A few years ago when my niece's son Ben was fifteen, we started exchanging music cassettes. His friends had started a punk-ska band and he was particularly interested in hearing more ska and reggae. So, I made a cassette for him of my favorite ska and older reggae stuff and one of The English Beat, UB40 and more contemporary reggae bands. (He liked the old stuff best.) And then, because he had a real curiosity about all kinds of music, I made several more cassettes for him of rhythm and blues, soul, jazz, blues, folk, rock and roll and gospel. My niece said that he'd stay in his room by the hour listening to the cassettes.

In return, Ben sent me a cassette of music that he liked best. The title of the tape said it all: "Music We Lived Our Lives By." I thought it was verrry cool that a fifteen year old kid already realized that his life had a sound track, and that there were particular recordings that summed up his life. So, in return, I made a cassette of the same title. It turned out to be a wonderful excercise, deciding which songs really meant a lot to me, and were landmarks for changes in my life. Out of curiosity, I grazed over my tapes to see if I have a copy of the cassette, but didn't find one. But, I can imagine what was on there, and perhaps it has changed a litte in these last five or six years. The cassette must have been a classic example of someone with multiple personalities because it had everything from Oh Happy Day by Don Howard (is there another person still living who remembers that record?) to Mercy, Mercy, Mercy by Cannonball Adderly.

If you put together a cassette of "Music You Lived Your Life By," what are some of the songs you'd include. Mine wasn't My All-time Favorite Songs. It was mostly songs that changed the way I thought.
Oh Happy Day (not the gospel song) for example. It came out in the early 50's and in it's way, it was as astonishing as Elvis's early recordings. Don Howard, like Elvis, was a kid who played guitar and in Don's case, went into a Record Your Voice For a Dollar booth, jammed hmself in the booth with his guitar and recorded a song he'd written. Oh Happy Day..

The sun is shining, Oh Happy Day
No more troubles or clouds of gray
You know I love you,
Oh happy Day.

He sang the song in a dirge, and the recording speed wasn't steady so the song dragged in parts. But, some disc jockey gave it some air time and it became a national hit. Of course, Tennessee Ernie Ford and others made "covers" of it, but it was too late. The news was out. You didn't have to be a great singer or guitarist, or know how to read music or have taken voice lessons. If you hit it lucky, you could make a hit record just going in to a Record Your Voice, or some curmmy little garage recording studio. And the gates were open.

That's one song that would have to be on my cassette because it made me realize that anyone could get a guitar, write songs and make records.

Even me.

Anyone want to add a song or two?... it would be more interesting if, rather than just doing a list of titles of your favorite songs (we have eight million of those threads) you'd tell why the song had an impact on your life..

Jerry