Robin - I wound up at the at roughly the same point as you but from a completely different direction.
I grew up in the 60's listening to country, hillbilly, folk, and bluegrass. Dad played upright bass in a country/bluegrass/ folk band when I was a kid in 60's - Johnny Cash, Charlie Pride, Ferlin Husky, Faron Young, Dillards, Flatt and Scruggs, Kingston Trio... Also listened to a little pop (Dad had a few of these records) -- Petula Clark, Herb Alpert, Bobby Gentry, 3 Dog Night. Alt country and some bluegrass in high school in the 70's - Willie, Waylon, Moe and Joe, even some ZZ Top - when everyone else was into Peter Frampton, Kiss, and disco. Started playing mandolin in 78 and immediately found Monroe stuff. I know I was aware of Monroe before but I think I thought of him as one of those old guys on the Opry I wasn't sure was even alive anymore. Got to see him live a number of times in the late 70's and 80's. Have been hooked on Monroe ever since. Found Mike's stuff in the 90's although I probably heard him much earlier with Hubert Davis in the late 70's. We did some college road trips from Memphis to Nashville and used to hit a place called The Wind in the Willows (I think that's what it was called) where Hubert played "every Monday, Tuesday....." Liked the Clash (Ramones and Sex Pistols were a little to hard core for me) and what we called beach music in college - I was in a fraternity in the late 70's / early 80's and our juke box was almost exclusively 60's music (Bobby Darin, Beach Boys, Beatles, etc...) Anyway, I've been hooked on bluegrass since the late 70's and have been listening almost exclusively to bluegrass for 25 years. You can't beat the grittiness of Mike, Monroe, NBB, Hartford, Del. Love Peter Rowan's singing and his new band is really good. I like a lot of JD Crowe's stuff - especially with Tony Rice. Compton, Monroe, Rice, Stuart Duncan, JD, Del, Ronnie Stewart - those guys all hit the sweet spot instrumentally for me. Vocally - same group with Peter Rowan thrown in there for good measure. John Gay Memphis -----Original Message----- From: Robin Gravina <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Tue, Oct 19, 2010 3:38 pm Subject: Taste Where does it come from? When I was a child I was exposed only to classical music: Wagner mainly due to family connections, but plenty of Mozart and other things, and I listened and thought I appreciated, until one day under the covers I heard the Sex Pistols, the Damned and the Ramones on a radio I had built myself (John Peel of course): 1976 and me with 13 tender years. I just loved the early Punk groups but then I discovered country blues with John Hurt, Skip James and early Chicago: Little Walter and so on at 17- all through a guitar player who worked through the Stephan Grossman books between fixes. I had a massive hardcore reggae phase - U-Roy and the Dub masters in general - King Tubby and Scientist. I was an obsessive Velvet Underground fan for a while, loved Black Flag and Skate Punk, Nick Cave and the Fall, worshipped amateur ramshackle groups like the Raincoats, the Slits and the Cravats. But I just can't stop listening to Monroe at his wildest, Hartford, and old Fiddle players - I have to admit that I don't really like many mandolin players, despite my decision to practically abandon the guitar to learn how to play the thing, but there's something about the real old time music that just grabs me. I could listen to Monroe exclusively for days and days. If I learnt the piano, I wouldn't try to play like Art Tatum, Errol Garner, or Bill Evans, much as I like them, but would go for boogie woogie or barrelhouse. What is it about few chords, wild energy and free expression of bad emotions that does it for me? Ali Farka touré does the same thing, but so do Flipper and Big Daddy Kane. In the end, I wonder if chords and harmony are just a distraction. Melody, rhythm and texture are what I love. Ok, that's off my chest! Needed to say that. I love music. Best Robin -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en.
