Posted by Max H. Schwartz
on 10/23/2009, 8:32 am, in reply to "Re: Weekend Videos: Note"
Another great job, Jim.
Anything from #16 grabs my attention.
It was, for a very long time, my favorite Trio album.
Not because of the songs, but because of the time when it was released.
I got it some time before the end of my freshman year of college, and played it constantly through the summer before classes started the next year.
I’ve always thought that it was the greatest summer of my life. I was a young guy, who had a car, who was out with my friends, dating girls, and I was having a great time. It was the real beginning of my adult youth. For me, this album was the soundtrack of that summer. For me, it could very easily be called the last album of innocence.
When I went back to school in the fall, it wasn’t long before Kennedy was killed. Life for my generation was never the same again. For me, hearing this album, or any song from it was always a reminder of that last summer before everything changed.
It still is, but not like it once was. I believe that we all cling to our youth for a time. Then, when you’ve been to 3 funerals in a month several times over the last few years, life takes on an entirely different meaning. The past, or the future don’t have as much meaning as they once did. Not for me, anyway. What counts now, is now…………. when I think about it.
There’s something in the human brain that causes us to not think about the inevitable unless we’ve found a reason to do so. When something happens to remind us of this, we’re given an immediate choice. We can dwell on it, or let it pass, and go on about our business as if it didn’t exist. I’m sure that this is what most of us do; otherwise, we’d be in a constant state of depression. Having to do this, I believe, has had to change us all, in some way. Hearing a song from #16 doesn’t do for me what it once did.
I don’t care that much about the music anymore. Probably very little. What I do care about are two things. One is that there hasn’t been any music to speak of to take its place. (I’m talking about that whole body of music that was popular when we were young) Maybe it’s just me. After 1967, I never found anything that did for me what the Trio once did. But, there was some music that was good afterward. It wasn’t like it is now. With something new and good being an absolute rarity. Again, this is just probably me. I just wish it wasn’t this way. We were flipping channels last night and South Pacific was on. I hadn’t seen that movie in ages, or heard any of the music from it in a long time. I first heard the Broadway version. So, when I hear those songs in the movie, I hear Mary Martin’s voice instead of the one in the movie. Sure, I’m crazy. Seeing this movie again was like finding a long lost friend.
What I also care about are the Trio members, their families, and all of us. The songs were great, but this family we have because of the Trio is better—for now.
So, where does your work fit into the scheme of things now? I like the creativity of it. Every Friday, we get to see old stuff in a new light. Thanks again for doing this for us.
Max
--Previous Message--
: ...I forgot to mention how much I like John Stewart's 12-string playing here (Gibson?
: Martello? Triofan?) and Bob Shane's lead vocal - that guy can sing ANYthing....
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