Return of Memoryfest - Day 4/31

[bironic]

4. Kindergarten/Elementary School

In the living room of our old house, there was about a foot or a foot and a half of space between the side of the oatmeal-upholstered couch and the wall beneath the bay windows. In the corner sat the left half of a pair of old stereo speakers, tall and narrow, with wood veneer, a beige mesh front and a black brand label attached to the bottom corner. When I was little and my mom played a record, I would sometimes wedge myself in between the couch and the wall with my face right in front of the speaker, listening, sometimes scratching my nails lightly down the mesh. I'm pretty sure she told me not to do it, but I did anyway. I remember lying there on the carpet one sunny afternoon, happy and peaceful, while Simon & Garfunkel's Greatest Hits played, humming to the familiar melodies of "Mrs. Robinson" and "I am a Rock" and "Scarborough Fair."


ETA: Stealing mer_duff's idea: You can listen to a live version of "Scarborough Fair" on YouTube (only slightly off-key) for atmosphere.

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[silsbee329.livejournal.com]

I remember that my mom had a huge collection of 45 records, and one of those record players that you could stack them on, and it would drop them one at a time and play them. She played them a lot, especially on weekends. We always had lots of music at our house. :)

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Ooh, nifty. Ours just handled one at a time. My parents had a pretty decent-sized collection. Most of them weren't my taste -- Broadway show tunes and schmaltzy singers from before my mom's time that she inherited from her mother -- but there were a few gems in there, Simon & Garfunkel and Gordon Lightfoot (who I used to make fun of but have since come to love) and the "Yellow Polka-dot Bikini" single and another one about martians that escapes me at the moment, and even a few they bought for my sister and me, one of which was Sesame Street songs.

We had lots of music too. Though my dad is tone deaf and can't carry a rhythm, he loves his show tunes and oldies, and my mom played (and still plays) guitar and sings, so she was always playing folk music herself or on the record player.

[silsbee329.livejournal.com]

Cool- a mom who plays guitar! That must have been very nice.

My mother's collection consisted mostly Motown and popular R&B of the time. She wasn't closed-minded about music, though. She'd buy a country record, or rock, or whatever, if she liked the way something sounded.

Gordon Lightfoot! I used to think he was corny and awful, but he does grow on you over time, doesn't he? (I like that Edmund Fitzgerald song...)

[bironic.livejournal.com]

He really does; I'm a little sad I made fun of him and my mom so much before. "Edmund Fitzgerald" became my favorite after I heard him sing it at a concert when I was in high school. I also really like "Don't Bring Me Down." The one I associate most with my mom is "Pussy Willows, Cat-tails."

mostly Motown and popular R&B of the time

Two genres I know almost nothing about, sadly. It's cool that she had such eclectic taste. Did it wear off on you?

Cool- a mom who plays guitar! That must have been very nice.

Yep, she does, and it was. She's in a blues/folk/rock band now. I haven't heard her play solo acoustic in ages.

[silsbee329.livejournal.com]

It's cool that she had such eclectic taste. Did it wear off on you?

Absolutely. If something sounds pleasant to me, I don't care who made it or what it's categorized as. I own things ranging from AC/DC to Otis Redding to the Clancy Brothers. It's all good. :)

What a cool mom you have!