I love having music. When I was growing up, my parents had one of those big long stereos in the family room. I think we could stack 5 or 6 albums and it would play them one at a time. There was always music in our house, and very, very rarely was the TV on – rare as in maybe once every two weeks it got turned on. But, the stereo – Patsy Cline, Connie Francis, Jim Reeves, Marty Robbins . . that’s where my love of old country music started. I can’t remember anywhere I’ve ever lived where I didn’t have some kind of radio or, later, an iPod hookup with speakers, where I could listen to music in the kitchen, in the sewing room . . but rarely in the family room because that’s where the TV was and it was always on.
My parents had a camp at a lake near my grandparents and every weekend, we’d go up there. We’d listen to the Lake Charles radio stations til they were out of range, then switch to a Leesville station and hoped we could get the signal til we got to the camp. Those were the day . . before iPods, earbuds, TV monitors in the back seat. We all listened to the same music and sang along . . for two hours . . every Friday going to the camp and every Sunday going back home.
When we moved to Kentucky, the best thing about that house was that in the corner of the family room was some kind of hookup where you could make the music play in the kitchen, in the master bedroom, in the master bathroom, in the downstairs family room or in the whole house. Vince immediately hooked it up and I could play CDs, the radio and even cassettes. Whatever room I was in, the music was playing, but Vince didn’t have to hear it in the family room. That was the best music set up I’ve ever had and I loved it.
We moved to MO and we knew we weren’t staying there long so I never asked to have any kind of stereo setup. I laugh thinking about it because we hadn’t been in MO a week and Vince was ready to leave. We got there in January and January and February are not good months for my sunshine/warm weather loving husband. Here we are again . . Missouri in January and look who isn’t here. Last time I talked to him this morning, he had 6″ of snow . . in central Texas. You can bet there are lots of happy kids and lots of them building their first snowman. For the record . . no snow in my part of Missouri.
We moved to TX and that was the first thing I asked. Vince wouldn’t put speakers in the ceiling, he didn’t want to deal with running wires to put speakers on the walls so . . no music setup there. I had a CD player in the kitchen but the family room/dining room and kitchen were all one big room so if he was home, the TV was on and I couldn’t play music. In the sewing room, I had Pandora or an iPod going all the time.
Our home in MO now has Bose speakers in the upstairs and downstairs family rooms and the sound is amazing. Vince can sit downstairs and listen to TV with surround sound and I can listen to music upstairs.
I’ve been just listening to the radio. I asked Vince the other day if there was a way to hook up my computer or iPad so I could listen to Pandora in surround sound. He said “just use bluetooth”. What? I didn’t know I could do that with the receiver thing he hooked up. I figured it was something he brought from Texas that was ancient.
Now I’m back to listening to Conway Twitty, Tammy Wynette, Faron Young, Gene Watson . . oh, how I love that old music!
I can crank it up so I can hear it in the kitchen. Last night I actually went outside and walked around to be sure the neighbors weren’t hearing it. Can you imagine the neighbors saying — the old granny next door is keeping us awake at 1 a.m. with some strange music!
vivoaks says
We grew up with country music because dad (and sometimes, mom) played in a country band. Every Saturday night we’d head out to a high school about half an hour from home and there was a dance in the gym for all the locals. Did played and we kids (5 of us plus the other band member’s kids) spent the night dancing away with the adults. When we got tired there was a huge pile of coats backstage on the floor that we were allowed to sleep on top of!! 🙂 Dad played banjo and Hawaiian guitar, and taught guitar lessons at home, so we always had music in the house. We had one of those huge stereos too, and would play up to 10 records at a time – watching them drop, one at a time from the spindle. Ah, the memories…. Thanks!!
Judy Laquidara says
Those were definitely the good old days!
Paula Hidalgo says
That’s my kind of music too, love the old country.
