Life changing moments

There are all sorts of life-changing moments in our lives. Marriages, births, deaths...those are the really big ones. I don't want to talk about the big ones today, just a few that have happened to me, small, but what a difference they made in my life.

I remember 1964. February. The Ed Sullivan Show. The Beatles. I remember sitting on the floor in my living room, in front of the TV and screaming my head off. I was 11 years old and that moment changed my life. That moment brought music into my life in a whole different way. Previously, I had participated in my elementary schools' choir and the plays and anything I could to be able to sing, but hearing and watching The Beatles made me realize what music could do to one's life. How it can be the soundtrack to your experiences.

I didn't articulate that at age eleven, it took many, many years for me to put that feeling into words, but that night in 1964 certainly changed my life for the better. I ran out and bought my first album, Meet The Beatles, and listened to it over and over and over for hours upon end, alone in my room, just me, John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Each subsequent album brought more of the same. The many listenings, the quiet moments spent in the privacy of my room, hearing The Beatles put into words thoughts that I couldn't. As The Beatles' musicality progressed, so did mine. I listened to more challenging songs and chord progressions and deeper thoughts shared through song. It influenced me enough that I choose to major in music while in college.

The Beatles stayed with me all through high school and when I got to college, I discovered many other bands that affected my life. Pink Floyd, through headphones while stoned....Careful with That Axe, Eugene. Oh. My. God! Now THAT was an experience. Frank Zappa with his zircon-encrusted tweezers riding his pigmy -pony while DynaMo-humming. Good times, good times.


Through-out my 20's, music was an everyday experience because several of my friends played in bar bands and we spent almost every evening going out to hear them play and partying afterwards. Coming home drunk at 4:00 am and going to work the next day by 8:00 am is something only a twenty-something can do. Once you get a little older, you appreciate the value of more than 3 hours sleep.

My next obsession was Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. Maybe it was my music education, but I loved the classical rock that they did. Saw them in concert many times and even today, I still listen to their music, especially masterpieces such as Pictures at an Exhibition, or Brain Salad Surgery, or Trilogy. Greg Lake's songs touched a piece of my soul, especially Epitaph, recorded when he was with King Crimson on The Court of the Crimson King album, still, today, one of the best albums ever recorded.

Once I hit my 30's, my career took over and music was regulated to the car, or as background to housework, gardening or working at home. Until 2003. January. American Idol auditions. This skinny kid walked out, all arms and elbows in a geeky outfit and glasses. I actually thought he was a ringer for Simon to rip him a new one, but when Clay Aiken opened his mouth and sang Always and Forever, my mouth dropped open and I immediately called my friend Linda, and we both said, "Did you hear that kid's voice???" That was it. That's all it took. I was his, hook, line, and sinker. Every week. Every Tuesday at 8:00 pm I was watching that show just to hear Clay Aiken sing.

Fast-forward three and a half years later.

I'm still here, still listening to that marvelous voice, still enthralled when he opens his mouth and out comes beauty. That night in January, 2003, was a life-changing moment for me. Next blog I'll tell you why.

If you want to read more about music and influences, go to:
The ConClayve

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