By fayette (152.163.188.68) on Friday, February 28, 2003 - 08:05 pm:

can you remember some of the things your parents
said about the music you listened to when
you were growing up. i remember one time
my mother saying the music i listened to sound
like a washing machine going bad.

By STUBASS (206.135.204.2) on Friday, February 28, 2003 - 08:22 pm:

HEY FAYETTE: AS I RECALL...OUR PARENTS INFLUENCED OUR TASTE IN MUSIC...AND WE INFLUENCED THEIRS!!!...THEY WERE VERY COOL ABOUT THE MUSIC THAT WE USED TO PLAY...TOOK US AROUND TO PLAY IT...AND ACTUALLY...HAVE A PRETTY GOOD EAR FOR CONTEMPORARY MUSIC...AND TODAY...THEY ARE 86 AND 84 YEARS OLD RESPECTIVELY!!!...STU

By Fury13 (209.69.165.10) on Friday, February 28, 2003 - 08:24 pm:

There was one particular record I had... my father implied that he would break it in half if I ever played it again while he was around.

By douglasm (68.113.15.28) on Friday, February 28, 2003 - 09:35 pm:

Stu...
...you make a good point. J.P., Jimmy Lance (sp?) and Bob Maxwell would not have been my choice for DJ's to listen to, but my parents did, and I was influenced by their habits. And McCarthy and Lance fed enough contemporary music into their programs to allow my parents to understand what I was listening to--at least to some extent.
There was enough melody and lyricism in a lot of the music of the early and mid '60's to allow for an at least partial understanding by the "older generation" of a good chunk of it.

The 13th Floor Elevators were another story, however. My dad made vailed references to money wasted on piano lessons if all I would listen to was "that noise".

And bear in mind what we've (I'm 54) said about our kids music.

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Friday, February 28, 2003 - 10:08 pm:

When I was eight years old I remember the horrified look on my Dad's face when he heard a record I was playing in which the singer was imitating Al Jolson (bear in mind my preacherman Dad worked very hard to present positive images of Black entertainment). When I asked him why he was upset, it was my Mom who explained to me who Jolson was and why my Dad was pissed.

Two years later, CBS showed this wonderful film about black entertainers at the turn of the century who had to perform in blackface in order to make a living in show business. I forgot the name of the movie but after seeing it (by now I was ten going on eleven) with my Dad I understood why he reacted the way he did.

Kevin Goins - KevGo

By Nish (170.224.224.102) on Friday, February 28, 2003 - 11:37 pm:

My mom is as Baptist as you can get, and she didn't/doesn't really mind me listening to Motowny type stuff because it is basically innocuous "I love him so much" or "she hurt me so" type songs, but then when I started liking early R&B stuff, like Ruth Brown, Savannah Churchill, Swallows, Dominoes, etc., she got kinda worried. The worries were unfounded, because at 11, I thought "bicycle tillie" was really about a boy who named his bicycle "tillie." Then of course, one day, when you know more, you hear the song, and it dawns on you, he's not singing about a bike. And then you double over in fits of laughter when you discover the real meaning, or at least I did.

As for the blues, those songs were strictly NOT PERMITTED. A couple years ago, I was singing "I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town" and I got "Nish, you shouldn't sing those lowdown songs!!!" I never understood how she digs early R&B but not blues... one sprang from the other. I'll never know!

By Fury13 (12.2.196.17) on Friday, February 28, 2003 - 11:58 pm:

It was weird... at 15, I couldn't get away with playing psychedelic rock inside the house, but "Annie Had A Baby" was OK!

By John Lester (213.123.113.92) on Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 05:17 am:

My dad said to "If I have to hear you play that "Here Comes The Judge" again (from Shorty Long) I shall be dishing out a few penalties myself!!! lol

My mum reckons I sing like someone drowning or in pain!

By Ritchie (62.254.0.9) on Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 06:29 am:

I remember when, about aged ten, I was playing my favourite 45 for the umpteenth time. My mother came into the room, and I bubbled, "what's your favourite part of this song?"

She smiled wryly: "the end!"

(I will not name the record. She was right - it's terrible!)

By R&B (138.238.41.128) on Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 09:45 am:

HEY STU,RIGHT ON BROTHER,MY PARENTS LOVED MUSIC,I REMEMBER MY FATHER TELLING ME ABOUT THE INKSPOTS AND MILLS BROS.AND MOM LOVED JAMES BROWN,ARETHA,MARY WELLS,THE TEMPS AND OTHERS AND I ALWAYS HAD SOME LITTLE GROUP GOING SO MUSIC WAS STRONGLY ENCOURAGED.

