Ken lived through some of the ground breaking advances in the music recording industry, and he made the technology available to our family. Circa 1960, he brought home a Magnavox cabinet stereo, and an RCA Victor recording of Ravel's "Bolero" and listened to it over and over.
We all loved that stereo! We loved the symphonic classics. We loved Harry Belefonte, Frankie Lane, and a classic ski album I cannot name, singing about the Super Skier! I remember a particularly poignant evening replaying Peter Paul and Mary singing "Puff, the Magic Dragon" where my sister Gayle, Dad and I were all weeping about the sadness of that song, and the fact we all have to grow up.
[aside: Mary Travers died of Leukemia while Dad was recovering from chemotherapy in Montana. When I told him that news, he mentioned that she had crossed his mind that day, and didn't understand why. Mary fought the disease for five years. We used that fact as a beacon of hope that he might have more time.]
We loved to sit and read the album covers while listening to the sound surround us. The stereo stayed with some remnant of the family for more than 40 years. It played all the 60's music, including the Beatles, the Moody Blues, Brazilian Jazz, In-a-gadda-da-vida,
It was very difficult to persuade him that a television was worth having in the house, but that stereo was never a question.
What are your musical memories?
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