Who in your family influenced your love of music?

[esimms86]

LOL. I started playing Trumpet in 5th grade, but my parents bought me a used Coronet so I stuck with it for years.
I was in the band class, along with about 15 other kids. By the time 6th grade rolled around it was just me and a girl that played clarinet. The band teacher, who also taught at the high school, would give us some long passages to play and by the end would wear my lips out. lol.

Did you say that the girl who played clarinet wore your lips out?

 

[Infomas]

Indirectly, it was my dad. He had several music publishers and small record companies as clients. Emitt Rhodes ("Live", "You're a Very Lovely Woman") was a client because of his publisher Eddie Shaw and Eddie's son Russ. We had lots of music in the house because of that. Everything from Bonnie Guitar to The Tijuana Brass. Russ worked for WEA along with managing Emitt for awhile. One day Russ walked into my dad's office, where I was working part time (child labor) and threw down the WEA catalog. "Let me know which ones you want". This was the early 70s. I picked out about 20 or so albums: Van Morrison, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Grateful Dead. It jump started my record collection. Russ, by the way, was name checked by Cameron Crow when they did a podcast celebrating "Almost Famous". His passion for music was one of the inspirations to the movie. Russ wasn't perfect though. He didn't understand why I wanted to see some unknown band called Genesis at the Roxy in LA. I couldn't find anyone to go with me and was too young to go by myself.

 

[esimms86]

My parents had a console player and a handful of 78’s that they rarely ever played. They were, however, very fond of “The Late Show” by Dakota Staton and Dvorak’s New World Symphony. Dakota Staton brother Fred was a jazz musician and a member of my parents’s church so that probably explains explains how they got turned onto her.

My older sister Edith, however, was my biggest musical influence. She had small but excellent record collection, plus a bunch of Motown 45’s that she brought to house parties. Back in those days people would write their names on the 45’s labels in ink so that they could gather up their records at the end of the night.

She also turned me on to Laura Nyro after which my music life was never the same. A natural teacher, she taught me the alphabet and how to write my name. Everything since then has been baby steps. My sister died in 2014 and I miss her everyday.

 

[H.A.L.]

One of my earliest memories is with a kid's phonograph (mono of course, and I used it to do weird things, like use the rotation to wind a sewing thread to pull things - move over, Calvin). "The Bear Goes Over the Mountain" was on repeat, by hand, of course.
Must have driven my parents crazy, but hey, they bought it for me.

Later, my parents had a small stereo that I would wake up early in elementary to listen to their Reader's Digest Collection of Greatest Music (Wagner waltzes, Beethoven, and pop hits like "Moon River" and "Yellow Bird"). But it was at an aunt's house, who had a piano, that I would "play" by making sounds like wind or a rain storm without any training at all, that made my parents realize I might benefit from piano lessons. I was a slow study, since I was a little older than most (12, I think, and my teacher would "tch tch" that I started too late). Not having a piano hurt; how could I practice? So they got one for me, and a guitar for my brother. He later abandoned the guitar and so I got it and a simple chord book and taught myself (I still play the guitar "like a piano").

By high school I had gotten good enough to do recitals on piano, but by that time the local radio and the greatest hits of the 60s and 70s had everyone wanting to be in a band. Not for me, I would use my cassette recorder and make up stuff. Now retired -- and still doing it! Piano lessons gave me a love of classical, the Beatles gave me a love of pop, and King Crimson sent me on the way to the obvious prog / jazz. I never developed a deep love of the blues, though, surprisingly, since the Delta wasn't that far away, but it was a bit too simplistic a formula for me, not that I couldn't rock to it at times! You had to do so until prog came along, though, as most of rock was blues-based.

 

[himey]

Most of us probably had some influences within our families in terms of music. For me, clearly was my dad. My mom didn't give 2 hoots about music, but my dad bought a LOT of vinyl back in the 50's-70's.

As a youngster not living in a city with access to music stores, etc, it was my dad's vinyl collection that I started listening to. At a real young age, my dad didn't listen to any radio stations and for that reason, I don't think I even knew they existed.

He had a Zenith console stereo that obviously had a turntable built in, speakers on each side. As a result, I would spend hours on end playing his records, trying to figure out what they were saying (those that were vocal). I fell in love with music this way around the age of 10 I guess. None of my siblings (all older) seemed to care about music like me. Certainly, they never were found in the stereo room like I was. Until I found sports, I'd say my dad's vinyl were my life back then.

Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams, Bing Crosby, Ventures, Glen Campbell, Fifth Dimension, Dionne Warwick, Cole Porter, Frank Sinatra on and on. These records influenced me greatly.

My two uncles on my mom's side. One was a singer songwriter who played guitar in Carl Perkins band, and wrote the song, If You Ever Play in Texas, You Gotta Have a Fiddle in The Band, which was Alabama's biggest hit. My other uncle sold stereo equipment, and he along with my parents had really nice HiFi when I was growing up. I caught the bug early on listening to music, and it never stopped.

 

[GOS]

My two uncles on my mom's side. One was a singer songwriter who played guitar in Carl Perkins band, and wrote the song, If You Ever Play in Texas, You Gotta Have a Fiddle in The Band, which was Alabama's biggest hit. My other uncle sold stereo equipment, and he along with my parents had really nice HiFi when I was growing up. I caught the bug early on listening to music, and it never stopped.

Holy cow! I know that song, thanks to my wife...who used to be a HUGE Alabama fan.

 

[himey]

Holy cow! I know that song, thanks to my wife...who used to be a HUGE Alabama fan.

Alabama was huge back in the day. Not sure if their style aged very well. I don't hear much about them any longer, but that was never my type of music. Much different than rockabilly which I don't think ever goes completely out of style.

 

[H.A.L.]

I had a cousin, Joe Don Davidson (r.i.p.) who played guitar in bands around the Lubbock, Texas, area (Jets, Planets, something like that). His brother played in bands as well there, and they recorded "Walking the Dog" as teens when I was pubescent. Not much of an influence, though, due to the distance between where we lived.