Born One Morning

A little storm is cracking over Madisonville this morning. The Banana is still happy.

            Near the end of spring, quite apart from Juicy Root, I heard Emerson Lake and Palmer’s song Lucky Man on a car radio. The synthesizer got to me. I’d heard Switched On Bach (both Crowbar and The Cobbler had copies of it), and limited use of Moogs by The Beatles and The Doors, but synths had never been stuck up in my face the way ELP did it. I read a magazine interview with the band and decided I had to have Emerson Lake and Palmer. I bought the album, and though it was vastly different from what I expected, and pretty different from Lucky Man, I grew to love band, album, and synthesizer.

            Discovering ELP was a step toward moving me into the position of becoming a bigger fan of progressive music. Shortly after discovering the synthesizer, I also discovered Bill Chandler’s show, Till 2, on WUOT in Knoxville. Chandler’s taste was pretty wide, including many of the progressive bands around in the early 70’s, and I enjoyed listening to the show, especially since nearly every night I sat up late after everyone else had gone to bed. The radio couldn’t be louder than a whisper or my parents might wake. The low volume actually forced me to pay closer attention to the music than if played at a regular level while I fiddled with something else. Chandler introduced me to King Crimson and Frank Zappa. I listened intently nightly.

            Somehow I came to join The Record Club of America. I talked it over with my parents before doing so, and they were ok with it since the number of required purchases was very low (I think just three records), and the club gave each member three records for joining. One of my first purchases was Let It Bleed, by The Stones. That one’s definitely a winner. The records the club offered were little more expensive than from the drug and dime stores in town, and the selection was much better.

            At the beginning of summer The RCOA ran a membership promotion whereby three records would be awarded to anyone who signed another to a membership. The idea struck me that if I really went to work I could get a large pile of records. My goal was to sell 10 memberships, but my drive petered out at 9. Still, 27 vinyl discs would boost the shit out of my collection (at that point becoming respectfully large), so I happily sent in the order and waited for my prizes. The wait was short and several packages arrived over the course of a week or so. It was better than Christmas. As can be expected, some of the titles were duds, but most were exactly what I’d wanted. I got the ELP album, a Uriah Heep LP, the greatest hits of The Buffalo Springfield, and more. I listened for hours every day.