Musical Snobbery at it’s finest

Yesterday, I gave you a very over, overview of my life in a musical sense. Today is to look a bit closer so that you, the reader can have a better understanding of my prejustices, (and maybe why I am like I am)

I was born in 1960 in St. Charles, Missouri which is just to the west of St. Louis. In my baby book, my mother recalls that the most popular song at the time was Elvis Presley’s “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”. Post army Elvis must have been a real stressor on me as I have been told my mother went through great distress during delivery by trying to come out ass first. If we only knew then….

I have a theory, that someday I’ll blog about concerning the years that shape the musical personality of a child. In short, I believe that many people form and shape what I call their musical personalty between the years of 10 and 13 (or 5th and 7th grade…whichever comes first).  Those years for me came between 1970-1973.

There was an overarching love for all things post 1964 rock/pop. Am not sure where it came from as all of my siblings were much older, so their taste for music had no influence whatsoever in what I listened too. From the beginning I loved The Beatles, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, The Beach Boys, and The Mama’s and the Papa’s.

However, by 1971, all had either died, broke up, or other then glimpses of brillance, best had past them by. Which left a mishmash of music out there. For years I use to disparage this time, with the onset of age and maybe a bit more wisdom, I’ve come to find that it was a time of wonderful diversity…one which I fear we will never see on radio ever again.

There was always a bit of a war going on inside of me between the primal raw power of Rock and Roll, and the sugary pop that has always been a part of the top 40. Also in the mix was a healthy dose of Philly Soul. In my world, Led Zep always found time along side of John Denver, the Allman Brothers alongside Don McLean, and Gladys Knight and her Pips alongside of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.

Looking back, I see that the sharp division between FM radio (which I adored in public) and AM top 40 (which I adored in private) was a wonderful primer for my great variance of musicial taste. The slow death of FM progressive radio in the late 70’s and early 80’s was a sad thing to see. For me, the advent of music over the internet has allowed me a great deal of joy. It may not be a great thing for big record companies, or big radio, but frankly, that IS a good thing.

OK…enough for today….peace…

Greetings world….

This is another attempt to write a blog. I have written opinions ranging from politics to the green movement, but it always comes back to music. Being a musician that makes sense, but have a lot of opinions about a lot of things and thought a blog was the best way to share them.

What I have found from reading blogs is that the best are the ones are full of passion about the subject they write. This gets back to the music…

My partner says that I am a music snob…in other words… someone who has distinct musical tastes coupled with the tendency to look down on others who don’t, “get it” the way I do. After reflecting on this, there is a lot of truth there. However, one can make the arguement that anyone who loves music can be a musical snob of sorts. You see, except for religion and politics, music can get people into heated disscussions because of the subjective nature of it all.

My parents bought me an organ at the age of 8 and for the next 8 years plodded through pop organ music (mostly ranging from broadway musicials to 50’s standards).  At the age of 16, mom gave me the option to quit lessons, that was one desision I never regretted. However, the music bug (the piano one) kept biting me and within a year was taking (and paying for) piano lessons which went on for the next 5 years. After that, my education became one of self discovery musically.

There were two events that shaped me musically. The first was the day that my mother brought home a 45 of “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”. It was an older copy as it first came out in 1964 and was only four at that time. (This must have been 67 or 68). I had no idea WHY someone would want to hold a girls hand. (I was only seven or eight) What I DO remember was this energy that was being transferred from the record to my senses, the freshness of the voices just leaped out through the grooves. I have grown to love much of 50’s pop, but all I knew that this beat the stuffings out of Doris Day.

The next great musical moment was hearing “Rocket Man” for the first time. The beauty of the piano music with the lyric spoke volumes to me.  I could not fathom the lonesomeness of a relationship going bad, but the music spoke volume to an empty void of a young lad who had trouble fully adapting socially.

So what is this blog going to be about? Music…pure and simple. To look back at music that moved me, music that I should have paid attention too but didn’t. To look at music that I need to warn others about (I AM a music snob after all). To alert those who might come across these pages at new acts that you might get into.

Frankly, I gave up on top 40 radio years ago. Thank God the internet (and Rhaposdy) has turned me on to music that should be given a wider audience, but has not. Living in Nashville, I have come across many artists that are MUCH better then what is being heard on radio. And not just country either. One of cool things I’ve found since moving here, is the rich rock and jazz scene. More on that as time goes on.

What would I like from you the reader? Your opinions….your favorites….your ideas….I love to learn about the things that I’m most passionate about. Can we argue? You bet!! Can we agree?? Sure (but it’s not near as much fun) Can we learn? I hope we do more of that then anything. I’d love to see a community of music lovers to chat with. So….here goes….