Free (as a) Bird!!!

I kind of took an extended break from my rock and roll postings. There are lots of reasons why but none of them are really good excuses so I won't even bother to offer them up. I have every intention of finishing the project so I'm here to crank it up again.

I am going to start with a backtrack on the letter L. I stick by my choice of Led Zeppelin but there are some L artists that deserve mention.

I will start with Lynyrd Skynyrd. I think this band would have continued to grow had it not been for the tragedy that struck in 1977. This link provides a pretty good synopsis of their history.

Last but definitely not least on this backtrack...John Winston Lennon. An artist in every sense of the word...a delightful crazy man...one of the cornerstones of the Beatles. He had his trials and tribulations; his affair with drugs; his injecting Yoko into the Beatles and ultimately his rejection of all things Beatles but his status in Rock and Roll will never fade. I just wish that he was not senselessly taken from us so that we could have continued to see his work evolve. Thank you John. I can't help but believe that you would have come to appreciate what the Beatles were and embrace your role in the phenomenon.

Favorite John song...many...the first one that came to mind was "Strawberry Fields Forever".

Not bad John...

We are fortunate to own prints of some of John's drawings. The one pictured below is part of a montage that we have and is one of my favorites.

Its So Fine Its Sunshine Its The Word Love

The Beatles Love CD was released today and despite my family wanting me to leave this one for a good Christmas present...there was no way. It is playing now and I am here to tell you that I had goosebumps the first time through. Bravo George and Giles Martin! Oh yeah and John, Paul, George and Ringo you passed the audition again. In deference to this sneak peek at my obvious B band, I will put off announcing the Q band until tomorrow. No it won't be Queensryche...

When I first discovered the Beatles I was 9 years old and they transformed my life. I had always been exposed to music through my mother and my one aunt who loved music. But for the first time, this was to become my music. One glimpse at them on the Ed Sullivan show and I was done. My aunt took me to the store the next day and asked me if I wanted a Beatles record. She bought me She Loves You and so it began. I would wait for each new Beatles 45 to come out...for those who need to know a 45 was a single record that spun at 45 rpm as opposed to an entire album (LP) of songs which spins at 33 and a third. I would ride my bike to the local Ben Franklin and plunk my 98 cents down and start to wear the grooves off of the thing. I still have most of the 45's stashed away somewhere and the LP's as well.

I remember one incident with my Beatles albums that will not fade from my fading memory. My sisters had taken the record player and my albums on to the patio one hot summer afternoon. When they were done listening and dancing with their friends, they neglected to bring the records back in to the house. The albums basically melted...ruined. I was crushed. My mother passed this one off to my dad and when I went crying to my Dad about what happened his lesson of the day was the need to share. He was telling me that I needed to share with my sisters. I didn't know share and destroy were partners. I set about replacing them one at a time with money earned in dribs and drabs from a paper route and the share and destroy lesson was lost on me at that point in time.

I want to thank the Beatles for opening me to music, my music. It's still my music but my Dad would be proud to know that I did share it with everyone that would listen. Most importantly, I shared my music with my children and I am happy to know that it opened them to their music.