It was most likely in 1970 although it could fall a year either way in the march of time I was listening to WMMR as I dried the dishes in my south Jersey home. The deal was that my old man would wash the dishes and I would dry. As an accommodation I would get to turn the radio to FM and listen to WMMR and that damn hippie music.
Back then WMMR was the bastion of underground music and free form radio. You would hear Miles Davis, the Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, Long John Baldry and a ton of other artists in a row and the announcer might or might not tell you what you had just heard. Several songs and the artists involved eluded me for years. This was mostly because by the time a real format had developed for the station that free form ethos had faded and the artists had fallen from favor. Two of these artists and songs I have posted either here or on the FB page. To get a sense of what I am talking about follow my old links to Ralph McTell’s Streets of London and to the stuff off Nick Drake’s Bryter Later.
One band that did not get away from my consciousness was Fairport Convention. With raucous guitar work and odd instrumentation they played old, old songs, or so it seemed. One song they played really was an old one, it is part of the Child Ballads http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_ballad From the moment I heard this song I fell in love with Sandy Denny’s voice and Richard Thompson’s guitar. By the time I was in a place and could see the concerts I wanted Sandy Denny was dead. It was one of folk rock music’s greatest losses.
However I did get to see Richard Thompson a number of times. Every time I see him perform be it in an electric rock band or solo acoustic the music is wonderful. In college nobody knew who Fairport Convention was. While they might have been big in Philly they had not been heard in the Midwest. I would crank up all my Fairport LPs out the window of my dorm room on spring days. The English exchange students would all appreciate this a taste from home. I also got to know a number of other people would come up and say who is that and wow that was great and then we would start talking.
Even today this song still rocks.
The link is music only.
6 comments:
Ok, so while you were listening to esoteric and important music, I was into the Lettermen and Ferrante & Teicher. Probably not a surprise, right??
Music is wonderful, period. If the Letterman were what gave you pleasure or amusement then what else could you ask for. I am not posting these as a I am too cool tool. The stuff that is going up is old dusty and almost dead letter, but it is stuff I loved and I wanted to share.
I love rock, bluegrass, civil war songs, English ballads and electronic dance music. I am not a big fan of the blues. Nor do I like light opera. However I do like Rachmaninoff's Vespers. How did my tastes get this way, I dunno? My parents didn't listen to much music.
My feeling on this is simple. I am sharing music I love. I hope you find something that pleases and soothes your spirit.
I still listen to Ferrante & Teicher, I remember sitting on the hill at Meadowbrook and seeing them in concert as a kid. This history lesson in music is nifty, I am adding the new tunes to my pandora, and yes I know they are not new, I merely forgot to add them with the mass of other on my lists. Carry on with the series...
The first song I heard on "MMR" was Phil Ochs' "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends" still one of my faves.
I heard that first on MMR probably listening to Luke O'Reily or maybe Micheal Tearson. One of the memories I will always go back to is getting up to hitch hike back to Michigan and Johnny Craft the morning guy at MMR in late 74 playing Panic in Detroit as I was starting to make my way back.
Lisa I love dropping these things into Pandora. There is a guy called Pierce Pettis (sp) that does a version of Shady Grove that I just love. It came on when I was listening to the Nick Drake channel I had created. Nick Drake should but won't make this series. Bryter Later is just awesome.
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