THE PARENT MUSIC CONNECTION

Mom (Pro): 1. Willie Nelson 2. George Jones 3. Freddy Fender 4. Johnny Cash

Mom (Con): 1. Eddie Rabbit 2. Christopher Cross 3. Chris DeBarge ("The Lady in Red")

Positive legacies of my mum: The Beatles, Abba, Del Shannon, Simon and Garfunkel, Gilbert O'Sullivan.

Negative: "Blue Suede Shoes", Barbara Dickson, there must be others but I can't call them to mind at the moment.

This is tough - ultimately there might only be a couple of Neil Diamond songs that my Dad and I can bond over. My folks like Sinatra, but not the period I like.

Negative is easier. Mum: Joe Dolan, Demis Roussos, CdB, Westlife. Dad: Lena Martell, "Mull of Kintyre", Shirley Bassey.

Well, there's this, but it's just a start really. I haf a Part Two part-written, naturally — but it still doesn't address the Beatles thing.

Dad - was quite the hipster, dig? The cat could be found wherever the woodchoppers were swingin' their axes. (This is according to him, and only happened years before I was born.) He liked both bop and cool, and anything Afro-Cuban was immediately purchased. (For somebody whose attitudes are not untypical of a second-generation blue-collar Italian-Canadian, his record collection was pretty lopsided in favour of black music - along with jazz, the other huge chunk of his collection was funk and disco. The 'white' end of the collection was uncannily like Tim Gane's probably is - 'leftfield' rock [since he was getting a bit slow on the info uptake in that department, he'd just purloin mine - post-punk and obscure prog were guaranteed to be stolen], incredibly cheesy garbage ('Hello From Ontario! EZ-listening provincial songs in AstroGroove'), albums of chart pap from Portugal and Lithuania. (For somebody who liked to conduct himself like General Patton most of the time, it was weird how many records he had by 'Experimental Arty Percussion Workshop'-type ensembles, usually 100-copy limited editions by local communes populated by the draft dodgers so plentiful in 70s British Columbia.) I DEFINITELY got my buy-everything aesthetic from him - he'd buy 'Agharta' and 'Chicago XIV' at the same time and give them the same attention on purchase.

Mom was a bit different, she once said the "Beatles were too noisy, the Carpenters versions are what they SHOULD be like", despised Jimi Hendrix ("that HORRIBLE GREASY JUNKIE"), and even disliked that Canadian institution Gordon Lightfoot, for which the mounties burned our barn down.

i would have been proud to have had a parent get me into the carpenters. instead, embarrassingly, i had to do it myself by walking up to a 2nd hand record salesman with a £2 LP copy of their greatest hits and a rocket from the crypt cassette. "so i take it the carpenters are for your mum and rocket from the crypt are for you are they?" when in truth it was closer to the other way round.

My dad has a John Cage/Luciano Berio record that he'd play every so often when my mom wasn't around. That's really about it for their interests in post-1900 music. But I picked up a lot of what I know about classical music from them.

3. Chris DeBarge ("The Lady in Red")
My father mainly listened to Northern Soul. So what did he like when it came to contemporary musick??? He picks Chris fekking DeBlergh.
My mother never played much music as my dad was too busy playing Doo Wop, Major Lance and Ramsey Lewis. He did buy her some Eurythmics records.

Dad: + Buddy Holly, Lonnie Donegan
Dad: - Slim Whitman, '7 Brides for Seven Brothers', Jim Reeves, Nana Maskouri, trad Jazz

Mum: + Handel's 'Messiah', Hymns of John Wesley,
Mum: - Gilber + Sullivan, lots of bland MOR Christian fluf eg covers of Joe Cocker/Jennifer Warnes 'Up were we belong'.

Mum: Nat King Cole/ Bing Crosby/ The instrumental guitar bloke (with buddy Holly glasses- name escapes me).

Dad: Queen.

I didn't pick up much, to be honest.

I have a feeling this is on some other thread, but:

Like: Herb Albert & the Tijuana Brass, the Ventures, Judy Collins, Burl Ives, the Dr Zhivago soundtrack.

Dislike: Irish folk music, "The Wind Beneath My Wings" (the most evil song ever written), quaint New England comedy records.

("the instrumental guitar bloke (with Buddy Holly glasses — name escapes me)" = hank marvin possibly?)

Yes, I think that's right. My mum likes the Shadows, as well.

Ma: Neil Diamond, Carole King, Otis Redding [Destroy: Bob Seger, Barenaked Ladies, Musicals]
Pa: Hank Williams
Kids to them: Cat Power, Ryan Adams, U2

My parents shun all forms of art.

