A Trip Down Memory Lane

[jimk]

Who were the artists that you wanted to listen to at your earliest recollections?

My mom sang in a women's quartet with her sister and two cousins who were sisters. I remember going to many of their concerts.
There was also a music teacher who worked for the school district. Her job was to go around to all the elementary schools in the district and teach music. She taught us quite a few folk songs, some by Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, and I think maybe even a few of Stephen Foster's songs. That's probably where I picked up my passion for American folk music.
She also turned me on to classical music as well. I remember her playing a recording of Franz Josef Haydn's Symphony No. 94, "The Surprise" Symphony. I loved it because of that big, crashing chord in the second movement. In fact, I asked my mom to buy me a copy of that recording, and she did.

What artist or band inspired you as a young person?

Besides the above mentioned quartet my mom sang in, (and it may sound corny) the other group was the Beatles. No kidding. It was "A Hard Days' Night" that I saw. And they just looked like they were having so much fun. Who could beat a job like that? You get to go all around the country, wear nice clothes, play your guitar, and sing for people with a few of your pals. And people paid you for that. What a great job!

What "primitive" devices did you use to listen to music?

At first my parents had an old mono phonograph. It was rather portable, but it looked to be qute heavy. You could play 78 rpm discs on it. It also had a 45 rpm disc adapter that you could slip over the spindle. It also had a speed selector for 33 rpm LPs. I think my folks bought that after they were married, either that, or my mom had bought it before she married dad. I have a vague memory of listening to Les Paul and Mary Ford recordings when I was very little. Somewhere later on, my brother and I received together some sort of cheap phonograph that we wore out our copy of "The Beatles' Second Album" on, as well as all of the Beatles' Capitol singles we had.

[ajish4]

Neat topic Diane!

I've always loved music but had a weird start, my mother had these Hawaiian Lps I loved to listen to, especially the Hawaiian War Chant. That grew into listening to AM radio on our Magnavox console, a huge wooden monster with really BIG SPEAKERS!

My older brother's shaped my early journey into music. One being a 60's hippie who listened to Iron Butterfly, Janis Joplin, Doors, (he was at Woodstock so most any band that was there I heard over & over) but MOSTLY Janis Joplin...while my oldest Brother was a huge Beatles fan. I remember watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan and at Shea on the news. He listened to them over, and over, and over and over....I shared a room with him, and over and over to the point, I couldn't stand to hear them until only recently! What I've missed. I remember looking at Introducing the Beatles & Beatles 65 for hours at end when they first came into the house.

I still have every single 45 I ever purchased, many old Beatles 45's on SWAN records and some on black label with a cool rainbow around the edges. I used to love watching that thing go round & round!

MY earliest favorites were Tommy James, 1910 Fruit Gum Company and lots of "Bubble Gum" music. My FIRST serious CLASSIC (not counting the Partridge Family ) was the Moody Blues. When I first heard Nights in White Satin on my Mom's Magnavox (with that bass booming out of the speakers) I was hooked. I guess that was sometime around late 1960's. I was about 7 or 8 years old.

I started playing bass in the 3rd grade, but it was upright and I never really took it seriously. I never liked the music we played in Orchestra, but it laid the foundation. I always really liked bass, I never wanted to play anything else, as my musical tastes matured, so did my desire to play. The fever really hit in around 1973/74 when I was introduced to Pink Floyd, Yes, and other Progressive wonders that I STILL love to listen to this day. i listened to Ummagumma over & over again. I wore that LP out! Then Dark Side and.....................the rest as they say, is history.

[rickenbrother]

However, my Dad bought me a little red transistor radio around 1966 or so, and I listened to it every day ( with that ridiculous one piece earphone)

Diane and I were laughing about after we'd pull those earphones out of our ears, there would be ear wax stuck on it!! Eewwwww!!

[annabella]

Thank you Joey for mentioning the earwax - LOL

It's great hearing all the old stories. It brings back a lot of memories. One of the things I hadn't mentioned were some of the live shows I attended. By the late 60's, my parents began to associate rock and roll with the drug culture, so I was not permitted to go to any concerts. When I turned 18, I made up for lost time. I loved seeing my favorite bands play live. Back in my irresponsible days, I actually ditched work one day to go buy Black Sabbath tickets (since that was a priority at the time - LOL). They fired me the next day But it was a great show anyway! Unfortunately, I missed seeing most of my favorite bands from the 60's like Cream, The Doors, and so on. Some of my favorite shows include: Yes, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Jethro Tull, The Moody Blues. The Who, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd (3 times), and the Rickenbacker 75th Anniversary Show......oh, and of course all of my husbands gigs.

[rick_ovic]

I've just discovered this thread....very cool Diane!

For me, it all started in 1969, aged 4, listening to The Beatles "Hard Days Night" album:-

By the mid 70s, I was absolutely hooked on rock music. Guitar and drums. Everything I did revolved around playing music. My drum kit was made from pot lids and plastic containers:-

"Countdown" was the major music TV program at 6.00pm on Sunday nights. I loved AC/DC, Suzi Quatro, The Sweet......

Ahhh, those were the days!

[annabella]

Great pics Darren , you were a cute little guy! It's amazing how so many young people over the years have made their own instruments out of whatever they had at the time. I was not musically inclined, but still dreamed of one day singing in a rock band. Unfortunately, I can't sing I did take some guitar lessons back in high school. Probably my biggest accomplishment at the time was being able to play the beginning part of "Stairway To Heaven", while my sister accompanied me on the soprano recorder.