I
had the privilege of interviewing a close family friend, Regina, for this
project. She was born July 24th, 1938 outside Kansas City, MO. She is 76 years
old.
I asked Regina if she liked music, and she smiled big and replied "Yes! Very much!" She said she learned the piano from her grandmother, where her interest in music began. She liked to sit at the piano and try her best to recreate the sounds that she heard in her favorite songs. Unfortunately, she hasn't played in years due to pain in her fingers.
Growing up in a rural area, she said access to the latest music technology wasn’t always cheap or easy. She pointed out that unlike today’s convenience of downloading music online from anywhere at any time, her family made the event of going to the local music shop a special occasion, something she thinks is missing in today’s family setting. It was here she discovered some of her favorite recording artists in her youth: notably Frank Sinatra, Patti Page, Andy Williams and Dean Martin. She also learned who the popular artists were by talking her schoolmates, whom she exchanged records with. A lot of songs she remembers are from her time singing in the choir at church.
Growing up in a rural area, she said access to the latest music technology wasn’t always cheap or easy. She pointed out that unlike today’s convenience of downloading music online from anywhere at any time, her family made the event of going to the local music shop a special occasion, something she thinks is missing in today’s family setting. It was here she discovered some of her favorite recording artists in her youth: notably Frank Sinatra, Patti Page, Andy Williams and Dean Martin. She also learned who the popular artists were by talking her schoolmates, whom she exchanged records with. A lot of songs she remembers are from her time singing in the choir at church.
Her family shared a record player stored in
the living room next to the radio, which “got moved by the television.” She did
not have her own record player until she was in high school, a purchase she
proudly made herself, costing around $30. (I imagine this as a teenager today
saving work money for an iPad). She notes, “my mother loved music, but my
father hated the noise,” so she made an effort to rush home after class to put
on her favorite records before her father came home. Because of this, her music
was well monitored by her parents. She remembers hearing about the bad hype of
Elvis Presley and Little Richard, but felt that she had outgrown their style of
music and wasn't a fan like “all the other girls.” She also remembers the first cars with record players, something she was unfortunately not privileged enough to have.
When asked about music today, she says things are “very much different.” She says she feels like something is missing from today’s songs—soul. I asked her if she thought songs today had a lot of controversy, and she said yes, but so did songs back then. Today, she listens mostly to music from her church and “the oldies station” (ha). She pointed out that she enjoys car rides and likes the feeling of turning up the music dial.
