What's on My Speakers: Old Records
My husband finally bought us a record player for our 14th wedding anniversary! Now I can let my inner grandma go wild while digging for old LPs at record stores.
What’s on My Speakers is what’s coming through my speakers when I’m cooking, resting, writing, working, and just existing in general. Music and sound are a huge part of my life, and they deserve more attention than I usually give them.
My husband finally bought us a record player for our 14th wedding anniversary! Now, I can let my inner grandma go wild while digging for old LPs at record stores—precisely what we did days after our anniversary at a Zia Records location near us.
What Is It About Old Music That I Like So Much?
I connect with music from the ’30s to the ’70s, particularly the ’50s to ’60s, because it reminds me of listening to music my parents played when I was growing up. And I don’t mean just putting on a record and letting it play on speakers; I mean sometimes actually picking up instruments and playing covers with their friends.
My mom played the drums and sang alto, and her band in high school was named The Gay Garnets. (Yes, really.) They sometimes got back together to play during high school reunions. They liked covering The Carpenters and old Philippine classics, from Levi Celerio to Celeste Legaspi.
My dad played guitar and sang baritone, and his band in high school was a version of The Vibrators. While active in the Rotary Club, he formed another band with his friends called Paradox. They liked covering The Beatles, The Dave Clark 5, The Shadows, The Ventures, and Elvis Presley.
When I listen to the music they like, I feel like I’m being introduced to who they were before they became parents—and you know what? We’d have been great friends.
What follows are two albums I bought at Zia Records. Both remind me of home and my family.
Rubber Soul by The Beatles, LP Released in 1965
This is not my favorite Beatles album but it comes close to it. It was, after all, also recorded in Abbey Road Studios. Did you know that the songs on this album were written and recorded shortly after the Beatles promoted their music in the U.S. for the first time? It’s also the first album they worked on with a focus that came from no other work commitments—no concerts, no films, no guestings.
The North American influence was very apparent in the music of Rubber Soul. The album name describes how the music lacks the authenticity of soul-inspired tunes compared to the African American artists of Motown and Stax—plus Elvis Presley—they met and heard on the radio while on tour. But Rubber Soul is known for being a folk rock album, so why are we talking about soul music? They also met Bob Dylan and The Byrds, starting the well-known influence exchange of the time. From then on, Beatles music sounded slightly like Dylan and The Byrds, and vice versa. They would also have this relationship with The Beach Boys later on. You can see this particularly in Lennon’s lyrics, inspired by Dylan.
Two of my Lennon favorites are on this album: “Girl” and “Norwegian Wood.” Lennon said he wrote the former about a woman he’d been searching for—and eventually found in Yoko Ono, whom he met a year after the release of Rubber Soul. He also makes a slight hissing sound during the chorus, which reminds me of taking a hit off a joint. “Norwegian Wood” reminds me of Bob Dylan—the lyrics are excellent. Maybe that’s why I like it—because I like Dylan’s writing but not his voice or way of singing.
Angie by Angela Bofill, Debut LP Released in 1978
This is Angela Bofill’s debut album. It doesn’t include the massive hit, “You Should Know By Now”—the one Bofill song everyone from the Philippines knows and loves. Did you know that Bofill recorded a live concert in Manila in 2006? That’s probably why she’s so popular in the Philippines. Live from Manila was her final release because she had a stroke the same year.
While the debut release doesn’t have that signature song, it has “This Time I’ll Be Sweeter.” I also loved this song growing up. I feel like it was the first of its kind—poppy and sweet but also a bit jazzy and unconventional. Bofill didn’t write this one, although she did write most of the other songs on her debut. “This Time I’ll Be Sweeter” was a Guthrie and Grant joint. Gwen Guthrie sang backing vocals for Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and Madonna, to name a few stars. She dated Haras Fyre—professionally known as Patrick Grant—and the two soon became a songwriting pair.
The other songs are good, and I enjoy listening to debut albums with songs written by the artists themselves, but I can’t help but keep returning to “This Time I’ll Be Sweeter.” It’s a great song that reminds me of when I first heard it—in my room, about 12 years old, not really understanding the lyrics but crying anyway.
Which Old Records Are Your Favorites?
Tell me about your favorites! If you have a recommendation or two, I’ll try to find it during my next record dig. Talk again soon!
Photo by Kara Eads on Unsplash
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