Sinnerboy wrote:Well I was born in '52 Cynthia but I only knew about the Beatles and Stones until I was 16, when Perkins and Elvis etc. were in full swing I was much too young to take notice.
Well, that stuff that Rory used to listen to when he was growing up, that's the same kind of music that my parents and aunts and uncles were listening to over here in the American Southwest. Rory was often quoted as being influenced by music he used to hear on U.S. Armed Forces Radio- stuff the soldiers used to listen to overseas when they were homesick. My dad was a soldier stationed in Germany around that time, and it's the kind of music the young adults over here listened to- when I was a toddler I remember my mom singing to the radio, stuff like Elvis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Larry Williams, Johnny Cash, Hank Snow, Patsy Cline. I didn't care much for any of it, but that's 'cause it's what the "grown-ups" listened to. I remember hearing Hank Snow singing I'm Moving On, and hating it- it seemed like old people music to me- There were a few exceptions- Buddy Holly stood out, as did Chuck Berry, and my mom had a 45 of Elvis singing One Night that I listened to 'till they took the record away from me. But most of it was too "grown-up."
When I was in Jr. High School the Beatles arrived in a big way, and that was the beginning. And then years later in High School, I heard Taste- Rory singing I'm Moving On, but it was new, fresh, magical, and most importantly, not like anything my parents would ever listen to. I recognized it right away, the same song! But Rory's interpretation- it was a revelation to me!
I think that's what really made the "British Invasion" such a success- The Beatles, the Yardbirds, the Stones, and of course Rory, took that music, made it new, made it theirs, and gave it back to us. Who could resist?
Cynthia
