Do You Believe in Rock 'n Roll?
I was there during the dawn of rock 'n roll and remember when radios played all kinds of music on the same stations. Music was just music and not divided into categories for certain demographic groups. As we boomers became marketing targets, however, things changed. And have they ever!
The first time I saw Elvis on television was not on the Ed Sullivan Show, but before. Back then, we had one black and white tv and all watched it together. This time I was alone and doing something while the tv was on and heard someone singing. I looked up and was mesmerized by this amazing man wearing a black shirt and slacks with a lighter colored jacket. He was swiveling and gyrating to the music while he sang while I gasped to myself, "Wow! Who is this?" I was hooked! When Elvis sang, feelings I was too young to identify were triggered. Well, 12 or 13 was a lot more innocent then than it is now, unfortunately.
Fans were divided into two camps: Pat Boone or Elvis. Pat Boone was clean-cut with a wholesome smile that showed perfect teeth, wore white bucks, and had gone to Lipscomb to college. His were smooth, upbeat songs and white-bread versions of Little Richard's recordings. Since everybody from Frank Sinatra and Perry Como to Fats Domino and Chuck Berry to Martha Carson and George Jones were on the radio, we could hear them all. Elvis's politeness and self-effacing sense of humor made his bad boy image less threatening even though that was part of the attraction. I wore my Elvis pin for my school picture in the 8th grade and was thrilled that Mother took a friend and me to downtown Nashville to a movie theater to see Love Me Tender. This was during the time when people first started thinking those of us who listened to rock music were going straight to hell without passing Go or collecting $200.
It wasn't long before American Bandstand helped us learn the latest dances and songs. High school brought Motown, Paul Anka, Fabian, Frankie Avalon, Dion and the Belmonts, Jerry Lee Lewis, Sonny and Cher, and the day the music died with Buddy Holley, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper. Certain songs bring back memories such as bopping to "Rockin' Robin" and slow dancing to "Sixteen Candles" with my first boyfriend's shirt pocket since he was about 6' 5" and I'm 5' 2." He learned some of Duane Eddy's songs and would play them on his electric guitar when he called me sometime. Probably the most annoying thing of all was when Brenda and I sang "Tears on My Pillow" every chance we got to anyone we could stop in the halls long enough to listen. In addition to singing that way, we also spoke in falsetto voices that were harsher than Frankie Valley's. We'd greet each other in that voice with, "Hello Dear!" and did the witches' speech from Macbeth that way, too. You know, "bubble, bubble toil and trouble."
During the British Invasion, I defected to the Beatles. The Rolling Stones didn't do for me what the Beatles did. Their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show was exciting, and I thought their movie was a hoot. Others I enjoyed were Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton in his various band incarnations, The Animals, and some others I can't remember right now. I was in college by then and not listening to music as much except at dances when we did the twist and the dance of the month. "What'd I Say" was played at every dance we had there for quite a while. I did listen to Al Hirt, Pete Fountain, and some other kinds of music then, too.
We lost our innocence in 1963 when President Kennedy was assassinated, and that began what people consider the 60's as a philosophy and life-style and lasted until the mid-70's. (We won't discuss disco even though I did learn how but never bought any BeeGees albums.) I embraced folk music and enjoyed learning the background of the Childe Ballads and the bluegrass connection to old British songs. Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Bob Dylan, Donovan, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Hoyt Axton, Doc Watson, Peter, Paul & Mary, The Pozo Seco Singers, Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, The Kingston Trio, Richard and Mimi Farina, John Hartford, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, the Clancy Brothers, and others are still there in my record collection. This was a time when we were becoming politicized. President Kennedy told us we could make a difference. We believed it.
My early life was shaped by the safety of the 50's which provided an emotional safety net when all hell broke loose in the 60's. Howdy Doody and Mickey Mouse became Country Joe and the Fish and Jimi Hendrix for some of us. Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Tom Lehrer, Johnny Cash, Jim Morrison, The Mamas and the Papas, Fleetwood Mac, the Allman Brothers, John Prine, and Dr. Hook played on my turntable with the folk music. During the first year I was married, I got to see Peter, Paul, and Mary and Bob Dylan in concerts in Norfolk. Dylan appeared on the heels of being booed at the Newport Folk Festival for using electric instruments for half his set. That's what he did at the concert. The first half was acoustic and the last half electric. Coffee houses were favorite places to go. Those were interesting times, and the music was great. I have CD's now but can't get rid of my LP's. Too many memories!
