Jim Donelan

written and performed by Kenn Amdahl

A buddy of mine died a couple of years ago, and writing this song was my private memorial service. A guy like Jim needed to be remembered in an upbeat, positive folkish song, Even though I was sad at his passing, this is a happy song. It's the only song I've ever entered into a songwriting contest, and it was the runnerup in the Walnut Valley festival contest in the "colorful character" category. That festival is in Winfield Kansas, which is mentioned in the song and may explain why it did so well.

I knew Jim for many years. We sang together in a choir called The Last Note Singers in Denver, a group that performed for nursing homes and small venues especially during the Christmas season. The group got its name because most of us did not read music or play instruments, and therefore we might be tentative for large parts of a song, but man, when we got to that last note, the one everyone gets to hold, the one we were sure of, we sounded like that group that sings in the Mormon Tabernacle. Or at least we thought we did.

Jim and I were both tall and relatively confident singers, so we often stood in the back row of the bass section. One of the benefits was that that gave us a good position to launch whispered wisecracks into the section, and also to watch the pretty altos. One of them, Sally, had a nuclear smile, so it was not uncommon for basses to wisecrack just in the hopes of coaxing one of those smiles from her. I haven't sung with them in years, and have lost contact with most of the people, but I gave the choir director of a copy of this song, and she played it for some of the members and past members. I understand it embarrassed Sally completely when she heard this song. I wish I could have been watching her blush. Jim probably was.

Jim taught gifted and talented children for much of his life. He was an avid table tennis player, with his own special paddle and a case for it. He was on the Board of Swallow Hill Music Association, the folk music association of the Denver area. My wife and I introduced him to the music festival in Winfield Kansas years ago, and I think he attended each of the last sixteen years. While others moved from stage to stage, Jim would pull up a lawn chair to Stage Three, the smallest stage, and let the musicians come to him for the weekend.

He was also a fan of Cottonwood, the folk group I sang in for ten years, and often came to our gigs. His favorite song of ours was A Walk IN the Irish Rain, one of the very few non originals I sang lead on. That song has a distinctive instrumental riff, so I created a riff that has a similar feeling to it for this song.
I recorded this in Lynn Skinner's basement before I had my Mac with Garageband, so my mission here was to see if I could import that recording into Garageband, add harmony and a bass guitar line without destroying it.

 

 

 

