THE SCENE: 55 degrees with a light rain to wash the sweat away
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
Checked off.
WARM-O-RAMA:
To the music of Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones, circa 1969:
SSH – x20; Little Baby Arm Circles (forward and reverse) – x15; Cherry Pickers – x10; Imperial Squat Walkers – x15
Jog; Skip; Bear Crawl/Jog; Bear Crawl/Jog length of the grinder.
THA-THANG:
“A” Leg Exercises
Under the Pavilion:
Bench Step Ups x12; Dry Docks x12; Squat Jumps x12; Merkins x12; SSH (single count) x12; BBS x12
Intermission
Run from the Pavilion to the Road:
Merkins x6; BBS x6; Drydocks x6
Run back to the Pavilion.
“B” Leg Exercises
Under the Pavilion (Using CMU’s)
Kettlebell Swings x12; On the Shelf x6/side; Bent Rows x12; Curls x12; Squats x12; Deadlift x6/arm
Intermission
Run from the Pavilion to the Road:
Merkins x6; BBS x6; Drydocks x6
Run back to the pavilion
Repeat Above as Time Allows
MARY:
Leg Lifts, Box Cutters, Hello Dolly’s, and then cashed out with 1 minute of Little Baby Crunches.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
11 faithful, 0 FNG’s
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
We started the workout to the song Gimme Shelter, the opening track from the Rolling Stones 1969 album, Let It Bleed. When asked who sang the song most will generically say the Rolling Stones or specifically, Mick Jagger. When I listen to the song, I hear Merry Clayton. She is the background vocalist and the one who puts her heart and soul in the song. Merry was born on Christmas Day, 1948, and was the daughter of a Baptist minister in the New Orleans area. She began singing gospel music in church before she was tagged as a background singer for Ray Charles and others at the ripe age of 14.
In 1969 she was pregnant and living with her husband in Los Angeles. The phone rang around midnight and an agent said this British rock group needed a background vocalist for a track to complete a soon to be released album. They needed her to come to the recording studio right away. At first she said no, she was tired and she wasn’t feeling too well. Her husband said she needed to go; that it might be good for her singing career. Merry shows up at the studio and talks to Keith Richards about the song, the significance of the words written by Jagger, and the way they wanted it sung.
She sang one take, got some feedback from Richards and Jagger, and then said she would give it one more try. After the second take she offered a third and then said goodnight. The rest is history for the Stones.
Merry is always the singer I hear in the song. She was the one that gave it everything she had and she blows it away – as a backup singer. The Rolling Stones almost always gets the credit for this hit from almost 50 years ago.
There are many times that our roll in life is like Merry’s was that night. We are not the one to make the decisions, we are not THE face in the crowd, we are not the leader, we may not get the recognition we deserve. We are the backup, the support member of the team, the one given a specific task in the big picture, the one that will be an integral part of future success. Regardless, our job is to push ourselves, attain the objective, and move on to the next. Always remember that there is no limit to what can be attained if no one cares who gets the credit.
So where is Merry? She went home after the Stones session and had a miscarriage late that morning. She believes the stress she put herself in earlier was a factor and she could barely bring herself to sing the song for a few years afterwards. She continued mostly in a backup singer roll and was highlighted in a 2012 documentary about others in similar rolls that made many of the legendary songs of the past. Finally some well deserved recognition has come to her. In 2014 a car accident left her without legs. Her faith in God and the inner strength and determination derived from that faith is keeping her on her feet and her music alive.
MOLESKIN:
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Don’t forget Hardship Hill at Fort Southwest Point Park in Kingston, TN. Can’t or won’t participate? Volunteers are needed and welcomed for setup and event day.