It's been awhile since I've posted and I apologize but there have been so many things going on. I'll try to post more often. My band (Dark Horse ) played last Saturday night at a place called Blackbeards. It was a very magical night as there was a large enthusiastic crowd and we put on a very special show.
I know a lot of you may not consider the Beatles classic rock, but for me they were the first band that really mesmerized me and influenced me to want to learn how to play guitar. And besides, a lot of their later stuff is still played on "classic rock radio".
Beatlemania really took off after that first appearance on Ed Sullivan. The British Invasion came soon after that and American radio was flooded with songs by the likes of The Dave Clark Five, Herman's Hermits, The Rolling Stones, Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Hollies, the Troggs and little later (as I remember it) by the Yardbirds, Manfred Mann and the Kinks. I knew the words to all the hits and soon started spending my allowance money buying 45 rpm records of the hit songs. I wish I still had them but I'm sorry to say that I don't.
My folks bought a small record player that my siblings and I shared but I liked it better when we were allowed to play them on the big Philco console stereo that sat in the living room. It had a record changer that had an adapter for playing the small 45s and we would stack 8 or so of them up. That way we could play more or less continuously maybe half an hour. It wasn't long and we had quite a collection of those 45s.
I also carried around my little AM radio with the mono headphone pretty much anywhere I went. In the early to late 60s AM radio stations in the bigger cities blasted out at 50,000 watts or more so I could easily tune in WDGY out of Minneapolis and actually at nighttime could pick up WLS in Chicago. Later on in the late 60s I started to tune into KAAY in Little Rock (more on that in a later post).
So here I was at around 7 or 8 years old and there was all this wonderful early rock and roll on the radio. I must have drove my parents crazy as much as I sang along with (and without) the radio. It was really the beginning of the road for me. I don't think I really wanted to play guitar until a few years later but I was already really touched by music in a big way. I should also point out that my sister had a pretty big influence on me too as she and her girlfriends seemed to know all the latest hits, that latest bands and the latest trends. They were a couple of years older than me and seemed much older than that to me.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
The Early Days
I've been mulling over whether or not I should attempt to make this blog chronologically correct and I have decided that is probably not possible just because I don't have the time to be that precise. So I will post things as I can remember them in whatever order that comes.
My earliest memories of music date back to when I was around 4 years old or so. This was back when most of it was broadcast in mono on AM radio. At this point I had no desire or even any thought about playing a musical instrument. Neither of my parents had ever played an instrument and the only member of either side of the family that I ever saw play was my grandfather. He played old-time fiddle, but only just a little. I do have some foggy memories of sitting around the pot-bellied stove at my grandparents house while grandpa played the fiddle but nothing that really sticks out.
Then in 1962 my parents bought a house in a small town and we moved from our small rented farmhouse into a big two-story home. I'm not sure how it happened but soon after that my parents got a big upright piano and I started taking piano lessons at the age of 6. I really enjoyed it and I was pretty diligent about practicing. Looking back I find it amazing now that since neither of my parents ever demonstrated any musical ability that they had the foresight to expose me and my sister and brothers to music. It would forever affect the rest of my life. Sadly, after a couple of years of piano I decided to quit after being called a sissy by other kids. That was a bad move on my part but hey I was only 8 years old.
I remember listening (again on AM radio with a mono ear-phone) to many of those early pre-Beatles 60's songs. A specific memory that I have is when our family would travel to the Twin Cities area to visit my aunt, uncle and cousins. There was a rock and roll station called WDGY that we listened to and each time we went there we drove right past the station. I was always wide-eyed about seeing the actual location where the music was coming from. The DJ's had a sort of rhythmic delivery that I'll never forget. It was VERY cool.
I can also remember singing along with absolutely everything that I heard. There was a lot of emotion in so many of those songs and boy did I ever get into them! Of course being only 8 or 9 years old I had no concept of falling in love or heartbreak or anything else of that nature. But man I sang those songs as if I knew all about it! It's kind of funny to me now. I can imagine the laugh my parents must have gotten when I was singing something like Maybe Baby by Buddy Holly.ut
The first time I can remember ever wanting to play guitar or be a musician was when Beatlemania hit. I don't remember the specifics of when I became aware of the Beatles but I can tell you it was prior to their first appearance on Ed Sullivan because I was already aware of their hits by that time. I do remember watching them that first time on February 9th, 1964. The thing I remember most is that you couldn't really here them at all due to all the girls screaming. When I see replays of that broadcast now I think "wow that's not the way I remember it when it was live". You can hear them on the reproduced copies but I all I could hear was the girls singing.
Time for me to go for now but I will post more about the Beatles next time. They were the first major influence on me and really were the inspiration for me to want to learn how to play guitar. ROCK ON!
