What A Life I Lived

By: Dale Lone Elk Casteel

When I was born in 1932, we were just coming out of The Great Depression. There were not too many things great about it; I know it put everyone in the family to work. When you came out of diapers, you went to work in the fields. As you grew older, the work got harder, but with God’s help we made this country into a great nation. The work was hard, and the pay was very little, but we were healthy people with peace and love in our hearts. Neighbors were your friends not your enemy, I did not know anyone that did not believe in God. It was a great time for a kid to grow up in this country.

I began to like country music after my dad bought our first battery-operated radio, and we could listen to the Grand Ole Opry. I loved it so much that it became my dream — I wanted to become a country music singer. What a joy it was to get to go to the Grand Ole Opry with my uncle Henry on his school bus! At times he would carry a load of people to Nashville to go to see the Opry and always asked me to go with him because he knew my feelings about country music.

A few weeks back, this radio announcer from Birmingham, Alabama, called me wanting to interview me about my part in the Alabama Ramblers Band in Korea. His name was Burgin Mathens, and I told him, “Sure you can.” He said it would be put online where anyone could watch and listen to those old songs that are now online. You can find it by going to “www.southernmusicresearch.org” and searching for the Alabama Ramblers; it is currently one of their featured stories. The quality of the songs is not that great because the songs were put on acetate discs in 1951. I never dreamed that these old tapes would still have been around after that long.

I also put my other musical experiences in this interview. I have always loved country music and enjoyed my little part in it. Nowadays, I am a big fan of Bradley Walker, Mo Pitney, and Joey Feek was my favorite female singer of all times. In a song that she and Bradley sang together called, “Did I Do All I Could Do in The Time He Gave Me,” Joey was wearing a pair of Indian-made earrings that I had given to her.

I want to thank Burgin Mathens for doing this as it brought back a lot of good memories.

By: Dale Lone Elk Casteel