Getting to the Roots

Music is all about roots. Last month I looked at the way that American and British music "collided" to produce the phenomenon known as rock n roll.

But the roots I talk about also exist in every single one of us in our love of music. Our musical tastes emanate from the way we are brought up and the ever changing world we live in.

As with life itself, the most important thing to remember about music is keeping an open mind.

When I sat in a smoke filled hall in the early 70s listening to an English Band called Barclay James Harvest, little was I aware of the journey that I would be taking into the history and future of music.

There should never be a generation gap where music is concerned. We should all foster a tolerance to all views and this "I love pop and hate classical" or "I love classical and hate pop" should never be more than the rantings of an uninformed minority. Sweeping statements about styles of music can never be realistic. A country and western fan can surely never claim to like every country and western song ever written. Neither can somebody who aspires to hating this particular genre claim that there cannot be any country and western songs that are not well written and well shaped.

I have two teenage sons who, over the years, have come to respect my taste in music as part of me. To them I am no longer an old fuddy duddy who likes Elvis Presley, rock n roll etc. They are catching on that some of my favourite artists are in fact "quite good."

The price I have had to pay for this acceptance has been to listen to their music and it has not been a hard price to pay. Now together we can enjoy the likes of Travis, Coldplay, et al.

I must admit, however, that when it comes to music I have developed a split personality, which just illustrates that I am probably a more complex character than most people put me down as.

How many of you reading this article have said: "I really don't feel in the mood to listen to that today?" I can veer from periods of great lucidity and out and out melody to periods when I want my musical appreciation to shock.

I would describe myself as very much a conformist within society. My day job is working within a disciplined organisation. So how can I explain my wish to be a shock jock when it comes to musical taste.

Essentially my music is an extension of my personality. It changes with my moods and where I am. I have been accused at different times of "having a thoughtful outlook to music and enjoying some sensational melodies" and "having an execrable taste for noise and mess."

I think this proves my point. I keep an open mind and will listen to virtually anything within reason. It stops me from making rash generalisations even if it does mean that a few weeks ago three people refused a lift with me because they knew I was playing one of the more outrageous Frank Zappa CDs in the car. People seem unable to come to terms with the fact that in one listening session I can mix the Carpenters and Scott Walker with Zappa, the Dead Kennedys and experimental jazz. But then that's really their problem and not mine.

When it comes to music, nothing is off limits. I have a distant relative to thank for this. He died a few years ago when well into his 90s.

Sometime in the dim and distant past I visited this dear man on a day when I had bought LPs by the Carpenters, America and Van Der Graaf Generator. The first two of these will probably need no introduction. Van Der Graaf are, or rather were a 60s/70s band from Manchester, England, who specialised in what was loosely termed progressive and experimental rock.

Their actual history need not bother us further here. The point is that my relative sat and listened thoroughly to all three albums and his response at the end set me up for life. It was a defining moment for me.

"Well I didn't realise pop music could be so different and so enjoyable. I can't say I liked the third one, but I enjoyed the other two."

It was a simple enough statement, but spoke volumes to me. Despite not liking Van Der Graaf he had sat through 40 minutes of it, asked a few questions about the band and then made up his own personal mind without making any of the usual comments about long haired hippies which were rather prevalent at the time.

He had kept an open mind and I admired this. He had not denigrated the music out of ignorance. I vowed to follow the same path and listen to as much music and as many different styles as possible and that I have done over the years. It has brought me a love of Mahler, Puccini and Bruckner as well as many wonderful rock artists.

This has culminated in a group of six of us meeting once a month in each other's homes to share our own favourite music. We discuss new styles and new artists alongside the classics - and I use that word to cover music from Gregorian Chant to the modern day. We all have open minds and that is something I try to pass on when people ask me to talk about music.

Just because I adore the Beach Boys, the Beatles, the Byrds, Bowie and Barclay James Harvest doesn't mean that I only enjoy artists beginning with the letter B!!!

I would ask anyone reading this article to keep an open mind, look for new musical challenges and sample some of the lesser known bands from both sides of the Atlantic.

Go to local concerts even if you have never heard of the artist playing - this method can lead to some wonderful surprises. Music is sublime. It continuously re-invents itself and it unites so many people, long may it continue to do so.

Peter Steward 2000