Every war since then has had our military fighting pretty much with one hand tied behind their backs.
But that's not what I was talking about.
I'm talking about another greatest generation. I'm talking about... the music of our fathers and mothers and of some of our older people. Maybe not OAFS, as I think Hildegard of Bingen (born 1098, died 1179, did the first real codification of European music, something that wasn't really fixed until Johann Sebastian Bach basically did the final definition of scales and such) might just be about his generation... No, not really.
Why do I say that - the greatest music generation thingy? Well, Mrs. Andrew and I were watching the fantastic "Joe vs the Volcano" starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan (and a host of top shelf actors and actresses to include Abe Vigoda) and the music selection for the movie was, to say the least, top shelf.
Not saying the cinematography wasn't perfect, which it about was, with odes to "Metropolis" and "Brazil" and variously continued themes, not to mention the most awesome set of luggage ever. But the music was just perfect.
Like this little ditty...
Mas Que Nada - by Sergio Mendes
Like "Girl from Ipanema," the good song, not the muzac version, though even the muzac version isn't bad.
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Doc Severenson. The great crooners from the 40's and 50's. Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. Elvis. All the great movie and play music.
Stuff today is great, sure, but what happy little ditty from the 40s to 60s runs through your mind when given half a chance?
Beans, I am way outside the 40's to 60's generation, but my parents played a wide variety of music including songs from those eras (at least through the '50's; he was not a fan of any "rock and roll" post 1957 or so. That said, some of the Big Band arrangements were amazing ("Sing, Sing, Sing" comes to mind). The Ravishing Mrs. TB has a collection of WW II music which includes those as well as other music from the era.
ReplyDeleteShe also very much enjoys 1950's rock and roll; we had such a band play at our wedding.
My dad and his officer friends had the best collections, from Herb Alpert to Apollo 100 to all the greats. Show tunes, musicals, all of that including Big Band and lyrical jazz (not that stuff that sounds like someone tossed a bunch of musicians into a dumpster and rolled it down a flight of stairs.)
DeleteNot saying there wasn't good music current with the years, but, dangit, that stuff was and is good.
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana brass were amazing.
DeleteMy father built his own high fidelity sound system in the early sixties. His electronic expertise allowed such things, and he would play his albums, which were on a turntable in the hall for the large furniture speaker cabinet in the den. One album always caught my attention, which was the soundtrack from the movie "Hatari". At that time, stereo was still in the infancy stage, so the effects were not available. Still, the rich base, and full sound filled the room.
ReplyDeleteDad had connections on flights from Japan to access the good hifi stuff from said Japan in 1970. He assembled a rather nice system with a turntable that was amazing. All on duty-free.
DeleteKingston Trio, Limelighters. Pearls Before Swine. The New Seekers, We Five. Lots of good stuff out there. When harmonies were tight.
ReplyDeleteAnd when singers actually had to correctly sing the notes, not be adjusted electronically. And then came Bob Dylan and his whiny nasally voice. Must have been the work of the Devil.
DeleteI was 28 in '69, growing up in the NYC suburbs, and listened to/heard it all - and for the life of me I'm hard pressed to pick out just one - there wre just so many great tunes and great musicians.
ReplyDeleteI know what you say. Back when having a broad musical palate was A-Okay. I kind of got the same effect when the officers would have a block party and we'd hear everything from Cuban music to Brazilian music to opera arias and all the aforementioned music.
DeleteOne of my frequent ditty’s starts out “Off we go” and something about a “…wild blue yonder”. Like that one a lot!
ReplyDeletejuvat
Simple minds... But, yes, a nice tune sung properly. Same with all the service songs.
DeleteYeah, but when around Army dudes and dudettes, be careful. The "When the caissons go rolling along" lyrics are officially unwelcome in today's thoroughly modern Army. Not inclusive enough or something. Not to mention the vapors which would arise if someone belted out some Jody calls, or some of the olde "Parley Vous" lyrics.
DeleteMusical tastes are fickle for public consumption, but might still be enjoyed privately.
JB
I am about to compile something inspired by Guardians of the Galaxy for my niece...
ReplyDelete"Best hits of Uncles Pavels youth" Vol1
just with MP3s on USB stick, she has not even a casette player...
I saw a meme that kind of explained why people who grew up in the 60s and 70s are so peeved now. First we paid for records. Then we had to pay for the same music on cassettes. And then on CDs. And then on bought MP3s. And now we have to rent music.
DeleteA radio station in Albany, MN, mykasm dot com plays this type of music nightly. I think they start the music at 8PM central. Runs about 6 hours, no commercials and no top of hour news, so you can forget the days events for a few hours. It is a farm station, during the daylight hours they play country and polka music, along with farming related information.
ReplyDeleteEarly 70s, our next door neighbor was an electrical engineer and he had a basement full of audio gear, much of it he built from Heathkit. I was always fascinated by how it all gleamed and sparkled.
Jim