...and I ended up with much of his record collection.
He graduated from Mission High School in San Francisco in 1955.
His high school years seemed to be dominated by the likes of Dave Brubeck, Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, and all that California cool jazz stuff. And in retrospect, his style reflected that. He was clearly a Brubeckian. He also had quite a bit of Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong... older stuff like that. He did buy records as a kid, and mostly LP's.
I don't recall ever seeing any Chuck Berry or Bo Diddley or even any Elvis. Not a single note of early rock 'n roll. In those days, after high school, he was buying Miles Davis and Charlie Parker and all that great jazz. I have no idea what my mother listed to before they got married in 1958, although I think she tended more towards folk music.
When Dylan came around, they both loved him. Dad had every Dylan record up to Blood on the Tracks. I think that Dylan led them both towards Pete Seeger and the Weavers and the Kingston Trio and the like, although Mom may have been listening to that kind of music earlier.
Since we were in the Bay Area, once the folkies turned into rockers, their record collection started including a lot of Jefferson Airplane and Quicksilver and Country Joe, but no Grateful Dead. They were both rather amused in the late 70's when I started going to Dead shows. And probably a little horrified! They went and saw Big Brother and the Holding Company at the Avalon Ballroom in 1967, shortly before we moved to New York. They both (quite rightly!) loved Janis Joplin.
By the mid-60's, Mom liked the Beatles and Dad liked the Stones, and that's what attracted me to their record collection when I was a kid. Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds was my favorite song when I was 5 years old. I'll never forget that day in about 1970 when Dad sat me down in front of the stereo and said "OK, now I want you to listen to this..." It was Jimi Hendrix playing The Star Spangled Banner, and I grew up a little bit that afternoon.
I've always thought that I was a little weird for my generation, listening to exactly the same music that my parents listened to. I don't think that's quite as unusual for people who are younger than me. And, I think that my folks were a little weird for their generation. They were just a few years too old to be hippies, but they listened to hippie music.
I know this isn't exactly what you asked, but there you go...
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