By DF (24.168.8.162) on Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 10:04 am:

My mother and I are basically on the same page as far as music tastes. We are both jazz and Classic R&B fans. But she hates hip hop. I don't listen to hip hop much anymore, but back in my college age, my mother would tell me to "turn that loud ass Public Enemy down". And I loved some PE. She hated them, especially "that ugly mother...... with the big clock".

MOM: Why does he have to wear a big clock on his chest?

ME: Cause that's Flava Flav, and he wanna let people know what time it is!!!!!

By R&B (138.238.41.128) on Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 10:22 am:

HEY DF,GREAT STORY AND AS A PARENT MYSELF I TRY TO BE AS IMPARTIAL AS I CAN ABOUT WHAT MY 12YR OLD LISTENS TO,SHE LIKES TO HEAR ME TALK ABOUT THE [OLDEN DAYS]AND I WILL WATCH MUSIC VIDIOS WITH HER,BUT MOST OF THAT STUFF IS SO SILLY I CAN ONLY STOMACH SO MUCH,BUT EVERY GENERATION DOES THEIR THING SO IT'S COOL BUT AS A PARENT THESE DAYS YOU HAVE TO BEWARE OF WHAT THE KIDS ARE LISTENING TO BECAUSE SOME THESE GROUPS ARE NUTS!

By Shangrila (65.238.6.33) on Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 10:37 am:

What my parents thought about my music.....hmmm. Well, once my Mom walked in the room when I was watching a very early tv appearance of The Supremes from a Pittsburg dance show. She said....they'll never amount to anything. I never let her live that one down! My poor Dad listned to Leader of the Pack so much he was ready to sell the stereo. He said....for God's sake, don't you owne any other records? I did wear that one out.

By STUBASS (205.188.209.38) on Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 10:49 am:

WELL SHANGRILA: YOU CAN'T BLAME YOUR DAD TOO MUCH...IN THAT HE MAY HAVE THOUGHT THAT YOU WERE CONSIDERING RUNNING OFF WITH A "BIKER GANG"!!!...STU

By J5Collector (66.188.85.73) on Monday, March 31, 2003 - 07:55 pm:

My mother used to say "Why don't they let Jermaine sing the song?"

By Michael/cleoharvey (160.79.83.208) on Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 11:09 am:

My mother (who raised 8 kids alone) loved all kinds of music. She encouraged my music listening and never told me not to listen to any particular kind of music. We listened to everything from Giselle McKenzie (as a kid I loved her) to Ray Charles to the Dells. Not that she did not have opinions... Boy, did she have opinions! Basically her thing was how the acts presented themselves and how they represented Black America. For example, she hated Pearl Bailey and Ethel Waters and called them America's "mammies." She did not like Louis Armstrong because she thought with all of this talent and brilliance he did not need to "moonshine" as she called it. She loved Aretha's voice but thought she dressed as though there were no mirrors in her life (I have to agree). When Motown came along she was in heaven. At last groups with class, style, talent, and doing their best to elucidate the best of what America's blacks had to offer. She would take us all over the East coast to see Gladys Knight & the Pips, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Temptations and especially The Supremes. I owe the fact that I am in the business today because of this image.

By TonyRussi (68.210.2.104) on Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 12:56 pm:

The one record that would iritate my Dad to no end was "Party Lights" by Claudine Clark as I would really blast that one.On the whole my parents were very supportive of mine & my brothers love of "Soul" then when the Beatles came out they were very glad that I admired Smokey Robinson & not the "fab 4".They were uneasy when I took off across the country traveling with Mary Wells & Cecil Womack but they loved Mary, Cecil their kids & later Curtis Womack & all would have Bar B Ques at my parents house.My parents love Dee Dee Sharp also.

By Eli (151.197.161.12) on Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 01:07 pm:

My early musical influence was my dad.
He was not a musician by trade but was a very talented musician as he fluently played the mandolin, the banjo and had a very beautiful Irish tenor singing voice which was quite a feat for a Jewish/Russian imigrant.
Sometimes at night I could hear him through the walls singing songs like Annie Laurie and other irish tunes!!!
He always played records that were usually Italian operas such as The Barber of Seville, Rigoletto and some of t the early songs that I liked were Santa Lucia, La Donne Mobile(sp) and Come back to Sorrento which was the very first song that my dad taught me on the mandolin and it was the first song that I ever recorded to an acetate in a 'penny arcade studio".
I wonder what that one would fetch on the collector's market???
At night though, I listened to the R&B that eminated from the airwaves of WDAS and WHAT by dj's such as Georgie Woods, Kae Williams and LLoyd Fatman as there was something there that I could realy latch on to..

