GOLDEN

I know it’s cliché, but when they say that the best music originated in the ‘50s and ‘60s they are dead on correct.

 Well actually, ‘they’ don’t say it, ‘we’ do.  It’s my generation that says that.  I’m that old.

But, I’m also correct.  The musicians, singers, song writers and producers who experimented with sound and talent after WWll ushered in a new era.  They pushed the envelope of never-heard-before musical innovation and opened the doors for performers like Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison and Buddy Holly to earn their rightful place in history and our hearts.  Every time I read about or watch a documentary covering those artists in their early days I’m always amazed how they all knew each other, how they toured together, they wrote songs together and admired each other’s work.  The crucible that was the birthplace of rock and roll was very small but the cultural growth that it generated was enormous.  In fact, it took over the music world.  By some lucky stroke of fate this was the generation I was born into.  I was there when it happened. 

Well, actually, I was a little late to the party.  I was born in the mid ‘50s and probably didn’t pay much attention to the music scene for a decade or so.  There is no doubt that I owe my introduction into that world to my sister’s record collection (LPs and 45s) and of course, the fine-honed talent of knowing how to weight the needle arm on the turntable with a penny to keep it from skipping. 

That, and The Ed Sullivan Show on Sunday nights.   

Old Ed prided himself of presenting “A really big show!”   He was the one who gave Elvis tv time – but would only allow him to be filmed from the waist up.  Elvis was too provocative for a full screen, but too good not to have him on the show.  Huge controversy back in the day and a night to remember.  Probably massive ratings numbers too, come to think of it.  

There was also the night Nancy Sinatra performed These Boots Were Made For Walking, and the night The Beach Boys played Good Vibrations (I was home alone that night and nearly blew the speakers on our poor, old tv set).  And, how about the night The Beatles preformed She Loves You, Yeah Yeah Yeah. with teenaged girls swooning and fainting all over the place? 

There was one other of his shows that sticks in my memory.  Sometime in the ‘70s there was an act on that speculated what music would sound like in the 21^st Century.  Being in the middle of this musical revolution and loving it all, I recall being intrigued with this offered glimpse into the future … until they played what they envisioned.  Instead of the warmth of guitars, drums, and pianos there were machine-generated synthetic noises, no vocals, and no drum beat to tie it all together.  I was appalled.  I realize that this shows me to be a cranky old coot at a very young age, but how dare they degrade my music into something so awful?  I was pre-old.

Thank goodness for Sirius XM with their channels sorted by decade.  I can choose whether I want the birth of rock and roll, it’s adolescent Hippie years, or a mix of soft rock or ‘80s country music that it matured into.

But as good it is to have my favourite music on demand, there is absolutely no substitute for a live, in-person show.  Sharing the experience with a crowd is electric, the instrument-playing talents of the musicians always blows me away, and the power of the music stirs my soul.  The opportunity for live music is rare but still possible: two of my ‘also old’ besties (sorry girls) attended “Walk Right Back” a tribute to the Everly Brothers in Regina this weekend.  It was so worth the ticket price, the long drive home, and even having to explain to our waiter at supper who the Everly Brothers were (we gave up and told him to ask his grandmother).  The show was a step back in time to the pure sound of rock and roll’s childhood.  The evening was golden.

To make it even more special I happened to run into friends I hadn’t seen in ages.  No surprise that they would be drawn to this concert – they’ve been playing music all their lives and live right in Regina.  They said they were spending their retirement playing music at seniors homes now and were busier than they had ever been playing some of the very songs we were hearing at the show.  This was the music that made seniors happy.

On the one hand that gives me pause … playing rock and roll to old people?  It seems to upset my space/time continuum.

On the other hand, old people are much younger than they used to be, so I guess it’s okay. 

Maybe it’s a new way to explain “The Golden Years”.