How Rock Music Ruined this Country

Rock and Roll Music helped to turn me into a Lunatic,
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My dad always loved music, although he could not hold a note to save his skin. He had these old 78's, mostly Gospel music, which he loved dearly. This type of music had a great deal of emotional expression, or "soul".
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My dad would be working on some project in the garage, and he would have the radio on, tuned to some country and hillbillie station, playing music that I thought was dumb and abominable. Sometimes, they would play Johnny Cash, who was someone we both could agree on. I always liked Johnny Cash, and I loved my Dad. I still do, and he passed away some twenty years ago.
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One of my first albums was "Meet the Beatles". I think this came out in 1964. Even my parents knew who the Beatles were, as they had seen them on the Ed Sullivan show. The Beatles proved themselves to be very successful entertainers; later, we discovered that they were probably musical geniuses as well.
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I think that the sixties might have been the Golden Age of Television, which also went a long way to changing everything in this country. They had variety shows, like Ed Sullivan and Red Skelton, but also thee Smothers Brothers, and Laugh In, which were quite different in their natures.
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Growing up, I watched all these shows on television. We did not have much, but we always seemed to have a small black and white set that worked pretty good. Of course we did not have cable, or VCR's, or even color, so these shows had to be watched as they came on, or you would be penalized for missing a show and would then have  to wait six months for the summer re-runs. You sat there and watched these shows in the Moment.
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Television gave us the instant news on the Viiet Nam War. Every night there would be stories, and graphic accounts of the casualties, who were boys who came from small towns, like my town. People got sick of the news and .of all the pointless bloodshed. No one could come out and tell us we were winning this war. Television changed people's opinions in this country.
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Rock and Roll music was always in the background, changing the lives of young people everywhere. Young men and women were growing their hair long, smoked marijuana, and walked around nearly naked all summer, playing their stupid bongos and going to peace rallies.This all amounted to a lot of fun, and naturally the Government could not allow this. Names were written down, secret files were opened. We spied on our own people.
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My own story turned out pretty good. When I turned 18 they got rid of the draft, and in Michigan 18 was the legal drinking age.My friends were all growing their hair long, and so was I . Our adult lives stretched before us, full of wonder and promise. We were lucky enough to be born into this age of change, a maelstrom of it right in front of us. Life was going to be interesting.

Mr. Charming

Music

I was up late playing the music I love.
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I started by playing some classic Beatles. I played the album "Revolver".  I thin this one album signified a big change for the Beatles. The opening song "The Taxman" is a snappy little pop song, later covered by Stevie Ray Vaughn. The song "Within you, without you" was a real stretch fe Beatles. Listen to "Revolver". this album still holds up.
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One song I played was "Crosssroads" by Cream. I still am unable to replicate Eric Clapton's lead on this song, and I have practiced now for years. I will never be that good. Clapton deserves all the success and fortune he has attained over the years.
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If you have Rhapsody, like I do, you can check out new music fairly cheapy, and then you can buy the albums directly from Amazon, should you choose,

Mr. Charming

Pretty Girls

In my time I have had three very pretty girl friends. This requires a lot of work, as other guys are always attracted to them, and you have to fend these wolves off from getting too close to the prize. You also must pay a lot of attention to a pretty girl friend, as she expects it from you. All in all, they are a lot of work.
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Most of my other girl friends were just average. Usually with nice figures, but not so pretty that you had to keep track of them all the time. I am always attracted to smart women. I like them a lot. These women usually have something in common with me, be it sports, or life style, or political outlook. I love women.\
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Someday I might visit the Ukraine. They have a lot of beautiful women there, and they are all Christians. Uranian women do not mind going with an older guy like me. I should go there, snag one, and marry her. Maybe have a couple of kids with her. This is something I would like to do before I get so old I look like Pablo Picasso.

Mr. Charming

More Music

I love all kinds of music, and some jazz too. Recently I met a man named Floyd, who is now about seventy years old. For years Floyd toured with Artie Shaw, playing the upright bass. they toured the United States and parts of Europe. this story impressed me to no end.
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During the course of his travels, Floyd got to meet other jazz greats, such as Dave Brubeck ("Take Five") and also the incomparable talent, Bill Evans ("Blue in Green").
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Other great names to listen to are Vince Guaraldi ("Theme from Peanuts"), Errol Garner ("Misty"), and Sonny Rollins ("Blue Seven").
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I like music by Metallica ("Enter the Sandman") and Megadeath. One song by Megadeath that I have dubbed "Dave's Theme" goes like this:
  "What do you mean I don't believe in God?
    I talk with him every day!
   And what do you mean I don't support the system?
   I go to court when I have to.
   And what do you mean I can't make it to work on time?
   I've got nothing better to do.
   And what do you mean I dont't pay my bills?
  Why do you think I'm broke?


  If there's a new way.
  I'll be the first in line.
  But it better work this time.

  What do you mean I'm not kind?
  Just not your kind!
  And what do you mean I can't be the President of the United States?
  It's still we the people, right?

  If there's a new way
  I'll be the first in line.
  But it better work this time."

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I support Portlannd bands, such as Big Monti Amundson, Quarterflash, and Sharon Jones. I like the Seattle bands too, like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Soundgarden (now Audioslave). I like Michigan bands, such as the White Stripes ("Seven Nation Army"), the Bob Seger System ("Two plus Two"), Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes ("Jouney to the Center of your Mind"), and Grand Funk ("We're an American Band"). I like bands from Texas, such as ZZ Top ("Jesus just Left Chicago"), Johnny Winter (Highway 61"), Stevie Ray Vaughn ("Texas Flood"), and Junior Brown ("My Wife thinks you're Dead"). I like Mississsippi Delta style blues, in the manner of R.L.Burnside and Ry Cooder.
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Music is an important part of my life. I began my study as a musician at the age of fourteen, with a mail order guitar from Sears which cost me all of $20 back then. I still play, and probably always will.

Mr. Charming