys could have recorded several more. I wish they had for the CD may have been even more robust than it already is. Granted, each song is a favorite of many, but there were several more that could have been in the repertoire: “Let It Snow,” “Blue Christmas,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” etc.
They did a wonderful job with this CD and I enjoyed it, but I could have clamored for more. Get the CD and see if you don’t agree with me. It’s ten songs worth listening to and thinking back to earlier days that you enjoyed. Live it up!
