Music

As long as I can remember I have been strongly drawn to music. It makes me feel good and can evoke a wide range of emotions. It often moves me to the point of tears, yet can make me laugh out loud. And while I have some classical training, I tend to be drawn more to popular music, a very narrow slice of popular music, but popular music nonetheless.

The first music to attract me came from my mom's transistor radio that she kept in the kitchen to listen to while she worked, and it seemed as if it played all day long. When I wasn't beating up on my younger brother, I hung out in the kitchen listening to top 40 hits. Two of my favorites were Counting Flowers on the Wall by the Statler Brothers and King of the Road by Roger Miller. Then, when I was nine, The Beatles came to America.

It was on a Monday morning in third grade that I first heard of The Beatles. Several of the girls in my class were raving about seeing them on the Ed Sullivan Show the night before. It aroused my curiosity, and the next time my parents took me to Hecht's, I talked my dad into buying me to their album, Meet the Beatles.

I took it home and listened to it on my mom's old record player. While listening to the songs, I looked at the back of the album cover. It told who did what on each song, and I was appalled to see that Ringo got to sing only one song. I felt sorry for him and began to cry. (Sensitive little dude wasn't I?)

I had a cousin three years older whose name was also John. Whenever my parents would take us kids over to visit my Aunt Suzanne and Uncle Ralph, I would always slip off to John's room. He always had the latest Beatles records, and he would tell me news and trivia about the group.

I soon became a big Beatles fan myself and always listened to my mom's radio for the latest Beatles song. Back then, the only place within walking distance that sold records was Drug Fair and Giant, and they had a scant few records to choose from, but occasionally they would have a Beatles album.

I remember one time I talked my younger brother into splitting the cost of a Beatles album with me. After we got home I explained to him that we each had a side, and that he could only listen to his side. (I was your typical evil older brother.)

At the age of 11, I caught a bus to a full-fledged record store (there were scant few in the area), and bought the album Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles, and I couldn't wait to get it home.

Up till then, my dad had been an ardent hater of The Beatles, particularly the song Yellow Submarine. But after I began playing Sergeant Pepper over and over, he began to like the song When I'm Sixty-four. He would sing the chorus to my mom: "Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm Sixty-four?"

After The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix became my favorite musician. I believe that I got my first Hendrix album, Are You Experienced, when my parents had taken us to Montgomery Wards where, like the Hecht Company, had a decent selection of records. Again, I talked my dad into buying it for me. I got it home, and after listening to it was "blown away." I was an instant fan.

By the age of 13, I had discovered the mecca of record stores: Record City. It was in DC and required a bus ride and a long walk to get there, but it was well worth it. They had the latest of everything. I would never be found wanting again.

At the age of 14, I want to the Laurel Pop Festival, which was a two-night concert held at the Laurel Raceway in Maryland. It was there that The Mothers of Invention caught my ear. For the most part, they were discordant; I couldn't understand what they were playing, but one tune stuck out: The Orange County Lumber Truck. (I remember at one point during the show Frank Zappa telling the audience, "You'd better enjoy the concert because it will be a long time before we play here [DC] again." And it was a long time...)

The next day I was at my uncle's (a different uncle) sightseeing business in DC, and I went across the street to Hecht's where I looked for any Mothers of Invention albums that I might find. There was only one: Uncle Meat. I bought it, and took it home, but Orange County Lumber Truck wasn't on it.

Rather, it was a mix of the dissonant type of music I had heard the night before and some songs though weird were listenable. Consequent trips to Record City allowed me to purchase additional Mothers of Invention albums that were more conventional than Uncle Meat but still rather strange. I didn't understand most of the songs, but a few were pretty funny. (My 14-year-old mind reeled at the thought of a girl who was, "... only 13 and she knows how to nasty.")

As I grew into my later teens and early twenties, I gained a new appreciation for the music of Frank Zappa: founder of The Mothers of Invention. He had been quoted as being a musician's musician, which I thought made sense as one trained in music would be more likely to appreciate him.

My first formal music training came when I was in my sophomore year of high school when I took a class in music theory. It was there that I was introduced to the science behind music and studied classical music. I actually became a classical music snob for a while looking down on all popular music. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was my favorite composition while also enjoying Bach, Tchaikovsky (especially his crowd pleaser The 1812 Overture), Stravinsky, Copland and many others.

My junior year I was offered along with one other student to study composition under my music theory teacher. (He had a master's in music composition.) He introduced us to modern classical music, which can be extremely dissonant. To this day, much of it still sounds like noise. But as it was explained to me, in his day many of Beethoven's works were considered to be dissonant! Perhaps in the next century today's modern classical will seem melodic to the average listener, dissonance and all.

I soon got over my snobbery and began listening to popular music again, mostly rock, and this was when I began my bona fide appreciation for Frank Zappa's music. I know that my classical training helped me to understand his more complex compositions: they are akin to modern classical music. It only stands to reason. His two favorite composers were Igor Stravinsky and Edgard Varese.

So there you have it, my musical influences. My favorite group will always be The Beatles, of course. I grew up with them: they are the fabric of my early music awareness. Jimi Hendrix redefined the electric guitar and opened up a new listening experience for me.
Frank Zappa, though only a curiosity in the beginning, has garnered in me a great respect for his compositions. It is his music above most other popular music (though his music wasn't that popular) that I believe will survive the ages.