Markleyville: Off to a Good Start!!

We all know that babies love to sing. Bennett has been rocking the 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' since before he could sit up. He's got that one down, he loves 'Rise and Shine (and Give God the Glory).' As his father, I feel it is my duty to make sure this kid grows up knowing right from wrong, good from evil. I would be completely remiss if I didn't do everything in my power to teach my son the glorious power of music.

Where does one start on this epic journey. Do I sit him down in front of the hi-fi and turn on Miles Davis? That might be akin to tossing him into the deep end of the pool with just his swimmies. As we all did, the Bubba needs to learn to walk before he can run.

Bennett's ~~indoctrination~~ education began early; his good friend Karrah gave the Bubba is first album, Bedtime with the Beatles. The Beatles are, of course, the basis for all things good in modern music. So where do you go from instrumental, mellow covers of Beatles songs? To the source, of course.

Bennett can now sing the entirety of the White Album with a perfect Liverpool accent. Well... his accent may need to be tweaked a bit, but the lyrics are all there... you gotta believe me!! Okay, he may be a bit far from the multi-layered complexities of 'Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and my Monkey'. What he can sing, however, is the infamous refrain to 'She Loves You.' That's right, he can sing "yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" with perfect intonation and pretty tight rhythm. What's more, he recognizes the tune (without words) and joins in at the right place. If he wasn't born of my flesh, I would say he's a genius. You know what, I'll say it. The man's a musical genius.

If that isn't enough to bestill every man out there in fatherland, I offer you the latest in Bennett's musical conquests: Phantom Planet. For those of you out there who don't know this group and go to look them up, please forgive the fact that they wrote the theme song for the OC. They're a great band, really. And much to the same end as 'She Loves You,' the first single off their new album was torn to shreds by my tiny rocker. That's right, Bennett has added Phantom Planet's 'Do the Panic' to his ever-expanding repertoire. Granted, Bennett's favorite line is Do-Do-Do, Do-Do-Sha-Doobie-Do, but you gotta give the kid credit for his gusto.