No really they don't listen to shit music even. or read books. *all* forms of art.

Mike:

>>> My folks like Sinatra, but not the period I like.

I'm surprised they like him at all, given that there was that local lad that outsung him when he came to Liverpool, like, la.

So you *still* don't like 'Mull of Kintyre'?

What about 'Without You'? You, at least, love that one.

In retrospect, I like what I remember of my mom's taste in music.

I associate Billie Holiday with her, in particular. She liked Billie Holiday a great deal, but didn't have any records by her. (My mom didn't have many records. She saw them as a luxury that she couldn't really spend money on.) Eventually, I heard a special about Billie Holiday on the college radio station I listened to in high school and college, and I started to appreciate her. After that I bought my mom some of her records. I remember my brother and sister saying, "I didn't know she liked her." I paid more attention to such things than they did. I still associate Billie Holiday with memory's of my mother.

On the other hand, I have never really gotten into the early jazz and big band music that she liked: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Glenn Miller, etc. And I do kind of think of it as being for my mom's generation (even though in another way I definitely see that it transcends her generation). My mother used to spend a lot of time watching "old movies" on TV, which I usually found kind of dreary, so I tend to be turned off by any music I associate with those movies.

My mom listened to a little bit of classical music, which, for the most part, I do not like, though for a while I shared her taster for Medieval music. Also, still like some Baroque, which might have been her favorite period. I even have had to admit that I (uncharacteristically) like "Swan Lake," which she used to listen to quite frequently. (She didn't really have many records to pick from.) So to the extent that I don't like most classical music, I don't think it's a result of reacting negatively to what my mom listened to.

I've gotten to like salsa over the last four years, and I like knowing that my mom used to listen to this on the radio sometimes. I didn't really like it at the time, though she made it seem fun. It's not as if she had any in-depth knowledge of the music, but as something to listen to on the radio, she liked it.

I remember once being in a bookstore with my mom and dad while James Browm's "Sex Machine" was playing over the stereo system. I thought this might bother my mother, was in some ways pretty conservative, and definitely a devout Christian, but when we left the store, she commented: "I like that music."

In general, my mom was open to R&B and rock and roll (though not at its "hardest" extremes). I don't remember being forced to listen to "oldies" while riding in the car. If she were still alive, I think I could get her to appreciate Arabic music. I can't imagine her watching a video of one of Oum Kalthoum's performances and not appreciating it at least a little. Though she was, I think, slightly prejudiced against Arabs, I believe it was mostly because of her impression (which has plenty of basis in reality, or that's my impression anyway) of the way women were treated in Arabic countries; so I don't think it would have interefered with her appreciating strong female performers from the Arab world.

I don't really associate any particular music with my father. My father likes music, but it's not something he ever really focused on much. (To some extent, he seems more interested in it since my mom has died, and he has retired.) He doesn't express his enthusiasm for it in a way that makes me confident that he enjoys it as much, or at any rate, in the same way that I do. One time when I was playing the first song on the second side of X's "Under the Big Black Sun," which I think is "Because I Do," he commented that he liked that drumming.

I remember finding some very corny sounding 45's (e.g., something called "Hot Toddy") that apparently belonged to my parents, but I don't remember them ever listening to them.

Very little of what I listened to ever really phased my parents. My mom occasionally commented negatively on some of the more punk things I listened to. The most violent reaction I can remember her having to music I listened to was when I was blasting "Come Out to Show Them" in my bedroom and she could hear it downstairs. I once went with my parents and one my friends to an opening for an exhibit of John Cage prints. Cage was there, and afterward my mother commented that he seemed like a pleasant, mild-mannered sort of person, not what she'd expected from his music. (I don't think she was aware of the anti-expressionistic theory behind Cage's work.)

my father is why i love dylan
my mother is why i worship the divas of country

"I'm surprised they like him at all, given that there was that local lad that outsung him when he came to Liverpool, like, la."

Oh yes, the "Sinatra spent more time drinking water than singing" revelations. This is one in a long line of incidents where my folks (usually just my Dad) see a living legend in performance and are thoroughly nonplussed*. Stanley Matthews and George Best never had a good game against Everton (apparently), and Pele was carried off injured in the '66 World Cup at Goodison.

(* = one shining exception: Norman Collier).

"So you *still* don't like 'Mull of Kintyre'?"

Come to think of it, nearly every one of my selections above is (perhaps revealingly) not merely something I disliked but actually things I *pretended to like* so as to not to hurt ma'n'pa's feelings. Which is perhaps why I remember them. Other examples: "Vienna" and "Woman" (Lennon).

