Yesterday as I was waiting for my Mom in the Dollar Store, I moseyed on over to “Bibles for Mexico.” If you don’t recognize it, “Bibles for Mexico” is the Reformed Church answer to Salvation Army. It’s a Thrift Shop.
I was on the lookout for a new teapot (having destroyed my old one). There were two teapots, but the people who work there had priced them both at ten dollars. Sheesh. I can get a new one for twelve.
Anyway I spied the amplifier and speakers in the pic above. Twenty dollars and the 8-track doesn’t work (Do any of the old ones in Thrift Shops actually work?), but the FM Radio did. I reasoned that if the radio was working it was a reasonable possibility the Phono jack would work. I blew up my last little amplifier and haven’t had a way to listen to my turntable for quite a while.
So I bought it.
At the end of the day yesterday I decided to try it out. It needed a preamp to work properly so I spent a small amount of time poking around trying to find my Radio Shack preamp from years ago. Lo and behold I found it! And even more Lo and Behold! the damn thing works. How nice.
I listened to a bit of Bernstein’s Mass,
Joni Mitchell
and an anthology of tunes that my parents owned when I was young called “60 Years of Music America Loves Best.”
I don’t own the actual record my parents used to play. But I have purchased copies a couple of times (again in Thrift Shops).
It interested me to note the variety of music on this record from my youth. I remember aurally almost every cut. Last night I listened to the side that begins with “Ritual Fire Dance” by De Falla played by Artur Rubinstein.
The next cut is Eddy Arnold singing “I’m sending you a big bouquet of roses.” Then Mario Lanza’s strong tenor voice on “Be My Love.”
What occurs to me is how I was inundated by such a wide variety of music as a child. Hymns at church. But also interesting recordings I remember. My babysitter gave my Mom and Dad a recording of Charlie Parker thus introducing my ears to one of the geniuses of the 20th century.
I still own this particular record. It’s in rough shape but still playable.
I remember listening to Midsummernight’s Dream by Mendelssohn on a promo record distributed by a pharmaceutical company.
And I remember the first time I listened closely to a recording of Bach’s two and three part inventions. That was in W. Virginia under the tutelage of my cousin, Jerry Reveal.
I revel in my eclecticism at this point in my life. And I’m thankful that I am able to listen and appreciate such a wide variety of cool music.
Yesterday a “friend” on Facebook posted a phenomenal video of some early music. I love the sound of these instruments and this music.