The Teen Years
It was just a matter of time (and money) before I moved from 45’s to LP’s.
The first album I bought was The Mamas and Papas “If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears”. A $5 gift was just enough to get one record and have a bit of change. I deliberated for a long time at K-Mart, making this choice because there were multiple favorites, “California Dreaming” and “Monday, Monday”. Pictured below is the original/quickly censored version of the cover showing the toilet. My copy, like most, had that covered up, cuz you know, that image was pretty unsuitable for public consumption.
Opening the LP had me flummoxed as it was tightly wrapped in plastic aka shrink wrap, something I’d never encountered. It was so hard to remove that I finally took a pocket knife and cut open the top seam. The plastic popped off and then it was obvious that the pocket was on the side. Oops.
My parents wouldn’t let me work during high school but they did throw me some cash for chores, which were constant. I continued to buy 45’s here and there—especially ones with pic sleeves—but my interest moved to LP’s. As the 60’s underground filtered into Terre Haute, WTHI, and AM Top 40 station launched “Sunday Subway” on Sunday nights, where they played all the albums that were too heavy or weird for their regular format.
Soon, I had Grand Funk RR, Cream, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and other rock LP’s in my collection. Format confusion set in, as my best friend (who actually had a job) started buying cassettes instead of records. I got a portable cassette player and emulated him, so my collection diverged into both formats.
Like most high schools in those days, there were sock hops after basketball and football games. These featured actual local bands who were quite good. Being the sports editor of the high school paper, I never missed a game, and always stayed after for the bands. What a wonderful thing! Even Terre Haute, population 70k, had several good bands. The XL’s were the one I saw the most because some of their members had gone to my school. I also got to see Massachusettes Assembly (they added the “e”), Fruitridge Aquarium, The Soul Messengers, and others that I wish I hadn’t forgotten. Turns out that the XL’s released two local 45’s that are highly collected now.
It didn’t occur to me to buy them at their shows probably because I was holding on to my limited cash for “real” records. I only learned a few years ago that Massachusettes Assembly also released a 45. Through Terre Haute FB groups I also found out that Soul Messengers and Fruitridge Aquarium had studio recordings that went unreleased.
My first big concert was Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars in 1966, which blew me away. Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, Bobby Hebb, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Brian Hyland, Distant Cousins, and (gasp) The Yardbirds, who had just lost Jeff Beck, leaving Jimmy Page as the lone guitarist. I loved every one of the acts except the Yardbirds, who were way too hard for my 13 year old brain, though I did love hearing “For Your Love” and some of the other recognizable songs. Little did I know that they would turn into Led Zeppelin.
In my junior year, heartbreak. I was cut from the baseball team. I continued on as sports editor but I spent the unexpected spare time on records. While my love for sports never disappeared, my childhood dream of being a professional baseball player was gone. Changes were afoot.