Reply #58: There is a huge hole in my life, now. [View All]

[ChazInAz]

"Lemon Tree" was the first song of theirs that I ever heard in my early teens. They were the voice of my soul throughout the Sixties. Mary's amazing voice gave me goose-bumps and moved me to tears. God, I loved her.
I had the privilege of meeting the lady in the early Eighties. She was doing a fundraiser for Russian refuseniks at my neighborhood synagogue. The time was a few minutes after I finished work, so I bicycled there. (Poor and car-less in Tucson: the sort of person she'd sing about!) No bike racks at Temple Anshei, so I chained my trusty steed to a window grating.
She sang full-bore, and knocked out the sound system, then carried on un-amplified. The sheer power of her voice, close-up, amazed me. I'd never seen her that intimately before, and hadn't realized how tall and broad-shouldered she was. She had a singer's build that I hadn't noticed in the past.
As I left, I was unchaining my wheels from the now-lighted window. It slid up, and she was on the other side regarding me with a smile. I introduced myself. After a few pleasantries she said "There's always someone who bikes to one of these. Thank you."
Over twenty-five years later, that's still one of my fondest memories.