My neighbourhod, at the time was in a "transitionary stage" being that a lot of the old school Jewish immigrants were fleeing for "greener pastures" due to the influx of so called "colored people" who were moving in looking for their greener pastures.
As for me it was a blessing because it offered me the opportunity of forging life long friendshps and relationships with people who have played an integral part in my life both musicaly and otherwise.

I had a friend named Stanley, an older Jewish kid who had an obsession with the record "Come Go With me" , by the Del Vikings. He would go around all day sing the 'dom dom dom domdom..doobi doobi
part, the my grandma used to refer to him as my friend "dom dom" because of that.
He finally convinced me to save my lunch money and proceed directly to the Kae Williams record sho, which was not far from my house, and buy it.
It was the first R&B record that I ever bought, although my sister who was fourteen years older than me had some good ones in her stash.

I remember the first "colored" family to move on my block, the Evanses. They had seven kids, several of whom I became musically involved with.
Brian, the youngest was the same age as me which three. He later becam the vocalist with the Soul Devalents/ Force of Nature. Lloyd, or Buddy as we called him became the bass singer with the Continentals who were the first singing group who I ever rehearsed with and later cut and acetate with.
From there I met the Iveytones who by then lived down the street and they got me my first "professional" gig at Carribbean Hall which was right across the street from the Raymond Rosen projects which was a spawning ground for future Philly R&B legends.
My reputation grew in the "hood" as a "bad white boy on the axe"
personally, I did not think that I was very good, but hey, almost overnigh I became a member of the so called "colored " community!!!
I was extremely comfortable in that environment, more so than in my own.
I guess that I was "ghetto" before ghetto was cool!!
I can remember days walking down Diamond street with the guys in the Continentals, them with their doo rags onand the requisite pint of Manneshevitz tawny port in the back pocket(sp)on a Summer day making a turn on Ridge avenue , me with my guitar and amp,(sometimes a doorag also due to the over usage of Olivo pomade) on the way to an audition with Buddy Caldwell of V-Tone records only to tell us to practice some more.

Through all of this, I was truly blesed to have had a warm and wonderful family who NEVER once complained about my choices in life and who liked my friends and my music and the wonder musical memories that it brought.

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 02:01 pm:

Reading Bobby's wonderful post reminded me of my family. As I mentioned several posts ago, my parents did their best to expose my brothers, sisters & myself to as many positive images of African-Americans, whether they were entertainers, politicians, athletes, writers or intellectuals.

My late father, who was a Baptist minister from 1954 until he passed in 1997, exposed me to jazz and blues as well as gospel (which I'm sure would've started some controversies at the church!). He loved the music of the jazz organists, especially Jimmy Smith. Wes Montgomery was his favorite guitarist and for gospel it was Mahalia Jackson,the Rev. James Cleveland and the Soul Stirrers (when Sam Cooke was leading).

Mom was the classical music lover - she studied opera & voice at Carnegie Tech until she married my Dad. Leontyne Price, Marian Anderson and Paul Roberson were her favorites (I can also add Jessye Norman to the list). Mom also listened to spirituals and some gospel music.

The rest of my musical influences came from my older brothers & sisters - Jim turned me onto Motown, Mandrill & Curtis Mayfield, Jesse gave me my first Earth Wind & Fire LP ("Head To The Sky") and funk music of all stripes, Pamela was the folkie (Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor) & Cyndi was the contemporary jazz & Philly soul fan. Combine that with a solid music education during high school (studied alto & tenor saxophone and vocal music)and trips to the public library to read biographies, Billboard, Record World & Cashbox (as well as borrowing as many records as my greedy little hands can carry) and - voila! - my upbringing in music.

I have my family to thank for sharing with me their love of music which I can in turn share with others.

Kevin Goins - KevGo

By john c (12.2.233.107) on Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 03:02 pm:

I remember distinctly watching the Lloyd Thaxton show and a girl was lip syncing to Baby Love. My dad said, "Baby, baby, baby! Baby this. Baby that. That's all "they" know to sing about. I should point out that my dad was not prejudiced as he dissed everyone who didn't come from China. And I think it was Levi Stubbs who he said was only shouting not singing.

