A Reading of Besotted Ballads Volume One

Even More Poetry of youth, 1955-1959, age 14-18.

At the end of my Senior Year of High School, I fell into deep infatuation for the young lady in the picture with me. Her parents were immigrants from the old Soviet Union and her name was Sonja.  Since she had a lot of interest in music, i tried to impress her by writing a musical play a la Broadway, which I called Ya-Ha-Whoey!

Besotted Ballads Volume One contains the lyrics to the songs from that play.

Although most of these songs were written in 1959, some were written earlier than that such as "My Little White Lamb", "Ya-Ha-Whoey" and "It's Christmas Only Next Week".

The lyrics of the song "Ya-Ha-Whoey" were writen by Stuart Meisel and myself.

These were written in Downingtown and Bucktown, Pa.

My dedication was to the Jeannette S. (Who was another girlfriend of mine.)

If you watch the video, I suggest you scroll down to the bottom of my blog and turn off the music player.

Also, on the video trame, bottom right are a square of four corners. Click this to make it full screen for easier viewing.

“Yum Ye Ye Yum” and “Lonely Boy”

Were publicly performed as part of the production

Frantic Frank on Musick

Directed by Doris Hunter

Owen J. Roberts High School,

Bucktown, Pa. in May 1959 and at

Bethel Methodist Church,

Spring City, Pa. in June 1959

Copyright 1959, 2012

LEM Productions,

Bucktown, Pa.

“My Little White Lamb”

Published by Crown Publishing Co., New York, NY

Recorded by Ben Tate on Ronnie Records in 1961.

Copyright 1957, 2012

Larry E. Meredith,

Bucktown, Pa.

The remaining poems in this volume are the lyrics from the play

Ya-Ha-Whoey!,

Written by Larry Eugene Meredith.

All lyrics are by Larry Eugene Meredith

except “Ya-Ha-Whoey”, written by

Larry Eugene Meredith and Stuart R. G. Meisel.

Original Musical Score by Robert Condon.

Copyright 1956, 1957, 1959, 2004, 2012

Larry E. Meredith & Stuart R. Meisel

Bucktown & Valley Forge, Pa.

 

The model on both covers is my wife.

A Reading of From A Further Room...

More Poetry of youth, 1958-1959, age 17-18.

Some of these poems are from a Poetry reading I did in 1959. Most of the verses here were published over the decades after I graduated high school.

These were written in Bucktown, Pa.

My dedication was to the Ladies of My Youth.

If you watch the video, I suggest you scroll down to the bottom of my blog and turn off the music player.

Also, on the video trame, bottom right are a square of four corners. Click this to make it full screen for easier viewing.

“Spider and the Fly”, “School is a Pain in the Neck”, “A Lesson is a Mess, Son”, “Molly’s Girdle”, “A Regret”, “Rainy Days”, “When I was Alone”, “This Year 1959”

From “Twenty-Six Poems: A Reading”

February 1959

Sponcered by Agnes C. Manser

Owen J. Roberts High School

Copyright 1958, 1959

Bucktown, Pa.

Copyright by Larry Eugene Meredith 2012

“Gatherings”, and “Optimyth”

Publicly read at the “17^tth Annual Poetry Reading Against Nuclear Holocaust”

Displayed at the Ward Public Library

Ward, Colorado

July 1998

Published in the Anthology

A Poem to Save the World: Readings Against Nuclear War

1998

“Old Man’s Lament”

Second Saturday

Jo Allen, editor

Wilmington, Delaware

2005

“Leader’s Sonnet”, “Lonely Months”, “Lost in Love”, Out Upon the Bay”, and “Laughter and Loneliness”

Poetry Vortex

Dallas Kirk Gantt, editor

Wilmington, Delaware

2007

“Laughter and Lonliness”

One Stop Poetry

Pete Marshall, editor

February 2011

“Lost in Love”

Potluck Poetry

Jingle Poetry

Shashi, editor

August 2011

“A Group of Noisy People”

Voices & Friends

A Little Something

Nancy Rosback, editor

December 2011

“Waitin’ for Graduation”

Was written for the Class of ’59 Graduation Committee

Owen J. Roberts High School April 1959

Bucktown, Pa.

Copyright by Larry Eugene Meredith 2009

A Reading of Early in the Mourning

I had begun dabbling around with poetry in grade school. Most of my earliest scribbles long ago disappeared.

At age 12 I began to take writing a bit more seriously and started to collect and preserve what I wrote.

So this volume, Early in the Mourning, is my earliest childhood poetry still in existence. I have long ago committed it to print, then entered it into the digital world of the computer. Now I decided to read it as a video and so here below is my reading of Early in the Morning. The poems and parodies within were all written between early 1954 and early 1958, from an age 0f 12 to 16. Almost all these efforts were performed and/or published many years ago, although one written in 1956 was not published until 1998.

I suggest you stroll to the bottom of my Blog and turn off the music player before listening to the video.

by Larry Eugene Meredith

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

“Rich Man$ $ixteen Ton$”, “Willie Ameere’s Drive”, “I Beg-g-g of You-u-u”, “Hot Rod Richard”, “A Teenage Girl At a Big Star Record Hop Dance in 1957”, “Frankenstein”, “Stranger”, “But Instead of Jazz…”, “On Main Street”, “Pennsylvania”, “Paul Anka, “Walking, Talking Sack Dress”, “Random Ideas Concerning certain Pages in My Grammar”, “Please!”, “A Cup of Tea”, “Hot Rod” and “Goodbye Tango”

From “Twenty-Six Poems: A Reading”

February 1959

Sponcered by Agnes C. Manser

Owen J. Roberts High School

Copyright 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958

Bucktown, Pa.

Copyright by Larry Eugene Meredith 2012

“I’m Gonna Drink that Blood Right Outta Her Neck”, “Older Than Egypt”, “A Wonderful Wolf” and “Some Enchanted Graveyard”

From “South Cemetary”

April 1958

NORCO High School

Copyright 1957, 1958

Bucktown, Pa.

Copyright by Larry Eugene Meredith 2012

“Cycle”

Publicly read at the “17^tth Annual Poetry Reading Against Nuclear Holocaust”

Displayed at the Ward Public Library

Ward, Colorado

July 1998

Published in the Anthology

A Poem to Save the World: Readings Against Nuclear War

1998

Copyright by Larry Eugene Meredith 1957, 1998, 2012