Some Are Just For Fun

I posted the other day about what music moves us. But to keep things in perspective here's another thought. There are some songs that just make us smile. For me that would be just about any song by the original Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Cinco de Mayo came on while working a few minutes ago- and I just plain smiled. Spanish Flea will do it, too, as will my old radio theme song Tijuana Taxi. Some of this may have to do with past memories, and sometimes it's just the music that automatically move the muscles and make you feel just good. For me Herb and the TJB do it better than just about anyone else.

Why Are We Moved?

Sitting working on different things last evening I was listening to my iTunes on shuffle. Many times when "spiritual" or "religious" tunes pop up, I advance the song. I am discovering that a lot of what I thought were great spiritual tunes (of contemporary Christian music) are kind of dull today. (No, I won't name any names.) I was beginning to wonder if I had lost touch with the spiritual side.

But then a song comes on that I just can't skip. That happened last evening with Rebecca St. James doing This is the Air I Breathe. Chills go up my spine, I get goosebumps and my mind and soul are captured. This is a song that truly captures what it's singing about. The music and the words, the vocal stylings and the background arrangements all work together. They are in "harmony" that goes far beyond the musical harmony. They are synchronicity at its best.

Many years again the director of the Moravian Music Festival Band had an arrangement of hymns and he started talking about this perfect blend of all the elements of music. He mentioned one of our most popular hymns and then another that is often found with a different tune than the one that was in our hymnal. We looked at these two and realized that the words are so powerful that you need to have music that complements rather than fights with them.

For me that is why songs like In the Garden which I criticized the other week just don't do it for me. The mixture of poor theology, schmaltzy words and even schmaltzier music make me cringe. I realize some of this is personal preference. But we all can have music that truly moves us. My guess I that when we look at it we will find that it connects with our lives and then carries us away on the flow and power of the music.

Of course it doesn't have to be spiritual music. Much "political" or "patriotic" music can do that. The Carmen Dragon arrangement of America the Beautiful is one of those songs. But it can usually be for the same reason. True, music can be used to manipulate- and patriotic and spiritual songs have been used that way. But in its power, music can lead us higher and deeper into grace and life.

Another Fine Evening of Music

The Rochester Big Band played last evening in a nearby town for a Tuesday Night Music in the Park. Aaah. What a joy it was again. It was a picture perfect Minnesota (or just about anyplace) evening. There was enough of a breeze to keep the mosquitoes away. We had a crowd of about 150 sitting on their lawn chairs, eating free ice cream sandwiches and popcorn. Sometimes it is hard to believe how fortunate I am to be living in such an amazing country.

Update

Tim, my old partner in radio crime from Lehigh, commented on my post about George Carlin. He agreed with me that it probably was the Mitchell Trio that Carlin opened for in the late winter on '67. He also reminded me that the Mitchell Trio was introducing their new member at that time. Chad Mitchell, after whom the trio was named had left. His replacement was a fair-haired boy by the name of John Denver.

Tim also asked if I remembered the time that the students of Lehigh got scolded by Simon and Garfunkle. Their show was delayed, as I remember the scenario, because they got stuck at another college and had to get a plane to get to Lehigh. Their opening act was Eric Burdon and the Animals, famous for a number of great songs including House of the Rising Sun, Sky Pilot, and that eternal end-of-the-school-year anthem, We Gotta Get Out of This Place.

Well, Burdon and company were in an experimental phase or something. (Maybe it was just drunk college students only wanted to hear the hits.) Their show was not well received. Simon and Garfunkle were backstage finally to hear some of this unfair treatment of another band. They came out and did their show and were their stellar selves. But in an interview with the college paper, The Brown and White, they scolded us for our behavior.

Or wait a minute, was it Jefferson Airplane who got stuck at another school? Two things strike me as I write this. First that memory can sure play tricks after 41 years. And second, how lucky we were in those ancient days or yore when the big names came to college concerts. That was their bread and butter on tour. Sure there were the SUPER STARS who only did arena-type concerts, but to see groups like these and others in your own college field house was great.

I do know it was Simon and Garfunkle that scolded us, though.