Unfortunately, I think his opinion did have an influence on me back then. He liked Hank Williams and Charley Pride! Of my records, he kind of liked CCR.

Shangrila: Nice to have another Shangs fan on the forum.

By Sly fan (63.207.60.181) on Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 04:07 pm:

I am loving everyone's stories!!

I am blessed to say that my Mom and Dad are the coolest and my musical influences came from them and my older brothers..I remember my mom playing Jackie Wilson, Connie Francis, Little Richard, Al Hibbler,Motown even Hank Williams!! to James Brown,Sly, Al Green and so fourth..My dad was Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Coltrane, Sun Ra..strictly jazz although he had the entire Philly Intl. collection (Hey Eli!!)

I am really blessed to come from a musical family..my mom almost became a "Blossom" (they went to the same high school) she went to school with Barry White, HB Barnum, Don Julian and The Meadowlarks, The Penguins, Richard Berry, etc. So I was exposed to their music as well and respect them very much as artists and individuals..My great Grandmother was a piano teacher..my Uncle played congas..music was all over the place basically..

At any rate I took onto music at a very early age (round' 2 or 3). I remember hearing Ray Charles, Jackie Wilson, The Platters etc. So as a result I kinda drew into my folks music automatically. But around 6 or 7 I got into Hip-Hop epsecially during the 80's cause there was nothing I could really relate to..Hip-Hop was the voice of the youth at the time (still is..). I remember my big brother who turned me onto Steely Dan, Talking Heads, Chic, Donna Summer, B52's,Blondie turned me onto Hip-Hop...I remember hearing "Rapper's Delight's" and kinda going wow "this is pretty cool", being from LA I didnt realize that this Hip-Hop craze going on in NYC (South Bronx)way before this record was released..But he brought in another record called "Freedom" by Grandmaster Flash and The Furious 5 and I mustve begged him to let me have that record. From then on the rest was history, I saved all my allowance money to buy all my favorite artists such as Run DMC, Whodini, The Treacherous 3,etc..but I was also still into Funk too...Zapp, P Funk, Cameo, EWF, Prince, Rick James. But Hip-Hop was the one that embraced me like no other..the artists were like regular everyday people and that was cool to me..no images just real "everyday people".

At any rate,my love of Hip-Hop goes back to my Mom (who was an English major) introducing my to greats such as Langston Hughes, William Shakespere, Maya Angeleou, William Wordsworth, Gil Scot Heron and other great writers..

The thing that really tripped out when I was 10 or 11 ,(I kid you not) I found my dad listening to Run-DMC's "Its Like That" and im like wait a minute I thought you were the jazzman!! He replied "this aint nothing but be bop" w/ mom its the same thing...As long as I was happy and I was doing good in my school work, they were happy..

Its weird.. the other day my Mom asked me "do you have the new Outkast"? im like can I borrow your Albert King?? Its really wierd..

My folks are the coolest..

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 04:23 pm:

Sly Fan:
My Dad liked some of the music my siblings & I listened to just like your folks did.

I almost tossed my Hall & Oates 45 of "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" out the window after my Dad admitted he liked the record (hell, I was fifteen & didn't want my folks into my stuff!).

Years later Mom wanted me to teach her how to dance like MC Hammer because she liked "You Can't Touch This" (is this getting progressively worse or what! ).

Fortunately, both parents came to their senses when I bought them the Mahalia Jackson boxed set for Christmas in 1991 (although there was Dad's request for Santana's "Black Magic Woman" the following Christmas....).

Kevin Goins - KevGo

(PS - Don't get me wrong - my parents were really cool when it came down to music).

By Sly fan (63.207.60.181) on Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 06:06 pm:

KevGo: deep down I think parents are the bigger kids than we are!! I swear my mom loved MC Hammer (pretty scary)when he came out with that record!! Im like noooooo!! She loves Hall and Oates,,"Say It Isnt So" and "I Cant Go For That" are her favorites..mine are "Cant Go", "Private Eyes" and "Rich Girl". When Naughty By Nature came out with "Hip Hop Hooray" I swear she knows the words better than I do..

Your parents are way to cool..

Its cool because it shows that our folks are really open minded.

