My Unforgettable Night

Nobody Remembers

I love music. Some of you know that I used to make my living as a musician. I was a drummer for many years, and then, switched to piano, and got jobs in hotels, restaurants, bars, wherever I could. At the time that I was working, this was one of my favorite romantic songs to sing.

And tonight, I ran across this video: Not only did Nat King Cole have one of the most beautiful male voices ever recorded, just to see this, his daughter, singing a duo with him AFTER he was dead, is just chilling. And the love that they had for each other…..not only unforgettable, but incredible.  In other words: Dads are needed JUST as much as a mother in a woman’s life. Look what these two did.

Unfortunately, the black fathers seem to be a thing of the past. (and orchestras too, sadly.)

Now, having said that: Here’s a fun story;

Back in the year, 2000, I went to Washington D.C., all by myself, because I had always wanted to see the sights. I booked the CHEAPEST hotel I could find online. It was somewhere near the Union Station. My flight arrived late at night and I was bored in the hotel room, so I went down to the bar…..only to find it was karaoke night and I was the ONLY white person there. The bar was packed with blacks.

Obviously, all these black people had good government jobs, I went and got a seat at the bar, and one black guy kept talking to me and buying me drinks.  He was with a table full of women, so I didn’t think too much of it.  Being happy just to hear all the great armature singers, he suggested that I get up and sing. In fact, he wouldn’t shut up about it. I made the mistake of telling him I used to sing for a living.

At the time, I was very familiar with tapes, because I worked in a karaoke bar for a year. I got the ‘list’ and the only one that I found that I maybe could sing, (because trust me, most of these people were good) was Unforgettable.   I didn’t really want to, but the guy kept bugging me. And after all, he kept bribing me with free drinks.

“The only one I think I could sing would be Natalie Cole.” I said to the guy. “I’ll tell you what. If YOU sing it with me, I’ll do it. ”

So we did. And he had a ….shocked look on his face. We made it through the song…but you should have seen his face. I’m not sure what he was expecting, but I wasn’t it.

Now…..little did I know that ONE of those girls at his table must have had it bad for the guy, because she started giving me the evil eye, after the song. I went back to the bar, but I could hear her and the guy fighting.

She didn’t seem to mind him talking to me at the bar…but SINGING Unforgettable with him? HA! She wanted me…dead I think.

I was thinking “Gimme three steps, Gimme three steps missy, Gimme three steps towards the door.”

Yep. I left. Went back up to my room.  She was a big woman. And had three very big girl friends.

And so now, whenever I hear that song….I always have to laugh.

The last time I sang Unforgettable, was really…., unforgettable.

What? Did you think this was going to be about sex? (Ha)

October 4, 2013 Posted by Joyanna Adams | Life, music, Uncategorized | life, Music | Leave a comment