Joe Cocker Translated

One of the great performances at the original Woodstock was Joe Cocker's rendition of With a Little Help From My Friends. Well some people have had difficulty understanding what Joe was singing. Fortunately someone has now given us a sub-titled translation. It is FUN.

At Last- Music in the Parks

Yes, a beautiful Sunday afternoon in the park in Zumbrota, MN. There were some clouds and a brief shower about half an hour before the Rochester Community Band was scheduled to start.

There were a number of bands. Even one who traveled all the way from Boone, IA, a 3 1/2 hour trip. (Picture at left) People in their lawn chairs, family and friends, and music lovers in general. It is an old tradition- music in the park on a Sunday afternoon. What a joy to be able to continue it!


Then it was our turn. Our concert two weeks earlier was canceled by a tornado warning as we finished our first piece. All that work done before we can enjoy it.

But Sunday was worth the wait. It is impossible to describe the feeling that comes from making music. This was my first concert in three years and I have been looking forward to it. There is something primal, basic, and natural about making music. I have been reading a book about music and the brain that has really got me thinking. It gives some of the underlying reasons that any musician can affirm. I was too busy playing to take a picture of our director and his huge, I mean HUGE smile as we went through each piece. Ours was no less so. A concert. A performance. Touching others with music.

Then last night, the other band I play in, the Rochester Big Band played at another local park (the one with the tornado warning two weeks ago). Another great experience. One thing I have discovered these past six months that it isn't necessarily easy to switch genres in music. I have played in concert bands for many, many years and the concert style and repertoire is familiar, even when playing new music.

But big band jazz has a different feel. I know the music. I listen to it a lot and love it. I can probably sing most of the music we play in the big band. But to play it has taken some training. Or rather, re-training. The connections between brain and fingers has to get used to the type of music. I have been fortunate in that this group is real easy-going (plus I play 4th trumpet) and they have put up with my wrong notes, dropping out and just plain learning.

But last night, like Sunday, was great. I played things I hadn't been able to play in practice. It all comes together, especially when you are playing for people and the whole things slides it all into the groove.

Quite an experience- and quite an honor.

House- Love This Part

One of the great moments of a great TV show was the air piano of Hugh Laurie as House, M.D. Well, surfing around rock and roll (after yesterday's post on the Hard Rock Theme Park) I found, on You Tube of course, a wonderful Fanvid of House using The Who's Baba O'Reilly. No profound statement. No deep insight. Just a great song with scenes from a great show.

A Rockin' New Theme Park

A new tourist trap theme park has opened:

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C (AP). - The Led Zeppelin classic "Whole Lotta Love" throbs from the 1,200-watt sound system as the slick silver and white roller coaster nears the top of its serpentine track.

Lead singer Robert Plant shrieks, "Woman. You need. Loooooooove..." And as he does, riders scream as the car falls from a height of 155 feet, reaching speeds of 65 mph.

Welcome to Hard Rock Park, America's newest theme park and the first one built in the nation in a decade. Here the theme is not movies or fairy tales or water shows. It's that American invention, rock 'n' roll.

But can I ride "The Stairway to Heaven?" Or fly the "Free Bird?" Maybe they should be cautious, because we all know it's hard to get "Satisfaction." At least near the ocean so the workers can live in a "Yellow Submarine" and set up rides "Under the Boardwalk."

According to the article you can eat at "Alice's Restaurant" (exceptin' Alice) and take the "Nights in White Satin Trip." But be careful on the roads going there because many of the patrons "Can't Drive 55." But you can drive your Chevy to the levee but it will be dry, then take a walk across the "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" and finally just relax while "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay."

Okay- I'll stop. (But Imagine the limitless potential for Respect.)

Clapton and God

Thanks to a graffiti (not to mention his guitar playing) the old line has been "Clapton is God." Well, that may not be literally (or even figuratively) true, it turns out that guitar god Eric Clapton has had an interesting and compelling spiritual pilgrimage. There is web-only story from Christianity Today on Eric Clapton that talks about his faith and its ups and downs. It seems to be taken from his autobiography, Clapton, which I got for Christmas and haven't had a chance to read yet. (Too many library books.)

