After the program, I explain all of this to my son. Of course, he didn't care one bit. Now I have but one goal... to get him as excited about this development as I am. On the way home, I pull out my iPod and plug it into the car stereo. I choose a few of the most accessible songs across the legend's discography and hope they stick.
Minutemen - This Ain't No Picnic (1984)
fIREHOSE - Honey, Please (1987)
Mike Watt - Arrow-Pierced-Egg-Man (2011)
As you can guess, it didn't work, and why would it? I certainly wasn't into the music of my father at that age. Even if I had liked Johnny Cash and George Jones, I doubt I would have let him know that. The good news is I did eventually come around to the music of my father without the least bit of pushing. In other words, there's still hope my son will someday come to the realization that his old man has the best musical taste in the world. Otherwise, who is going to get all of these records one day? Don't answer that. Vultures. Ha!
In case you're interested in what Watt has been up to, this album has been described as "post-genre-improv-jazz-rock." In other words, it's indescribable. Speaking of legends, that's Jim Keltner on the drums. He was not part of the tour, however. My son dodged a bullet there. Pulling up Keltner would have been a long drive home.
12 comments:
A great post Brian that made fun reading it. It is impossible to introduce our children to our music. As you said - there is hope and someday they will understand.
My Dad inadvertently introduced me to a world of music when I was a kid in the 1960s, usually by playing it at a neighbour bothering volume on his old reel to reel while decorating - and he always seemed to be decorating. An empty room, devoid of wallpaper, provided the perfect acoustics for the likes of Buddy Holly, The Byrds, Roy Orbison, Frank Sinatra, Dusty Springfield and even early Bob Dylan. By the time I was getting into my own music in the early 1970s it was all about T.Rex, Bowie etc, but in due course I returned to and embraced all those artists I'd heard echoing around the house when I was a youngster. Keep playing the good stuff to your son Brian - it'll all be stored away for future reference.
The Mike Baggetta / Mike Watt / Jim Keltner combo sounds like it could well be my, erm, bag. Thanks for the intro, I shall investigate further. Can't believe you didn't head back in the evening for the show.
I really liked your post, Brian, it had me thinking about the records I too acquired that my father would have liked, especially the Lonnie Donegan ones.
Are all your son's band members of a similar age? No recordings put up on YouTube of any of their shows? I typed in "Brian's son's jazz band" and it gave me this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7glQTWKOE9g
It is 14 minutes of absolute nonsense, which of course could be very embarrassing to write if it is similar to your son's band
I loved that post Brian. My eldest went the other way from liking most stuff I played to now only listening to nosebleed techno, grime and drill!
My father absolutely had to taste in music whatsoever - still hasn't, to be precise. I always thought this is the reason why I listen to the stuff I listen to these days … far away from mainstream, if you know what I mean ...
Post the week. Well done Brian. I'm a big fan of Mike Watt too so would have been equally impressed by my offspring standing on the same stage.
Thanks for chiming in, fellas. With a little planning, I would have stayed for the show. I haven't seen Mike Watt since the fIREHOSE days. Saw the band on every tour. Unfortunately, Minutemen were a hair before my time. I find myself using that phrase a lot on these pages. I should have been born about two years earlier. As for my son's taste in music, I'm not sure which way he will go. He listens to a lot of jazz from yesteryear, as expected, and that suits me just fine. It's the unimaginative Top 40 his peers listen to that scares the hell out of me. Anyway, I'll nudge now and again, but he has to find his own path.
Sorry I'm a little late to this post Brian. Loved it. It conjures up a fantastic image too - your 12-year old son playing in a jazz club. Very cool. Can't say my father's taste in music ever rubbed off on me (caterwauling ladies singing in Italian, I think they call it opera...) but I've fantasised a few times about what it would have been like to have children and expose them to my own.
Start 'em young - that's my theory... and then accept it when they turn away from your tastes in their teens. Hopefully they'll come back around once they've got all that silly rebellion nonsense out of their system!
Just before he went off to college my son was asked to play bass for a band that had a gig at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. I'd been taking him there since he was a little kid. Over the years we'd seen the Mekons, the Shins, Detroit Cobras, Art Brut, Clinic, Nada Surf and countless other bands there. When he finished the gig he was excited: "Now I can cross that off my bucket list!" I said, "Sam, you're only 18. You don't have a bucket list." Musicians always come around to good music. Your boy will find his way into your library.
In a loosely connected vein, I sent my teenage daughter down to Rough Trade on Saturday (I'd got work, she was in town anyway) to pick me up a copy of the Popguns 'Love Junky' Record Store Day re-issue. She was impressed with how nice the staff all were when she showed them the picture on her phone and asked if they'd got a copy of the album for her dad. Unfortunately they'd sold out but I did manage to get a copy this morning from the group's bandcamp site. Still, i was quite impressed I managed to get her to try and do my record shopping...!
C, Yes, opera would have been a tough listen as a teen.
JTFL, Thanks for the optimistic words. That's quite a list you have seen with your son
Misterprime, I was in Florida with the family while school was on break and missed RSD completely this year. I had luck ordering RSD product last year from a UK shop seven days later when they went on sale to the public. I'll be crossing my fingers I find that Popguns album this weekend. If not, I'll go on enjoying my nearly 25-year-old CD of Love Junky. Check out the Popguns Facebook page for video of their RSD performance at their local shop. It's wonderful. Sounds like you've raised a fine daughter.
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