“Girl put your records on,
tell me your favorite song…” – Corinne Bailey Rae (Google it…her name + put
your records on)
We were
late, but Mr. Clark said that was fine because we’d only miss a song or two
from the opening act - “somebody called the von Trapps” he said, adding he had
no idea who that was. I wasn’t really listening at the time, but boy, did my
ears perk up when we snuck into that dark hall to the tune of one of the songs
I remember from the hours and hours I spent listening to “The Sound of Music” soundtrack
(Rogers & Hammerstein/20th Century Fox/1965.)
It turns
out these von Trapps are the great-grandchildren of THE von Trapps – the
Austrian family whose story “The Sound of Music” tells. After escaping from
Europe during WW II, they ended up in Vermont, where the family operates a lodge
and stays musical.
An odd twist
of fate landed August, Sofia, Amanda and Melanie von Trapp touring with Pink
Martini. Their recently released cd features several songs from “The Sound of
Music,” including “Edelweiss” and “The Lonely Goat Herd.” Mr. Clark was amused
and I was surprised to discover that I still know every single word of both
songs…
“The Sound
of Music” came out when I was eight years old and I LOVED it. I loved everything
about it - the movie, the music, the costumes, Julie Andrews, the beautiful Austrian
mountains. I even loved those grouchy old nuns, so maybe it’s not such a surprise
that I memorized every word on that record. But, I did the same with the other
three records I had at the time…
Imagine –
a music collection made up of four albums. Kids growing up in these days of
Ipods, Ipads, smart phones and headphones probably can’t imagine being that
sensory deprived… My other records were: the soundtrack from the Disneyland
ride, “It’s a Small World;” “Sounds of
Silence,” by Simon & Garfunkel; and, “The Monkees” by, yes, the Monkees. Back
in the day, I was proud of and did truly enjoy listening to those four LPs over
and over again, as they spun around and around on my pink portable record
player.
Fast
forward to the cassette tape days. By then, my musical taste and collection had
expanded some. We still had LPs - wooden fruit crates full of them - that we
toted from place to place as we moved from home to dorm room to first
apartments, etc. We also had our favorites on tape, so we could pop them in and
listen anywhere, anytime…
During
those days, mix tapes were a major form of communication and courtship. Have
something to say to a friend or family member? Make them a mix tape. Wondering
if a guy likes you or maybe even loves you? Clues to the answer for this and
many other important life questions could be found on the collections of songs
we put on cassette tapes and gave to each other…Later “mix tapes” were replaced
by “play lists” on cds, yet the depth and breadth of the communication continued…
The other
day I went through our cds – four bins of them. My intention was to organize
and consolidate them into one huge 350 cd notebook. I threw the plastic cases
away, but kept the cds and the sleeves. When I was finished, that notebook
weighed just under 20 pounds…that’s a lot of musical memories.
Revisiting
that cd collection was like reliving the last 30 years of my life. There were
the Bonnie Raitt/”chick music” years, the World Music/Celtic/Cajun music years…Pages
of “Music for Relaxation” – everything from “Chill” to Gregorian chants…And, of
course, a decent sampling of classical and jazz music, as well as hits from bands
like Dave Matthews, U2, REM and Coldplay…I found a bunch of the music we listened
to as I ferried my pre-driving teens about - Silver Chair, Smashing Pumpkins,
Pearl Jam, Nirvana - pretty good music, pretty great times…I had almost
forgotten about the mix tape/play list cds with handwritten names like “Road
Trip,” “A Birthday cd for Bouncing,”
“Peace Out Y’all” and, “Old Guy Love Songs” (a favorite, from Mr. Clark.)
Lately the
“kids,” as in my kids, who are in their 30’s, have gotten back into buying
records and listening to LPs. They swear the sound is better; I’m not sure
about that, but it warms my heart to hear music coming from a needle and a spinning
disc again.
The other day
Mr. Clark had Sirius XM or one of those innocuous, non-music stations on and it
felt like being trapped in an elevator or brightly lit store – no choices being
made, no memories being generated or revived - just sound-fill in the air. I
asked him to turn it off and replace it with one of those old “mix tape” cds I’d
just found and, (no surprise here) much better energy - enlivened and engaged -
ensued.
When I
started into the cd notebook project, Mr. Clark suggested that I “digitize” instead
and move all of that music to “the cloud.” I opted not to, partly because I’ve
always regretted giving away those wooden fruit crates full of albums, and
partly because I remember how much fun it was to flip through my Grampa’s
record collection when I was a kid.
He had 78,
45 and 33 rpm records that we played on an old gramophone. They were thick and
sounded scratchy, but I spent hours listening to them…Maybe someday my
grandkids will enjoy flipping through the pages of that huge cd notebook,
popping music into a device they’ve never seen
before and marveling at what a strange place the past must have been.
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