Rock & Roll Heaven

"If it's illegal to rock and roll, throw my ass in jail!"
Kurt Cobain

The Beginning. I bought my first three records (round black vinyl disks) when I was 10 or 11 years old. Back in 1958 we had a music store in Wallingford, Connecticut where one could take a record into a listening booth before you bought it - just to try it out. The listening booths were always crammed full of teens and pre-teens who were in the process of being infected by the rock and roll bug.

The three records I bought that day were entitled "Johnny Be Good" by Chuck Berry, “Speedo” by the Cadillacs, and "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis. Most of my contemporaries were listening to Pat Boone and Ricky Nelson but I was drawn to the harmony and choreography of the Doo Wop groups. This was my first foray into rock & roll - specifically R&B inspired rock. I was a huge Chuck Berry fan and I played that record over and over again. And the Cadillacs had the harmony and moves that set the stoic Ed Sullivan Show viewers on their heals.  Jailhouse Rock was for my mom who was a closet Elvis fan. I knew both my father and grandfather would pitch-a-fit if she bought it herself - they dubbed Elvis a devious influence on the young. Pa was so busy cussing during Elvis's first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show you could hardly hear "Elvis-the-Pelvis"sing.  

Back in the late 50's I was under the complete musical influence of Alan Freed, Cousin Brucie, and Wolfman Jack - all New York City DJs. The 1955 movie "Blackboard Jungle" (with a bit actor named Sidney Poitier) kicked it all off... riled up our parents and produced purportedly the first rock and roll hit, "Rock Around the Clock." Each night I huddled under my covers reading my Hardy Boy books while my radio softly and secretly played the tunes that launched the rock & roll era.

Musical Memory Joggers:  I wish I could remember life's journey a bit more clearly; the missteps of my life, my successes, goals met or ignored, and the alternative paths passed by - they are all a fading memory. The mind is a strange thing however; while I can't recall what I had for breakfast yesterday, the music of my past helps me to vividly re-experience my first kiss at the age of 11 with a blonde named Sharon, my first slow dance with Linda Welton, and just about every single word of the Doo Wop classic "In The Still of the Night" that we danced to at the Friday night YMCA teen dances.

The Journey. From 1958 until today, I experienced the metamorphosis of rock music - ever evolving and changing. While I gravitated to R&B I had to keep my love of this uptempo music pretty much under wraps - raised in the all white world of Wallingford, subtle Yankee racism made this “negro music” unappreciated by family and friends.  With the Five Satins, Chuck Berry, The Flamingos, and James Brown being the predominant tunes played on my record player, there was musical conflict in the house. When I look back on this love of R&B I am in good company.  After-the-fact I discovered the Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and so many other rock artists were also influenced by R&B and American delta blues music. 

As I aged, a wide ranging musical menu morphed pleasantly from one era to the next and sustained me during my youth and on into manhood; it included some of the following:
-- Doo Wop harmonies (The Jive Five and The 5 Satins), 
-- Detroit "Motown" soul (The Temptations, the Supremes, and The Four Tops), 
-- Memphis soul (Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett), 
-- Soul Sisters (Etta James and Aretha Franklin)
-- California surfing music (The Beach Boys), 
-- The British Invasion (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and, the Dave Clark 5), 
-- Songs of social protest (Joan Baez and Bob Dylan),
-- Psychedelic Rock (Jimi Hendrix and Jefferson Airplane), 
-- Southern rock (Alabama and The Eagles), and 
-- The concert hall extravaganzas (Prince, The Eagles, and Fleetwood Mac).

Today. They say time marches on - in my case it has zipped by. No more records in my house, cassette tapes are long gone, CDs sit on the shelf gathering dust, while my Apple Music account and streaming music giant, Pandora, now serve as a look-back on my musical heritage.  

I picked out this song as an appropriate way to end this piece - follow this link for some appropriate lyrics from Eric Clapton - Rock and Roll Heart  

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