In my early days I joined a rock and roll band in high school. I had interest in football, but it turned out that wasn’t my calling. Later I tried to make a living out of it. Although it was fun (in all the ways you can imagine). Think “almost famous” fun. It could/didn’t last.
Music became a part of my life early, growing up in the days of exploding growth of the modern rock and roll generation. It was like a renaissance of music during my younger years. The evolution of sound and the variety of the definition of what music was and would be and the roots of it all was respected as well.
I am thrilled to say that my children have come to appreciate music like I had. Perhaps I just passed it along in their youth. But they love to listen to music and thrive to find new things (not just the formula that makes up today’s pop-songs). There is still a lot of great new music to be heard. And to be inspired by.
Yup. That’s me in the pic. Kind of rockstar huh?
So I guess I have a rock n roll legacy after-all.
In the mean time I will always recall those younger days…guitars and wailing solos and amps to 11.
40 years ago I spent my $8.99 and purchased an LP record called “Dark Side of the Moon“. It was by Pink Floyd. I was an owner of Pink Floyd albums prior to that, but nothing had prepared me for this.
This was before CD”s, but the deep rich sound of the LP was beyond just about anything I had heard until then. It was like the day I had bought Sgt. Peppers by the Beatles; there was anticipation for every sound and every song. There was so much in the tapestry of the music that it deserved many listening’s just to be sure there wasn’t any thing I was missing in the multi-layers of music and sound.
In those days even holding the “album” was an experience. And the cover was a unique, the words were there to consume and examine. There was the experience of putting the needle down on the platter, knowing that there was a 2nd side. Scanning through things was next to impossible…so you listened. But this album was too short. The entire album is under 43 minutes long. Once you heard it you wanted to find your headphones and listen again.
It’s one of the best-selling albums of all times. It is complete. At that time an albums-worth of music was appreciated for the span of the music provided. Today’s idea of downloading a single song when you like was very far down the road. Even the singles of the time (45 rpm discs with 2 songs) were delegated to sugary pop songs at that time. This is something to appreciate. If you own it, go ahead and put it on and listen for 43 minutes – maybe even with headphones. Just get into it like it was a work of art. It is.
Perhaps others feel that way about their album experiences (not the song-but the album itself). You tell me. What was the album that changed your idea of music as you knew it?
For the most part all from the mid-70′s ( for many of you before you were born).
But they were rooted in rock and folk music at the time. Inspiration for stuff that has long sat in spiral-bound notebooks that collected dust over the years. I told my kids I would pull out some of them I was fond of and capture them here. [Yup, that’s me many years ago when rock was younger and so was I).
For those of you who are following, thanks for the indulgence. I kindly recap the February entries here with links.
As we grow older it seems, priorities change don’t they? When I was younger getting through each day meant something quite different from what it does now. In some ways I was always wishing hard for the weekend, where I could more intensely enjoy the company of my friends. Raise the roof and party. I was in a rock band in my early days and there was always something about the weekend. Gigs at local schools and pubs, party’s with long nights of drinking beer and smoking and pretending to be so worldly about our observations of love and the world around us.
But as I grew older giving was more significant than receiving.It became more important to be part of something that would last. It’s not that everything has to be “important”- but somehow I guess having kids will put a whole new perspective on that. As I had written in a previous post a while back, my father-in-law lived to the ripe old age of 90. And though all of his years fortunately old age did not shake is memory or faculties. He was a vibrant person pretty much till the end. One of the most important thing he wanted from life was to “be remembered”.
So now as I gain years and hopefully get wiser with age, I hope that I can have “something left to give” and that all of my children (even the lost one I haven’t seen in 10 years) can gain from the insight of the world around them. They won’t let the world pass by them and not notice the greatness of life, the wonder, grace and compassion. They will find ways to give to life the blessings God has provided, they will be conscious of the opportunity and it will become the reason that generations ahead will benefit from the wisdom they leave behind.
This is a song that always reminds me of that idea. One my children introduced it to me. From The Starting Line. It’s several years old, but I have frequently came back to this song and its words. ♥
We do this thing from time to time in our family and with our closest friends.