My grandma on the other hand...she tickles me cuz she's like I hated James Brown and Little Richard then and I still dont like em' now..all that hollerin' and jumpin' on pianos,LOL!! My Grandma is too funny!! But she still loves Micheal Jackson to this day!! Kinda had a hard time selling her on Prince and you know Rap was outta the question..LOL

By stephanie (64.63.221.135) on Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 10:50 pm:

My mother actually sat me down when I was 6 years old and said you are going to listen to
Paul Revere and the Raiders and The Monkees and the Dave Clark Five and Gerry and the Pacemakers and others...THEN she said you are going to listen to the Supremes and James Brown and the Four Tops and others..THEN she said we have a musical household and I played the clarinet and a little piano. I wanted to sing but I cant...LOL

My mom is black and Im black and my friends laugh when they see what I have...I like ALL of the british invasion and one hit wonders and Dave Marsh and Joel Whitburn books and I thrive and live on reviews and critiques and listening to backgrounds and I LOVE all kinds of music from hip hop to Motown to stax to doowop I dont care for the nineties though..
Stephanie

By Flo Murdock (68.51.53.128) on Wednesday, April 02, 2003 - 10:50 pm:

This is all really interesting to me - I don't post too often here because I figure you all have so much more to say. But what great stories!! I really do have some good ones from that era. I fell in love with late 50s/early 60s R&B and that was my main music unti the British Invasion. But my parents who loved big band music and Les Paul and Mary Ford, said all the singers were screaming. Etta James and Tina Turner particularly irritated them. I will never forget when we first saw a picture sleeve of an Orlons record - it was the first time we had ever seen a black woman with blonde hair, and we had laughed about it. (We lived in a very rural area) One day I came home from school and American Bandstand was already on by the time I got in the house. I should have known something was up because the volume was down on the TV. The guest spot was already on - there was a black woman with VERY blonde hair, singing and making excruciating faces. I asked "who in the world is that?" and my mother, with the greatest look of triumph on her face, walked to the TV and turned up the volume so I could hear that it was Etta James!! (She's still my favorite female singer to this day, hoow I admire and respect the things she has overcome, the awesome variety and depth of her music in recent years, and the power of her live performances.) I recall a similar situation with Tina, it was probably on Hullabaloo, or some other show when she was still pretty demure. My mother's comment was "THAT's the reason I hope you nver go anywhere in show business - you'll act just like HER!!!" I don't think my parents' dislike of the music was totally racist (I can understand that if you like big bands and ballads, some of the things I liked would sound like screaming to them) - after the British Invasion, I turned almost exclusively to country music for a long time, even becoming a country music DJ. And would you believe, when my mother first heard me listening to Ray Price, she said HE was screaming!! Though she later learned to love him!. And I think she even mellowed toward Tina, too. I was very happy that in later years I was able to take her to both Nashville in the 70s when they had those awesome DJ conventions, and to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. So we eventually shared some musical interests, and she really tried to keep up with my ever expanding tastes. I remember when she asked me if Dr. John was the same as Dr. Hook! She also learned to like Dr. John, but said his "fingernails were dirty," and in true mother fashion, made some pretty derogatory remarks about the length of Marcia Ball's dresses. It was like the old days all over again. But she was trying and I was trying, too.

What I'd really like to know about is the guitar my father kept in the attic - apparently he knew how to play it but quit, and we don't know why. It was a beautiful acoustic, and had some green on a black background. I remember going up in the attic as a child and running a matching green crayon over the strings. Even now I cringe at the thought of desecrating a musical instrument that way. Especially being so young and having no idea what it meant. I still wonder, was it my fault, because I disobeyed and did such a horrible thing to it, that he never played it again?

By STUBASS (64.12.97.7) on Thursday, April 03, 2003 - 12:03 am:

OUTSTANDING STUFF ON THIS THREAD!!!...KEVGO: ONCE AGAIN (SORRY)...YOU HAVE ENLISTED YOURSELF AND YOUR LATE FATHER AS A FAN OF MY BROTHERS WORK!!...FIRST DISCO TEX...THEN SAMMY DAVIS JR....AND NOW YOU MENTION THE REVEREND JAMES CLEVELAND!!!...ON THE WALL OF MY BROTHERS HOME STUDIO ARE SEVERAL GOLD RECORDS THAT HE RECIEVED FOR ARRANGING MANY OF JAMES CLEVELANDS ALBUMS BACK IN THE 70'S!!!...HEY...I'M STARTING TO THINK THAT YOU LIKE MY BROTHER BETTER THAN ME???...STU

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Thursday, April 03, 2003 - 11:57 am:

