Joe Pickering of Bangor has written original lyrics for more than 100 songs about Maine and New England. He often uses baseball as a background for the lyrics he writes about legendary figures who made a difference in other people's lives.  Pickering, who grew up in Lynn, Mass., wrote his first lyrics when he was only 16 years old. Now, after more than 50 years as a songwriter, Pickering learned that six of his songs are featured in the resource guide, "The Green Book of Songs by Subject."

Lauren Virshup, general manager of "The Green Book of Songs," explains how songs are selected for the list when they represent a particular theme.  "Joe's songs are uniquely topical. They put value on American history by putting events into music," said Virshup. For this reason, "The Green Book" is popular with educators, she says. "We're pleased to list Joe's songs because many of the lyrics teach the history of baseball in an entertaining way," she says.  For example, Pickering's song titled "Fenway" (sung by Phil Coley) is listed in "The Green Book" just above "Glory Days" by Bruce Springsteen. "Baseball's Mortal Sin," about the New York Yankees, is listed in the same line-up as "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," by the Andrews Sisters, the trio popular during the 1930s and World War II.

"Wall Street Christmas," a comical Christmas season song Pickering wrote, is in "The Green Book" under the column "Songs about the bad economy at Christmas."  Song lists in "The Green Book" are consistently updated in the on-line publication available at www.greenbookofsongs.com.  Each song is searchable by topic, artist and music format. More than 116,000 songs and album track listings of songs recorded during the past 100 years are cataloged in "The Green Book." "I'm absolutely amazed to be featured in 'The Green Book of Songs'," says Pickering. "I'm honored to have some of my songs included in what I call the Bible of the music industry."

Perhaps you've heard some of Pickering's other comical lyrics in songs, like "Lucky the Lobstah" or "The Wild Blueberry Song." In fact, "The Ballad of Paul Bunyun," the French-Canadian folk hero born in Bangor, with lyrics co-written with singer Danny Mack, is the official song of the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce. It was recognized as the comedy song of the year by the Country Music Association of America.

Pickering wrote lyrics to "Oiseau Blanc" (White Bird), the aviation history story put to song, about the May 8, 1927, airplane crash that occurred somewhere between Maine and Newfoundland. Two French World War I fliers died while trying to be the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean non-stop. They crashed only a few weeks before Charles Limbergh accomplished the non-stop crossing on May 20-21, 1927. 

Pickering also wrote "If This Rifle Could Talk" about what may have happened to a soldier in the Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944. On Feb. 24, 2010, Sen. Susan Collins acknowledged Pickering's historical music when she wrote a tribute into the US Congressional Record about the Marine Corps veteran and Boston Red Sox player Harry Agganis (1919-1955), known as "The Golden Greek." Collins included Pickering's lyrics to "The Golden Greek" in her tribute. A music CD titled "Baseball Songs Sports Heroes" was reviewed by Baseball Almanac as the single best collection of baseball music in the publication's collection. Four of his CDs are included in the National Baseball Hall of Fame sound collection in Cooperstown.

Information about Pickering's songs is available at www.kingoftheroadmusic.com.

Juliana L'Heureux
www.mainewriter.com
Juliana@mainewriter.com
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