MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
It's time now for your letters about music and memories. Yesterday, listener Veronica Horton told us about her winter song, one that brought back that cold of a Thanksgiving weekend in 1963.
Then 12 years old in Western boots, Horton tap-danced on the hood of an old car to a song from Tennessee Ernie Ford.
VERONICA HORTON: "Sixteen Tons" and what do you get? And...
BLOCK: What do you get?
HORTON: You get (singing) another day older and deeper in debt.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SIXTEEN TONS")
TENNESSEE ERNIE FORD: (Singing) Saint Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go. I owe my soul to the company store.
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
Well, Jennifer Andreka(ph) of Madison, Wisconsin, tells us that "Sixteen Tons" was her grandfather's theme song. He was born in Croatia, but moved to the U.S. and worked as a coal miner. She writes that her Grandpa Joe felt that "Sixteen Tons" perfectly captured the poverty, degradation and violence in the life of a miner. Although short and slight physically, he was possessed of a powerful bass voice, and on every holiday, he would stand at the head of the table and belt out the song before we ate.
In his later years, she writes, he went with a group of people to celebrate the birthday of a friend in a nursing home. She had dementia and didn't recognize anyone until she noticed Grandpa in the back of the room. She smiled broadly and said in her Croatian accent: ah, "Sixteen Tons."
BLOCK: Finally, last week, we remembered singer Etta James, who died Friday at the age of 73.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "A SUNDAY KIND OF LOVE")
ETTA JAMES: (Singing) I want a Sunday kind of love.
BLOCK: Well, Joseph Howell(ph) of Tucson writes this. Growing up, Etta James' Top 10 album was a standard during family barbecues and your story brought back sweet memories of family members laughing and dancing while the cracking and popping vinyl record struggled to do its due diligence to relay Etta's mammoth voice.
SIEGEL: Well, thanks to all who wrote in and please keep your letters coming. Just go to NPR.org and click on Contact Us.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I WANT A SUNDAY KIND OF LOVE")
JAMES: (Singing) Oh, yeah. I want a love that's...
BLOCK: This is NPR News.