BABY BOOMER BABBLE

Magical musical tour

Now for my top 30 songs. I ain’t much of a country fan. I consider most of it crying. I can’t understand most rap songs, which is probably good. The blues make me blue and jazz makes me crazy. So I stick pretty much to rock and roll and folk music. That sums up the musical taste of one old hippie baby boomer.

Music is the soul of a generation. Each has its own. The post war period had swing and the big band sound. The 60’s and 70’s had rock. The 80’s and 90’s had nothing, and now, rap and hip hop. The music sets the pace and the trend for what is happening in society at the time. During the 60’s and 70’s, rock and folk music captured the spirit and rebellion of the time. After all, the motto was: Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll. The music, as much as anything, tells the tale.

My favorite all-time song is from the Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album, “A Day in the Life. “ The song was actually a combination of two separate songs, one written by John Lennon, the other by Paul McCartney. The lyrics, “I’d love to turn you on,” became quite controversial. The mainline music industry thought it was an attempt to get young people to use drugs. The BBC banned the song. The Beatles, or their fans, could care less. We were already high.

Here are the rest of my top 30, in no particular order: Blowin’ In The Wind, by Bob Dylan; Crazy, by Willie Nelson and Patsy Cline; Fire and Rain, by James Taylor; Great Balls of Fire, by Jerry Lee Lewis; Hello Dolly, by Louis Armstrong; Hoochie Coochie Man, by Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters, Mr. Tambourine Man, by The Byrds; Night and Day, by Cole Porter; Light My Fire, by The Doors; Once in a Lifetime, by The Talking Heads; Piece of My Heart, by Janis Joplin; Pretty Woman, by Roy Orbison; Purple Haze, by Jimi Hendrix; Tapestry, by Carole King; Angel From Montgomery, by John Prine and Bonnie Raitt; Fat Man in the Bathtub, by Little Feat; Bridge Over Troubled Water, by Simon and Garfunkel; Legend (album), by Bob Marley; Moon Dance, by Van Morrison; Hotel California, by The Eagles; Chicken Train, by The Ozark Mt. Daredevils; Stairway to Heaven, by Led Zeppelin; Paradise by the Dashboard Light, by Meatloaf; Like a Rolling Stone, by Bob Dylan; What’s Going On, by Marvin Gaye; I Can ‘t Get No Satisfaction, by The Rolling Stones; Fire on the Mountain, by The Marshall Tucker Band; and Hillbilly Stomp, by Kid Rock.

A couple of oldies, a few folk songs, one album, cause I couldn’t pick a favorite, and a beauty from Kid Rock, in honor of my new home state, Arkansas. I could easily list another 30, but I think you get the picture. If music tells a tale about you, it’s pretty clear I’m a rock and roll boomer through and through. I still like my music loud and fast.

You other boomers out there, send me some of your own favorites. I’ll list them in a column on down the road. We’ll call it The Boomer Music Festival.