Music sure is one of life’s blessings.  Through the years, my own likes and dislikes in music have changed, as the world has changed.  I guess it is natural that my family liked Country Music since we grew up on a farm.  I remember hearing a lot of Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash and Jim Reeves.  And I still like Country Music.  Liz and I went to the Grand Ole Opry for the first time in 1992, and at last count have been about seven times.    We go through Nashville every time we go to Louisville and back.  For Country Music lovers, a trip to the Grand Ole Opry is a must for your Bucket List.  It is usually a great mix of country legends with current and rising stars.  The first time we went 17 years ago we saw Roy Acuff, Floyd Cramer, Hank Snow and Little Jimmy Dickens.  On our latest trip last year we saw Vince Gill (“Go Rest High on That Mountain” is one of my favorites) and Brad Paisley mixed in with a few old timers.  It’s a great show for the money.

But I do have a wide range of musical tastes.   I really love Jazz too (the smooth, soothing, sensual kind, especially the alto sax).  And Folk, Bluegrass, and Worship and Praise Music.  As far as Rock and Roll… I guess I lean toward the oldies now.  I think I bought every album made by Simon & Garfunkel and the Moody Blues and Cat Stevens.  I liked Billy Joel, Johnny Cash, John Denver, Willie Nelson and Three Dog Night.  The best concerts I remember were ones by Chuck Mangione, Neil Diamond, the Association and the Gaither Homecoming Singers.  Quite a wide range there I guess…  and I even enjoy the classical piano of Van Cliburn too.  And if you ask me my favorite “group” today, I would in all honesty say our own church choir, the New Life Singers.  And I don’t say that just because Liz is a part of it.  The worship and praise music they offer us every week is like the air that I breathe.

My guess is that we have a wide variety of musical tastes out there in the Class of ’68.  What are your favorites?  And maybe a few "music" stories too (I can’t wait to hear Gary’s “Hank Williams” story). 

Don, I am a music lover too. Most all kinds accept for rap, heavy metal, and hip hop. I have several playlists I have made on my iPod, one for instrumental, one for country, one for easy listening, one for mellow, one for inspirational, and of course, one for my 60's music! We haven't seen that many acts in the last few years, but we have seen Brooks and Dunn, Reba (twice), Trisha Yearwood, and of course most recently, that blast from the past, The Association and The Letterman. 

When Dick was at UGA he landed a job with Student Activities. A bunch of Oglethorpe guys worked there--John Chandler, Jay Black, Joe Argo. That was back in the late 60s and early 70s when just about every weekend the university would bring in big names to play at the coliseum. One of Dick's jobs was to run the lighting system for the shows. I would go up into the rafters with him while he would follow the lighting plan the acts had ordered. I can see him now, switching disks from red, to blue, to green, etc. , changing the lighting to match the mood. We saw all of the names of the day. I can' t even recall them all. There was Steppenwolf, Iron Butterfly, Tina and Ike Turner, Isaac Hays, Neil Diamond, Fifth Dimension, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and on and on. It's funny to think of that, because now a days, such groups don't do shows like that, and they would definitely bring their own lighting people. Dick has some stories about some of them and the requests they would make for their dressing rooms, etc. Some were not so good. Anyway, the first time I ever went with him to do one of the shows, I went out and bought a new outfit only to find out that I was going to be perched in the rafters, completely unseen. It was a fun time, but I always hated the loud, heavy metal bands even back then.

I’ll bet Dick has some great stories working on the stage preparing for all those UGA concerts!  I was into a lot of that rock/pop/folk music back then myself.  In fact, I’m going to attempt to tie together two of our forum topics here… “Music” & “Milk a Cow”.  Just bear with me:

Today is the much celebrated 40th anniversary of Woodstock.  You’ve probably seen it on the news.  No… I did not go to Woodstock.  But I was into a lot of the music back then… especially the folk rock.  But I wasn't into the heavy metal or acid rock either.  And I did buy the Woodstock album, and still have it...  packrat that I am.  I enjoyed a lot of the groups that were at the three-day event… Creedence Clearwater Revival, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Santana, Sly and the Family Stone, etc.  And one of my favorites was Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.  I loved their long version of “Suite Judy Blue Eyes”.  One thing I wasn’t prepared for on the album was the cheer led by Country Joe McDonald that began, “Give me and F…”  I will leave it to your imagination to complete the four-letter chant.  Now… how do I tie all of this in with “Milk a Cow”?  Well, Woodstock took place out in the New York countryside on this huge dairy farm.  And I’ve heard it said that the cows didn’t give milk for two weeks after the festival.  I guess the singing of Janis Joplin and the guitar of Jimi Hendrix were more than they could take.