In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Papa Loves Mambo.”
What sort of music was played in your house when you were growing up? What effect, (if any) did it have on your musical tastes?
“Music
Speaks what cannot be expressed,
soothes the mind and gives it a rest,
heals the heart and make it whole,
flowing from heaven to the soul!”
As a child of the early sixties, my father played blues and jazz in our home. He introduced me to B. B. King, Howling Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Albert King.
I heard Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, and Thelonius Monk to name a few.
My mother was at the opposite end of the spectrum of music. She played religious albums by Mahalia Jackson, The Staples Singers, Aretha Franklin, (before R&B) and The 5 Blind Boys of Mississippi.
During my elementary, middle and high school years, I was a member of the concert and marching bands.
I played various genre’s of music including classical, and the marching songs of John Phillip Sousa.
When I was eight years old, I received a blue transistor radio as a gift. My musical listening became a blended mixture of R&B, the Motown Sound, the Funk of James Brown, the 70’s pop bands, and what is now called Classic Rock.
As a teenager, I was fortunate to be present when the musical infant “Rap.” burst onto the scene.
My parents and music teachers called into question my musical tastes with the birth of “Rap.”
I consider myself a lover of all music except for some older forms of country music.
Neither my father or mother ever danced the mambo. However, I remember watching them slow dance. They would lovingly embrace one another dancing to soulful R&B.
For the past 4-5 decades, there is one issue about music that has caused me to ponder in thought.
It is, whatever happened to slow dancing?
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