Some first final words on Michael Jackson...

"Unquestionably, his music was legendary. That's what will last." Aretha Franklin

I was not a late adopter to Elvis Presley. I was just 6 years old when I first heard his music and I knew on instinct - in the words of Bob Dylan - that I'd heard the sounds of a jail break "and I didn't even know that I had been locked up." When my father, in December of 1956, wanted to take me to see a Disney film, I agreed on one condition: that we would first stop at the record store around the corner from the movie theater. That's how I acquired my first 4-song Elvis Extended-Play 45.

The next September I was asked by relatives what I wanted for my birthday, and my answer to all was the same: "I only want Elvis records."

I was not a late adopter to The Beatles. I spent so much time at the three record outlets downtown that I was given hundreds of the "The Beatles are coming!" orange and white Capitol records sponsored stickers to hand out at my junior high school. Mission accomplished.

I will admit to being a late adopter to Michael Jackson (MJ) when it comes to buying his music. No one has to explain the fact that MJ's music was everywhere in the '80s, from nightclubs to dance clubs to city streets to your very own car radio. We thought, foolishly, that he'd always be around - wasn't he always young? - so we would add his music to our personal library at some point down the road. Then, just a matter of days ago, time ran out.

I remember now the first thought that went through my brain, on a night of business travel in L.A. many years ago, when I heard of John Lennon's death: "We'll never be young again." Childhood's end. (The end of the innocence.)

With MJ's death we again got older, a bit more quickly. But I need to say something here about his talent as a singer. Listening recently to some of his best and most famous songs - fast ones and slow ones - it finally ocurred to me that he had the same perfect timing as his friend and mentor Diana Ross. Take any MJ song and tell me where you would change his vocal... It's not possible. There's not a single instance where he should have come in a half-second earlier or a half-beat later.

Such is genius. Such is having The Gift. Such is being blessed with once-in-our-lifetimes talent.

MJ started something... the way he made us feel happy to be alive... he rocked our world and helped us to come together... it didn't matter whether we were black or white. His talent shone a light on us and our needless fears. He became the man on stage, in a small and somber world, who performed joyfully under the brightest of lights. We didn't have the need or the right to ask for anything more...

It was enough.

Waiting on Elvis, 1956

Waiting on Elvis, 1956
by Joyce Carol Oates

This place up in Charlotte called Chuck's where I
used to waitress and who came in one night
but Elvis and some of his friends before his concert
at the Arena, I was twenty-six married but still
waiting tables and we got to joking around like you
do, and he was still fingering the lace edge of my slip
where it showed below my hemline and I hadn't even
seen it and I slapped at him a little saying, You
sure are the one aren't you feeling my face burn but
he was the kind of boy even meanness turned sweet in
his mouth.

Smiled at me and said, Yeah honey I guess I sure am.

Photo: flickr (colorized by Marques.Murilo)

The Question of Favorite Music... (Part II)

The second test or rule involves emotion. When you hear a favorite piece of music you tend to feel a basic emotion such as happiness, sadness, sorrow, joy or anger. This may manifest itself in wanting to get up and dance, or simply smiling or laughing. The key is that no thought is required... Music is not an intellectual exercise. You either connect with a piece of music or you don't.

Recently I was driving into work, late, on a highly stress-filled morning, and turned on an oldies station by habit. I drove on automatic pilot and wasn't really hearing the songs being played until... I heard the hand claps and bright guitar notes opening I'm Into Something Good by Herman's Hermits. Suddenly, I was smiling and happy, feeling the youthful optimism of so many years ago. Why this happiness and sense of contentment is tied to this particular song is a mystery to me, but it is.

The Power of One

When Elvis' second greatest hits album was released in the late 1950's it bore the subtitle/headline: 500,000 fans can't be wrong! Conversely, a half-million critics can be wrong. It's true... If today's most respected critics write that the Jonas Brothers are producing the best music on the planet and you do not agree, then you are right. And if the critics label someone as a musical genius, and you do not see it, then you can - in the words of Dave Mason - say that we just disagree.

One of my late uncles bought a minimal amount of music during his lifetime. But he went out and paid good money for every one of Ray Charles' singles and albums the moment they were released. Did I, then, grow up loving the music of Ray Charles? Honestly, no. I can respect it but I never quite "got" what one was supposed to get from it.

The same holds true, for me, with the music of The Righteous Brothers. I don't dislike it, but when I hear a song like You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling I kind of tolerate my way through it... and I have no desire to hear it again.

Emotions...

When I hear one of my very favorite albums - like Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys, Beatles VI, Straight Up by Badfinger, Blood On The Tracks by Bob Dylan, or The Rising by Bruce Springsteen (the Boss) - I tend to go through the entire range... I'll smile, laugh, feel like celebrating or dancing, and I'll feel like crying. That's because, for me, these collections represent the reality of life, from good to bad, bad to good.

Anger...

One thing that has surprised me is that I'll find that some music that I actively disliked or disdained as a younger person is now music that I understand and/or appreciate. That which may have seemed threatening earlier - like teen angst or alienation - is now understood. (The years supply context.)

Of course, the point is that the anger or dislike means that the music had an impact on me even back then, back in the day.

It's the music that you ignored back then - to which you felt no emotional connection - that will be ignored today and into the future.

(To be continued... part of a series.)

Photo: flickr