MUSIC ESSAY AND ELVIS, TOO....
By Olivene Godfrey
Music is truly a universal language. The marvelous thing about music is that it belongs to everyone regardless of race, age, rich or poor. All surface differences vanish before the fact that we are people enjoying music. A beautiful piece of music speaks to us and we respond--often aching from the beauty of the sound.
During the 1970s, my late husband, Ralph, and I and our son who was a youngster attended a wide variety of live performances of some of our favorite musical stars from guitarist, Chet Atkins, to Sonny and Cher. We also saw a young Larry Gatlin perform at Gatlinburg, TN before he hit it big. and earlier, before our son was born, Ralph and I saw the young Every Brothers perform as the opening act of a Bob Hope show at Tampa, FL before they became musical legends.
But the ultimate in excitement of a performance of an artist was a live Elvis concert we saw in Atlanta in the 1970s. Elvis was vibrant and in good form and the air was truly filled with an electricity that I had never experienced at a show or ever expect to again. We have never forgotten that night that we knew we were in the presence of a legend who was King of Rock and Roll.
According to experts who publish popular music, teen-age music in particular is said to mirror the moods of youth. The music of our youth becomes intensely personal and meaningful to us. Perhaps it is because at that time of our lives we simply don't know how to say what we want to say. And so we let our singing idols do it for us.
And years later we cannot hear the name of a favorite singer or the words of an old song without evoking instant recall of our most cherished memories of yesterday. Some songs cry out about our suffering, our hurts, and aches, and our bewilderment. Others tell of our unfulfilled hopes, dreams, love, or our search for the meaning of life itself.
Music can be magical- comforting us, exciting us, or lulling us. For most people music is a significant mood provoker.
I am grateful that I grew up in an atmosphere of music. What greater legacy can we give our children than training in music appreciation?
By Olivene Godfrey
Music is truly a universal language. The marvelous thing about music is that it belongs to everyone regardless of race, age, rich or poor. All surface differences vanish before the fact that we are people enjoying music. A beautiful piece of music speaks to us and we respond--often aching from the beauty of the sound.
During the 1970s, my late husband, Ralph, and I and our son who was a youngster attended a wide variety of live performances of some of our favorite musical stars from guitarist, Chet Atkins, to Sonny and Cher. We also saw a young Larry Gatlin perform at Gatlinburg, TN before he hit it big. and earlier, before our son was born, Ralph and I saw the young Every Brothers perform as the opening act of a Bob Hope show at Tampa, FL before they became musical legends.
But the ultimate in excitement of a performance of an artist was a live Elvis concert we saw in Atlanta in the 1970s. Elvis was vibrant and in good form and the air was truly filled with an electricity that I had never experienced at a show or ever expect to again. We have never forgotten that night that we knew we were in the presence of a legend who was King of Rock and Roll.
According to experts who publish popular music, teen-age music in particular is said to mirror the moods of youth. The music of our youth becomes intensely personal and meaningful to us. Perhaps it is because at that time of our lives we simply don't know how to say what we want to say. And so we let our singing idols do it for us.
And years later we cannot hear the name of a favorite singer or the words of an old song without evoking instant recall of our most cherished memories of yesterday. Some songs cry out about our suffering, our hurts, and aches, and our bewilderment. Others tell of our unfulfilled hopes, dreams, love, or our search for the meaning of life itself.
Music can be magical- comforting us, exciting us, or lulling us. For most people music is a significant mood provoker.
I am grateful that I grew up in an atmosphere of music. What greater legacy can we give our children than training in music appreciation?
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