Boomers : The Music of Your Parents

I was very fortunate. In the early '60s my parents purchased a Fisher Stereo receiver with a Garrard changer and Fisher XP4a loudspeakers. THE hi-fi test of the day was Enoch Light on Command. Had Stereo 35MM and a Magnavox compilation. I still have these, and to this day they are amazing recordings. Also had a lot of Herb Alpert, Peter, Paul & Mary, Simon and Garfunkel, Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66, Copland, Hall Brothers Jazz Band and Chet Atkins. I have many of these titles today and they all still sound wonderful. I sometimes wish I had that old tube Fisher receiver though. When I can afford it, will go back to tubes.

 

Wow, is that beautiful. It's a shame that a name as prestigious as the Avery Fisher Company faded into oblivion. Just one problem, I need at least 100 watts per channel to drive my Infinity Renassaince 80's. I may just get a tube pre amp and keep my Adcom power amp.

 

That interesting. My Dad had a Fisher Stereo Tube Amp and Scott Tube
preamp with one of those Egg Shaped listening chairs that were at the
New York Worlds Fair. The sound was all around.

When the Beatles invaded America it seemed as though the whole world
changed.

I was born in 1954 and distinctly remember listening to Nat King Cole and
Frank Sinatra up until the very early 60's.

The next thing I knew The Rolling Stones then Jimmy Hendrix, Led Zeplin etc. were the rage.

The way the world is today it's kinda nice to sit back and enjoy Nat ,Frank
and Peggy Lee again. It sets you back to a much more peaceful time and place.

Best Regards,

Gary S. Freed

 

As one who grew up on jazz, soul and rock music of the 60s and 70s, it's quite interesting to read of how others became indoctrinated to music.

 

Growing up outside of Philly our parents would take us to New York to see Broadway shows and to the Academy of Music to hear the Philadelphia Orchestra children's series.

The music of our children is a twist to this thread.

It wasn't until my 12 year old son started taking Sax lessons 2 years
ago that I became a real Jazz Fan. Now I can't get enough of the Jazz
from the 50's and early Sixties.

Best regards,


Gary S. Freed

 

Two acts I thought I'd never listen to are:

The Hollyridge Strings and Ray Conniff, but I actually bought them. Although RC can be placed in the musak corner, what he did with it was much more creative than Mantovani or Mitch Miller ever did with the style and in some ways its unique and not typical of that genre. The same can be said of Stu Phillips and the Hollyridge Strings. Varese Sarabande has re-issued their Beatles stuff.
Also, there is no denying that some of the best Xmas music came out was from Ray Conniff.

 

Along with Conniff, I also love Mitch Miller's Christmas Album! From my Mom.

 

Tamman - I remember listening to Light when I was a kid. My father had copied one of Enoch's LP's onto our Webcor open-reel deck (not a bad machine for its day). I heard the music at home as well as in hi-fi stores, where it was frequently used as background music.

About two years ago, I saw two Enoch Light CD's at a retail store in Harvard Square, and picked "Persuasuve Percussion." Wish I had gotten both, as I enjoyed hearing the stuff again - ping-pong stereo and all. Nice transfer to CD. I don't think either of those two albums that were around then are available now, though some others are.

 

Steve, do you remember where you were when you first heard a Beatles record?

 

Steve,

You and your lunch buddies are perhaps the first kids in America to learn about the Beatles in school!

 

I was able to get sealed vinyl copies of Persuasive Percussion and Far Away Places vol 1 and 2 as well Stereo 35MM vol 2. This stuff was extremely well recorded for its day as far as dynamic range, and sonics. Unfortunately, the ping-pong stereo is distracting, but remember, these were the early days of stereo.

 

I remember hearing the Beatle's I wana hold your Hand on the Radio. My Mom's sister who was 16 years old would take care of me and my sister. I remember her taking us out in her corvair convertible and this song came
on and my Aunt went wild. I'll never forget that. She started singin away
and bouncing up and down in the drivers seat.
It wasn't much later that the famous ED Sulivan Beatle's spot hit the
airwaves and I vivdly recall seeing the hesteria from the teeny boppers at the Ed Sulivan studio. Then the Shea Stadium concert with the young girls
screaming and passing out from excitement.

Audiences don't react like that anymore I don't think?

Best Regards,

Gary S. Freed

 

Neat story. I hope you saved your picture sleeve of I Want To Hold Your Hand.

 

Quite a night - Feb 9,1964. Over 74 million people tuned in to Ed's show, the largest audience for any TV event up to that time.