A call from Ray’s Corner

This is how the call went Tuesday morning. Honest.

“Jeff? This is Dad. Did the TV seem loud to you when you stopped over last night?”

“No, about the same as always.”

“Well, you know what? I’ve gone deaf in my right ear!”

Then Dad proceeded to explain, in his typically detailed fashion, how he came to realize this. Suffice it to say he was noodling around with his hearing aid, trying to figure out why it was wasn’t working, when he found it worked just fine in his left ear. And not at all in his right ear.

If you are a regular visitor, you know Dad is 82. He lives in the apartment with the loud music. Part of that is being a fan. Part of that is his hearing.

The TV and the stereo have always been loud in our family, for as long as I can remember. Almost everyone has some kind of hearing loss. Grandma did. Grandpa did. Dad does. I do.

Now that Dad has figured out his plight, perhaps he’ll be able to dial down the volume just a tad. If so, perhaps he’ll enjoy this mellow blues tune, which comes from his collection.

“Blue Light Boogie,” Louis Jordan and Trio, 1950, from “The Best of Louis Jordan,” a 1989 CD release.

This was the last of Jordan’s 18 No. 1 R&B hits, debuting on Aug. 5, 1950, and spending seven weeks at No. 1.

Hope you have enjoyed our latest visit to Ray’s Corner, the apartment with the loud music (and now you know why), where the martinis are still made of gin with the vermouth bottle held about a foot away.