Music & Family

I interviewed my grandfather on his experience on music. He was born in the 60s so he's gone through many decades of music. So here's a good clip of our conversation:

Me: OK, so this is my grandfather and I’m gonna ask him a couple of questions regarding his history with growing up and being a part of it and all his experiences in that department. So, for the first question when did you start getting involved with music? 

Pop Pop: Well, I’ve always liked music. All people had when I was real young like 34 years ago was a radio in their car and I can remember riding down the road listening to the song it’s called about let me tell you about the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees. I remember that adamantly, and then about 19 when I was that was about 63' or 64'. And then when I was around six or seven, whatever year it was that the Archie came out and that was that cartoon called the Archies and it’s Scooby-Doo and all that kind of junk. Whatever well they they had a song that came out that that went to like gazillion or whatever and it was called Sugar Sugar and I’m remember going to Kmart and buying my first 45 record. I paid $.50 for it and I still have it of the record by the Archies called Sugar Sugar. 

Me: That’s really awesome that you still have that. Did you have any sort of like music restrictions when you were younger? 'Cause I know my mom and my grandma only really listen to non-secular music growing up. Did you have any sort of restrictions?

Pop Pop: Growing up like that my parents divorced when I was five and she got remarried when I was 10 and we never I started going to church when I was 12 with a little old lady down the street that knew. Mr. Eddie, my stepfather had gotten remarried and had two little kids and she picked me up for years and took me to church every morning Sunday but as far as them coming well, we didn’t have bad music like you know anything that had curse words or or talked about you know taboo subjects, or nothing like to die. Everything was really really clean. They thought when the Beatles came out because the guys had hair and it was over their ears that they were just pure evil people you’re the older people thought oh they’re just so terrible and all they were doing was a thing and sounded like "I wanna hold your hand" you know and the songs were so innocent and sweet and they just thought that’s so terrible and so no no restrictions. 

Me: That’s really interesting. How music has really shifted and changed like popular music. I also listen to a lot of old music just because I prefer it and I prefer the topic and like all the voicing and the production as well. What was your favorite music genre now and is it any different than when you were younger?

Pop Pop: Describe genre?

Me: So you have like you have Christian, you have folk music, you have metal..

Pop Pop: They didn’t have that, rock ‘n’ roll was started in the late 50s and and there was no Christian music that there was hymns and stuff like that. Christian music didn’t even I think the first Christian kind of rocky song was was probably came out around 1972 or 73 and everybody was singing and not knowing it was a Christian song and it was the guy just singing and the music was phenomenal and you know they were singing alone, not knowing it was a Christian song with all the hippies, but so there was not really a classification of Christian music. It’d be rock you know anything from rockabilly you know or just rock of whatever was top 40 on the radio everybody listen to their FM radio whatever the local radio station was in the top 40. In fact, we used to have a guy named Casey Kasem that was humongous. It was heard all over the world. I don’t know how many countries but he had a show every week and it was like on Sunday afternoon and he for about 24 hours. He would go through briefly probably I don’t think he can do the top 100 but he would do most of them and also boy you listen to Casey Kasem and every Sunday and so even it would be it would be rock ‘n’ roll Beatles. You know you know stuff like that so you have a favorite band was it The Beatles to this day, it’s one of my favorite bands still to this day when I played in a band back in the 90s or maybe the 2000s I played in the band for seven years and we we did we had about 125 songs that we did, we had a lot of songs that we did and all covers and but we did several Beatles songs and yeah, of course you’re playing guitar or when you go to learn the guitar, you always learn John Denver you learn you know the Beatles you do you know simple songs that are very you know three and four chords tops and so yeah I answer that question or did I just screw around it? 

Me: I think you answered it good enough. What I appreciate is all the detail. Speaking of guitar. When did you start learning the guitar and how did you learn It? 

Pop Pop: Well, my brother was a he played. He was five years older than me, I was born in 60' in Woodstock and all that stuff came out I think about 67' 68'. He was born in 55 so he was already 13 or 14 so he was already into you know stuff like Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith and you know you know you’re right Judas Priest all this really hard stuff and that was a little before me but as far as me learning guitar, he gave me a guitar I used for a little bit when I was around 13 or 14 was electric didn’t have an amplifier and I didn’t learn to play. I don’t know what I did on it but I pretended to do something but when I went to the Air Force in 1978 I was 17 years old just got out of high school and after I got to go through my four basic training in my four different three different schools they wanted me to go to when I got to Shaw force base out there one of the guys had a guitar for sale for $100 and I still have that guitar on this day and I bought a friend gave him 100 bucks for it and I started learning. I got bought some books and I started learning you know John Denver and all the simple you know the Eagles and all that kind of stuff and nobody wanted to hear me sing or play including Trina (my grandma), but but you know I’d come home. I’d get that guitar out and I would I would play for three or four hours a day sometimes you know I would really enjoyed it so that’s really cool. 

Me: I love how we could relate on that level because I also can play for hours. Then for my final question for you, how would you define music like in your life and how you be experienced it? What role does it play in your life? 

Pop Pop: It actually has dual purpose in my life. Music was music was invented long before mankind was. Lucifer was like number two in heaven, and he was responsible he was the head, musician and music. You know the angels singing, and all that kind of stuff for me. It’s a very intimate way to spend time with God because I can I can really just get lost in my in his presence when I turn on what we now call worship music and it just music. It just draws me in and I know I’ve heard I’ve actually heard music from heaven itself. God let me hear a little hear of one time and it was like nothing. I never heard before and so I know this one of the sound I know I can hear something you can hit a note to and I could immediately recognize OK this is this is spiritual. This is you know this is something I’ve got but you know I like my secular music when it comes to cranking up my stereo systems I got a big system here at the house. I have two of them at work and I can crank it up and put on my secular music music and enjoy it and smile and just joy hearing all the different instruments and the vocals and just you know appreciating all the way the whole thing is, you wouldn’t put the word choreographed, but how it’s all composed and put together but at the same time like I say it’s it’s a a way of spending time with God, which is probably more important to me than just about anything outside of my children and family is worship, and then that aspect of it is gonna be through music. 

Me: I really really appreciate the answer and I think that’s a beautiful way to word and I really like that and it helps put me in some perspective as well so I really appreciate that.

Sugar Sugar by The Archies

Blackbird by The Beatles