Can You Remember When?

John Lennon was once quoted to say, "Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." And that pretty much says it all.

Music today makes me feel like it's manufactured. Everyone has a deadline to meet. Yes, there are some people left in this world today that do take the time to reach into their heart to find the words that they want to say, but I feel that it is very limited.

What makes Classic Rock Music, classic, is not because they are "old" songs. But because each song has a story to tell. Each song has a memory of a time and place, and perhaps of loved ones gone and of those who still remain. Memories of that first kiss; that first concert; that hot summer afternoon, pushing my "67" Volkswagen up the steep embankment to get to the secret lake that was over the hill and swim.

The memory of that was of my little brother still stuffed in the luggage space behind the backseat, after all the other six of us climbed out of that sardine can. And of him laughing at us through the back window, because he had been forgotten in that little hole, while those of us that were pushing had to walk the rest of the way to the lake because Ernie (who was driving) drove off and left us after the car was able to pick up speed when losing all its weight. What was the song that was playing in the 8-track sterio that was stuffed under my front seat? Bell Bottom Blues by Derek and the Dominos (A.K.A. Eric Clapton).

Or, how about the first time that I ever experienced watching someone trip on acid, while Jimi Hendrix sang "All Along The Watchtower".

The stories I could tell would fill a novel, and each story would have its own song of a time and a place remembered. Each song would have its own story, along with another story to go with it. Songs written of love, peace and harmony. Songs of death and sorrow of an unwanted war. Songs of Lucy in the sky with diamonds and going to San Francisco, and being sure to wear some flowers in your hair. Or after waking up in the backseat of a "72" Chevy Vega in the middle of Kansas and hearing Led Zeppelin singing about going to California with an aching in your heart, which was exactly where I was headed after leaving family and friends back in Ohio.

Classic Rock Music is not classic because it IS old; classic rock music is classic because of the memories!