Hah! I knew it.

My mother and I stopped by a local antique store the other day to hunt for...well, I don't really know what we were looking for. She was keeping one eye out for old windows to make a greenhouse, and I was looking for metal or glass containers to hold foodstuffs for Civil War re-enacting. One can never have too many containers.

However, as I aimlessly wandered through the store, I just had a feeling I would find something that was somehow related to Daniel Boone. The TV show, not the person. I've been watching the show ever since Christmas, when my parents made the mistake of buying me Seasons 1-5. Poor, poor parents. My mother constantly complains about how often she hears the theme song blaring and the loud "SWISSSHH!" of the hatchet as the DVD information pops up on the screen. Heh, heh.

I've always loved Fess Parker -- spend too much time as a child watching endless reruns of Davy Crockett and the River Pirates and Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier (had that theme song memorised too). Oh, and I absolutely ADORED The Light in the Forest. That's still one of my favourite movies to this day.

So, naturally, when I saw Daniel Boone advertised in a catalogue, for a very nice price I might add, I blatantly dropped a hint to my mother about Christmas pressies. Of course she took the hint, and as I said, ever since Christmas I've been watching DB.

Anyway, a few minutes after entering the antique store, I happened upon a box full of small records. My antiquer's instinct kicked in big time, and I knew there was something DB-related inside that box -- just knew it. I pawed through all the records, and near the bottom of the bunch I found what I had known was there...a very nice copy of a record by the Ames Brothers!!!! Yippee!

Yes, yes, I hear you..."What have the Ames Brothers got to do with Daniel Boone??"

I'm so pleased you asked. You see, on the show DB had a friend named Mingo -- a tall, Oxford-educated, half-British half-Cherokee fellow, quite handsome, with a lovely voice. I could think of all kinds of descriptive phrases. But I sha'n't, for your sake.

Mingo was portrayed by Ed Ames, who was and is a well-known singer. He and his three brothers had a vocal group begun sometime in the '50s, I believe. They had a good many hits, and he went on to record plenty of solo hits after they disbanded. I couldn't believe I'd never heard of him before watching DB!!! Oh, what had I missed? Plenty, apparently.

But I am now attempting to make up for it. Hence, the $3.23 spent on a nice Ames Brothers record. Now I only have to haul my 6o-pound record player down from the attic...huzzay. But it will be worth it, I think. Not to mention, I found a lovely Fess Parker record in a bundle of stuff my mother brought home from a yard sale the other day. It says something like, "Peter Pan Peanut Butter Brings You: Fess Parker, Singing Songs from Davy Crockett!" Huzzay!!!