The Big Chill at 25
By Cafe on Dec 30, 2007 in Baby Boomer, David Henderson
With all due respect to the generations that follow ours … their music doesn’t deserve much respect! At least not according to BoomerCafé co-founder David Henderson, who has compiled his own Top 10 list of our very best music … and wants to know, what’s yours?
I was watching “The Big Chill” again the other day… for the umpteenth time … with my wife, and I realized that the film was released in 1983 … 25 years ago! Everything about the film was charmed – the cast, the storyline, the setting, the time in our lives as baby boomers, and … the music. Just as “The Big Chill” has become a classic, so has its soundtrack. What a contrast from today’s music.
Now, let me say something … at the risk of sounding like my parents sounded when I was a teen … something that is blatantly socially incorrect: I think much of today’s popular music (or whatever it is called) is pure crap. Nearly all of it sounds the same. There is such a dark sameness in the themes of today’s popular music – guns, violence, abuse, sex, degradation of women. Crap with few redeeming qualities.
Working out at the Y this afternoon, listening to my iPod, I decided that maybe it is time to update my Top 10 list of great songs from the baby boomer generation.
But before I do, just let me take my ball cap off in sincere tribute to Steve Jobs for conceiving of the iPod. At a time early in this decade when illegal music-sharing was rampant, and the Record Industry Association of America in Washington, D.C., couldn’t think of any constructive solution but to sue children for sharing songs, Jobs was creating the iPod and a brilliant music management system called iTunes, where you can organize your music library and purchase music. Jobs is a titan. I have two iPods, by the way.
Now, back to my revised Top 10, plus a little commentary about why:
1. Every Picture Tells a Story – Rod Stewart. Some of us knew the life of adventure in the 70s and traveling ‘round the world on the spur of the moment that Stewart describes. Remembering those times, it is a wonder we are still alive.
2. Laughing – David Crosby. The lyrics are about questioning myth and conventional wisdom. It was recorded by the awesome engineer Steve Barncard during a magical session in the San Francisco area and featured Jerry Garcia and a breathy cameo by Joni.
3. Bitch – The Rolling Stones. Hard-driving rock.
4. Refuge of the Roads – Joni. It was a trip along the coast, north of San Francisco, in 1972.
5. Mustang Sally – Wilson Pickett. Even today, there is nothing like a hot lady driving a classic early Mustang.
6. Long May You Run – Neil Young. Did you know this? Young wrote the story about his beloved car, a hearse he called Mort.
7. Bang The Drum Softly – Emmylou Harris. A haunting song of heartbreak from the Vietnam War, it’s just as meaningful today with the senseless war in Iraq. She grew up in Lorton, Virginia, not far from where I grew up. Damn… wish I knew it at the time. She’s still hot.
8. Roll Me Away – Bob Seger. I have wondered how many people have heard this song and begun questioning the value of a mundane life.
9. Abraham, Martin and John – Dion and the Belmonts. Dion summed up the emotion of the 60s better than anyone.
10. I Heard It Through The Grapevine – Marvin Gaye. Who can sit still when they hear this? Is this the theme song of the boomer generation?
Well, that’s my Top 10. No crap! Just classic rock. How about your favorites?
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On Jan 1, 2008, Dana Hall said:
Great topic, David!
We own a copy of The Big Chill, as well. You’re right, it doesn’t get much better!
I had a difficult time choosing favorite songs, as your question brought me back to the days when my boyfriend, now husband, and I loved to attend concerts (when tickets prices were relatively reasonable). Here are some of our favorites:
U2- the best concerts!
Rod Stewart- fabulous in concert!
Boston
Blood, Sweat, and Tears
Boz Scaggs- remember him?
Air Supply
Pablo Cruise
Doobie Brothers
Toto
Ambrosia
Sammy Hagar
The Pretenders
Those were the days!
On Jan 1, 2008, David said:
Thank you, Dana! All the best for 2008!!
David
On Jan 12, 2008, Mike Petrie said:
You’ve got some great stuff there on your iPod! The soundtrack to an entire generation’s coming of age. My buddy and I traveled across the country in an old VW van whilst listening to that Rod Stuart album on the 8-track. And Joni Mitchell had songs for every mood. Great music that united and defined a generation. Glad you included Emmylou, gotta love that sweet country voice. (One minor correction, though. Dion had long since left the Belmonts when he recorded Abraham, Martin and John.)
