So you have heard by now that the great Don Cornelius has died. They say the it looks like suicide, but I don’t know anything about that. What I do know is that, when Soul Train came on on Saturday morning, that meant the day had grown up. No more cartoons, and definitely no more cereal. Soul training was for real, and sometimes I wondered if I was just not getting it. Of course I was just not getting it. I was a chubby white kid in the suburbs. How could I have fathomed what it was I was seeing? Hee-Haw later that night was more my speed.
But thank God for Don Cornelius. Not only was he cool himself, but he created an avenue for the music to achieve greater success. A lot of the music I love today is probably still available or able to be produced because someone was watching Soul Train a long time ago and got themselves into a place e where they too could make the music happen. So rest in peace, Don Cornelius. I hope there is a line dance in heaven tonight.