According to my Grandma Casey (who moved in with our family shortly after I was born), I have loved music and singing from a very young age. I don't remember anyone singing to me, but my grandma liked to tell me that, as soon as I learned to talk/sing, my favorite thing in the world was to sing along to all of the commercial "jingles" on the TV. I would be playing somewhere in the house, and a commercial would come on the TV, and I would race from wherever I was to the living room, and sing along with the advertisement. As soon as it was over, I'd go back to whatever I'd been doing, or so my grandma told me. I knew all the words to all of those short little songs. Fast-forward to me being old enough to play the piano, my mom signed me up with a local teacher. We went to her home for my lessons, then when she decided to switch, I moved to another teacher. Unfortunately, I was not very disciplined, and my mom let me get away with being lazy, and then my dad bought me a pony…SERIOUSLY, he did! That was the end of the piano lessons, but I still loved to sing. Before long, I had a small record player, which played the "78 rpms" of the day, and I nearly wore it out playing old children's records. I knew every song. I remember that "Hot Cross Buns" was one of my favorites, but there was this other funny song about a little boy and a squirrel who crossed paths on their way to the grocery store, and they were both singing a song about what they needed. If my memory serves me, I think the boy was singing something like this: "Apples, tomatoes, lemons and cheese cake and potatoes, and can of peas…(and several other items, ending with the line) "And there is nothing more, I have to buy at the grocery store!" The squirrel is singing, "Pecans and peanuts are what I must get, if I keep repeating then I won't forget!" And then they "run into each other" and both get all mixed up in their memory of what they are supposed to buy. I forget how they sort things out, but I knew all the words back then, and I LOVED that song.
Before long, I was a teenager. That was when I got a real stereo record player, and the albums started piling up. Not all of the music was well done, and not all of it was wholesome, either, but I played records all the time. One of my favorite groups was the Monkeys, and when they started a Saturday morning show, during the Saturday cartoons, I became a huge fan. I loved slapstick comedy, and they were funny. I knew (and probably still know!) all of their songs by heart. "Hey, Hey, We're the Monkeys, people say we Monkey around, but we're too busy singing, to put anybody down!" I was also very fond of the Smother's Brothers, with their similar kind of humor/singing.
When I took driver's ed through a high school program,(yes, schools did that in the dark ages, before life got complicated with the thought of possible law suits) I had Mr. Palano (spelling?) for my teacher. We had 4 kids in the car (one driving, and 3 in the backseat, waiting for our turn. Mr. Palano turned the radio on. I was as happy as a lark! After a while, one of the boys in the back seat, said to me, "Gosh, Charlene, you know all of the words to ALL of the songs!" Yeah, I did. 48 years later, working with a client who has an Alexa device in their home, my client's husband is saying the same thing, but my repertoire is much wider now! During photography school, I was introduced to Kenny Loggins, James Taylor, and John Denver.
My client's husband has told all of the other workers about how I know all the words, and can sing along with lots of different genres, but there are a lot of the lyrics that can no longer "stomach," mostly because they are either about sex, or drinking beer, or women in short, cut-off jeans (which pretty much describes the "pop" music of the 60's through the present, and all of country music. It's really pretty disgustingly sad!)
John Denver remains one of my favorites, and I can also tolerate contemporary Christian songs, (but prefer Christmas hymns), but I often just have to shut Alexa down, because I get depressed by the sad and broken commentary of most "modern music."
For several years now, I have been listening to classical music on my car radio. I kinda surprised myself when I made that switch. But they play more legitimate music/art, raising one's soul to God, as true art always does. I was exposed to Spanish style guitar music through that station, and that is now one of my favorite, acoustic forms of music. A good rule of thumb for true art is this: "If you encounter so-called art that seems to be dragging your soul through the gutter, it's always in your best interest to run the other way!"
The other day, I heard an advertisement about a Jazz harpist giving a free concert at a local College, and I said, "What?! A jazz harpist? I never knew there was such a thing. So I sent the information to my husband, he looked him up and said, "This guy is amazing!" My husband and I used to go to the free, jazz band concerts at our local CCM, but we haven't been for quite some time. Tonight we are going, and going EARLY, because this concert is also free, even though this guy is world famous! If it's not a packed house, I'll be surprised, and disappointed. I'll give you an update on the concert tomorrow, but, in the meantime, you can look this guy up on Spotify, if you want to enjoy some jazz harpist tunes!
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