Genius
Posted at 5:25 AM on August 5, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(15 Comments)
Big Birthday Week continues with Mark O'Connor, born on August 5th, 1961.
He doesn't have the same legendary reputation as Tony Bennett and Louis Armstrong, but just wait. As a violinist, fiddler and composer, Mark O'Connor is building up a body of work that will last for a long time. He wins accolades from the hard-to-impress in every area he enters, whether it's classical music or bluegrass or country or jazz or swing.
And this has been happening to him for a long time. Here's a quote that would probably turn your head if somebody said this about you:
They say he's a genius. And I would have to use the same expression. The word "genius" is about the only way that I know that could fit a person 12 years old that can play a fiddle as this boy can play it. You know, Joe Edwards, back here - Joe plays a fine guitar and fiddle - he expressed it about as good as anybody could, I guess. He said: 'You know, seeing and hearing him play makes me believe more in reincarnation than anything.' He said: 'He'd have had to have been here some time before.' The reason he said that - now let me explain this - he's only been playing, so his mother and they all say, a year and a half! Maybe Joe's right. Maybe he has been here before and come back! "I have to say that for 12 years old I don't believe I've ever heard anything that can equal him in any way."
Then consider that this was Mark O'Connor's introduction for his first appearance on the Grand Ol' Opry, and the speaker was Roy Acuff, who was the "King of Country Music" and also the son of a Baptist preacher in the conservative Christian south, so getting him to accept the idea of reincarnation was an impressive achievement in itself.
There's no doubt Mark O'Connor was a prodigy, and he continues to amaze as an adult.
Of course, many very young people are incredibly talented.
Years ago, my son was North America's best 3 year old spice rack contents identifier. We cherish the video of him sitting in his high chair, improbably pointing to the proper container, saying "Pah-PREEEEEE-ka!" Perhaps we were overbearing parents. Our constant pressure for him to expand his repetoire to include "Turmeric" and "Foenugreek Seed" may have poisoned the well. He has other interests now.
As an infant, my prodigal talent was stuffing dirt in my mouth. I was the mud eating champion of Yonkers, New York. People couldn't believe how I packed away the soil.
But even though I had great prospects and could have opened new frontiers in this field, I gave it up.
Did you have a talent as a youth that caused people to be amazed? Dumbfounded? Thunderstruck? What happened?
Comments (15)
in 8th grade i was Sibley County spelling champion...... went in to "the cities" for the contest to pick kids to go to the national spelling bee. didn't make the cutoff. it's been all downhill since then :-)
it's a gorgeious mornning here in Blackhuff
I think that as a child I was very good at pouting. I shouldn't admit this, but I can remember this as a special "talent". My parents said that I was a good boy, but I wonder if they were being completely truthful.
I can remember being told, "a birdy is going to come and sit on your lip". I don't see kids of the current generation using the pout like I did. It seem to be a lost "talent". I do get lots of "lip" from kids when I do substitute teaching.
Good Morning RHers,
I had no talent as a child - except maybe also recognizing talent in others. I saw Mark O'Connor when we were both young on that Grand Ol' Opry broadcast and have been a fan ever since. He has been one of my favorite musicians for many years. Please keep Mark's music coming this morning.
I didn't wow anyone with talent. My oldest son taught himself to read when he was two, tell time and read schedules by the time he was three, and could give directions left and right by the time he was 4. He is smart but no longer stands out in a crowd. Other people learned how to read, tell time, etc. ;-)
My talents were all relative. I remember being a great catcher when I played softball because I was the only one who could throw the ball all the way to second base to get the out when someone tried to steal. But then all the girls got stronger and faster and my skills were no longer that impressive. Same thing with music. Oh, I know! My mom says that when I was in high school marching band, other band parents would comment to her that I was an absolutely beautiful marcher. I guess I will always have that to fall back on.
When we lived with another family briefly in 1981, their 3-year-old Luke would watch tractors pass by, and learned to identify them by brand -- John Deere, Case, "nat-nul" was International Harvester. (this is when I milked goats, Barb & Sherilee :) As far as I know, he has not kept up with this skill.
I think I was about 4 when my mom would have me sing for company while she accompanied on the piano -- things like The Trolly Song and Tzena Tzena. This willingness soon faded, and I sang in groups till college when I got a guitar. Of course, in 1967 I was one of only a few thousand who could sing with a guitar.
I was...and still is among the parents of childhood friends...famous for being able to do the best horse whinny while cantering like a horse (which i did most of the time)...and I also could do very good drawings of horses. I don't whinny or canter around like a horse anymore (I let them do it for me), but I can still draw & paint a pretty good horse.
I started cooking quite young and made absolutely perfect cream puffs on my first attempt when I was 10. I still like to cook, but I never have made cream puffs as good as I did on that first try.
When I was young, I would memorize my piano music so that when the recital came around I didn't bring the sheet music along. This would frustrate my piano teacher since she couldn't help me if I messed up, but I don't remember needing any assistance while on stage. Too bad those skills didn't stay, now more of a music appreciator than performer.
PS. Thanks for playing Harry Belafonte yesterday. I like his voice and mood.
Have a great morning.
Greetings Heartlanders! I don't know if I was a special talent, but I was a good athlete in high school -- volleyball, basketball, and jumped hurdles in track. In college, I was a dancer and just had the knack or feeling for it -- but not enough training or body type to be professional.
Then i married Mr. Couch Potato and headed into the cubicle world of sedentary secretarial work and gained a whole lot of weight.
Now I'm out of that world and just work retail, but I found karate at a late age and am now kicking serious butt with people half my age. I particularly enjoy sparring and working with weapons. I've lost quite a bit of that excess weight and have lots of fun. I've believed in reincarnation since high school (despite my Catholic upbringing), and I believe it has a lot to do with amazing talents we each bring.
My wife tells me that I excel at being obnoxious. I'm sure that my siblings would say that's a talent I've ~always~ had.
I was a prodigy at finding agates. I would find them in the gravel along the side of the street, along beaches, in the diggings being done in our new suburban neighborhood of the 1950s. My family tired of this hobby long before I did. I augmented my collection with granite, quartz, and jasper stones or anything else that made a good contrast with the red agates.
I had jars of agates, suspended in water to make them show as red as possible. My pockets still agates and quartz shards when they went through the washing machine--my mother hated them when they were in the wringer.
My mother took to throwing out my agate hordes so I could find them again. When I caught on, I was heartsick. I had previously come to the conclusion that there were twin agates out there, left for us by the glaciers in a process I still did'n't understand.
My house today has jars or little containers of stones here and there. My husband pretends they are not there.
My outward talents were largely unnoticed as a child and teenager. I did take organ/keyboard lessons, and sang in the junior high choir, but was no musical prodigy, nor did a play any sports. I guess the one thing I’ve always remembered is what my 4th grade teacher wrote in the comments on my report card – something to the effect that she expected to read about me in the newspaper some day (not in police blotter). I still have the report card, and remind her about what she wrote.
Dale and Mike -- the last few songs have had quite a few skips in them. Thought you'd want to know. Music is also cutting out once in a while, but that happens periodically.
Never mind, D & M -- I think it is my computer, because I don't notice it on my HD Radio. Sorry.
My memory isn't great this morning either -- meant to say "Barb and Cynthia" when referring to goats...
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