My earliest memories of music date back to when I was around 4 years old or so. This was back when most of it was broadcast in mono on AM radio. At this point I had no desire or even any thought about playing a musical instrument. Neither of my parents had ever played an instrument and the only member of either side of the family that I ever saw play was my grandfather. He played old-time fiddle, but only just a little. I do have some foggy memories of sitting around the pot-bellied stove at my grandparents house while grandpa played the fiddle but nothing that really sticks out.
Then in 1962 my parents bought a house in a small town and we moved from our small rented farmhouse into a big two-story home. I'm not sure how it happened but soon after that my parents got a big upright piano and I started taking piano lessons at the age of 6. I really enjoyed it and I was pretty diligent about practicing. Looking back I find it amazing now that since neither of my parents ever demonstrated any musical ability that they had the foresight to expose me and my sister and brothers to music. It would forever affect the rest of my life. Sadly, after a couple of years of piano I decided to quit after being called a sissy by other kids. That was a bad move on my part but hey I was only 8 years old.
I remember listening (again on AM radio with a mono ear-phone) to many of those early pre-Beatles 60's songs. A specific memory that I have is when our family would travel to the Twin Cities area to visit my aunt, uncle and cousins. There was a rock and roll station called WDGY that we listened to and each time we went there we drove right past the station. I was always wide-eyed about seeing the actual location where the music was coming from. The DJ's had a sort of rhythmic delivery that I'll never forget. It was VERY cool.
I can also remember singing along with absolutely everything that I heard. There was a lot of emotion in so many of those songs and boy did I ever get into them! Of course being only 8 or 9 years old I had no concept of falling in love or heartbreak or anything else of that nature. But man I sang those songs as if I knew all about it! It's kind of funny to me now. I can imagine the laugh my parents must have gotten when I was singing something like Maybe Baby by Buddy Holly.ut
The first time I can remember ever wanting to play guitar or be a musician was when Beatlemania hit. I don't remember the specifics of when I became aware of the Beatles but I can tell you it was prior to their first appearance on Ed Sullivan because I was already aware of their hits by that time. I do remember watching them that first time on February 9th, 1964. The thing I remember most is that you couldn't really here them at all due to all the girls screaming. When I see replays of that broadcast now I think "wow that's not the way I remember it when it was live". You can hear them on the reproduced copies but I all I could hear was the girls singing.
Time for me to go for now but I will post more about the Beatles next time. They were the first major influence on me and really were the inspiration for me to want to learn how to play guitar. ROCK ON!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Hello and Welcome
Welcome to the Rockerman's Classic Rock blog! So what is "classic rock"? I know there are a lot of opinions and discussion about it, but for this blog, it's whatever I decide it is! While I have a wide musical taste, my favorite kind of music is and always has been that special genre of rock and roll that started roughly in the late 60's and continued through to the late 70's and beyond. Please check out my band, "Dark Horse" at http://www.thedarkhorseband.com to see what I've been up to lately.
I guess the reason I started this blog was for two reasons: first to record my memories of the music that I loved as it was happening, and second to help keep alive the spirit of rock music. I especially like rock and roll played with an "edge" as I like to call it. Whether it's edgy guitars or edgy vocals or just a cool hook in the music. Just turn it up and play with some feeling and I'm with ya!
I was born in 1956. My first memories of music date back to when I was around 4 years old or so. I can remember listening to some of that great 50's and early 60's music by the likes of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry and all the other early rock and roll greats. I also specifically remember sitting at the dining room table and listening to Connie Francis (although I don't remember the song). My mother was (and is) a huge country music fan so I can also recall listening to songs by Charlie Pride, Tammy Wynette, George Jones, Buck Owens, Patsy Cline, Sonny James and lots of others.
Please feel free to comment whenever you like. But be advised that I will not allow any posts that I feel are distasteful. I encourage your opinions and I don't mind if you disagree with me - just keep it respectful.
ROCK ON!
I guess the reason I started this blog was for two reasons: first to record my memories of the music that I loved as it was happening, and second to help keep alive the spirit of rock music. I especially like rock and roll played with an "edge" as I like to call it. Whether it's edgy guitars or edgy vocals or just a cool hook in the music. Just turn it up and play with some feeling and I'm with ya!
I was born in 1956. My first memories of music date back to when I was around 4 years old or so. I can remember listening to some of that great 50's and early 60's music by the likes of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry and all the other early rock and roll greats. I also specifically remember sitting at the dining room table and listening to Connie Francis (although I don't remember the song). My mother was (and is) a huge country music fan so I can also recall listening to songs by Charlie Pride, Tammy Wynette, George Jones, Buck Owens, Patsy Cline, Sonny James and lots of others.
Please feel free to comment whenever you like. But be advised that I will not allow any posts that I feel are distasteful. I encourage your opinions and I don't mind if you disagree with me - just keep it respectful.
ROCK ON!
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