Music and how it affected my Life

Reading a Facebook post this morning about Mickey Dolenz top 10 records that changed his life, it got me to thinking about the huge part music has always played in my own life. 

  I was exposed to music from birth. My parents listened to early Country and Western, in the form of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys and similar early pioneers on 78, and my father loved old blues. My brother was 16 when I was born in the early 60s, and being the oldest child, was the owner of a record player. His tastes ran to beatnik music like jazz, and 'long hair' music, which is what lovers of classical music were called during this time period, at least in small town Texas. When he enlisted and went off to the Navy during Viet Nam, his record player became the property of my oldest sister, and a new set of vinyl with a totally new sound appeared: the British Invasion. I was exposed to wild and wicked bands like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, the Troggs, the Who. 

 When that sister went off to college, the record player moved down to the next oldest sister, a 60s flower child, so there were the addition of hip and groovy sounds from the hippie and anti war counter culture, angry music from CCR, Cream and the Zombies and the psychedelic slam of the Doors and Hendrix with a sprinkling of more poppish things like the Monkees. 

In 8th grade, I met the group of people who became The Group all through high school and a bit of college. They had younger parents than mine, just a bit older than my brother, and this is where I  heard such things as Joni Mitchell, Ike and Tina Turner, James Brown and the Stone Poneys. My friends and I began to delve into 70's sounds, Led Zepplin and Pink Floyd and Rush. 

 Music is a part of my daily life. I listen to everything, and I love hearing new music. Music definitely helped shape and define who I am. Living in Austin I have heard some great music, some good music, and some not so good music, but it was all played with passion and heart, and these things are what makes music such an important part of my life.