Some artists I would add to my own personal growing up Boomer “soundtrack” are – from the 1960s: Joan Baez; Leonard Cohen, The Band, Janis Joplin, The Kinks, Byrds, Cream, Fuggs, Credence Clearwater, The Who, Donovan, The Doors, Dylan, Marianne Faithfull, Stevie Wonder, Yardbirds, Simon & Garfunkel, Beach Boys, Arlo Guthrie, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Ian, Beatles, Steppenwolf, and Shadows of Knight (they did the best version of Gloria ever!)
– And from the 1970s: America , John Denver, Idle Threat, Doobie Brothers, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Genesis, Grateful Dead, Heart, Elton John, GordonLlightfoot, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker Band, Steve Miller, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor . . .
– and the oldies from my youth who I still listen to regularly today and will forever: Jimmy Buffet, Rolling Stones, Bob Marley, et al.
BUT . . . You’re right . . . you DO sound like our parents did back when we were teens! There’s plenty of great new music out there that should be compatible with a Boomer’s musical sensibilities. Try adding a few of these current artists to your playlist: Rilo Kiley, Jack Johnson, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Eddie Vedder, Joan Osborne, Jason Mraz, Donavan Frankenreiter, Gin Blossoms, Jewel, K T Tunstall, Shawn Colvin, Ziggy Marley, Barenaked Ladies, Spin Doctors, Los Lonely Boys, John Mayer, Green Day, Foo Fighters, Matchbox 20, Smashing Pumpkins, Death Cab for Cutie, Amy Winehouse, Paolo Nutini . . .
PLENTY of great new music today . . . not to mention the old bands with new music like Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, or the new album Long Road Out Of Eden from the Eagles.
On Jan 12, 2008, David H. said:
Mike,
You are so correct about Dion. My mistake. But I do not fully agree about ALL contemporary music. Sorry but for me it does not have the enduring qualities of the older stuff.
David
On Jan 12, 2008, Mike Petrie said:
Ha ha. Sorry David, but I just had to chuckle at your comment that “for me it [today’s music] does not have the enduring qualities of the older stuff.” That sounds almost EXACTLY like my father’s attitude on 1960s Rock music.
When you wrote in your piece that you probably sound like our parents when we were teens, I wonder if you were aware just how much. Ha ha (sorry, still chuckling). As you may already know, I’ve kept a journal since I was a teen. Here’s an excerpt I wrote way back in 1967: “According to my dad, none of today’s bands will still be around in five years and nobody will even remember the Rolling Stones or the Beatles. ‘None of them can hold a candle to Dino Martin or Frank Sinatra,’ he says, often adding, ‘This generation of long-haired freaks play in groups of four because they just don’t have the talent to make it as solo performers.’
See what I mean? Like De ja vu all over again. LOL.
The way I see it, each generation has it’s own great music. To my father it was Sinatra. That music certainly has endured – Sinatra songs still sound great. He was a very cool cat. The 50s generation had Do-Wop and Elvis. No one can dispute the enduring qualities of that era. And, we Baby Boomers had the Beatles and Stones. Time has clearly proven my dad to be wrong.
I guess you and I will just have to disagree about contemporary Rock music. I will concede that today’s music does not seem to be quite as important to today’s kids as our music was to us. It was one of the great unifiers of our generation. For that reason alone it will endure as long as Boomers exist, and, perhaps, even beyond our lifetimes. But musically, and speaking as a former musician myself (having played in Rock bands from the late 1960s thru the early 1980s), I think today’s music will be able to hold its own just fine. Time will tell.
But this Big Chill piece was fun. I enjoyed reading it. Thanks.
On Jan 14, 2008, Sue R said:
There are still Boomers out there turning out music. And a lot of it looks at we boomers from todays point of view. Nostaglia is fine for those that have quit enjoying what tomorrow brings.
On Jan 22, 2008, Mike Petrie said:
David,
Thought you might find this interesting. Teens and twenty-somethings apparently agree with YOU about the Boomer music of the 1960s and 70s!! I was down on the beach a few days ago and posed the question to four different groups of young folk, ranging from high school students to mid-twenties: “What decade produced the greatest rock music?” With few exceptions, members from all four groups unequivocally responded with THE SIXTIES!! Several even went so far as to say, “A lot of our music pretty much blows . . . not nearly as good as the old stuff.” Some of the artists they named as “Greats” were Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Doors, and the Beatles.
So, looks like maybe you were right after all. How ‘bout that!