I was there during the dawn of rock 'n roll and remember when radios played all kinds of music on the same stations. Music was just music and not divided into categories for certain demographic groups. As we boomers became marketing targets, however, things changed. And have they ever!
The first time I saw Elvis on television was not on the Ed Sullivan Show, but before. Back then, we had one black and white tv and all watched it together. This time I was alone and doing something while the tv was on and heard someone singing. I looked up and was mesmerized by this amazing man wearing a black shirt and slacks with a lighter colored jacket. He was swiveling and gyrating to the music while he sang while I gasped to myself, "Wow! Who is this?" I was hooked! When Elvis sang, feelings I was too young to identify were triggered. Well, 12 or 13 was a lot more innocent then than it is now, unfortunately.
Fans were divided into two camps: Pat Boone or Elvis. Pat Boone was clean-cut with a wholesome smile that showed perfect teeth, wore white bucks, and had gone to Lipscomb to college. His were smooth, upbeat songs and white-bread versions of Little Richard's recordings. Since everybody from Frank Sinatra and Perry Como to Fats Domino and Chuck Berry to Martha Carson and George Jones were on the radio, we could hear them all. Elvis's politeness and self-effacing sense of humor made his bad boy image less threatening even though that was part of the attraction. I wore my Elvis pin for my school picture in the 8th grade and was thrilled that Mother took a friend and me to downtown Nashville to a movie theater to see Love Me Tender. This was during the time when people first started thinking those of us who listened to rock music were going straight to hell without passing Go or collecting $200.
It wasn't long before American Bandstand helped us learn the latest dances and songs. High school brought Motown, Paul Anka, Fabian, Frankie Avalon, Dion and the Belmonts, Jerry Lee Lewis, Sonny and Cher, and the day the music died with Buddy Holley, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper. Certain songs bring back memories such as bopping to "Rockin' Robin" and slow dancing to "Sixteen Candles" with my first boyfriend's shirt pocket since he was about 6' 5" and I'm 5' 2." He learned some of Duane Eddy's songs and would play them on his electric guitar when he called me sometime. Probably the most annoying thing of all was when Brenda and I sang "Tears on My Pillow" every chance we got to anyone we could stop in the halls long enough to listen. In addition to singing that way, we also spoke in falsetto voices that were harsher than Frankie Valley's. We'd greet each other in that voice with, "Hello Dear!" and did the witches' speech from Macbeth that way, too. You know, "bubble, bubble toil and trouble."
During the British Invasion, I defected to the Beatles. The Rolling Stones didn't do for me what the Beatles did. Their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show was exciting, and I thought their movie was a hoot. Others I enjoyed were Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton in his various band incarnations, The Animals, and some others I can't remember right now. I was in college by then and not listening to music as much except at dances when we did the twist and the dance of the month. "What'd I Say" was played at every dance we had there for quite a while. I did listen to Al Hirt, Pete Fountain, and some other kinds of music then, too.
We lost our innocence in 1963 when President Kennedy was assassinated, and that began what people consider the 60's as a philosophy and life-style and lasted until the mid-70's. (We won't discuss disco even though I did learn how but never bought any BeeGees albums.) I embraced folk music and enjoyed learning the background of the Childe Ballads and the bluegrass connection to old British songs. Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Bob Dylan, Donovan, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Hoyt Axton, Doc Watson, Peter, Paul & Mary, The Pozo Seco Singers, Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, The Kingston Trio, Richard and Mimi Farina, John Hartford, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, the Clancy Brothers, and others are still there in my record collection. This was a time when we were becoming politicized. President Kennedy told us we could make a difference. We believed it.
My early life was shaped by the safety of the 50's which provided an emotional safety net when all hell broke loose in the 60's. Howdy Doody and Mickey Mouse became Country Joe and the Fish and Jimi Hendrix for some of us. Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Tom Lehrer, Johnny Cash, Jim Morrison, The Mamas and the Papas, Fleetwood Mac, the Allman Brothers, John Prine, and Dr. Hook played on my turntable with the folk music. During the first year I was married, I got to see Peter, Paul, and Mary and Bob Dylan in concerts in Norfolk. Dylan appeared on the heels of being booed at the Newport Folk Festival for using electric instruments for half his set. That's what he did at the concert. The first half was acoustic and the last half electric. Coffee houses were favorite places to go. Those were interesting times, and the music was great. I have CD's now but can't get rid of my LP's. Too many memories!
