It was 70 years ago (today) Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play.  The original song started, “it was Twenty years ago…,” but then add the 50 years when the album was released and Sergeant Pepper and most of the band members would be lucky to be alive today.   I was 15 years old when the album was released on June 2, 1967.  Very soon after that date, I was able to listen to it in STEREO – a first time experience for me.

A friend of mine had just bought a new stereo for his room and invited me over to listen.  We laid between the two speakers, wowed by the back-and-forth vocal exchanges.  I don’t want to say it was a life-changing experience, but it certainly was memorable.  None of my other friends had their own personal stereo, but this kid’s father was a car dealer, and stereo radio was making its way into the automotive industry.  His family also had color television before anyone else, if for no other reason than because they were wealthy.  I didn’t even have my driver’s license yet, let alone a car, so my parents had to drop me off.  We were up all night listening to stereo magic.

It was two years later before I got my first stereo, just in time to go to college with me.  That was also very memorable, particularly picking out some music to go with it.  I drove myself to the local discount store and recall having a tough time finding albums that had a “STEREO” sticker on the cover.  I was not familiar with groups like The Doors and Led Zeppelin, so there was a sense of disappointment in my selections.  The Beatles albums were sold out, so I couldn’t even get my own copy of Sgt Pepper.  I remember being intrigued with The Doors’ People Are Strange title, and fascinated with the image of the flaming airship.  Also, stereo albums were a dollar more and I was only able to afford these two unknowns.

These two albums continue to be at the top of my favorites, and magically vaulted me into the concert world of late 1969.  I saw bad-boy Jim Morrison in a small venue, repelled by his on-stage antics.  I then saw Led Zeppelin at the huge Oakland Coliseum.  I would have never known either group if it hadn’t been for my first experience in the record department.  In retrospect, those were two monster albums that started my collection, and two of my concert experiences that others are most envious.

For obvious reasons, I never got to see Jim Morrison again, and Zeppelin only in solo performances throughout the years.  My trip to California, and the chance encounter with Led Zeppelin are some of my greatest memories.  I promise to write more about it.  Musicians seem to never retire.  They either die young, or perform as long as we will listen, and their music lives on forever!