According to the article and his book:

Clapton never set himself up as a model of Christian faith, and admits as much. He grew up in rural Surrey attending a local congregation of the Church of England, and in his autobiography, wrote that he "grew up with a strong curiosity about spiritual matters, but my searching took me away from church and community worship to the internal journey." The foundation of his minimalist faith is reflected in the favorite hymn of his youth, "Jesus Bids Us Shine":

Jesus bids us shine with a clear, pure light,
Like a little candle burning in the night;
In this world of darkness, we must shine,
You in your small corner, and I in mine.
(More on this hymn in a later post, by the way.)

It appears that some witness came from Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, who opened for Blind Faith in a 1969 tour (and with whom he later played the classic, Layla, has a faith influence on him as well. Needless to say, as it so often does, fame brought increasingly destructive events as his addictions spiraled downward. Sitting in rehab in 1987 he hit bottom and dedicated his sobriety to his newborn son, Conor, who was to die four years later. At that time his sobriety and AA helped him get through.

But at the bottom of his sobriety, it appears, is prayer. In his book he writes:

I was in complete despair. In the privacy of my room, I begged for help. I had no notion who I thought I was talking to, I just knew that I had come to the end of my tether … and, getting down on my knees, I surrendered. Within a few days I realized that … I had found a place to turn to, a place I'd always known was there but never really wanted, or needed, to believe in. From that day until this, I have never failed to pray in the morning, on my knees, asking for help, and at night, to express gratitude for my life and, most of all, for my sobriety. I choose to kneel because I feel I need to humble myself when I pray, and with my ego, this is the most I can do. If you are asking why I do all this, I will tell you … because it works, as simple as that.

I think it's about time to get to the book myself.

Another Way of Looking At It

The song wasn't from 1968, but on that long ago April 4, this song was in many people's thoughts. Here's a performance from 1971 at the concert for Bangladesh. How many years will we sing this song until it comes to be real...

Shuffle Those Songs

So the Meme directions are simple. Go to your iPod or iTunes or whatever MP3 player you may have. Hit the "Shuffle" button and list the songs that are scheduled to come up next. What kind of music lover are you? Here's my first shot at it.

1. Orange Blossom Special - Bill Monroe
2. Prayer - Sweet Honey In The Rock
3. All Night, All Day - Chanticleer
4. An Poc Ar Buile (The Mad Puck Goat) - The Chieftains
5. Money (That's What I Want) - The Beatles
6. Were You There - Paul Robeson
7. Let Me Love You One More Time - Ralph Stanley
8. Tennessee Waltz - Chet Atkins
9. In The Sweet Bye & Bye - Preservation Hall Jazz Band
10. Cannonball Rag - The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Various Artists
11. Born On The Bayou - John Fogerty

Or Again:

1. Down On The Corner - John Fogerty
2. Vertigo - U2
3. Oye Como Va - Gipsy Kings
4. Psalm 91 - Lincoln Brewster
5. Strange Brew - Cream
6. Something's Coming - Stan Kenton
7. Cotton-Eyed Joe - The Chieftains & Ricky Skaggs
8. Shoe Shine Boy - Louis Armstrong
9. Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes - Jimmie Dale Gilmore
10. Ishmael - Abdullah Ibrahim
11. Amazing Grace - Dukes of Dixieland Jazz

(Can you say "eclectic?")

Hey, this can be fun.

But I am surprised that there's no Bob Dylan on either list. There are probably more Bob Dylan songs on my iPod than any other single artist. (Yes, the Beatles come next!) Oh, in spite of that, bluegrass and jazz are probably the top genres.

What's on your mp3 player?

At Random

Okay, nothing new or insightful or profound (which may be situation normal around here) but some things I liked.

• Thanks to Mental Floss, go to Neat-o-Rama for the Ten Most Beautiful Bridges in the World. I've only seen #3 and #1, but would add this picture to my own list,

a bridge across the Guadaquivir in Seville, Spain.