Hey Stu:
Don't be jealous, my friend! Keep in mind that I told Harry Weinger that he should have hired you to write the liner notes when he reissued the TEMPTATIONS LIVE album on CD (after all, you were there WITH the Tempts!).
Your Big Apple Soul Brother,
Kevin Goins - KevGo

By STUBASS (152.163.188.68) on Thursday, April 03, 2003 - 12:10 pm:

THANKS KEV: BUT I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE HAD TO WRITTEN THOSE LINER NOTES IN CRAYON!!...STU

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Thursday, April 03, 2003 - 02:13 pm:

Stu:
That's why guys like Harry & myself have well-paid interns.....
Kevin Goins - KevGo

By radiogoon (206.148.224.54) on Friday, April 04, 2003 - 02:18 am:

Congratulations guys, you've got a grown man sitting here at the computer with tears streaming down his face. My parents, God rest their souls, were my biggest influence when it came to music. We had everything in our home, and it seemed growing up the stereo was ALWAYS playing. Beatles, Little Richard, James Brown, Ray Charles, Booker T. and the MG's, The Mar-Keys, Sonny & Cher, Santana, Black Sabbath, Elton John, Big Band (you name 'em), Statler Brothers, Johnny Cash, Mowtown. You name it they had it. Mom played the Hammond, and my father had such a great voice (I think thats where I get my vocals from)and we (my brother and myself) were always encouraged to play in the school band. They bought me my first guitar, and my brother his first drum set. I remember when I found my fingers were too big to really be able to chord a guitar, my Mom buying me a bass I begged for, without Dad knowing.....boy did she get what for! And to this day I still play bass...and my wife knows, as well as my kids, that I am to be buried with the bass I owned when my mother passed. So I can play a few tunes for her when we see each other again. Although, I did turn THEM on to most of the blues I've come to love, and play. Guess I owed them one. Thanks for bringing back some wonderful memories guys!

Dr. Z

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Friday, April 04, 2003 - 11:16 am:

Dr. Z:
My parents were very supportive of my musical pursuits as well. It was my Dad who bought me my first alto saxophone when I was ten years old while my Mom would lend me her opera albums when I needed to study classical pieces for voice recitals. This was in addition to the music they (and my siblings) exposed me to when I was young (I mentioned this in a prior posting).
We were indeed lucky to have parents who where supportive of our dreams.
Kevin Goins - KevGo

By STUBASS (64.12.97.7) on Friday, April 04, 2003 - 11:26 am:

DR Z: THANK YOU FOR YOUR STORY AND REMEMBERANCES!!!...YOU MAY WELL CERTAINLY QUALIFY FOR ENTRY INTO "THE ROYAL KNIGHT'S OF BASS" SOCIETY...TO WHICH I HAVE BEEN A MEMBER SINCE 1962!!!...THIS IS AN ELITE HONORARY CONSCRIPTED GROUP OF BASSISTS EVOLVING FROM THE DETROIT JR. ALL CITY ORCHESTRA!!!...WHILE YOUR STORY ALONE SHOULD QUALIFY YOU FOR THIS PRESTIGIOUS HONOR...I HAD TO GO... IN TOW... WITH FIVE OTHER MEMBERS FOLLOWING THE FINAL REHERSAL OF THE SPRING...WALK TO THE RIVERFRONT...CLIMB DOWN ONE OF THOSE LADDERS...AND DIP MY FOOT INTO THE RIVER!!!...CONGRATULATIONS!!!...STUBASS

By Lynn Bruce (65.60.202.214) on Friday, April 04, 2003 - 02:22 pm:

Stu,I used to play on Babbitts strings with my drum-sticks while he fingered his strings during a part of my drum-solos. Do you think I could slide in as an associate member of "The Royal Knights of Bass Society". As far as being baptized in the Detroit river,I've been soaked as the Aquarama ship went by and sucked out the water,then watched as the water came back five times faster and wiped out our picnic lunch. Not to mention being dumped while water sking near Fighting Island.

