As a young girl coming of age I never had money for records and popular music was not on TV quite yet. I did have a little transistor radio (the size of a deck of cards) that I got from somewhere and I would listen to it at night when I did my homework. The very first performers that caught my imagination were the Everly Brothers. They would become a little too country for me as I changed toward more "sophisticated" tastes. But at the age of 12 and 13 I could listen to them forever and just fly on that harmony...and I think it was years before I even knew what they looked like.
Their harmony was stupendous to someone who was from a non-musical family. I listened to the Beach Boys and while I liked Elvis, I was not crazy about him. When the teenage generation got to have their own TV shows such as American Band Stand and Ed Sullivan, I was introduced to Paul Anka, and those great musical icons, The Beatles. Holding the core of the pure liberal that I was destined to become I eventually moved on to loving folk singers and those with a message like Simon and Garfunkel, Joan Baez and the Mamas and Poppas.
If you stroll down your musical memory lane, who was the first group or singer that captured you as a teenager or pre-teen?
Boy does THIS ONE bring back memories. Yes, it is a little hokey and unsophisticated by today's tastes. But that harmony is an endless reward.
If you stroll down your musical memory lane, who was the first group or singer that captured you as a teenager or pre-teen?
Boy does THIS ONE bring back memories. Yes, it is a little hokey and unsophisticated by today's tastes. But that harmony is an endless reward.
Oh jeez, we have to get that one on our juke box. I think we have some Everly Bros, but maybe not that one. Since we got a juke box a year ago we've been gifted with boxes of old 45's. I like those oldies! My brothers listened to the Everly Bros before me. I had a little transistor too, and my first memory of it is lying in bed with it and secretly listening to the Beatles' "I Wanna Hold Your Hand"... but there was also Pet Clark, and better yet, the Rolling Stones. Oh man.
ReplyDeleteI worked at a toy store as a young teen, n almost all my pay went to buy Beatles LPs! I can do the Everly Bros Harmony n play on guitar a few tunes- Simon n Garfunkle are often in my head as well- still listen to their cassettes n play some tunes. N California Dreamin was always a fave round piece to play with my old singing partner back in The Day. You seem to have my taste in oldies...
ReplyDeleteMostly I bought what I wanted to play along with on my Guitar...
I listened to the entire song. Always a favorite. Love it! Brill cream! LOL! Did you ever listen to the Reba McEntyre version? I think Dolly Parton re-wrote the lyrics for a woman to sing it. My brother was always a big country fan.
ReplyDeleteLet's see. Growing up the youngest of 8, I was influenced by my older siblings music. Probably my brother's the most. He was a big Carpenter's fan - and John Denver and Peter, Paul and Mary.
I'd have to say my favorite harmony was Simon and Garfunkle and I loved The Four Seasons.
And then I fell in love with Neil Diamond.
Oh, there are just too many. Sigh.
I listened to the entire song. Always a favorite. Love it! Brill cream! LOL! Did you ever listen to the Reba McEntyre version? I think Dolly Parton re-wrote the lyrics for a woman to sing it. My brother was always a big country fan.
ReplyDeleteLet's see. Growing up the youngest of 8, I was influenced by my older siblings music. Probably my brother's the most. He was a big Carpenter's fan - and John Denver and Peter, Paul and Mary.
I'd have to say my favorite harmony was Simon and Garfunkle and I loved The Four Seasons.
And then I fell in love with Neil Diamond.
Oh, there are just too many. Sigh.
I could have written this post word for word, having followed pretty much the same musical path, though I must admit both my mother and I swooned over Elvis's voice. Later, Credence Clearwater Revival, Simon & Garfunkel, and Neil Diamond caught my fancy and, as Arlo Guthrie lived in the neighboring town, I took a fancy to him, too. My brother condescended to take me along to a Johnny Cash concert and I added his music to my favorites list.
ReplyDeleteA good deal of my iTunes music list is made up of these very artists!
As a teenager, I first woke up to music with soul from my older brother's record collection, the Four Tops etc. I also remember being in love with Brian Wilson (he looked like a boy I liked) and playing the 45 of "Don't Worry Baby" over and over on my little record player. I remember the day I learned about the Beatles and then watching them on Ed Sullivan, a highpoint. So many music memories. I had the game Name That Tune.
ReplyDeletePaul McCartney...swoon!! I know the Beatles but all I saw and heard was Paul.
ReplyDeleteAnd so many others.
Thanks for the stroll.
Hugs
SUeAnn
I think I was more liking the Righteous Brothers than the Everlys, but I had a transistor radio. It gave me my own little window on the world from my bedroom. I'd listen late into the night with head and radio under the pillow so as not to alert my parents. Trained myself into a sleep disorder, but a fond memory still.
ReplyDeleteMusic has always played a very important part in my life. As a teenager I was a ballet dancer and way into classical and musicals. Then came the great folk scare, Joni, Joan and Donovan, the Stones, the Beatles, all the great old rock of the sixties. Growing up in DC I was much influenced by R&B, loved Sam and Dave et all. This could go on and on, music remains a big influence.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't have a record player until I was about 13. The first songs I liked were old-time rhythm and blues, which I could hear at night on a station from TN. The first record I bought was Lovey Dovey (1955, I think) and after that I got interested in jazz. The Beatles came on the scene when I was already out of college and I loved them from the first minute I heard "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and still do!!
ReplyDeleteThe Platters....I drove mother mad. LOL I spent my whole hard earned allowance on 45's. :)
ReplyDeleteRYN: My mother was the first woman Architectural Engineering graduate of the University of Michigan. She never talked about it, but I found it a great tragedy that she never worked as an architect. In my last two years in college, I did some graduate architectural history classes, and I got hooked on American Architectural History....thanks to a wonderful professor. I didn't get a graduate degree, but I keep on writing and reading. This time I am pottering about with women architects. Fascinating stuff. Mother wasn't alone in not working in her field.
Allaback: The First American Women Architects
ReplyDeleteI think this one would be of great value, but it's $47 dollars. There are several good books on women architects, and I am as pleased as punch to see this. All I am doing is writing a five page paper on this light enough to keep the interest of a class that's more interested in commas and apostrophes. :)
So very sorry about the car especially the loss of freedom. Hope you have AAA.
ReplyDeleteNope, the convention will be loads of fun. We will see crowds of friends we haven't seen in a while, get to learn a bunch, eat some excellent foods, and talk our heads off. :)
Yes, I more than cringed when I first saw it. Now I grin. They brought their national identity and sensibility with them when they moved here to America. Instead of cringing, I now am very proud of them for daring to be different.
...and see. You stirred us all up with this topic. :)
ReplyDeleteOh and that Everly brothers harmony was fantastic. Family harmony is the best! Tim and Molly O'Brian comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteFunny you should mention both Simon and Garfunkel and the Everly Brothers as I just referred to them in a blog comment earlier tonight on a post about the former. I saw them perform in the same concert in 2003.. at Simon and Garfunkel's Old Friends reunion concert. They were all in fine form.
ReplyDeleteThe first group I remember liking as a young kid, was Peter, Paul and Mary and it all grew from there.