Maybe I'm the worst kind of snob when it comes to music. I'm pretty sure that anything that I like is good. You don't want to know how I feel about that other stuff. My mom brought me hillbilly records and rhythm and blues records all the time. As soon as they began to call it rock'n'roll she brought me that, too.
By the time that soul music began to rule the planet I was right there. When the Americana Music Association was being launched I was at every meeting, every conference, every event. Little did I know that these folks planned to take over what we thought of as the country music business. They didn't want any more to do with me than the old Nashville guard had.
I've never much cared for classification of music. Can you tell me what genre Chet Atkins fits into? Have you ever heard a better soul record than the Bee Gees' To Love Somebody? Well, yeah, maybe Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata or Otis doing Try A Little Tenderness.
Never cared much for the term, genius, either, but I'll make an exception for Ray Charles. Nervous Norvus, too.
I was always a little embarrassed that Charlie Parker With Strings was my favorite Bird record. Then, some years back, my pal, Hugh, told me that it had been Parker's favorite of his records, too.
Oh, there are plenty of folks around with a lot more variety on their favorites list than I have. Pete Kennedy comes to mind. He actually knows stuff, though. I just live for the good stuff.
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