Elle says
I grew up on country too. The only music allowed in the dairy barn. Dad said cows don’t give as much milk to rock and roll 😉
Could you give me the product info on that receiver? I had no idea bluetooth was available. Of course, our receiver was purchased in 1979 😉
Susan Nixon says
In our house it was classical with beautiful cherry wood speakers my dad built. One of the first things I bought for the dorm room was a record player with a turntable that folded down and had two small detachable speakers. I’ve always had music! Right now, I’m playing an Aaron Copland CD on my alarm clock/radio/CD player. My Audi TT had a Bose system with a 5 CD changer and I loved it. I actually miss turntables and records, because you could do that stacking thing and have variety without thinking about it for several hours. Not all tech is an improvement. LOL And I like old country music, too. And 40s. And 60s. But mostly, I listen to classical that isn’t screechy violins.
Sandi B says
This brought all kinds of memories flooding back. I, too, have music on all the time. I bought some bone conduction headphones during the summer (I really like them). I’ll wear them around the house so I don’t have to bother the hubs. He’ll talk to me, and when I make him repeat, I’ll get his frustrated response of “You’re wearing those headphones again, aren’t you?!” And, here I was, trying to be helpful!
Linda Garcia says
I still have my parents old records. Jim Reeves, Marty Robins, Johnny Horton, Roger Miller, Patsy Cline. Love that old music. Now I have a Sonos system. They are speakers that work off WiFi and I can play Pandora, Sirius/XM, I can play music from my computer and all the speakers in the house play the same music. I have music in the kitchen/dinning room, my sewing room and the master bedroom. I can play any or all the speakers at once. Each speaker is around $200. I bought them one at a time and expanded my system gradually.
Judy Laquidara says
Oh, Johnny Horton! We had his record(s) too! How nice to have those records. Sounds like a nice speaker system.
Duane W. says
I love the old country, and listen to it all the time. I didn’t know anything else existed until the Beatles came over, that is when I started listening to two stations instead of one. The modern country songs just cannot compare to old Conway, Loretta, George, Merle, Marty, Faron, Patsy, and on and on. We grew up in a magic time, and didn’t realize it until years later.
Judy Laquidara says
We definitely grew up in the best time to be growing up.
Bon says
I love the old Country Music. The new stuff not so much. I really got into Country when I lived in Kansas in the 70s. Good stuff.
Donna in KS says
Bon, where in KS were you? KFDI land/area? One of our sons went to GTC classes with son of one of those DJs. That’s when we developed our love for classic country! Previously, my emphasis had been sacred music and school glee club.
Donna in KS says
forgot, clarinet and piano lessons, organ lessons later, I loved band, B flat clarinet and alto clarinet. I was exposed to quite a variety now that I really think about it!
Bon says
Donna in KS, I lived in Shawnee Mission. I can’t remember the call letters of the station I listened to.
Sherry in NC says
I grew up with the old country music also. My aunt had an all girl band called the Nashville Kitty Cats and played all over the east coast. They even were opening acts for some famous female country singers in Nashville. When I lived in PA in my early 20’s my friends and I would drive down the road blasting country music. One friend of mine had a truck driver father and we would also blast trucker songs like “Give me 40 Acres And I’ll Turn This Rig Around.” A friend and I went to Ohio once for an outdoor concert. The headliner was Marty Robbins. We got to stand next to the stage and dance to the music. The very best part was that I got an autograph and a kiss. I even have a picture to prove it. Made a young girl’s day! This conversation make me want to get back to listening to that old music more often. Thanks, ladies!
Judy Laquidara says
I’m impressed! 🙂
Ruth says
We had a stereo that would let you stack 5 or 6 records on the spindle and drop them down one by one to play. We would do our Saturday chores and sing along with the Broadway Musicals that were our mother’s favorites.
I miss the stacking spindles!! I’ve not seen a single one on any new record player. I finally had to just buy a player that plays one record at a time, lasts 15 minutes. It does turn itself off then, so the needle doesn’t keep playing the last groove.
I’ve noticed that newer songs have the words and the music playing at the same sound level, so that you have to really listen hard to understand the words over the beat of the music. I always considered the words more important than the music. Makes it hard to listen to the newer stuff.