Sunday, February 23: The Power of Music It was a warm, Dallas evening. I worked the midnight shift, loading and unloading freight on the Red Ball Motor Freight dock. I usually left my apartment around 11:30 PM, allowing enough time to arrive a few minutes early. With the top down on my blue 1960 Olds Super 88, the radio suddenly came to life with a song that I had never heard. The Rolling Stones released “(I Cant Get No) Satisfaction” in June of 1965, and I have enjoyed listening to this classic rock & roll song ever since. When I hear it now, Im suddenly riding with the wind blowing my long hair once again. I could create a time line, using music that has brought me great satisfaction over my lifetime. I remember where we lived when theme songs of certain radio and TV programs were popular. “The Lone Ranger” and “The Cisco Kid” are favorites, but the music that is most meaningful came during junior high school and beyond. I have always listened to what I liked, not necessarily what was popular. I thrived on the raw, gutsy blues played on Newark, New Jersey AM stations. I joined the Columbia Record Club and made regular visits to our local record store where I bought 45s and albums that I still own. People who have looked at my record and CD collection have expressed surprise when they see the variety of genres. Bo Diddley, B.B. King, Jimmy Reed, and several obscure blues musicians are favorites, as are a variety of operas and classical music. I also like Led Zeppelin, Janice Joplin, Eric Clapton,Gary Moore, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Buddy Guy, Carlos Santana - one of my favorites - and the majority of the late 1950s and early 1960s rock songs. Jazz fills much of our shelf space; I enjoy Diana Krall, Thelonius Monk, John Coltrane, and Tommy Emmanuel, one of my favorite guitarists. Blue grass? The Kruger Brothers are at the top of the list, as are Jay Ungar and his wife Molly Mason, Doc Watson, Bill Monroe, Merle Haggard, and the classic music of Flatt & Scruggs. As a Christian pastor, I certainly enjoy and find comfort and inspiration from spiritual music. John Rutter blesses me beyond comprehension, as do Corelli, Bach, Beethoven, and Vivaldi. Music changed me forever when I heard the finger-picking of Joan Baez in the early 60s. I took up the guitar, learning from a New Orleans free spirit who lived next to me in the SMU dorm. I attended a free concert on campus where the flamenco guitarist Carlos Montoya mesmerized me to the point that I did not pick up the guitar for two months. In time, my roommate and I started a rock and blues band. We weren’t that good initially, but improved over time. We played for fraternity and sorority parties. We played in bars and even for free at Flagpole Hill in Dallas. When we did get paid, it was $10.00 per person (two guitars and a drummer initially, eventually adding a harmonica player and two singers). A man who owned a Dallas recording studio heard us and offered to record us for free. We went to his studio and cut two songs that our lead singer and manager wrote. I still have my recording contract and a 45rpm demo that was sent to Mercury Records; it never went anywhere, and I joined the Marine Corps that same month. Life has a funny way of affecting us with such a simple gift as music. I hear a song and am transported to times and places. I go from one extreme to another listening to different genres, and thank God for all of the music, the oil - if you will - that lubricates my soul and fills me with joy. Blessings and peace, De
Posted on: Sat, 22 Feb 2014 21:57:34 +0000
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