• Another link from Mental Floss, here is an "online store" you have to see. Let it load and leave the sound on.
  

• At List Universe you can find a list of the Top 15 Influential Musicians (rock, etc.). I have to agree with #'s 1 and 2 but I sure would put Bob Dylan higher than #11.

• But then (also from List Universe) don't miss the Top 10 Little Known Influential Musicians. I actually knew of five of them- and had seen #10 (Richie Havens) in a remarkable concert when I was in college.

• And one final entry from List Universe, all for laughs, the Top 25 Monty Python Sketches (with You Tube video to go along with it.) I would move #3 to the top, but it would be close, dead parrots and killer jokes seem to go together.

Almost Forgot This Movie

U2 3D is the concert movie of what may be the greatest rock and roll band under 60. (The Rolling Stones movie by Martin Scorcese comes out in April.) It is also done in 3-dimensions. My word for the movie et. al....

Remarkable!

My first reaction was to the 3D. It uses the polarized glasses, not the old red/blue style. Same concept, different system. You started with the glasses for a couple of previews, including the Neil Gaiman adaptation- Coraline. That's the first "Awesome, dude." Things flying off the screen at you is amazing.

But then it gets to the concert and the directors have done a truly excellent job of utilizing the 3D putting people in front and back of others, superimposing, cross-fading, close-ups, titles- all in 3-dimensions. It is at first unnerving to see something out of the "corner of your eye" and then realize it is actually "on the screen" even though it appears to be next to you. A hand goes up or someone stands in the on-screen crowd and you want to tell the person in front of you to sit down. Realistic? It was better than being there because you stood next to The Edge or Bono. Or you looked down as the drummer did his thing. The words on the screens behind the band were super-imposed in front of them.

It made me think back to the first time I put a set of headphones on and listened to stereo way back in 1967. The music came alive. Well, this is the next big step- the whole thing came alive.

And what life!

There is no doubt that this is a spiritual movie. A U2 concert is a spiritual experience. The concert is clearly planned, developed, lived with purpose and direction. There is more than the music. There is an atmosphere. Some of it is political; some of it could be labeled religious. The band's spiritual roots help take you to new places. It was a new fangled revival meeting.

After all these years of playing together, the band is a finely tuned instrument! They meld and merge and separate and make music as a whole. Bono may stand out in front but they need each other to do what happens on that stage. Seeing it up-close, personal, and in 3D made it very alive.

If you like rock and roll music (even if you don't like U2) you should see this for the experience of music in 3D.

That's What Friends (and Readers) Are For

Greg, who is a friend, blogger at Greg's Random Bits and a reader of this blog has an unenviable position. He seems to be able to give a good, reasoned counter-balance to my posts that keep me on my toes and force me to think things through a little more. He did it twice last week.

First in my pre-Wisconsin primary post I said that Wisconsin has "fierce political independence." Well, in his comment Greg reminded me of one of those things Wisconsinites have been trying to forget for 50 years- Joseph McCarthy. Yes, such fierce independence can be easily misguided. No doubt about that. The McCarthy Era is a stark reminder of that. I see a lot of that era still visible from time to time in many places. The radio personality in Ohio who was downright nasty about Obama yesterday at a McCain rally is just one of the minor examples among some unnamed big ones.

Then after the primary I had a post on hope and the attacks on Obama's language of hope. My premise was that we have to live and build on hope. Greg wrote (in part):

no consideration of hope is complete without the consideration of what false hope provokes--namely, cynicism. And that, unfortunately, is as much a political tool as hope. ... Twenty plus years of such "hope", Democratic and Republican, has emptied language of content. Hope leaves a bad taste in my mouth--something like the ashes from a fire that once burned bright and true.

Nothing like politicians of all parties, not just the Two Big Ones, to so easily give hope a bad name and leave a bad taste. It sure does lead to cynicism. But that is no reason to simply attack or discount hope. Unfortunately we can have a hard time believing anyone who proposes hope if we do that. I guess the question has to be, "Do I believe this promise of hope? Why?" That may be the one question we all have to answer.

