The Anthem of My Youth

Recent writings at Secret Garden and Dharma Bums have inspired a spirit of nostalgia. Led me off down spirals of thought, long buried. Now reawakened. Rexroth’s Daughter’s musical reminiscences and ponderings made me think of my own early-mid teenage experiences of music. 1973/74. I feel privileged to have had at that time, as one of my two best friends, the friendship of a girl who had four older siblings (I am the eldest in my family). Johnny, her eldest brother, was somewhat of an eccentric music buff. With wonderfully eclectic tastes. It meant that I was exposed to albums my Pink Floyd generation might otherwise have denied me. Everything from JJ Cale, Traffic, Cream, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee, through to The Moody Blues, John Lee Hooker, Van Morrison and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Amongst numerous other musicians. Any of which, heard now, produce intense stabs of welcome nostalgia. Although, through the ensuing years, it is Van Morrison who has constantly maintained the strongest position, in this regard. Moondance, the song, is probably the anthem of my youth.