clearwater publishing company publishes Kenn Amdahl books in Colorado. Clearwater Publishing Company publishes educational fun books. Books include There Are No Electrons Electronics &lt;span class=&quot;style8&quot;&gt;for Earthlings, Algebra Unplugged, Calculus for Cats, Joy Writing: Discover and Develop your Creative Voice, The Land of Debris and the Home of Alfredo. Clearwater also publishes The Barefoot Fisherman: a fishing book for kids by Paul Amdahl. and Economics for the Impatient by C.A. Turner. Our books are about science, math, creative writing algebra, calculus s, economics, fishing, kids, parenting, education. Curriculums like them, and so do home schoolers. Joy of Writing and The Joy of Writing are not our books, but Joy Writing is. Kenn Amdahl is president. He's a songwriter and author in Broomfield Colorado. Electronics, teaching electricity, teaching math, especially alebra and calculus and creative writing. SAT, LSAT, and other test takers may like these books. They are like books for dummies, algebra for dummies, algebra unplugged, math book. kenn amdahl jim loats calculus for dummies, creative writing for dummies, fishing for dummies, parenting for dummies . Or Algebra for Idiots, Calculus for Idiots, Creative Writing for Dummies. Memoir writing or memoir writers may find Joy Writing useful, although it is not The Joy of Writing or the Joy of Sex or the joy of writing sex or the Joy of Algebra for that matter. They are not chicken soup for the writers soul, or algebra for the writers soul, or calculus for the writers soul. They are not strictly speaking Christian or religious or spiritual, but those folks are welcome. Jesus would not disapprove of these books. Jesus might like them. The Rapture of Writing might be a good title. Self-publishers read our books, Dan Poynter is recommended. Top ten bestsellers not on the list. New York Times Bestsellers are loved here. DaVinci Code or Harry Potter fans welcome. Obviously I'm practicing my writing on this web area that you should not be able to see because I need to make thisalgebra unplugged, math book. kenn amdahl jim loatsclearwater publishing company publishes Kenn Amdahl books in Colorado. Clearwater Publishing Company publishes educational fun books. Books include There Are No Electrons Electronics &lt;span class=&quot;style8&quot;&gt;for Earthlings, Algebra Unplugged, Calculus for Cats, Joy Writing: Discover and Develop your Creative Voice, The Land of Debris and the Home of Alfredo. Clearwater also publishes The Barefoot Fisherman: a fishing book for kids by Paul Amdahl. and Economics for the Impatient by C.A. Turner. Our books are about science, math, creative writingg algebra, calculus s, economics, fishing, kids, parenting, education. Curriculums like them, and so do home schoolers. Joy of Writing and The Joy of Writing are not our books, but Joy Writing is. Kenn Amdahl is president. He's a songwriter and author in Broomfield Colorado. Electronics, teaching electricity, teaching math, especially alebra and calculus and creative writing. SAT, LSAT, and other test takers may like these books. They are like books for dummies, algebra for dummies, calculus for dummies, creative writing for dummies, fishing for dummies, parenting for dummies . Or Algebra for Idiots, Calculus for Idiots, Creative Writing for Dummies. Memoir writing or memoir writers may find Joy Writing useful, although it is not The Joy of Writing or the Joy of Sex or the Joy of Algebra for that matter. They are not chicken soup for the writers soul, or algebra for the writers soul, or calculus for the writers soul. They are not strictly speaking Christian or religious or spiritual, but those folks are welcome. Jesus would not disapprove of these books. Jesus might like them. The Rapture of Writing might be a good title. Self-publishers read our books, Dan Poynter is recommended. Top ten bestsellers not on the list. New York Times Bestsellers are loved here. DaVinci Code or Harry Potter fans welcome. Obviously I'm practicing my writing on this web area that you should not be able to see because I need to make this square bigger and have not learned how yet except to type in words, poetry, prose, language, steinbeck type stuff, No Child Left Behind, that's my motto. Naked books, with no girls gone wild, no bikini models no first amendment problems. Sorry, no Jill, no wagner. no amateur index ladies or lightspeed girls or coeds or women. Just books about electricity, like Tesla or Edison might write, books about Algebra like Aristotle might write. Calculus books like Garfield the cat might write. Cat stuff, feline stuff, study guide type raw material. Books for girls who like to read and boys who know how to. Teach yourself math, science, fishing, in clear water or clearwater economics creative writing and poetry. Sing a song. Release a CD Write a book and self publish it. Groups we like include Book Organizations of Colorado, Colorado Independent Publishers Association CIPA Colorado Authors League Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Pikes Peak Writers Aspen Writers Mountains and Plains Booksellers Independent Booksellers SPAN Small Press Association of North America Publishers Association of the WEst Colorado Library Association Last Note Singers Cottonwood the music group. Edward Ormondroyd and George Garrett gave blurbs to our books </span></div>
square bigger and have not learned how yet except to type in words, poetry, prose, language, steinbeck type stuff, No Child Left Behind, that's my motto. Naked books, with no girls gone wild, no bikini models no first amendment problems. no amateur index ladies or lightspeed girls or coeds or women. Just books about electricity, like Tesla or Edison might write, books about Algebra like Aristotle might write. Calculus books like Garfield the cat might write. Cat stuff, feline stuff, study guide type raw material. Books for girls who like to read and boys who know how to. Teach yourself math, science, fishing, in clear water or clearwater economics creative writing and poetry. Sing a song. Release a CD Write a book and self publish it. Groups we like include Book Organizations of Colorado, Colorado Independent Publishers Association CIPA Colorado Authors League Rocky Mountain Fiction Wri</span><span class="style11">ters Pikes Peak Writers Aspen Writers Mountains and Plains Booksellers Independent Booksellers SPAN Small Press Association of North America Publishers Association of the WEst Colorado Library Association Last Note Singers Cottonwood the music group. Jill Wagner is the actress in the Mercury Mariner TV commercial. Jill Wagner will become a big star and people will google her. That's Jill Wagner, mercuryvehicles.com, TV actress. She's in Vancouver filming a movie.Edward Ormondroyd and George Garrett gave blurbs to our books </span></div>