FAVORITE SINGERS My top three favorite singers are all male and two of them have passed on to a better life. I like storytellers and these three are all excellent at that. Also, I noticed that all three of them have sung songs about cars in one way or another. #3 - Jim Croce The lyrics that this guy generated really speak to me. Most of his songs are easy going, some humor included and fun to sing along to. I listened to him on the radio back in the early 1970’s as I was driving around the Southwest United States as a salesman for U.S. Graphite. I was saddened when I heard of his death in a small plane in the same area that I traveled. It’s been over 30 years since he died and those songs still sound great. I wonder what other songs he had in him that we will never hear. #2 - Alan Jackson By 1990 I had lost interest in popular music. There was too much rap and other stuff. It no longer spoke to me. I was working with a young guy named Bill Simon. He introduced me to country music. It had always seemed twangy and stupid to me in the past. I got past the part that I did not like and initially listened to country music for the humor. I started liking the stories and finally started liking the sound. Alan Jackson may be my favorite country star but Joe Diffie is a close second. I wish that he was still prevalent on the radio. Nowadays country is what is normally on my radio. Alan Jackson appeared in 1989 right before I developed my interest in this type of music. He speaks to me and I love his personal touch. I have spread my love of country to my daughter Laura who loves Tim McGraw, but Gloria and Jenna only tolerate this genre. I am certain that Paul doesn’t care for C&W, but I think that Robyn may be on my side of the fence. For my birthday in 2003, Gloria bought us tickets to see Alan Jackson. We had to drive down to Columbus for the performance. It was after 1am when we got home from the event, but I really enjoyed the evening. I have several of his CD’s in my Mustang. #1 - Harry Chapin I had been looking for a singer to fill the void after Jim Croce’s death and Harry did just that. I played his tapes over and over. All of them seemed so real ... like he had experienced all of those things and I think that he had done just that. The one song that really caught my attention was “Cat’s In The Cradle.” Whenever I hear that song I think of my son and all that I did not do with him. “When you comin’ home son/dad, I don’t when, but we’ll get together then dad/son, you know we’ll have a good time then.” I miss Harry and I miss my son.