Many of us Baby Boomers lost a lot of that hope and idealism about 40 years ago this year in that shattering, world-shifting year 1968. The final blow that began with the JFK assassination in 1963. Some of us are actually getting it back this year thanks to both Obama and Clinton. Thanks to Greg for raising the issue and reminding us that while hope is needed, it can't be blind, but based on some sense of who it is that's offering it. LBJ and the Generals in Vietnam used to feed us hope that the end is in sight and the light is at the end of the tunnel. We have often heard similar ideas in the past few years. Yes, be careful, but don't give up on hope.

And speaking of us Boomers: Then MadPriest left a comment yesterday on my brief post on Larry Norman's death. He commented on Norman's life but was surprised by the lack of attention Norman's death was getting considering his pioneer status. While Norman had his own demons which affected his life, MadPreist added:

Whatever, his passing deserves more acknowledgement than it seems to be getting. I wonder if some of the silence is due to the fact that for many of us aging Jesus hippies this is reminder of lost youth and our mortality that we would prefer not to face up to.

Amen. Lost youth and all, Larry Norman moved many of us into a new place of faith. Yes, Hippie Jesus Freaks, maybe. But we learned that we could begin to express faith in our own ways and musical language. We- and faith- have never been the same.

In Memoriam: Larry Norman

Christian Music Pioneer Larry Norman Dead

ASSIST News Service reports that Larry Norman died in Salem, Oregon early Sunday morning February 25 after a long battle with heart problems. With his long blond flowing hair, Norman was a true pioneer of Christian rock music with hits like "Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music" and "I Wish We'd All Been Ready."
--Crosswalk.com

I had the chance to see and meet Norman a few years ago at Cornerstone Festival in Illinois. Quite an individual. He should be forever remembered for what he did for Christian music by pulling it kicking and screaming into the rock and roll world.

Let the Music Play

You don't know what you've got till it's gone. Or so Joni Mitchell sang a few years ago. For the past two years I have missed an important part of my life that I didn't realize was so important until I didn't have it.

Between June 1985 and August 2005- 20 years- I played in a community or municipal band for every year but one when I was finishing up my doctoral work. I didn't realize that in those twenty years I had become deeply attached to making music. Unless you are an active musician (amateur or pro- it makes no difference) you may not understand what I then lost when my work schedule changed and I couldn't play in the band anymore. I would not have said I was a musician - until I didn't have it anymore.

Into the gap I put my guitar playing as I went to - and then helped start - a Bluegrass Jam Camp. It was helpful and fun but it wasn't the same. (My friend John- a top-notch musician and guitar player, tells me that if I would practice regularly it would get to be more like it.) I missed the trumpet and the band and the joy of making music with a group of other musicians. Very little can compare with, for example, the concert a few years ago when we did an all Gershwin program and I played music for the first time that I have loved for years.

Making music is truly one of the most remarkable things we humans can do. It is a way of getting in touch with something that is far deeper than feelings and far wider than our simple individual lives. When music fits together and blends into a concert performance or a symphony or even just a trio or quartet getting in "the groove" together, it is an inexpressible and transcendent experience.

Well, with the move to a new job and a new city - I'm back with the music. There is a community band here and last week I went to my first rehearsal. It was wonderful! It was a spiritual moment- a moment when again I was in touch with the spirit of the soul. I even have a lead on the possibility of playing with a second, smaller ensemble.

A job that's exciting- and a place to make music every week-
what more can you ask for?

Surrounded By Music

I spent this past weekend at the Harvest Jamboree of the Minnesota Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Association. I am a rank beginner at the guitar, even after 40+ years of on and mostly off-again attempts. I am doing better and this was my first journey into the festival/jamboree world.

What fun! Pickin', and grinnin', and listenin'. I sat on the outside of a couple jams watching the more experienced guitar players, catching the rhythms and chords, attempting my own variations on the breaks quietly in the background, getting the feel and the "groove." (More on that in a moment.)

Then to sit and listen to the headliner groups on Saturday night- The Rarely Herd from Ohio and Tangled Roots from right here in Minnesota (who will be the faculty band at our Mt. Morris Jam Camp next August.) Aaah. Quality, joy, fun, laughter, being touched by that which is greater than any one of us alone. Music.

