If you love musical memories and just music fullstop then YouTube is for you. And music is but a fraction of what's available. It's a musical treasure trove, a walk down Memory Lane, a time of new discoveries and being transported as only music can take you.
I'm not at all a religious person, even though I spend a lot of time listening to gospel. I just like listening to black singers reaching impossibly high notes, indeed every note hit perfectly and effortlessly. Partial to some white singers too, like Willie Nelson and Roy Orbison, country and western singer Marty Robbins, The Bee Gees. (If you're not past a certain age you won't be reading this so there's no need to apologise.)
I'm listening now to the Jackson Southernaires' Waiting For My Child. The lead singer has a voice issuing over gravel, his backing group make it seem like the roll and powerful surge of a king tide on its way in. When you hear this same group sing Old Ship of Zion with four leads taking a turn, one a deep bass and the last finishing with falsetto, you know why American blacks have by far the best voices, though not necessarily always the best of taste. Not when they overdo the vocal acrobatics.
This song is on my funeral service list. Yep, got it all planned, just need to leave the wine selection alone to build up a decent cellar for the mourners. At least I assume most will be a little sad but will make it a happy occasion celebrating music and lines from my favourite poets, not my little life.
I first heard Stevie Wonder singing Blowin' in the Wind as a 16-year-old borstal incarcerate. I remember it like yesterday, the astoundment and the realisation that this voice was the real deal. His phrasing, the way he handled the song which we'd all heard from Bob Dylan first. I respect and admire Dylan but Stevie Wonder took hold of his song and made it a work of genius.