By STUBASS (205.188.209.38) on Friday, April 04, 2003 - 02:37 pm:

LYNN: THOSE ARE CERTAINLY SOME OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS THAT YOU MENTION...AND ANY MUSICAL ASSOCIATION WITH THE GREAT BOB BABBITT DEFINITELY SPEAKS VOLUMES AS TO YOUR QUALIFICATIONS TO MEMBERSHIP TO "TRKOBS"...WHATS A-MATTER...NO SUCH SIMILAR HONOR FOR DRUMMERS???...REGARDLESS...ON THIS DAY...APRIL 4, 2003...I HEREBY DESIGNATE THE HONOURABLE LYNN BRUCE...AN HONORARY MEMBER OF THE "ROYAL KNIGHTS OF BASS SOCIETY"...AND TO BE ACCORDED ALL RIGHTS AND PRIVLIDGES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS GREAT HONOUR!!!...STUBASS
P.S. WHEN YOU GET A CHANCE...YOU GOTTA DIP THAT TOE IN THE RIVER TO MAKE IT ALL OFFICIAL!!!...CONGRATULATIONS...STU

By Lynn Bruce (65.60.202.214) on Friday, April 04, 2003 - 02:55 pm:

Thank you,I'm not worthy,but honored.
Stu, us drummers were to busy standing around in the parking lot on our breaks passing things around to form many clubs.LOL
Lynn

By Kegtapper (65.56.115.199) on Friday, April 04, 2003 - 03:06 pm:

KevGo: I guess you too were one of the lucky ones. My mom had excellent taste in all that we listened to. We played the Console Hi-Fi when she was gone, with somebody always watching out for the car to pull up. When she came in we went back to the $39 Plastic GE Fold-out Stereo. (better than nothing)

OH the RECORD FIGHTS we used to have in the basement... Thousands of dollars worth of classic s literally hit the wall, (except those that hit my sisters head and mine) :-)

You may see the marks on older men heads today when shaved...

I guess you can say my mom opened our ears (there was 9 of us). Her sister lived in Detroit (Highland Park) and used to hang out with Carolyn Frankin and do-wop singers on the corners in the late 50's and early 60's.. I hate having to go in on summer's night because it was dark. Now my aunt had a serious collection!! Because Aunt Loretta was the same age as my oldest brother she was more like a big sister.

I had a crush on Gladys Knight 'If I was your Woman' at 16 (1970), cause I thought she sung it for me... funny how you can imagine your favorite singer singing to you.

Oh The Memories of Detroit/Motown

Evan Mayo
[aka Kegtapper]

By john dixon (205.188.209.38) on Saturday, April 05, 2003 - 06:50 pm:

Even though my Dad wasn't really a pop music fan, I always felt like I had accomplished something if I could get him to like something I liked.

I do remember there was a copy of Elvis's "Hound Dog" around the house and that was the first record that jumped out at me like electricity.

I have fond memories of my Dad's cabinet hi-fi and the things he played on it like Rogers and Hammerstein's "Victory At Sea"--I loved the spoken interludes, like "the smoking lamp is lit" and what that meant and other stories he would regale me with from his experiences in the Navy in WWII,Count Basie's "April In Paris", with the Count urging the band to play it "one more time",Stan Kenton, Al Hurt, Pete Fountain, tons of Dixieland jazz. My Dad and step Mom went to New Orleans once a year and when I was in college I turned him on to Professor Longhair and zydeco like Clifton Chenier. After becoming hip to more indiginous New Orleans R&B (thanks to me), they even went to the Jazz & Heritage Festival a few times. I had turned Dad on to Dr. John who was a featured performer one year and when I asked Dad afterwards if he had enjoyed Dr. John, he said that he didn't stay because there was alot of funny smelling smoke in the air and he was afraid he might get some "weird feedback"!

Some pop stuff that I remember my Dad digging was Ruby & The Romantics' "Our Day Will Come", Blood, Sweat, and Tears'"Spinning Wheel", Elton John's "Honky Cat", and the Band's second lp, which I bought for him Christmas '69.

By medusa9e (66.73.10.33) on Saturday, April 05, 2003 - 07:44 pm:

The little time i did spend with my mother, she loved any song Dinah Washington sung. Now when i moved 2 Detroit, because my Dad purchased every album by the Beatles, i knew every one of their songs, my girlfriend and I were the only 2 African Americans to go see the Beatles one saturday...and then ...I was introduced 2 Motown by my friend, my Uncle James and my Aunt introduced me 2 Aretha Franklin music...and guess what??? I still remember all those Beatle songs. (LOL), but I'll never, ever 4get Motown & Aretha. I still play the Motown 45's, I also have Aretha Albums, but I don't have one Beatle record,now Y is that? (LOL)

By Jim Feliciano in Detroit. (205.188.209.38) on Saturday, April 05, 2003 - 08:42 pm:

Hi Medusa9e,
Your reference to having seen the 'Beatles', rather intrigues... my curiosity. When, and where, did you see these cats perform?

