Music Friday: Dennis Yost and Classics IV Sing About a Ring in 1969's 'Traces'

Welcome to Music Friday when we often feature throwback songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. In late March 1969, Dennis Yost and Classics IV reached #2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with "Traces," a melancholy song about a man looking back on his life and longing for the love that got away.

In the song, the man finds a trove of items from the past that brings back vivid memories of a relationship that "didn't work out right." Among his "traces of love" is a ring.

He sings, "Ribbons from her hair / Souvenirs of days together / The ring she used to wear / Pages brown, an old love letter / Traces of love long ago / That didn't work out right / Traces of love with me tonight."

In the final verses, the man says a prayer, hoping that the love of his life will someday come back and dry the traces of tears from his eyes.

Even though "Traces" was released more than 52 years ago, it still gets significant airplay on oldies stations and is considered a classic. In fact, BMI placed "Traces" 32nd on its list of the top 100 songs of the 20th century.

Frontman Yost told the The Tennessean newspaper in 2002 that Classics IV was “the first soft-rock band.” The smooth, easy-listening style of Classics IV stood in stark contrast to the Woodstock-generation protest songs that were popular during the same period.

Classics IV was formed in Jacksonville, FL, in 1965, and is best known for the hits "Spooky" (1967), "Stormy" (1968) and "Traces" (1969).

During the 1980s, Yost became a popular act on the rock nostalgia circuit. In 2008, he passed away at the age of 65.

Please check out the audio clip of Yost and Classics IV performing "Traces." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along…

"Traces"
Written by Buddy Buie, J. R. Cobb and Emory Gordy Jr. Performed by Classics IV, featuring Dennis Yost.

Faded photograph
Covered now with lines and creases
Tickets torn in half
Memories in bits and pieces

Traces of love long ago
That didn't work out right
Traces of love

Ribbons from her hair
Souvenirs of days together
The ring she used to wear
Pages brown, an old love letter

Traces of love long ago
That didn't work out right
Traces of love with me tonight

I close my eyes and say a prayer
That in her heart she'll find
A trace of love still there
Somewhere, oh, oh

Traces of hope in the night
That she'll come back and dry
These traces of tears from my eyes

Credit: Image by Bill Lowery Talent (management), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Reena Ahluwalia Paints Diamond Figure Wearing the Miss Universe 'Power of Unity' Crown

As a homage to humanity, designer/artist Reena Ahluwalia has painted her interpretation of the "Mouawad — Miss Universe Power of Unity" crown — an opulent headpiece that features 1,728 white diamonds and three golden canary diamonds originating from Botswana.

The diamond painting was commissioned by Mouawad co-guardian Fred Mouawad. The piece will be auctioned, with the proceeds aimed at making a positive societal contribution and impact.

Ahluwalia often takes her inspiration from the reflective facets of diamonds. She has painted a series of historic Mouawad gems, including the “Mouawad Dragon,” a 54.21-carat round brilliant cut, fancy vivid yellow diamond, and the “Mouawad Dynasty,” a 51.03-carat round brilliant cut, D-flawless diamond.

“I paint diamonds to celebrate nature, our shining human spirit and humanity,” said Ahluwalia. “I believe we all are like diamonds — we come in all colors, we are brilliant and full of potential.”

Ahluwalia’s painting depicts an empowered woman in the form of a diamond wearing the Mouawad Miss Universe Power of Unity crown. The use of red and black in the piece was intended to convey passion and strength.

Ahluwalia envisioned a diamond female figure filled with light and limitless potential. The form confidently carries the resolve of being an agent of unity and greater societal good. The message is, literally, the crowning glory of the painting.

The Power of Unity Crown is the result of a partnership between diamantaire Mouawad and The Miss Universe Organization. The crown is estimated to be worth $5 million, making it the world’s most expensive pageant crown.

The crown’s centerpiece is a modified mixed-cut golden canary diamond weighing 62.83 carats. According to Mouawad, the large center diamond signifies a women’s inner strength and reminds us that in unity, lies power.

“The interconnected vine motifs set with diamonds are symbolic of how, through forging bonds among communities around the world, we can empower one another to become a force for good,” said Mouawad. “Likewise, the crown’s name, ‘Power of Unity,’ is a message to the world to unite in the cause of humanity.”

On May 16, Mexico's Andrea Meza was crowned Miss Universe 2021.

Credits: Images courtesy of Reena Ahluwalia.

'World's Jewelry Box' to Reopen at the American Museum of Natural History on June 12

Completely redesigned and reinstalled, the 11,000-square-foot Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City are set to reopen on June 12.

The new Halls will feature more than 5,000 specimens sourced from 95 countries. Among the most notable specimens are the legendary 563-carat Star of India sapphire, the 632-carat Patricia Emerald and the 9-pound almandine Subway Garnet that had been discovered under Manhattan’s 35th Street in 1885.

Patricia Emerald

“When you enter the Halls, you truly feel as if you’ve walked into the world’s jewelry box,” said museum benefactor and volunteer Allison Mignone. “These Halls, and others in the museum, take science off the page of textbooks and into the real-life experience of countless families and students.”

Subway Garnet

Ellen V. Futter, President of the American Museum of Natural History, noted that the reopening of the beloved spaces signal the renewal of  New York City’s cultural life after more than a year of closings due to COVID-19.

“New Yorkers and visitors have long embraced these Halls as one of the City’s treasures,” she said. “Now, with this complete redesign made possible by Allison and Roberto Mignone, the Halls are more spectacular than ever and an even greater resource for learning about the processes that shape our changing planet and make it so endlessly fascinating.”

Top exhibits include the following:

- A pair of towering, sparkling amethyst geodes that are among the world’s largest on display;
- The DeLong Star Ruby, a 100.3-carat ruby from Myanmar; 
- The Brazilian Princess topaz, a 221-facet, 9.5-pound pale-blue topaz that was once known as the largest cut gem in the world;
- The Tarugo, a 3-foot-tall cranberry-colored elbaite tourmaline that is one of the largest intact mineral crystal clusters ever found;
- The Singing Stone, a massive block of vibrant blue azurite and green malachite from Arizona, first exhibited at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago;
- A wall-sized panel of fluorescent rock that glows in shades of orange and green, sourced from Sterling Hill in New Jersey.
- A spectacular piece of yellow fluorite discovered in the Moscona Mine in the Austurias region of northwest Spain, which grew as hot water dissolved layers of limestone, replacing them with the cubic crystals coated with glistening pyrite.

Organized by Curator George E. Harlow of the Museum’s Division of Physical Sciences, the Halls’ redesigned exhibits tell the fascinating story of how the vast diversity of mineral types arose on Earth, how scientists classify minerals and study them, and how humans have used them throughout the millennia for personal adornment, tools and technology. 

“When I started at the Museum, there were probably 2,000 minerals described, and now there are more than 5,500 minerals,” said Harlow. “The enhanced Halls will present up-to-date science, which has progressed significantly. I look forward to seeing visitors delight in remarkable gems and mineral specimens from across the globe and our own backyard, like those in the Minerals of New York display featuring specimens from all five boroughs.”

Admission tickets are available at amnh.org. In order to safely manage capacity while allowing visitors to experience the new Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals, the museum will use a virtual queueing system to allow visitors to reserve time in the gallery while maintaining physical distance from other groups of visitors.

Credits: Images by D. Finnin/© American Museum of Natural History.