Music is a simple word that comes from ancient Greek- the art of the muses- the very inspiration of the arts. For this weekend I realized at one point that from beginning to end I was being surrounded by music. If I was sitting anywhere in the lobby of the hotel, down the hall by the ballrooms or back in the corner reading a book music was swirling and moving and catching me. When I was playing my guitar, alone or with a jam, I was in the flow- in the conversation- the groove.

A few weeks ago I had seen a book by Victor Wooten online, The Music Lesson. Wooten is a remarkable bass player with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones and other places. His music moves across the spectrum, leaving awe and wonder in his wake. In the first chapter of the book he talks about music as language. He beautifully connects that with our other language- speech. We don't practice that language alone, picking one letter at a time. We "jam" with the conversations from the very beginning, even when we don't know a thing about language. We learn from doing- and being.

We learn from being in the groove, by being surrounded by the music and living in it just as we do with our language. After decades of listening to jazz and bluegrass music I often find myself "singing" an instrumental riff along with the CD or mp3. I have often said I can hear it in my head- and even sing it- but I just can't move it to my trumpet or my guitar. Well, Wooten has challenged me to re-think that. Maybe I haven't been able to move it there because I haven't jammed with anyone else on it. Maybe I have to get the groove when I have my trumpet or guitar in hand.

When I do even the simple and basic approach like this past weekend, I find myself moved into places I hadn't known existed before. I find myself tuning in to the music that is always there- but not always audible because I drown it out. The weekend was an excellent kick in the pants to keep the guitar out and played on a regular basis.

Highway 61 in Elegant Style

Bob Dylan is adding another product to his short list of ads. So far he has done Victoria's Secret and iPod ads. Now, he's heading out to Highway 61 in a Cadillac Escalade while listening to satellite radio. His own show, no doubt.

The Star-Tribune asked the instant poll question if this add hurts Dylan's street cred as a counterculture icon.

Hmmmm.

Don't get me wrong. I am an incurable Dylan fan. Only the Beatles have more songs on my iPod. But Dylan is over 60. He cannot be a countercultural anything these days. He is Dylan. He is beyond that. He is above that. He is more than an icon. Icons don't change. Icons represent a window into something transcendent. Dylan may be a remarkable poet and song writer and musician and even writer. But that has nothing to do with counterculture. That has to do with opening us up to the possibilities that are found around us, challenging us to stop and think. That's what poets do.

Hopefully they also continue to grow and change and become wiser in what they say and do. If he wants to make some money on the side by appearing in a Cadillac commercial while pushing his own show - so be it. Don't make him into something he has always said he never was- an icon.

Now, can we get back to the business of music.

The 60s: Radio Was The Key

In my post on Monday I talked about how music was the glue in the foundation of The 60s and the cultural revolution that followed. I think that the main reason for this was the power of an old medium being used in new ways- radio. As TV was taking away a great deal of the old radio ideas (soaps, dramas, comedy, news) it had to find a new way of presenting itself. In the new music was one of the answers.

Now it didn't happen overnight. I worked at a now defunct station in South Williamsport, PA (WMPT AM/FM). To set the scene, this was in 1969 - the year of Woodstock, fairly well along in the music revolution. In our (admittedly small market) we were the only station out of four that ever played "rock" music. And we only did that in the evening on Ron Shobert's "Night Train" program and on my Sunday afternoon show. I could play "lighter" rock on my 6 - 8 morning wake-up show, but that was about it. Everyone else in town played what we derisively called "elevator music" or pop singers like Perry Como, etc. Rock was too radical. Years after the Beatles hit it big and almost as they were ready to break up you could not hear the Beatles 80% of the time on the radio in our city.

But in the greater society outside the hills of northern Pennsylvania it was far different. We would all listen late at night with the transistor radio under the pillow to WBZ, WABC, WKBW, WCFL, CKLW - the big 50,000 watt giants. Counsin Brucie, Dick Biondi, Dick Sommers, Joey Reynolds, Allison Steele, Chicken Man became as well known to us in the eastern half of the country as Wolfman Jack was in California. It was an underground movement- an alternative universe.

