Skip to main content

Take Note - And Listen to a Few Too

Growing up I was forming my musical tastes. My influences came from my family, and then those that I had as friends. In Kindergarten Mrs. Gannon would play all the kids tunes on the piano. Bingo, If You're Happy and You Know It and of course Happy Birthday. One of the girls in class brought in a 45 rpm of the Beatles, I Want to Hold Your Hand - I liked it.

In first grade my teacher, Miss Carol, who wore Go-Go boots, played guitar (and probably smoked pot - but I don't know) and we sang folk tunes, Puff the Magic Dragon, If I Had Hammer, and Michael Row Your Boat Ashore.

At home my dad listened to the radio - stuff like Winchester Cathedral and tunes by *GAK* Lawrence Welk, Tommy Dorsey and Al Hirt. On the other end of the house my brother played Bubble Gum music including: The Archies, 1910 Fruit Gum Company and of course the Monkees. As his musical tastes evolved he turned to pop by the McCoys, Status Quo and other chart toppers of the 60's. Everyone had a transistor radio playing the sounds of British Invasion bands: The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones and later Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.. Then Woodstock happened and the music scene exploded with CSN & Y, Richie Havens, Joe Cocker and Jimi Hendrix - and everyone knew the fish cheer, even if we weren't allowed to use the word.

I was listening, and of course building a repertoire of favorites. I became a fan of everything with a cool electric guitar. I liked everything from Cream to Deep Purple. One day my friend Dennis and I went out an bought an electric guitar, and then an acoustic and then a classical. Then I was off to music school where I studied classical, jazz and modern guitar styles. I played in a rock band.

My life changed when I met Jesus. Of course I started to listen to Christian music. Different songs affect me different ways and here are a few of my favorites to play on guitar or listen to any time

How about you, do you have some favorite tunes that minister to you?.

Set Me On Fire - Burn Service


Happy Day - Tim Hughes


You Never Let Go - Matt Redman

Comments

photogr said…
Ah the good old tunes. Growing up, I found Elvis songs, Frankie Valie, The Beach Boys,Paul Anka,Duane Eddy, Percy sldege, The temptations and to mention local bands from home (Clayton Ivey and Charles Dickens).

As I grew up in the hippie era I found free bird, Nights in White Satin, Beatles songs, the Doors, Santana, Peter Frampton, Pink Floyd, Mammas and the Pappas, and the list goes on.

Then came Jazz with the likes of Wes Montgomery, Dave Grushin, B.B. King, and Kial Winding.

Classicals from composers Bethoven, Prokofeif, Chiakovsky, Bach, and Sebulis.

Today I find the collection of Kari Jobe songs, All that I am, Mighty to save, and others to soothe my soul.

Popular posts from this blog

Mad Libs: An Unforgettable Church Service

Hopefully you have heard of Mad Libs (R) ! They are stories that you blindly fill in the blanks for articles of grammar and then read the completed story. Since I was a kid, these have always been a hoot. I decided to make up my own. Just fill in the blanks next time you are at small group and then read it back. It is sure to shake up a few religious spirits. An Unforgettable Church Service We arrived at _________ ( time of day ) at the Church of the Holy _________ ( noun ). It was ___________ ( day of week ) and we got out of the _________ ( mode of transportation ). We were dressed in our __________ ( day of week ) best. We all held _________ ( plural body part ) as we crossed the street. Today was special because it was ___________ (holiday) and the kids look forward to receiving _________ ( noun ) as part of the celebration. Pastor _________ ( name ) was there to greet us and shake our ________ ( body part ). He welcomed my __________ ( family member ) with a big _________ ( bodil...

Touchdown Jesus! - Vessels of Grace and Channels of Power

My blog title is grammatically correct. Jesus did not get a touchdown, that was the nickname a 62 foot tall, upper torso sculpture, of Jesus was given. The sculpture, off I-75 in southern Ohio, was struck by lightening and burned to the ground. HERE  is the Yahoo News story. I an not going to segue into some prophetic sign of how the End Times are upon is. Much more interesting, and relevant, are the comments on the article by some 3,500+ readers. Here is one by Joshua - "God and Jesus was just made up in a book too. Same with Lucifer and every other angel. Anyone who says Zues is just made up cant prove it. Nor can anyone prove Jesus or God is too. Anyone can write a book and make up some higher being and some poor fools will buy into it." This is one of my favorites from What122: "I wonder if their insurance will cover it, or will the insurance company say it was an act of God?" One commenter characterizes Christianity by using the Bible against itself. Be...

God is Great, Beer is Good, and People are Crazy

There was a discussion on Facebook today about how some people think Christians are "whack jobs." Regardless, God is still great. I don't really know much about beer. I haven't had one in just about 30 years. There are a lot of folks that consider themselves to be Christian. Some because they do good, and others because they have faith in God or are born again-- and others because they grew up in a Christian denomination. Far be it from me to decide who is in, and who is out. Some say we'll be surprised at who is going to be there, and others say who think they are in will be surprised when they are rejected at the Pearly Gates. Hmmm... But let's say you are a real Christian who is feeling passionate about doing something for God. You know something beyond throwing a few bucks in the offering plate and trying to be a good person. The church calls it service or ministry, which could include such things as: reading scriptures on Sunday morning, planning a harves...