Wednesday, April 02, 2014

The Gift of Music

Miles' iPod Nano
As I wrote in my previous post, my eldest son Miles recently turned 10. He asked Eleanor and I for an iPod Nano for his birthday and we felt he was old enough and responsible enough, so we obliged. I remember receiving my first Walkman when I was around his age and music has been by my side ever since. Upon purchasing the Nano, I was given the responsibility of adding songs to it. A responsibility that I gladly accepted, looked forward to, and took seriously. I found myself asking the question, "To which genres of music do I want Miles exposed?" I remember my Pops sharing Motown with me when I was 9 years old. I still remember when he put a 45 of the Temptations' "My Girl" on the record player. I remember like it was yesterday, the opening of the song with James Jamersons' bass notes setting the mood. Then, after that tune concluded, my Pops put on the Jackson 5's "Dancing Machine," then, Stevie Wonder's "The Sunshine of My Life," and the rest is history. I wanted Miles to experience that seminal moment, when time stopped, when he heard the opening bass notes, finger snaps, hand claps, vocals etc. of different tunes. Here's a sample of what I put on the Nano (Don't worry, I'm not going to go through the entire alphabet).



A: Aretha and Adele, and of course AWB (The Average White Band)

B: Bob (Marley) was a must. Miles already loved "Three Little Birds," Booker T. and The Mg's "Green Onions," yes, please! And one of my current favorites, The Black Keys

C: Chic as in "Le Freak," of course. Niles Rodgers of Chic is a genius. Also, The Clash and Curtis Mayfield. Music with a message is a must!

D: Dexter Gordon (My favorite jazz musician), Donny Hathaway, and the Duke [Ellington]

F: Fatboy Slim (Miles digs him)

J: The Jackson 5, James Brown, John Coltrane, and Jamiroquai

M: Marvin [Gaye], Michael [Jackson], Maroon 5, and his namesake Miles [Davis]

N: Nirvana (Miles loves Smells Like Teen Spirit)

P: Pink Martini and of course Paul Weller

R: Ray Charles

S: Sly and The Family Stone, Soul II Soul, The Specials, and Stevie [Wonder]

T: Tears For Fears, Thelonious [Monk], and Thievery Corporation

U: U2

W: The White Stripes "We're Going to Be Friends"

I loved adding the above tunes and others to Miles' Nano and I have enjoyed his reactions to the different tunes.

This should be a good start......

What tunes would you add to a child/loved ones iPod?



2 comments:

Unknown said...

Ummmmm, I think you left out a very important S. ; )

Unknown said...
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