By the time Vinyl records and record players started
becoming cheep enough to be put in homes my grandfather had already left home
to go to college and join the air force. He does state though, that when he was
home his family kept the record player in the living room. At home, his family
listened to a lot of classical music and musicals, his mother loved musicals. My grandfather is an engineer so naturally he likes building things. He talks
fondly of the time he was in the air force and he had his first vinyl, which
was a 44-RPM player. In 1951, while in the service he had this player and made
his own hifi amplifier for it. After his years in the service he went to the
University of Missouri to get a degree in engineering. In college, he owned a 33
1/3 where once again he built an amplifier for it. When asked what kind of
music he listened to he replied with the album "Something Cool," by June Christy and then David Brubeck's album "Brubeck's Jazz Festival at New Port."
Both artist offer very smooth sounding music, what my sister would refer to as elevator music. It's easy to see why these were among my grandfathers favorites.
My grandmother chimed in at this point stating that her cousins were not allowed to listen to Elvis Presley because, her uncle was so appalled by his behavior. I don't think this was very uncommon at the time either. Elvis was young and his dance moves were a little risqué. When someone comes on to the scene and pushes the limits of what people think is acceptable there is going to be some naysayers. It still happens today. Once you start thinking about it, no one is against Elvis now. Think about the artist's today that are seen as risqué, what will they be seen as in the future! As my grandparents have three children, I asked if they put any controls on there music. My grandfather replied, “Ya, to turn it down!” Today my grandparents don’t really listen to sound recordings. The only time my grandfather listens to music is when he’s in the car or singing in the church choir. My grandmother occasionally puts in a classical CD and I have even made her a mix CD of some of her favorite Pop songs of the 21st century. My Grandfather states, “ I like the peaceful quiet of nature.” It’s a good thing they live in the woods where there is plenty of nature!