Great thread, Barry. I've always been mystified by the fact that my
musical taste was shaped, in large part, by a complete stranger via
45s. When I was very young, one of my Dad's good friends
distributed 45s to the jukeboxes around town. Before I can really
even remember, I, apparently, used to play the hell out of my older
siblings' records and this guy thought it was cute that such a little
kid dug music so much. So he gave my Dad piles of extra singles
and I used to play them all over and over again.
Two of the ones I remember liking early on -- and I still have them
at home -- are Glen Campbell's version of Wichita Lineman and
CCR's Travelin' Band (w/ Who'll Stop The Rain on the flipside).
Going back thru that stuff now, I'm amazed at the diversity --
Brenda Lee, Elvis, Tommy Dorsey, Marvin Gaye, and gimmicky
stuff like Chopsticks, Rag Mop and The Ballad of Snoopy & the
Red Baron.
Mainly, I remember digging Travelin' Band like nothing else. Like
Joe describes with Like A Rolling Stone, the beginning kicks in like
thunder and you're off for a 3-minute thrill ride. And I suppose
Fogerty screaming "waahhhhh" before the guitar solos appealed to
the three-year-old me as well.
Another cool singles memory is of being in the seventh or eighth
grade and having my pal Ernie come by with singles by some weird
new guy named Prince (When You Were Mine and Controversy, I
think).
Dave
***
Dave Purcell, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Northern Ky Roots Music: http://w3.one.net/~newport
Twangfest: http://www.twangfest.com
