Age, an Interesting Comparison
by Tyler Woods on Dec. 05, 2009, under Life
A young Clapton
Last night I decided to go 92.9 The Mountain radio station’s CD release party at La Encantada (I call it la-spend-a-lot-a). Free music and five bucks for the CD, why not? They had a band called Parachute playing; I figured it could be some cheap fun. As I stood there in the freezing cold with fake snow falling on me in a crowd of people who, like me, were cold and restless, I got to thinking….
I am almost 52 years old. What am I doing in this crowd with tons of valley girls and plastic boys wearing the latest fashions and texting each other despite the fact they were standing right next to one other? It seems like the younger generation has lost their ability to use their voice. Sure there were older people like myself there and sometimes we would catch each other’s eyes and smile.
An aged Clapton
When the band Parachute was finally introduced, most people were cold and tired and had been standing for way over an hour waiting. We had endured fake snow, cold, crowding, and a barrage of announcements, but we all were ready to listen to the music. I squinted as they took the stage. They sure did look young. After their first song, I had to giggle as they talked about being each other’s BFFs in high school (best friends forever) and, for a moment, I thought I saw peach fuzz on the lead singer’s face.
I looked at my spouse and said they look very young probably 22 or 23. This got me thinking, why did they seem so young? It did not make sense to me after all, Eric Clapton was 17 when he first toured with bands and made it big in the music field. He must have become God by the time he was 19.
Steve Winwood was only 17 when he joined the Spencer Davis Group. That was fairly young as well. At the age of 15, Paul McCartney met John Lennon and joined The Quarrymen. At the young age of 14 Jimmy Page appeared on TV’s Search for Stars talent show, and Van Morrison was 17 when he started to tour and record.
So why did the boys in Parachute look so young to me? Could it be back then Clapton donned a beard and long hair? Was it possible that in the 50s and 60s men’s hormones were different and they grew thick beards rather than peach fuzz? Did too many energy drinks and video games affect men’s ability to look older?
I got frightened. Could be a possible that all the chemicals and preservatives that people ingest have side effects and preserves them? Then it dawned on me, when I was watching people like Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Steve Winwood, and my other idols, I was a kid. They might have been 17, 18, or 19 years old, but I was a young girl and they looked older to me.
An Aging Jimmy Page
They were giants in their music. There was so much talent in many of these people that they had musical wisdom. They did not talk about BBFs and video games. No the idols of yesteryear focused on sex, drugs, and rock and roll. After all, once upon a time, wasn’t that what music was all about?
I left the concert early. I suspect it was my age. My feet were hurting from standing so long in the cold, and I wanted to beat the traffic. As a young kid, who cared about traffic, but as an aging adult, in an over-priced mall, in the middle of holiday shopping, I CARED!
I left with some knowledge that money could not buy. I had a better understanding about age. That the young kids of today stay young. They do not have a hard life. They can live on texting and energy drinks, and BBFs and video games. The youth of today are not like the youth of yesterday. Today’s young people one simply plugs them in.
For some of the teens that were there, I have no doubt the young men from Parachute looked older and wiser and did not appear young at all. To them, they are musical giants. My musical giants, Clapton, Bono, Page, Morrison, are, for the most part, now greyer than me. They have all earned their grey hair! I still think they rock better than any of the newer musical talents, but perhaps maybe my ears have aged too, who knows.
December 6th, 2009 on 4:17 pm
I have always thought that as well. I think todays kids have led sheltered lives and have not experienced life at all.
December 7th, 2009 on 12:12 pm
AMEN! I am so glad I was able to run, jump, play without the use of cell phones, computer games and electronics. (Though I suppose an ipod would have rocked when I was young)
December 7th, 2009 on 9:23 am
Today as a 15 year old girl. I think modern music is killed. It is a shame artist like Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers think they are music. They create an image that we have to party everytime we listen to there music. They use endless sound effects and little actual music creation. Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton and Paul McCartney are my heros in music. There are other people my age like this that hate the music that is made today. We want music that is raw and full of a guitar sound. Not music that you can just play at a party. Song such as Dancing Days, Purple Haze and more are the best.
