I have been working quite a bit lately. Staying busy has always been one of my top priorities, but for the last three weeks or so, I hadn’t really had a chance to wind down.

I have been staying torn between several priorities, including doing my regular job, helping on a church newsletter and also volunteering to help put out a publication for the county fair.

Friday evening, I got off work and went to an event to bid farewell to Leanne Murray, after which I took my family to a 4-H cookout at the Lions Club Pavilion. The hamburgers and hot dogs were both delicious. I had the opportunity to talk to several people I have seldom spent time with, so I really enjoyed that time of eating and relaxation.

Saturday, we had friends over for another cookout with grilled chicken and potatoes. You just can’t go wrong on a grill in the summertime. I hardly eat a piece of meat that hasn’t been cooked on an outdoor grill. Saturday evening, I drove to Virginia to pick up my parents and took them to Boone to watch a concert with the Coasters, the Drifters and the Platters.

The Platters were the only group that I would have recognized by sight. Of course, they were also the oldest group.

The others had added names to their roster, as well as to their titles. I’m not even sure if any of the band members were original or not. However, the sound was fairly true to form.

There were a number of talented singers in the groups, some featuring more than one singer in their performances.

The concert was held in the football stadium, which meant hard metal benches for seats and no seat backs, but that was a fairly minor inconvenience.

Below the stage, a dance floor had been constructed directly in front of the stage, which was set up around the 50-yard line on the field. The dance floor was packed with people after the first few minutes of the show and stayed that way for most of the night, with the exception of the 20-minute intermission that was held before the Drifters came on last.

I noticed that most of the crowd was older than I, although many of them were obviously too young to remember dancing to songs from 1961. However, with the popularity of ‘shagging’ in this state, there are many people in their 40s and 50s who enjoy listening to the older music.

My parents seemed to enjoy the show, although it is sometimes hard to tell. My mother had most of the records that were included in the performance. My father was not a rock ‘n’ roll fan, he preferred the big band sounds of that era. However, he went along and listened to the music, telling me once that he could remember hearing those songs on the radio.

I suppose you tuned in whatever your date wanted to hear in those days. Of course, my mother also told me that she made my father take her home because he took his shoes off in the car while they were watching a movie. While that struck me as funny, it wasn’t quite the way I had thought. It wasn’t because his feet were stinking up the place. She didn’t think it was appropriate for him to be that comfortable around her yet.

Just think about how much different the world is today as compared to then.

Anyway, I have always enjoyed listening to the older music and I thought it would be an opportunity to relax and hear some good music. One of the performers asked the crowd if they could remember the early 60s, when people could understand every word the singers were saying. That prompted my mother to reflect, “They just don’t make music like that any more.”

As I listened to songs like, “Under the Boardwalk,” “Only You,” “The Great Pretender” and others, I would tend to agree. However, I can’t say it is necessarily a bad thing. That music was the foundation upon which the music of today was constructed.

Music isn’t a solid, unchanging thing. It is more like a formless, shapeless thing that grows and changes as more ideas and sounds are pumped into it. Sure, the earlier music reflects an earlier time, perhaps even a more simple time, while the music of today reflects the feelings and sounds of today’s generations.

I do wonder if today’s generation will wander away from home in their elder years to listen to the sounds of Britney Spears. I doubt it. Perhaps some of the performers, like Tom Petty, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson will have a lasting influence.

But most will just fade away into the void, replaced by a new sound.

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