I realize they 'toured' the states twice, in 1964, then again, in 1966... and what year did you see 'em?

And Medusa9e, you might as well tell us... who was your one favorite Beatle, from the "Fab Four"?

By mhc (172.156.229.43) on Saturday, April 05, 2003 - 10:57 pm:

I really have enjoyed reading this thread; at the risk of sounding maudlin, all the posts express a lot of love, for music and for family.. My Dad and Mom had dis-similar musical taste, and the stuff that my Dad listened to was the stuff that I fell in love with, right from Day One. He's told me since then that when he first got out of the Navy and was going to college, in the late '40s and early '50s, he listened faithfully to WLAC out of Gallatin, Tenn., which was one of those clear-channel megawatt AM stations, and at night they played R&B. At that time, he was going back and forth a lot between Flint, Mich., where his family lived (and still lives), and Florida, where he was going to school, and he says that at night he could get WLAC in both places. By the time I was around, he was into the Detroit area Rock and Roll stations, and the stuff just played in the background my whole life. Later on, he actually apoplgized to me for not exposing me to a wider range of Music when I was growing up, but of course I'm really grateful to him. During my teens, we were at odds with each other about nearly everything, but not music. I do remember that there was one act that I liked but he didn't like: The Four Seasons, and he used to goof on Frankie Valli, singing "Walk Like a Man, Sing Like a Girl.." That was a good one, Dad.

By john c (12.2.233.107) on Sunday, April 06, 2003 - 12:17 am:

My mom surprised me a few months ago. She's 74. I was mentioning to her about a thread on this forum that was listing drummers who sing lead vocals. After I named all I could think of, thinking she didn't have a clue who any of them were, she said, "What, no Don Henley?".

By the way, she now plays her Capitol era Sinatra records when I visit, so she's still an influence.

By radiogoon (206.148.224.186) on Monday, April 14, 2003 - 01:31 am:

Stu,

Thank you for the honor. Does the R.K.O.B have a secret handshake I'll have to learn? Just curious. And again, thank you for the honor, I feel humbled! Bet Mom & Dad are proud too.

A big thanks to my parents, who always made sure there was a song in my heart, and an instrument in my hands.

Dr. Z

By STUBASS (152.163.188.68) on Monday, April 14, 2003 - 02:53 am:

DOC: NO SECRET HANDSHAKE...SINCE SOME OF US USED A GERMAN BOW HAND POSITION AND SOME OF US USED A FRENCH BOW POSITION...WE COULD NEVER GRASP HANDS PROPERLY BECAUSE OF POSSIBLE HAND SHAPING MISMATCHES CAUSED BY OUR CHOICE OF BOWS!!!...AND IT'S ALWAYS A PLEASURE TO BESTOW SUCH HONORS TO ONE AS HONOURABLE AS YOURSELF...AND YOUR PARENTS HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE PROUD!!!...CONGRATULATIONS...STUBASS...CHAIRMAN (THROUGH ATTRITION MOSTLY)...ROYAL KNIGHTS OF BASSISTS

By STUBASS (205.188.209.38) on Monday, April 14, 2003 - 03:02 am:

NOW YOU'VE GOT ME THINKING DOC!!!...SINCE I'M NOT PARTICULARLY CRAZY ABOUT EITHER THE FRENCH *OR* THE GERMANS THESE DAYS...OR THEIR STUPID HAND POSITIONS...I'M VOWING NOW...TO PLAY STRICTLY PIZZACATO IF I EVER PICK UP A BASS AGAIN!!!...IF WE ALL DO THAT...PERHAPS WE COULD BREAK WITH R.K.O.B. TRADITION...AND FINALLY COME UP WITH THAT HANDSHAKE YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!!!...STUBASS

By BankHouseDave (195.93.50.9) on Monday, April 14, 2003 - 05:22 am:

My grandfather was a mean stride piano player whose heroes were Waller, Tatum and Garner. He loved Ella Fitzgerald too and Sinatra, so we had all that music in the house. But he would make snap, misinformed judgements on anyone we listened to, some of which became legendary around the family...

Jimmy Smith? "Fairground organist gone berserk."
Four Tops? "Just four blokes strumming guitars."(?)
Junior Walker? "Only a pop singer."

He never got the fact that his love of music taught us to hear when he'd stopped listening. In the end, I'm grateful to him for that.