I wanted to change things up a bit and not write about the pandemic. I wanted to talk about the music’s importance in my life. While I had a draft started awhile ago, it just made sense to start over.

In The Beginning

When I was a kid, maybe around 4th grade, I was into oldies. The only record (talking about vinyl here) that I was able to buy was a single of “Rock Around The Clock” (Amazon Affiliate link) by BIll Haley & The Comets with a B-side “Thirteen Women (And Only One Man In Town)” (Amazon Affiliate link).

It was around maybe sixth or seventh grade and into early high school that I transitioned into listening to top 40 pop. I remember songs including “The King of Wishful Thinking” by Go West (Amazon Affiliate link), a few songs by Roxette (Amazon Affiliate link), “Show Me The Way” by Styx (Amazon Affiliate link) and other odds and ends. At that time, I was a little into rock music, but not very much.

Never The Same (Again)

I believe that it was in my sophomore year of high school that I watched my first rockumetary, The History of Rock N’ Roll (Amazon Affiliate link). When I looked it up on Amazon, I was reminded that it was a 10-part series. With the exception of a few chapters, I watched the whole damned thing!

It provided a comprehensive overview of its earlier roots in gospel, blues, country and some jazz. Rhythm and blues (R&B) started coalescing. Then, these styles mixed further and resulted in our rock n’ roll forefathers including Little Richard (Amazon Affiliate link), Chuck Berry (Amazon Affiliate link), Elvis Presley (Amazon Affiliate link), “The Killer” Jerry Lee Lewis (Amazon Affiliate link) and Buddy Holly (Amazon Affiliate link). Then, after “The Day The Music Died,” there was a vacuum occupied by teen idols. Within a few years, there was The British Invasion initially led by more poppy groups like The Dave Clark Five, Herman’s Hermits and the harder edged The Animals. Its culmination was the arrival of the lads from Liverpool, The Beatles, and, my personal favorites, The Rolling Stones from London. Shortly thereafter, the blues mutated into the hard rock of Cream (Amazon Affiliate link), Jimi Hendrix (Amazon Affiliate link) and Led Zeppelin (Amazon Affiliate link). Music became darker, when Black Sabbath made it just a tritone darker with the groundbreaking title track from their self-titled debut, “Black Sabbath.” (Amazon Affiliate link) As a reaction to what was viewed as self-indulgent rock, punk responded frenetically and right to the point. In the late ‘70’s and early ‘80s, punk put on a skinny tie and started playing synths to morph into new wave. It was at around this chronological moment that I finished watching the rockumentary.

Getting Deep

Looking back, it was amazing how that rockumentary establish an extensive groundwork for understanding various styles of rock. I took my cues from the acts that I discovered and explored more of their music. During the course of this exploration, i realized that some of their songs were covers (music originally recorded by others): “Crossroads” by Cream came from Robert Johnson’s “Crossroad Blues” (Amazon Affiliate link), “Move It On Over” by George Thorogood & The Destroyers (Amazon Affiliate link) was originally by Hank Williams and “Black Magic Woman” made popular by Carlos Santana was born from the original blues incarnation of Fleetwood Mac led by Peter Green (Amazon Affiliate link).

Before I talk about the second rockumentary, I have to talk about one of the pivotal moments in watching this series. Toward the end, there was a chapter on guitar heroes. By then, my dad taught me a few chords but the guitar hadn’t yet clicked. However, watching this chapter REPEATEDLY (I, literally, wore out my VHS recording) really inspired me a little bit more to try to learn guitar. Specifically, it was watching Slash playing the peak solo of “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” It might have been Jeff “Skunk” Baxter describing Slash as looking at the guitar like it’s a part of his body. If you look at any live clip of Slash playing, you will see that it’s a perfect description of his behavior. It’s like his fingers and eyes talk to his guitar, as he coaxes melodies that range from soft and melodic to hard and aggressive. I was obsessed with listening to “Sweet Child O’ Mine” so much that I bought their recording debut, Appetite For Destruction (Amazon Affiliate link). Perhaps twenty years later, I randomly discovered on YouTube the exact performance where that transformative video came from: Guns N’ Roses live in Tokyo, 1992.

An Unruly History

From here, I watched another rockumentary Rock & Roll: An Unruly History (Amazon Affiliate link) co-written by Robert Palmer (the music historian, not the ‘80s singer) on PBS. By the time that I watched it, I was already listening to quite a bit of rock and its history. Any time that I would buy a CD, I would read the liner notes from start to finish. The Internet was on the rise, so I was, also, reading up. Lastly, I started buying guitar magazines to read the articles and try to learn the songs by guitar tablature.

I recorded the whole series and, as with The History of Rock N’ Roll, I DEVOURED it. Having a more academic feel, I learned even more and this rockumentary helped to lay down the next significant part of my musical education. An amazing moment came, when I was in college, I passed by the book bin at the campus bookstore and saw….the companion book for the series. Yes…I did buy it and I still have the book to this day.

You Really Got Me

I tried to keep this account, covering 24-25 years, as concise as possible. However, believe it or not, this piece isn’t about my musical education. In discovering rock music, I found a voice. I found a way to express myself, during moments of my life when I struggled to find the words. I found some magic in the stories told by a combination of words and in how our 12 notes are woven into engaging melodies and powerful rhythms. If I or someone have something going on and are in need of musical medication, I could probably retrieve an appropriate song from my mental file.

With what is going on, I feel that music is more important than ever. Music is something that doesn’t cost much, especially with the rise of music streaming services. Music carries messages within it that can resonate with large numbers of people. Additionally, music can serve as a rally cry to unite groups of people towards forward, positive action. There are so many things that can happen with and because of it.

A long time ago, music took ahold of me and I am glad that it did. It has been one of my biggest influences and has given me strength, when I most needed it. It has given me numerous gifts and not all that I realize. In the way that music has given so much to me, I hope that it can do the same for you.

Be sure to follow me at The Jose Rodriguez (Facebook), The Jose Rodriguez (Twitter) or The Jose Rodriguez (Instagram).

Also, if you know someone that would enjoy or benefit from reading this post or others, please share with them.