10-23-2009, 02:03 AM
OK, Now I'm home and I've got this cranked up on my high-end 70s system (with added CD player) and it is absolutely awesome! There are so many early songs on here that I haven't heard in donkey's years and I love them all. You tend to forget how many songs get omitted on the radio station playlists. Time to get some mirror balls and have a dance party.
It's interesting to think about the "scene" that these guys were playing in. There just wasn't a rock and roll scene in existence, just some popular crooners, dance halls, left over stuff from the swing era and some really cool american blues record played mostly by old black guys (that figured very heavily into their inspiration). That's why they have quite a few "crooner" songs designed for playing in seaside dance halls and the like (similar to early Buddy Holly stuff). Then they went off from there to waters as yet uncharted, taking us all with them. I think it's probably quite difficult for folks who didn't grow up during that period to understand why so many of us "old folks" think these guys were music gods.
It's interesting to think about the "scene" that these guys were playing in. There just wasn't a rock and roll scene in existence, just some popular crooners, dance halls, left over stuff from the swing era and some really cool american blues record played mostly by old black guys (that figured very heavily into their inspiration). That's why they have quite a few "crooner" songs designed for playing in seaside dance halls and the like (similar to early Buddy Holly stuff). Then they went off from there to waters as yet uncharted, taking us all with them. I think it's probably quite difficult for folks who didn't grow up during that period to understand why so many of us "old folks" think these guys were music gods.