My mom and dad were big supporters of Silver Laughter.

Though neither of them did much with music, my mom did teach us kids how to harmonize when we were really little. On long car rides, we would sing songs to pass the time. Morton Orton was a really happy fellow. Art “Smart” used to impersonate his laugh and did a pretty good job of it. Mom was cantankerous some of the time. She and I did not always see eye to eye.

Though she would have probably rather had an engineer in the family, mom supported my musical efforts, no matter what band I was in. She and my dad used to occasionally travel to where we were playing, as did the other parents. On one of our live recordings from Port Byron, you can hear Jon wish Mort and Mary Jane a happy anniversary.

Mick Orton

Categories: History