MUSIC OF PAST & PRESENT REVIEWED....
By Olivene Godfrey
True folk music is music that has grown up among the people as an important part of their daily lives. Much of it is very old and was never written or printed until recent years. The folk music of a locality remains about the same even though its boundaries or nationality may change.
As a child growing up in Tennessee, I remember my mother singing, " She'll be coming around the mountain..." And my whole family would often sing that song as we drove along the Tennessee mountain roads. Another favorite of the family was, "Billy Boy" which I sang to my son when he was a little boy.
Perhaps the true form of folk music for this area is country or western music. When I was a teen-ager this form of music was called, "hillbilly" and for me it was very definitely
"Out!" As a child I was exposed to many forms of music. I studied piano and accordion for about ten years. But, as a teenager my favorite music was "popular music." In those days of World War II, pop music had sentimental words and sweet sounding melodies as well as the dance music of the Big Band era.
On a recent trip to nearby Dalton, son Barry who is intrigued by gadgets brought along one of his favorite gadgets, a small digital jukebox which holds allot of music in its small case.
He played a selection of songs through the car radio speakers on our trip which evoked sweet memories for me. The recordings were of the Big Bands of my youth. As I listened to "In the Mood", I recalled the day a friend taught me how to do the jitterbug dance of that day. And, "Chattanooga Choo Choo" reminded me of when my cute little twin sisters would sing that number at school functions. They don't like to be reminded of those acts now. Then, some of the other songs reminded me of the day of when my late husband and I were courting and would attend live performances of big bands at the Memorial Auditorium in Chattanooga.
Back in the 1970s, I became a fan of country music which at that time had tunes that were sentimentally nostalgic and in a sense reflected life. People are all basically the same. We all have moments when we laugh and we have moments when we ache and moments of joy. The music played on most contemporary country radio stations has changed and not for the better in my opinion. I still like the "old country” songs. I told Barry recently when I watched a T.V. program featuring the Texas swing band, Asleep at the Wheel, which I do like that if a band doesn't have a steel guitar (this band has two!), I don't like it.
See you next week.
By Olivene Godfrey
True folk music is music that has grown up among the people as an important part of their daily lives. Much of it is very old and was never written or printed until recent years. The folk music of a locality remains about the same even though its boundaries or nationality may change.
As a child growing up in Tennessee, I remember my mother singing, " She'll be coming around the mountain..." And my whole family would often sing that song as we drove along the Tennessee mountain roads. Another favorite of the family was, "Billy Boy" which I sang to my son when he was a little boy.
Perhaps the true form of folk music for this area is country or western music. When I was a teen-ager this form of music was called, "hillbilly" and for me it was very definitely
"Out!" As a child I was exposed to many forms of music. I studied piano and accordion for about ten years. But, as a teenager my favorite music was "popular music." In those days of World War II, pop music had sentimental words and sweet sounding melodies as well as the dance music of the Big Band era.
On a recent trip to nearby Dalton, son Barry who is intrigued by gadgets brought along one of his favorite gadgets, a small digital jukebox which holds allot of music in its small case.
He played a selection of songs through the car radio speakers on our trip which evoked sweet memories for me. The recordings were of the Big Bands of my youth. As I listened to "In the Mood", I recalled the day a friend taught me how to do the jitterbug dance of that day. And, "Chattanooga Choo Choo" reminded me of when my cute little twin sisters would sing that number at school functions. They don't like to be reminded of those acts now. Then, some of the other songs reminded me of the day of when my late husband and I were courting and would attend live performances of big bands at the Memorial Auditorium in Chattanooga.
Back in the 1970s, I became a fan of country music which at that time had tunes that were sentimentally nostalgic and in a sense reflected life. People are all basically the same. We all have moments when we laugh and we have moments when we ache and moments of joy. The music played on most contemporary country radio stations has changed and not for the better in my opinion. I still like the "old country” songs. I told Barry recently when I watched a T.V. program featuring the Texas swing band, Asleep at the Wheel, which I do like that if a band doesn't have a steel guitar (this band has two!), I don't like it.
See you next week.
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