Memories.....

I read this just a little bit ago on MSNBC

First concerts

And it got me to thinking back, waaaaay back! OK, let's not talk about how far back.

First concerts. At first I was going to say John Denver, because yep, I saw him a bunch of times. But then I realized there was another one, really far back! I can remember seeing Sammy Davis, Jr. at the old RKO theatre in Yonkers, NY when I was really little, like maybe 7 or 8. He had to fight his way down the aisle and out the door at the end of the show. I remember wondering why he didn't just go back out the way he came in, from behind the curtain on the stage. I don't remember much else except a whole lot of screaming people and my older brother repeating, "YES! YES!" about a thousand times.

Between then and high school I don't remember seeing anyone else. I loved music, but I was a weird kid. I liked the old guys; Sinatra, Martin, I loved the way their voices sounded. My friends thought I was weird. They were all nuts about David Cassidy and Bobby Sherman. Blech!

I remember seeing Twisted Sister a bunch of times at clubs my junior year in high school. My best friend always dragged me along with her dozens of boyfriends. This was not a fun time for me.

But then there was John. I fell deeply in love with his music. Yeah, he looked like a muppet, but the man had a voice that would soar to the rafters in any venue. He sang about places I only dreamed of. I was a kid growing up in the slums in and around NYC, amidst the filth and decay that went with all those places. I hungered for green and growing things, for clean air that didn't reek of alcohol and urine. He sang about places that I could picture deep in my soul, but never dreamed I'd ever see.

So I went to see him perform every chance I got. Madison Square Garden, a bunch of times. Later in Phoenix, a 6 1/2 hour drive to get there but damn well worth it. Later still almost every year at the Concord Amphitheater in CA. For nearly 10 years, every single year he played and I went to listen. Cheap tickets up on the hill in the grass but I didn't care. I'd lay back on a blanket and just listen. It was his voice that mattered. It's always been about the voices.

I was about 50 miles away from where his plane went down that day he died. I heard about it in the car with the kids and my XH. I remember just going numb. I remember dreaming that night, about the time I saw him play St. Andrew's Cathedral in NY. I went backstage courtesy of the friend who took me there. Got to meet him, he was noodling around with a guitar and some friends. I remember being struck dumb when my friend said, "Hey, she sings too" and pointed at me. I remember singing with him for a little bit, and feeling like I was going to burst.

When I left Arizona at age 28, I spent six weeks driving most of the Pacific Northwest. It was the only chance I'd have, so I took it. Just my dog and I, in my old car. I stopped when I got tired, slept in the car, showered at KO campgrounds and truckstops. I stayed off all the interstates and took all the little backroads. It was a peaceful, healing time in my life. I remember literally standing at the top of the Continental Divide at dawn, at the highest point somewhere in Colorado if I remember right, literally singing at the top of my lungs. hehehehe It was a trip! I filled my soul to overflowing with sights and smells of all the places I'd dreamed of as a kid. I loved every single second of it.

Music is so much a part of my soul. I learned to play piano, guitar, and flute. I sang for a while in NY, small places. I loved it. Haven't sang for anyone but my kids in decades. I used to tell friends they were my "evening set" because I did "tickle and a song" every night before they went to sleep. Tickle their backs lightly and sing for them. Good memories. "Momma, tickle and a song time, k?" You betcha, baby.

I love music, all kinds of music. From classical and jazz, classic rock to the blues, opera to celtic. The only thing I don't like is rap, and that's mostly because of the lyrics that usually accompany it. Two years ago Marcy got me tickets to go see Cathy Ryan. I'd never even heard of her, but Marcy was sure it was just the thing for me. She was right. I laughed and cried, sang along with her, it was one of the "filled up and overflowing" kind of things.

It's the voices. Always. It's the voices that draw me. Pure, beautiful, powerful, haunting voices....they get me every time. When I went to see IG, I didn't expect to enjoy their opening act. But Trina has a voice that just grabbed hold of me and didn't let go. It's not beautiful in the classical sense, but it's powerful, strong, and there is beauty in what pours from her throat.

Yeah, I'm a music addict.

So....what about your first concerts and the ones since? What kind of music draws you in?