There is an old saying that what goes around comes around and that has never been more true than for recorded music. There is even a song lyric about how "the music goes 'round and 'round... and it comes out here" which actually referred to blowing through a horn. But the music does indeed "go 'round and round" when you think about it. And it has been going round and round for a long time... here is a brief history from my own personal experience.
The first music I can ever remember hearing was actually old 78 rpm records that Dad owned, and he didn't own many. I think he only had about 3 that I can recall. The ones that stand out are The Cowboy Mouse and Prisoner at the Bar by Doc Williams. These were usually played on a Sunday morning on a pretty basic old record player and they were scratchy and dirty and sounded like crap. But they were all we had and Dad sure got his money's worth out of them. Amazing how music sticks in the memory - I haven't heard either of these songs in over 50 years - but watch this:
The first music I can ever remember hearing was actually old 78 rpm records that Dad owned, and he didn't own many. I think he only had about 3 that I can recall. The ones that stand out are The Cowboy Mouse and Prisoner at the Bar by Doc Williams. These were usually played on a Sunday morning on a pretty basic old record player and they were scratchy and dirty and sounded like crap. But they were all we had and Dad sure got his money's worth out of them. Amazing how music sticks in the memory - I haven't heard either of these songs in over 50 years - but watch this:The judge was there, the jury too, the people from afar.
"Not guilty" were the only words the maiden heard him say.
At last he held her in his arms - love always has its way.
Those are some of the words to Prisoner at the Bar - all from memory, I didn't Google them - honest!
Next, I remember my uncle Buddy had some old wax cylinder records at the old farm - and these were actually played on a wind up gramophone - you can't get any more analog than that. What a shame they were wasted - actually used for target practice and for the dog to fetch. Then for a brief time I recall we had a home tape recorder that must have weighed 50 lbs - not sure where Dad got it but it was a beast! It was used mostly for home recording of voices and singing - what I wouldn't give to hear some of those old tapes! My sisters and brother will surely remember Radio Station M.O.O. out of Woodstock, NB. - that was how Mom kept us kids amused on those long nights while Dad was away.
After that came 33 rpm and 45 rpm records that we played on record players with needles that not only wore out the record but also wore out the needles. When they started to skip all you needed was more pressure to dig deeper into the grooves, so we placed pennies on the tone arm and they kept on spinning round and round.
The 8 track and the cassette sort of broke the pattern of the recorded disk for a while but the music was still going round and round inside those cassette cases. The amazing thing with cassettes was that you could switch tracks and skip around using fast forward and rewind. Maybe that was when it all started to change... we no longer had to wait for the music to come around.
CDs and the digital revolution came next and now there was even more music going 'round and 'round and thanks to laser beams there were no more needles to wear out. I still have my first CD that I bought 25 years ago and it sounds as clear and pristine as the day I bought it - Graceland by Paul Simon.
Of course the next big revolution in digital music was the mp3 format which meant you could download a song in several seconds over the internet and we have never looked back. Now the music is in the clouds and we stream it rather than buy it. A never ending digital stream of zeros and ones going 'round and 'round in our heads...
I loved listening to music on all of those spinning disks and spindles but I am not mourning their demise - in fact I say good riddance; I have drawers and closets full of stuff I will never listen to. With all the music going 'round and 'round the world at the speed of light its all I can do to keep up. It's all good though - right now I am listening to Bob Dylan's "Street Legal" on the computer while I write this - just because it popped into my head.
I don't know what lies ahead for recorded music but I have been able to survive the transitions so far - maybe someday we will be able to just think of a song and it will be there... just like "Prisoner at the Bar."
Next, I remember my uncle Buddy had some old wax cylinder records at the old farm - and these were actually played on a wind up gramophone - you can't get any more analog than that. What a shame they were wasted - actually used for target practice and for the dog to fetch. Then for a brief time I recall we had a home tape recorder that must have weighed 50 lbs - not sure where Dad got it but it was a beast! It was used mostly for home recording of voices and singing - what I wouldn't give to hear some of those old tapes! My sisters and brother will surely remember Radio Station M.O.O. out of Woodstock, NB. - that was how Mom kept us kids amused on those long nights while Dad was away.
After that came 33 rpm and 45 rpm records that we played on record players with needles that not only wore out the record but also wore out the needles. When they started to skip all you needed was more pressure to dig deeper into the grooves, so we placed pennies on the tone arm and they kept on spinning round and round.
The 8 track and the cassette sort of broke the pattern of the recorded disk for a while but the music was still going round and round inside those cassette cases. The amazing thing with cassettes was that you could switch tracks and skip around using fast forward and rewind. Maybe that was when it all started to change... we no longer had to wait for the music to come around.
CDs and the digital revolution came next and now there was even more music going 'round and 'round and thanks to laser beams there were no more needles to wear out. I still have my first CD that I bought 25 years ago and it sounds as clear and pristine as the day I bought it - Graceland by Paul Simon.
Of course the next big revolution in digital music was the mp3 format which meant you could download a song in several seconds over the internet and we have never looked back. Now the music is in the clouds and we stream it rather than buy it. A never ending digital stream of zeros and ones going 'round and 'round in our heads...
I loved listening to music on all of those spinning disks and spindles but I am not mourning their demise - in fact I say good riddance; I have drawers and closets full of stuff I will never listen to. With all the music going 'round and 'round the world at the speed of light its all I can do to keep up. It's all good though - right now I am listening to Bob Dylan's "Street Legal" on the computer while I write this - just because it popped into my head.
I don't know what lies ahead for recorded music but I have been able to survive the transitions so far - maybe someday we will be able to just think of a song and it will be there... just like "Prisoner at the Bar."