December 7th, 2009 on 12:10 pm
Megan you are a 15 year old with much wisdom! I loved this comment because you are so very right. It is good to know there are a handful of people your age that displayes this much wisdom.
January 18th, 2010 on 12:39 pm
Hello, Hello, I think I like you
I’m 15 years old myself too, and I have also thought today’s music is crap. I must correct you, though: Today’s ‘top 40′ music is crap. There is a lot of good music actually today, but it’s not mainstream. If you’ll search, you’ll find good music. Even today. But in the past, you didn’t have to SEEK for good music. It just was there! I’m a big fan of The Beatles myself. I also love Pink Floyd, Queen and Eric Clapton. I’ve seen Paul McCartney live in Arnhem, last December 9th (2009). Roy,
January 22nd, 2010 on 7:05 pm
Thanks for correcting me and you are right, there are some good tunes out. I listeb to the Mountain and am a big fan of certain artists.
February 1st, 2010 on 3:04 am
I have always thought that as well. I think todays kids have led sheltered lives and have not experienced life at all.
February 1st, 2010 on 5:41 am
Hey Megan & Roy: It’s kids like you that give us old folks hope that the younger generation isn’t ALL going to hell in a hand basket, musically.
When I was growing up, back in the ’50s, Rock and Roll was king.
But it all started with the Blues. Then came R&B, then Sun Records in Memphis, Elvis, the Killer, Johnny Cash, and the rest.
When your old enough, there’s a film, ‘Cadillac Records’ – It’s the story of Leonard Chess and Chess Records of Chicago. Great Blues, and a great movie.
When I lived in the Old Pueblo, Terry & Zeke’s was my 2nd home. What’s not to like with live Blues 7 nights as week? Then there was Berky’s and the Chicago Bar too. The Deacon, Mom, Terry and Jill, Tommy Tucker, and Bobby Dixon were people that I interacted with and listened to for years.
When der Frau came on the scene, we used to make the annual 1,800 mile prilrimage to Helena, Arkansas, on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River to attend the King Biscuit Blues Fest, a 4 day FREE gathering of like-minded souls that featured such acts as Pine Top Perkins, Muddy Waters, Hubert Sumlin, B.B. King, The Kentucky Headhunters, Memphis Minnie, and too many others to name. THose that were’n't on stage were playing in the streets or sidewalks.
It’s coming up again this October, so y’all come back if ya can. There’s always room for a few more around that time of year at the ‘ol Ferrari Bubba Farm.
Yer pal, Ferrari Bubba in East Jesus, Arkansas.
February 1st, 2010 on 8:29 am
Add End: Da Bluz. I’ve got Satellite Radio on my DirecTV (24-7 Blues, ch, 854) and once a week they olay the same song by everybody that ever recorded it, one right after the other.
Well, last Thursday morning it was 1 hour and 35 minutes of ‘Key to the Highway.” And the best two by far were Eric Clapton, God’s own guitar player, and Little Walter, who was a turd of a human being, but a more than gifted Bluesman. I was in Blues Heaven.
Yer pal, Ferrari Bubba
February 8th, 2010 on 4:23 am
There are other people my age like this that hate the music that is made today. We want music that is raw and full of a guitar sound. Not music that you can just play at a party.
February 8th, 2010 on 5:22 am
Did anybody see the WHO perform at the Super Bowl Halftime last night? Peter ROCKED!
He was jumpin’ so high his chops almost fell out! An amazing performance.
Yer pal, Ferrari Bubba
February 8th, 2010 on 8:35 am
I thought they were fabulous as well. I’ve always been a huge fan.
February 8th, 2010 on 6:41 am
I am convinced that, one day, people will be born with an ear on one side of their head and a mobile phone on the other.