The second of three posts about my music influencers:
1971 Aqualung Jethro Tull Ladd May
Aqualung Lyrics
Ladd was a font of pre-teen male culture, though I’m at a loss to identify its source -- he and his twin sister Charlene had no older siblings and they lived with his divorced mom. Yet, his library of sophomoric jokes was impressive. (So much so that I can’t think of one I’d be comfortable repeating here.) Ladd loved to read and at the time, one of his favorite books was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. It tickled him the swindles Tom perpetrated on his friends and he often quoted the beginning of the book: “TOM!” No answer. “TOM!” No answer. Ladd was probably the fashion leader of all my friends -- bellbottomed jeans and body shirts, and his first-adopter mindset applied to TV shows and music as well. Jethro Tull’s Aqualung was alien to my Top 40 world so I clearly remember Ladd playing it repeatedly during one of our sleepovers. Ladd was gifted with a vibrant mind’s eye and the sorts of tellings that Mark Twain, Ian Anderson and lewd boys did are something he enjoyed most.
1971 Take Me Home, Country Road John Denver The Neasons
Take Me Home, Country Road Lyrics
The Neasons deserve credit for some influence on me during the Charlotte years. They were cool! I can’t explain why I associate them with camping and caving during that time because they don’t quite seem to fit in with that. Memory is imperfect. Yet when I hear songs by John Denver, I’m reminded of them. I also remember the Deems harmonizing along with Take Me Home, Country Road while in the car. It’s pretty to think that we, along with Bobbi and George, were caravanning to Smokehole, West Virginia at the time.
1977 Strawberry Letter 23 The Brothers Johnson Lawrence Brooks
Strawberry Letter 23 Lyrics
In 1977, two years after moving to West Chester, we visited Charlotte and I arranged to meet with Lawrence for an evening. I remember sensing a disconnect when I first saw him: he was driving, I was smoking. When he pulled up, he was listening to a Brothers Johnson cassette in his car. Lawrence had always been about pleasing whomever he was with. He entertained and bantered and was reactionary in his efforts. When it came to music, he seemed to be happy with the choices of others. His Brothers Johnson selection surprised me because I’d never really experienced his taste. Strawberry Letter 23 was a peek at himself Lawrence allowed me to see.
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