"What about 'Without You'? You, at least, love that one."

Falls into a different category of things we all liked (rather than being something their interest introduced me to). See also: Middle of the Road, Abba.

At a stretch I could make a case for Dad alerting me to the joys of Matt Monro and Scott Walker.

Mom +: Motown, Randy Travis Mom -: Michael Bolton, Celine Dion

my parents are not big music fans, but my mum has her share of vynil. i remember pawing through her 45s... one of those was the small faces' "itchycoo park" + "i'm only dreaming"... that hooked me on to the small faces. also from mum i picked up the beatles, the carpenters and simon & garfunkel, and from my dad i picked up credence clearwater revival.

as for appaling music... my dad has this thing with fausto papetti. some of his renditions are simply... awful. but i learnt to like them as time went by.

Steady Mike In "I only pretended to like 'Vienna'" ShoXoRer. (Well, *I'm* shocked.)

dad +: stevie wonder, jimi hendrix, electric blues, four tops, rolling stones, beatles, fusion era miles davis, jazz in general, jimmy cliff
dad -: hall and oates, tina turner
i'm still not sure what i think of keith jarrett but my dad introduced me to him anyway.
mom +: kronos quartet, renaissance music, glenn branca (?!)
mom -: nana mouskouri, michael bolton, christmas carols, enya
as far as turning them onto new music...i dunno. my parents are pretty easy going as far as music is concerned and pretty much dig whatever i'm listening to. my dad seemed to really dig evan parker and sun ra when i took him to see them, though.

mum: dion. charlie & inez foxx

dad: .

Mom: Hee Haw.

I believe that says it all. Weekly exposure to the latest hits and greatest gems of the country western world.

+ve - the beatles, the kinks, the rolling stones, the byrds, abba, michael jackson, the beach boys, the hollies.

-ve - cat stevens.

last night we had a sing along and i knew all the leonard cojen, a chunk of the dylan, some of the beatles and no floyd, this is my parents doing

+ Hazel Dickens, mountain music (mandolin, fiddle, etc), Bob Dylan, Willie, BOB WILLS, hot jazz

- Butterfield Blues Band, Judy Collins, 'mood-setting' Christmas madrigals crap

Yes, they stopped listening to recorded music in 1969. Those of you who know me will not be surprised to learn that I consider this a positive example.

Air Supply

In my family it was ME who listened to Air Supply!

My parents' record collection is really weird and wonderful and I've spent a tremendous amount of time plundering it (and stealing from it) through the years. Obscure early Greenwich Village folk also-rans next to '40s and '50s doo-wop next to hard bop next to middling live albums by aging jazz vocalists next to urbane '60s hippie-prog with horn sections next to field-recording blues and show music and old-skool rap and budget classical. I blame my dad for Steely Dan; I blame my mom for Jacques Brel.

I blame my dad for steely dan. I blame my mum for joni mitchell.

plus for Dad: Hank Williams Jr., Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Elvis Presley; Stevie Wonder
minus for Dad: the Doobie Brothers; the Eagles

plus for Mom: ummm, she liked the sort of stuff that Stereolab and Sean O'Hagan like, only well before either made it ahem "acceptable" to like it. (so i guess bacharach and the carpenters?)
minus for Mom: Jesus Freak music

I thought this thread was gonna be about the PMRC. I was pleasantly surprised.

Dad (Good): Sam Cooke, early Beatles, Boston, Fleetwood Mac, some of that good country stuff like Dwight Yoakam and Travis Tritt, The Turtles, Jackson Browne
Dad (Bad): Shania Twain, James Taylor, bad country novelty shit, every bad country song of the last fifteen years, Bob Seger. There was a point where I hated all of my dad's music, but I've come around.

Mom (Good): Almost nothing. Maybe a little Carpenters, "Leavin' on a Jet Plane."
Mom (Bad): All other Peter Paul and Mary songs, Lynn Anderson's "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden," Mary Hopkins' "Those Were the Days," some truly awful shit called "Angel Dance"

whoops, with Dad i meant Hank Williams, Senior. as conservative as Dad is, i think that even he doesn't like Junior.

That stuff DeRayMi wrote sounds like it was written by a 5th grader.

Dad: Joni Mitchell, Fairport Convention, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Caetano Veloso, Zeca Afonso, GNR (Grupo Novo Rock, not Guns 'N' Roses), BOB DYLAN, Rod Stewart, Neil Young.

