Songs in the Key of Life...some reflections. My musical memory is, for the most part only understandable against the context of this album. I remember 1976 vividly. In March of thst year my parents had given me a red, white and blue ABA basketball and promised me when the weather broke we could go to the nice courts in Beverly to try it out. We did and found out that the backboards, not visible from the street had a skull and cross bones sticker that warned Niggers to Beware. I didnt figure they meant me and I didnt mark the concern on the faces of my dad and his youngest brother, natives of Greensboro Alabama, migrants to Chicago, until a group of screaming teenagers came to drive us from the court but not until my dad and uncle made sure I put that ball in that basket before we left. So when I stand up in the face of the bs I see its not from theory but practice and example. But that summer lost a lot of shine for me because I was witness to the limits of my citizenship. Then sometime in the fall we went to Sears and among whatever else we picked up was this orange and brownish album that I discovered when my father unwrapped it was two records and we, the whole house, listened uninterrupted to it all. And looking back, it gave me back a lot of the hope that basketball court had momentarily extracted. So I really cant recall a time that musical memory didnt include this piece but I know that when it did it was poorer for it. So last night I took my place in the last row of that stadium and watched Stevie Wonder unwrap those black pieces of vinyl and play them for me again for the first time and I am again richer for it. Get to this concert. So like those who were lucky enough to seehearfeel Coltrane play Love Supreme or Jimi at Berkeley you can keep this forever. This is Another Star, ignore the keyless LaLas at the beginning.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 13:38:29 +0000
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