One of the more interesting things I remember is how few "genres" of music there were in the "popular" field. Top 40 was basically it. Some of it was soul music- which was "black" music marketed to the "white" audience. Every now and then a country cross-over would occur with a Johnny Cash or the old "pop" standards with a Frank and Nancy Sinatra. But it was mostly rock and soul. And every station that played the "popular music" played them all- white or black. In many ways, I believe, this cross-color barrier music in our soundtrack helped move the civil rights issues forward. It may be to our detriment that we have re-ghettoized so much of the music today.

Sidenote: It was, however, still a racist world. I know that the "soul" music we listened to was often less radical, less "soulful" than the music played on the "black" stations. We were getting a more sanitized version and it was very difficult for African-American artists to break the barrier. The Supremes and Jimi Hendrix notwithstandting. As is often the case the exceptions prove the rule. Remember also that it took black videos a number of years to break into the rotation on MTV and that was over 15 years later! And that took CBS Records threatening to pull all their videos if MTV didn't play Michael Jackson.

Another development of the music revolution was the start of what at least sounded like minimal format radio. This began on the truly radical side of broadcasting in those days- FM- just as it was beginning to blossom in the big cities. WNEW-FM, in New York and WMMR-FM in Philadelphia were two excellent examples. They moved beyond the Top 40 format which had started the whole thing and moved to albums and long cuts and sound and music mixes. The BIG pioneer was WBAI in New York, a non-commercial station that brought the revolution that was happening in the streets to the airwaves. (WBAI is still at it. It's most influential current offering is Democracy Now.

All of this became a bonding experience that our parents didn't understand or care to share in. Voices in the night spoke to us from great distances bringing in the music that then sounded nothing short of world-shattering. As should be expected business took notice of all this with such a large base in the Baby Boomers, and all of it became quite commercial as time went on.

But that cannot take away from the power of ther musical revolution that occurred and, in many ways, opened the door for the many different music genres of today. Music, we found out, was empowering. If you could pick up a guitar and learn to play it, you too could make music for the masses. The words of the songs told us that there was a way to express our feelings - from teen love and teen angst to some of the biggest issues like war, peace, and poverty.

Some of the ways we look back at that music is simple nostalgia. But some of it is deeper. It is more profound for it reminds us that we are in a constant state of revolution. The new genres always seem to push the envelope of the previous music. To listen to some of the music from the 50s and 60s is to remind us of the roots of today and that it continues in new ways. Sadly we are more fragmented musically, but perhaps that is to be expected. Us old-timers will always struggle with changing what was so meaningful to us.

But I am glad it keeps on going- and I am glad to know that in some small way I was lucky enough to be in at some of the early days and helped make it happen if only a drop in a very large ocean.

The 60s: The Music That Didn't Die

I hope it is not pushing the point too much to say that without the radical, revolutionary shift in music that occurred from the mid-50s onward that the 60s may never have happened. In what amounted to the coming together of a number of musical styles and ideas along with a racial diversity that pointed out our American original sin of racism the very essence of the 60s was allowed to grow and lead to the significant shifts unseen since the Civil War. (I'll talk more about that in the next post on Thursday.)

What is most amazing about that musical shift is how pervasive and fundamental it has become to our American culture.

We weren't listening to the music from 1927, why do they listen to music from 1967?