Mum: Velvet Underground/Lou Reed, Talking Heads, David Bowie (to a degree), David Byrne, Brian Eno, The Clash, Black Sabbath.

I WUV MY PARENTS!

Oh yes, my dad was big into THE KINKS as well, hooray! He could be awful closed-minded, tho: loved Blues but hated Soul, Disco, all electronic music too. Despised Sly Stone, John Forgetry and (this is a lesser sin) Pink Floyd. These days it's totally the other way around, he seems to have grown tolerant for damn near everything...whenever I turn on the TV and there's music on he goes "oh, I like that", no matter if it's Ryan Adams or M'Shell Ngedeceleo or Mudavayne.

The Beatles, mainly.

I wouldn't say there were any negative tastes they had that I was really hating, although I was never quite turned into those left-oriented 70s Norwegian language singer/songwriters that they are still heavily into. Same about my dad's jazz tastes (besides it seems my mum - the one Beatles fan among them - decided more which music was to be played than my dad did anyway)

Throughout the years, I have probably turned my mum more into music acts than the opposite way round though.

Father -> Pink Floyd, Genesis, Yes, Jethro Tull, Beatles and the classic portuguese intervention singers (José Afonso, Sérgio Godinho, etc) - Daniel, é sempre bom ver pessoal português por aqui!

Mother -> Cat Stevens, Simon & Garfunkel

All of it = good music

Dave Q's post above is one of his lost classics (and does go quite some way towards explaining his worthy attitude towards music).

Um...in my case I really don't know. Scattered albums, mainly, a few things here and there like the Evita stage recording (New York cast) and the like. I was never seized by the impulse to go through their record collection except maybe once in high school -- instead it was the radio and then what I bought on my own. We all listened to top forty radio as a default, so I'm glad of that rather than any other station!

My mom's taste was pretty typical of her generation. She took me to Peter Paul and Mary concerts and stuff. She rarely listens to the music I buy her, I think, and never listens to her old LPs even though a few years back we went and bought her a new sound system.

I have "The Circle Game" in my head now. I song I ought to despise, but I quite like, as much for reasons of nostalgia as anything else. (I mean a carousel seems like the worst possible analogy for life, unless you account for the moment that the attendant pulls the lever and it comes to a grinding halt.)

My dad gave me soul music, a deep appreciation of the 45, and an understanding that crappy, stupid little records are sometimes the best. I love my dad a lot.

Another thing my parents passed on to me: their utter indifference to the Beatles. Oh, they had all the albums and a bunch of the solo releases, but none of this was EVER played around the house. I kinda had to discover it on my own, and my "Beatles phase" didn't last that long. My dad actually once said he would die a perfectly contented man if he never heard another Beatles song again.

Reviving this thread, but my question might have been covered elsewhere... shit, I may have even asked it before:

Did many of you get into music via singing with family/parents? My dad would sing a lot of old folk songs, but pop/country stuff too. I knew the following songs from my dad years before I heard the recorded versions:

Space Oddity - Bowie
White Lightning - George Jones
Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag - Country Joe and Fish
Smoke That Cigarette - Tex Williams
Rye Whiskey and Blood on the Saddle - Tex Ritter
Wings of a Dove - Ferlin Husky
Fireball - Whoever does Fireball

Bowie has been my #1 favorite for years now, but I purchased my first Bowie knowing none of his work other than "Space Oddity." I had always assumed it was the theme to some Sci-Fi show that my dad watched as a kid, but one day I heard it at a friend's house and said "Whaa?!"

Pozo-Seco Singers

My dad loved Bob Marley. I started to really get into reggae, and of course, that included Marley. I really wanted to avoid the conversation that would surely ensue when he'd walk into the livingroom and there I'd be, sitting at the computer and listening to Marley and he'd say, "Is this... Bob Marley? I have his old records! (etc)." Every time I knew my dad was home I'd switch to something different or turn it down really quietly. Eventually he found out anyway. Did you people do this too? I'm so weird.

pro, dad: beach boys. the man hates music yet had a pristine vinyl of pet sounds. had.

con, mom: billy goddamn joel.

Parents, Pro: Dylan, The Beatles, very large swaths of classical music

Parents, Con: Simon and Garfunkel, Steely Dan, Opera

Both my parents were big Zappa fans, my dad especially. He would inflict various records upon us until we begged him to stop. Eventually I caved and agreed to like it.

Mum used to play Thriller to stop me crying when I was a baby. You can trace almost all of my musical tastes back to that, I think. It's still my favourite album. She was also big into Prince, and that definitely had an effect on me too.