Labor Day Weekend is here again. Time to celebrate the accomplishments of Ms. Magic Meryle Cohen, Cohen the Violinist!
We get to read about Cohen the Violinist each Labor Day weekend in the "Celebrations" section of the Sunday San Diego Union-Tribune. For the last two years I've been posting her stories.
These posts are about the only ones where people other than friends and family have posted comments. People from around the country have done Google searches of her name and have found my posts.
I've gotten some emails through my profile's Contact link that have given me pointers to information on the web about Ms. Magic Meryle. I was pointed to a YouTube video that I included in last year's post. Unfortunately, that video has been removed by the user who posted it. :-(
I had thought that these emails were coming from another fan of hers but it turned out they were from Ms. Magic Meryle herself.
Earlier this year I got a note from her alerting me to the program "Night on the Town" on Oceanside Community Television KOCT. Unfortunately, the Oceanside government access channels aren't on Escondido's cable TV...it has Escondido's government channel (imagine!). So I wrote back to say I couldn't watch the program since I don't get that channel. She wrote to let me know that they have it on their web site.
"Night on the Town" is a half hour program that shows various activities that you can do evenings in Oceanside. One activity they showed is Oceanside's weekly Sunset Market. The Sunset Market segment of the show was introduced with a snippet of Cohen the Violinist playing her signature "Theme from 'The Addams Family'."
A few months ago I got a message from Magic Meryle telling me that the YouTube video had been taken down and asked if I could get it back. I wrote to say that it wasn't my video so I couldn't help. But, since she introduced the Sunset Market segment of "Night on the Town," I asked if there was a time she'd be performing there again. I said that maybe I could go over some Thursday evening and record some videos to post to YouTube.
She wrote back to tell me that she's allowed to play the first Thursday of each month. So three days later I packed up my camera and tripod on the first Thursday of August and headed over to Oceanside's Sunset Market.
There she was! After she finished a tune I went up and introduced myself as "Chuckbert." She apparently couldn't hear all I said, it looked like she was adjusting a hearing aid, so I explained that I was the person she had been emailing information to. "You're 'Chuckbert'?!?" she asked excitedly. "I can't believe you came all the way from Escondido!"
She's thrilled that I repeat her story on this blog. She's amazed that there are people out there who have the newspaper clipping on their refrigerators.
I set up the camera and tripod and yelled "Action!" The camera can take 18 minutes of video at a time. She gave us a performance that lasted nearly that long. I've broken it up into four sections. Here they come. Beneath them I've listed the tunes I recognize. There are some that I know I know but the titles just don't come to me. Any help in naming those tunes will be very much appreciated.
But first, let's get the ball rolling with this year's celebration of her accomplishments (click on it to see a a more readable version).
Congratulations on all of your accomplishments, Ms. Magic Meryle Cohen! (I am humbled by your mention of this blog. Thanks, Ms. Magic Meryle!)
And now to the concert she promised starting with the theme from "The Addams Family"...
Theme from the Addams Family
Theme from I Love Lucy
Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini
Hokey Pokey
Don't Cry for Me Argentina
The Glory of Love
Yankee Doodle
?
Theme from The Odd Couple
Theme from The Lone Ranger
Uptown Girl
Michelle
Beethoven Symphony 7, 2nd Movement
Theme from The Dick van Dyke Show
If You're Happy and You Know It
Theme from Bonanza
?
Beethoven's Ode to Joy
A Whole New World
Maria
Time to Say Goodbye
?
Baby Elephant Walk
Can Can
The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Oh! Susanna
If I Were a Rich Man
Greensleeves
I'm an Indian, Too
Day Tripper
?
So What
I wish I were an Oscar Mayer Weiner
Hit the Road, Jack
Those Were the Days, theme from All In the Family
Love and Marriage
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
?
There's No Business Like Show Business
?
Theme from Raiders of the Lost Ark
Polly Wolly Doodle
?
Auld Lang Syne
For He's a Jolly Good Fellow
Here's a picture of Cohen the Violinist and Chuckbert.
If you're in the area some Thursday evening, you might want to go to Oceanside's Sunset Market and see if Ms. Magic Meryle is playing. She'll give you a nice performance and recommendations of places to eat. Mmmmmmmmmm...donuts!
And take note of the tip can.
8 comments:
BRAVA!
It is wonderful that your worlds came together. This is what the internet is all about: connecting people!
Thank you, Chuckbert and many, many thanks to you, Ms. Magic Meryle Cohen!!
What a wonderful way to start a Sunday morning! You two make me smile:)
how many more hits have gotten since she mentioned your blog in the paper?
Wonderful performance! Thanks for continuing to spread the word about this amazing woman and for making her artistry available to everyone!
Thank you, for the great concert! We'll be there on a Thursday...
Wow, so you finally met Magic Meryle after blogging her all those years. That was great! I like it when she said "Oy vey." (sp?)
I just met this extraordinary lady at the Old Town Temecula Farmers Market. I could have listened to her all day. We had a wonderful little chit-chat and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment. She played everything from Shoo Fly Shoo to Ozzy Osbournes Ironman. Wow, what an awesome human being, I'm lucky to have met her.
I have her Celebration from 2011 right in front of me. I noticed her a few years ago. She's great. I wish she would play at the Ocean Beach Street Market every Wednesdays. I wish she would play Winston's, too. She is totally hot.
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