Here are The Top 10 Songs of the 20s (from Acclaimed Music):

1. West End Blues - Louis Armstrong
2. Downhearted Blues - Bessie Smith
3. Blue Yodel (T for Texas) - Jimmie Rodgers
4. Star Dust - Hoagy Carmichael
5. Ain't Misbehavin' - Fats Waller
6. Rhapsody in Blue - George Gershwin
7. Sally Gooden - Eck Robertson
8. Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane - Fiddlin' John Carson
9. Wildwood Flower - The Carter Family
10. Pony Blues - Charley Patton

Here's the Top 10 from 1967- the year we are commemorating this year from Digital Dream Door:

1. Respect - Aretha Franklin
2. Light My Fire - Doors
3. Sunshine Of Your Love - Cream
4. Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix
5. A Day In The Life - Beatles
6. Whiter Shade Of Pale - Procol Harum
7. Somebody To Love - Jefferson Airplane
8. Soul Man - Sam & Dave
9. Strawberry Fields Forever - Beatles
10. Nights In White Satin - Moody Blues

Okay, that sure shows a difference. In 1967 I am sure there were very few stations playing the first list as "Golden Oldies." I am also sure that there are stations playing- on a fairly regular basis the 1967 list even as you read this.

Let's look at it another way. Here's the list of the Billboard #1 Songs for 1948- the year I was born, only 19 years prior to 1967, followed by the list of the #1 Songs for 1967 (from Wikipedia):

"Ballerina" Vaughn Monroe
"I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" Art Mooney
"Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me)" Peggy Lee
"Nature Boy" Nat King Cole
"Woody Wood-Pecker" Kay Kyser
"You Call Everybody Darlin'" Al Trace
"Twelfth Street Rag" Pee Wee Hunt
"A Tree in the Meadow" Margaret Whiting
"Buttons and Bows" Dinah Shore

1967.....

"I'm a Believer" The Monkees
"Kind of a Drag" The Buckinghams
"Ruby Tuesday" The Rolling Stones
"Love Is Here and Now You're Gone" The Supremes
"Penny Lane" The Beatles
"Happy Together" The Turtles
"Somethin' Stupid" Nancy Sinatra and Frank Sinatra
"The Happening" The Supremes
"Respect" Aretha Franklin
“Groovin'" The Young Rascals
"Windy" The Association
"Light My Fire" The Doors
"All You Need Is Love" The Beatles
"Ode to Billie Joe" Bobbie Gentry
"The Letter" Box Tops
"To Sir, with Love" Lulu
"Incense and Peppermints" Strawberry Alarm Clock
"Daydream Believer" The Monkees

One thing to note is that there were twice as many #1 songs in 1967 as in 1948. I would also note again that there weren't many stations playing those 1948 songs.

So what happened? The only word I can use really is "revolution." A whole musical genre exploded on the scene in the mid-50s and took over and expanded exponentially by the mid-60s. A generation gap (I hate that term, but it best describes it) opened up in the music. Music became a powerful image of rebellion- spread by more uniquitous media coverage and more instantaneous communication.

Was the music better? No- just different. You can't compare Peggy Lee or Nat King Cole to The Beatles or the Doors. It's apples and pomegranates. (Strawberry Alarm Clock and The Turtles? There were great musicians and so-so musicians making the lists at all times.) And music had often been a generational rebellion issue- jazz or big bands or fads like the Charleston provided that in earlier times.

What happened was that the music became a soundtrack for all that was happening. Music became the unifying force because it was something everyone began to share in common. Not only could we hear them on radio, we could see them on TV. We also could take the radio with us thanks to transistors, and listen at the beach or wherever. As a soundtrack the music became indelibly imprinted in our minds and forever connected to all the events.

And, I believe, changed our musical brain patterns. Somewhere between 1945 and 1967 we learned to respond to the backbeat- counts 2 and 4- instead of beats 1 and 3. Music began to move differently. Music began to produce different brain waves. Music propelled us forward in ways that we had never seen. If you don't see this, just watch a group of older baby boomers and older try to clap in time with music. It will be different than the younger Gen X and Gen Y style.

Because of that shift in musical brain evolution, the music of the 60s is still "relevant." The better songs don't have the "historic" feel that even the better songs of the 20s have because they are musically different from each other- and often more like the music that continues to be popular.

I realize that this is an over-simplification. There are many other cultural and social issues that are involved. But it gives us a place to start our discussion of the 60s and music. The music didn't die on that February Day that Don Maclean sang about. It was barely even born and became the glue for at least an entire generation. My generation will still quote song titles and lyrics to each other the way the current generation quotes movie lines.

The soundtrack keeps playing.