Well, Jim, the first four notes are a pretty close match.....

Like I said, 1966, the year I graduated from high school, was quite a year for me. I had moved from Detroit to Wisconsin at the age of nine, but my parents took us back to Detroit for summer vacation every year. 1966 was the last year I went with my family to Detroit. I didn't go back again until 1989. But Detroit in the mid-1960's was still a wonderful city, and we were very proud of our Motown music. It was OUR music, and so that meant that we were all very cool. Berry Gordy even allowed some white R&B groups like Shades of Blue to record on his Motwon label.

And "Oh How Happy" was one heck of a good song. I suppose I learned "O How Lovely Is the Evening" not much earlier, but I don't think I'd ever compare one song to the other. "Oh How Happy" was sacred music - "O How Lovely" was something we had to learn in school....


-Joe-