Bonanza (AUDIO)

Connecting childhood memories of horsey rides with a classic western theme.

Bonanza was an American favorite for generations

(AUGOURA, Calif.) - Not so long ago, I had one of those great deja-vous moments with my boys.

First, some set-up; I had made a couple of CDs for a men’s weekend I'd be attending. The idea was to put together a group of songs that would celebrate being men, the completion of an intense weekend of "work", and be the kind of music that would encourage "letting go" in the form of dancing, singing, acting out, etc.

I went overboard in preparing what was requested, by including comedy snippets, famous Speeches, and TV and Movie themes, in addition to high-energy songs...all evocative of certain feelings of "manhood", in my memory and opinion.

In one section, I strung together several well-known TV Western theme songs like RAWHIDE (sung by Frankie Laine...and so funny and fun) and BONANZA.

I was excited to listen to those first-draft CDs on the way to taking my kids to school. So, I popped in the first one and the three of us were enjoying the various tracks, though I skipped the Bobby Knight speech in which he was exhorting his college basketball team to do better by berating them and punctuating his "motivational" pep talk with the “F-Word” seemingly every other word.

The kids laughed at Waylon Jennings' PUT ANOTHER LOG ON THE FIRE and sang along with the Beatle's version of TWIST AND SHOUT. But, when we got to the theme songs, there was this funny moment for them and me!

When they were VERY little, I used to bounce them on my lap and play "horsey". I did this to the tune of BONANZA and all-the-while, I'd be swinging them up and down, side to side, and occasionally, drop them between my legs and drop them forward...doing a bum-di-dee-bum version of BONANZA.

It was the first "horse" song idea that popped into my mind the first time I did this...thereafter, it became a tradition.

Well, I never told them where this melody came from so that day was the FIRST time they actually heard the original source! They were both shocked and surprised! First, at the funny memory of what we used to do but then they were exclaiming, "I thought you made up that music!”

We were laughing and reminiscing all the way to school. Such fun, and so funny as they, in their nascent lives, looked back with nostalgia at being younger! Till the next one…

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Bruce Sallan gave up his showbiz career a decade ago to raise his two boys, full-time, now 12 and 15. His nationally syndicated column, A Dad’s Point-of-View, is his take on the challenges of parenthood and male/female issues, both as a single dad and now, newly remarried, in a blended family. In addition to Salem-News.com, his column is available in over 50 newspapers and Web sites in the U.S. and internationally. He can be reached at: brucesallan@gmail.com.