I learned much from my father, and I would Dad give credit for having such a passion for music and such a large collection of music. Rifling through his huge collection of vinyl as a kid showed me the great variety which exists out there. Dad had his favorites, and early on, I remember Dad putting a stack of Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel records on his Gerrard turntable and listening to music as he got a party ready. Dad grew up with Art and Paul and I spent a lot of time enjoying and appreciating their whole canon of work.
As I grew older, I began to share the music with Dad. Some of it was not for him, but when he asked me for a copy of it, I knew it resonated. Dad was always a good sport about listening to the stuff he didn't love - he even took my brother to see Def Leppard when my brother was 12.
I lost my father a year ago today, and the world has not been quite the same since. Trying to find my own balance and path without him has been quite interesting, to say the least. But seeing a Porsche and hearing certain songs will continue to draw me back to him.
If my father had an ipod - this is what I would envision his playlist to have been like. Enjoy the songs, thanks for listening, and I miss you too Dad.
Quarter To Three - Gary U.S. Bonds. I didn't even know that Dad listened to Gary U.S. Bonds until after his funeral. His childhood friends came up to me and we were all talking music and Dad. Although, I mentioned Simon & Garfunkel, they said that what Dad would put on while he lived in Binghamton was this song. He's play it loud, he'd play it over and over again and they'll all dance to it. I downloaded it that night and I'm glad I did. It's a great slice of early rock / soul, and I learned a bit more about a man I thought I knew everything about. This one is for you, The Boys from Binghamton.
Kodachrome
Still Crazy After All These Years
One Man's Ceiling Is Another Man's Floor
50 Ways To Leave Your Lover
- Paul Simon
Breakaway
Scissors Cut
99 Miles To L.A.
(What A Wonderful) World
- Art Garfunkel
My Little Town
- Simon & Garfunkel
The opening low notes on the piano from Kodachrome evoke those memories of my Dad going around the house getting ready for his friends to come over. Classic '70s Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel is like comfort food for my musical soul. The stack of these LPs on the turntable and the songs from Still Crazy After All These Years, There Goes Rhyimin' Simon, Breakaway, Watermark and Scissors Cut were the soundtrack to any given Saturday in my home growing up. I loved the autographed albums from Art to my Dad. Art's album covers always had this goofy sense of humor as well - blackened teeth in his smile on the back cover of Fate For Breakfast or a bandaid on his neck in Scissors Cut. My Little Town is of course my favorite of the group, its Simon AND Garfunkel together again for one last song, and in what I always thought was a cool move, was having the song appear on both of their solo LPs in the '70s. It's funny that he liked his Simon separate from his Garfunkel. Sure, we had their duo albums from '60s, but it was their solo work that stands out as being my Dad's favorite. All worth downloading tonight and giving it a re-listen if you don't already know these songs.
Hotel California
Desperado
- The Eagles
I never loved The Eagles. Too California, too laid back; but after a visit to my house once, Dad wanted some new music and had heard the Eagles on the radio, so I gave him my Eagles CDs. He would always tell me just how much he really likes Hotel California and Desperado and quite often those CDs were the ones in his changer when I'd come to visit.
Girl from Ipanema - Astrid Gilberto
Sem Contencao - Bebel Gilberto
Somewhere along the way in these last 10 years, Dad heard me listening to classic Brazilian Bossa Nova at home or in the car. He asked me to make a copy for him. To his own amazement, he loved it all. It became his new background music - and he'd tell me how funny it was that the cleaning woman liked the music as well. After hearing how much he liked Astrid, I decided it was time to update his Brazilian to this century and copied Tanto Tempo by Bebel Gilberto for him. Tanto Tempo is undeniably one of my all time favorite albums. It is a lush landscape of brazilian beats off set by a great modern chill out beat and is likely the song you hear in the background of most neuvo latino restaurants. It's not to be missed.
My Favorite Things - John Coltrane
Pretty quickly in the early stages of dating my wife, one "our" songs became John Coltrane's My Favorite Things. If you don't know it, its essential for your jazz collection. My father had always been into jazz, but listened to it far less than the aforementioned music in my presence. When he and Mom sold the house and downsized to a larger home in one of those communities where they don't let the seniors escape, I found his copy of My Favorite Things and quickly hung the album as artwork in my office. And then made him a copy of the more current CD so he can continue to listen to it.
Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans - Wynton Marsalis
There is lots of jazz which my father enjoyed and passed along to me: Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, and Tommy Dorsey to name a few. But years ago, when I lived in NYC, Dad and I took in a show at the Village Vanguard and sat up front and saw Wynton perform. I'd never seen jazz live with my Dad before, but we had such a great time that night, and I learned to appreciate jazz, Wynton, and my father on an entirely different level.
Shepard Moons - Enya
Finally, there is Enya's debut album, which my Dad found to be so serene and peaceful. I'm not sure where he first heard it and who heard it first. I think he liked the worldly quality of it, the lushness of the arrangements and most of all, its peacefulness. I didn't realize that the day Dad died, would in fact be that day. We had numerous close calls in the months leading up to his end due to cancer. If I really knew that moment was going to be it (and no one ever really does), I would have brought this for him to listen to. When I first got my ipod, he was back in the hospital and I let him experience it. He was amazed at home much music could fit on such a small device (and he was a techie engineer no less). As he fell asleep, smiling, listening to it that day, I couldn't help but think in his final moments that he would have enjoyed the musical accompaniment. However, I am pretty sure he was most comforted by having the voices of his loved ones all around him, and that's what matters most anyway.
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