Music

MUSIC

August 16, 2011

Introduction

            A wide variety of music has played a very big role in my life.  I didn’t really realize this until I read the assignment for this unit.  I was born in 1946 and my life had spanned many musical era’s from Big Band to Contemporary. For this assignment, I thought it would be fun to write “The Symphony of My Life” because the assignment has four sections and a symphony consists of four separate sections.

1950’s and 1960’s

            In 1950, I was just 4 years old. Most of the music I heard during my early childhood was on the radio and at church. My mother listened to an Easy Listening station which consisted of music from the Big Band Era, Show Tunes and singers like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Pat Boone and Rosemary Clooney. I loved the children’s songs from my church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). Fun songs like “"Popcorn Popping" and "Give" Said the Little Stream and religious songs like "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" and "I am a Child of God"

I was lucky to live through the birth of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Although I was only 10 years old when Elvis first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, my parents watched it regularly on Sunday nights.  I didn’t know what to make of him at the time, I do remember seeing him.  What I remember more vividly was The Beatles first performance on the Ed Sullivan Show in the mid-sixties since by that time I was in High School.  Again, I didn’t quite know what to make of them; but soon came to love them. One singer that had a major impact on my life during my teenage years was Ricky Nelson.  I grew up with him on the The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.  We didn’t get our first TV until 1956, but I watched it from then until the end of the show. I loved his music and still do.  It was so neat to see him perform live on the show. My peers thought I was weird because I preferred him to Elvis! Another singer whom I loved during adolescence was Donny Osmond. Since the Osmond’s are “LDS”, you can imagine how I looked up to them.  Even though Donny was nine years younger than me, I loved his songs even the teeny bopper ones. I especially liked The Donnie and Marie Show.

            Also when I was a teenager, I started taking ballet lessons and this exposed me to some of the great classical music.  We did a ballet production of   “Cinderella” and I was the Fairy Godmother.

1970’s and 1980’s

            I married at the age of 19 in 1966. My husband was in the music business in Los Angeles; so he exposed me Rock Music for several years until we divorced in 1976. Being part of the music scene in Los Angeles during this time was very interesting. My first husband, Ron Lewis, worked with and I got to meet some of the major DJ’s in Los Angeles radio. I met Casey Kasum, Robert Morgan, Jay Stevens and Roger Christian. Roger Christian wrote the Beach Boys “car songs”. He also co-wrote some of Jan and Dean’s songs also mainly car songs. I listened to so much music during that time that I got burnt out on it. So much so that when I was by myself, I didn’t listen to much music. But, Donny Osmond along with Barry Manilow continue to be favorites of mine and luckily they are both still performing and doing new songs. 

             

Comfort

            The first song that comes to mind when I think of comfort is Frank Sinatra’s "My Way". During the time that the song was popular, I was going through the collapse of my marriage to my first husband. He was a very controlling person and wanted me to do everything his way from cleaning the house to how I dressed.  When I heard “My Way”  sung it spoke volumes to me; because all I wanted was to be able to do something my way.

            The hymns of the “LDS” church have also been a source of much comfort in my life. Songs like "Families Can Be Together Forever" which speaks of the belief that you can be with your family in the afterlife helps me when someone dies. The knowledge that I will see them again someday is very comforting to me. "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" is one of my favorite hymns and it speaks volumes about the Savior’s role in my life. My very favorite hymn is "I Stand All Amazed" because it talks about the atonement and how the savior atones for everyone even the rebellious sprits like me.

Happiness

            When I think of songs that bring me happiness today, church songs and the songs of the 50’s and 60’s still come to mind.  I am also enjoying going to live stage productions of musicals now.  The first play that we went to recently was “Mary Poppins”. I remember seeing the movie and nothing compares to seeing it live.  We also have been to see “The Lion King”, “Grease” and “The Nutcracker”.  I had never seen a live performance of “The Nutcracker” and I really enjoyed it and could appreciate it because I took ballet as a teen. We also went to a local production of the “Music Man” and really enjoyed it too.  The first live theater production I remember going to was as a pre-teen. I went with my school to see “My Fair Lady”.  My husband and I are really big movie buffs and I enjoy movie scores. We are also reality show junkies and shows like “America’s Got Talent” and “The Voice” have exposed me to new singers that I probably would have never listened to had I not watched those shows.            

Conclusion

            There is much more I could say about “The Symphony of My Life”, but I have run out of space. This assignment has been a wonderful reflection. .  Until I really stopped to think about it, I didn’t realize how much music had influenced my life. I had thought that because I never learned to play an instrument and cannot read music or sing well that it didn’t really influence me much.  Well, I was wrong and I will continue to write “The Symphony of My Life” for many years to come. 

Copyright © 2011 by June Saxton