As a baby boomer, I have been blessed to experience the initial sounds of the first wave of rock and rollers. I was there when Ray Charles and Elvis began their journey to the land of great music. Decca, Polydor, EMI, Chess Records, Stax and others were recording the jazz greats and guitar gods.
In my childhood homes, my father played a variety of records from all the great country guitar players to the soul of Memphis. It was like magic to my ears and my dad loved them all! Buddy Holly's ballads, Little Richard's high pitched screams, and Chuck Berry's jingles were leading the way to a new sound on the music scene.
I began my own musical sojourn one night in 1961 when Elvis came for a brief stay at a Bremerhaven, Germany hotel my father was managing while in the US Army. (How cool is that?!) We lived close by when I was just a seven year old kid, when my father directed my two brothers and me to watch four Liverpudlian lads on a local television station. The Beatles were playing live nearby at the Kaiserkeller in Hamburg. We kids watched as early rock and roll alchemy was being formed right before our eyes!
During those heady times, I was being influenced by the now called legends and the sounds of that era. I chewed on the sinews of famous melodies, the masterpieces and remarkable sounds that now surpass the test of time. We all have our favorites that periodically invade our radios, phones, and our dreams.
Lately, I have become concerned because as I grow older many of my musical influences are dying off. I am 64 and really missing the good old days of listening for our favorite songs on the radio and inviting friends over for an old-fashioned album listening party (complete with high fidelity pops and hisses). We were all much younger when I became aware that all the great recording technology was in its infancy. All the great musicians were creating and writing the how-to manuals of rock and roll.
One by one and than there's none...
I am missing those times when my ears were tuned in. We didn't have a cell phone or computers but we bought Fenders and Marshalls to emulate our heroes along with all the mesmerizing foot switches and pedals to dance on. My father bought a Teac recorder and would often create personal compilations of his record collection to listen to. He loved salsa music so we would listen to Tito Puenta and Xavier Chugat and would often dance with him and mom in the livingroom when he spun those beloved tunes. At other times, I would hear Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, and Miles Davis soaking the airways as they pioneered through my early years.
As I grew, my own tastes and musicianship evolved as well. Along with the Beatles and the sixties, I learned from geniuses like Bob Dylan, the Stones, Eric Burdon and the Animals, Eric Clapton, Rick Derringer, Dave Clark Five, The Kinks, Glen Campbell, and even good ole Johnny Cash. There were so many favorites that I could fill a book with their names and influencing compositions. The greatest baby boomers are leaving us one by one so I want to say to all of you who are still living, thank you for leaving your legacy in fine recordings for the future to enjoy.
As seasoned musicians, we don't play live music very much anymore, but play the recordings we will always do. Many of us are always grateful for that past time and every present moment we have when we play our guitar or instrument of choice. Contemplating on the phenomenal time frame we came from, we realize now that we led the way and preserved real rock and roll for eternal times.
I have hope for the future in music and know that future generations will eventually go back to the original template that was created in the golden era of true rock and roll, thus adding their names to history.
Them days...