How My Father Is Getting Hipper With Age
Over the years I have tried to expand my father's musical universe. This a soon-to-be 62 year-old man we're dealing with here and one who really doesn't have much love for the arts, be it music, film, visual art, theater, or television. Literature is the noteworthy and admirable exception, as he is an avid reader. He has great appreciation for the arts and certainly sees the value of painting a picture, writing a song or play, or creating a really great film. But overall I would say the man, if asked, would not call himself a big "arts" fan.
On the music front there are a handful of artists he does really like, the highest among them the works of Simon & Garfunkel and the solo work of Paul Simon. Graceland is his favorite album of all time; he knows every word, every note, and loves each and every piece of it. And I have to say if you are going to be a person who only buys one album per decade (or quarter century) you could do a hell of a lot worse then Paul Simon's masterpiece blend of African music and pop. It is one of my own "Desert Island 5" so if my father and I ever ran out of things to talk about (we don't) we could still talk about that recording. He also has a real soft spot for Volume One from The Traveling Wilburys who -- for those who don't know -- were Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, and the late great Roy Orbison and George Harrison, all getting together and having some fun in the studio. I think the laid back nature of that album appeals to his own personality, which tends to be the opposite: A bit tense and tight.
In recent years I've tried to give both my parents some CDs I think they'd enjoy. Part of it is because they spend a lot of time traveling both North and South to visit their grandchildren and, as such, they listen to a lot books on tape, which I think are just evil because they are abridged and therefore devoid of the full literary experience. So anything I can do to get them away from those things is, in my view, a service to both the serious literary community and, in turn, the music community. Audio books out, music in. My mom likes all kinds of stuff so she is not a hard to please as dear old Dad. However, I've discovered the common thread in his musical taste and, interestingly enough, it is very similar to my own. It is all about the songwriting, and so explains why he loves the previously mentioned Paul Simon and also likes Neil Diamond, has grown to like Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash (how could you not?), and country artist Delbert McClinton. They all have excellent songwriting in common, even if they are not great singers. I thought Dylan would be a harder sell but according to my Mom my father really likes the hard to find single disc import "Best Of" I found in a used rack a few years back and stuffed in his stocking for Christmas. Perhaps it was the Wilbury connection or maybe, through the course of time, his ears and mind are more open to the musical poets that helped shape his youngest son into a total music freak. Either way, it is cool to know Dad now digs Dylan.
For his birthday this coming weekend I am taking a whole new approach. Instead of going out and buying some anthology of a group or artist he doesn't have yet (Springsteen came to mind) I am making a mix CD, with a handful of songs by people he knows and likes, other artists covering songs by people he knows and likes, and what I like to think of as "bands and artists he doesn't know he likes yet". I am at the mid-mix point and so far it is a pleasant challenge. What is cool is that as the man has entered his 60's his mind has become more open to new stimuli, which I think is so admirable. Most people become more stubborn or set in their ways with age but my father has -- at least on some levels -- opened up to new ideas or ways to do things. Perhaps it was a heart attack and later a heart surgery that genuinely scared him. Perhaps it has was the loss of his mother in the early 1990's. But I personally think it has been the births of his 5 grandkids, which has let him see the world through new sets of eyes. And somewhere in there I think the experience has rubbed off on his other senses. But that is just a theory and if the theory is wrong he'll try to set me straight. He's always been good at that.
J
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Question of the Day
Do nice guys and gals really finish last? Why or why not?
Thanks.
On the music front there are a handful of artists he does really like, the highest among them the works of Simon & Garfunkel and the solo work of Paul Simon. Graceland is his favorite album of all time; he knows every word, every note, and loves each and every piece of it. And I have to say if you are going to be a person who only buys one album per decade (or quarter century) you could do a hell of a lot worse then Paul Simon's masterpiece blend of African music and pop. It is one of my own "Desert Island 5" so if my father and I ever ran out of things to talk about (we don't) we could still talk about that recording. He also has a real soft spot for Volume One from The Traveling Wilburys who -- for those who don't know -- were Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, and the late great Roy Orbison and George Harrison, all getting together and having some fun in the studio. I think the laid back nature of that album appeals to his own personality, which tends to be the opposite: A bit tense and tight.
In recent years I've tried to give both my parents some CDs I think they'd enjoy. Part of it is because they spend a lot of time traveling both North and South to visit their grandchildren and, as such, they listen to a lot books on tape, which I think are just evil because they are abridged and therefore devoid of the full literary experience. So anything I can do to get them away from those things is, in my view, a service to both the serious literary community and, in turn, the music community. Audio books out, music in. My mom likes all kinds of stuff so she is not a hard to please as dear old Dad. However, I've discovered the common thread in his musical taste and, interestingly enough, it is very similar to my own. It is all about the songwriting, and so explains why he loves the previously mentioned Paul Simon and also likes Neil Diamond, has grown to like Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash (how could you not?), and country artist Delbert McClinton. They all have excellent songwriting in common, even if they are not great singers. I thought Dylan would be a harder sell but according to my Mom my father really likes the hard to find single disc import "Best Of" I found in a used rack a few years back and stuffed in his stocking for Christmas. Perhaps it was the Wilbury connection or maybe, through the course of time, his ears and mind are more open to the musical poets that helped shape his youngest son into a total music freak. Either way, it is cool to know Dad now digs Dylan.
For his birthday this coming weekend I am taking a whole new approach. Instead of going out and buying some anthology of a group or artist he doesn't have yet (Springsteen came to mind) I am making a mix CD, with a handful of songs by people he knows and likes, other artists covering songs by people he knows and likes, and what I like to think of as "bands and artists he doesn't know he likes yet". I am at the mid-mix point and so far it is a pleasant challenge. What is cool is that as the man has entered his 60's his mind has become more open to new stimuli, which I think is so admirable. Most people become more stubborn or set in their ways with age but my father has -- at least on some levels -- opened up to new ideas or ways to do things. Perhaps it was a heart attack and later a heart surgery that genuinely scared him. Perhaps it has was the loss of his mother in the early 1990's. But I personally think it has been the births of his 5 grandkids, which has let him see the world through new sets of eyes. And somewhere in there I think the experience has rubbed off on his other senses. But that is just a theory and if the theory is wrong he'll try to set me straight. He's always been good at that.
J
****************
Question of the Day
Do nice guys and gals really finish last? Why or why not?
Thanks.