Stopped by Starbucks this eve and at the cash register I found a new CD of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper and couldn't resist it. Haven't owned it in many years -- but perfectly, perfectly remember the first time I heard it. We were visiting "Sally"'s relatives in Utah, sitting on the floor at her home with the new record, and both completely, utterly blown away by the emotional impact and the structural genius of the album. Listening now, I haven't changed my mind at all. Was that the last piece of "pop music" to blow me away? It might have been. And that's good -- getting blown away too often cheapens "genius", after all. One or two geniuses a generation are plenty (Bob Dylan, the Beatles).
The "2nd side" of Sgt. Pepper especially blows me away. (But Abbey Road is probably my favorite album by them.)
There are only a handful of songs about which I remember the exact context of first hearing them: Little Walter's "My Babe," Little Richard's "Jenny Jenny," Buddy Holly's "That'll Be The Day," Ramblin' Jack Elliott's Woody Guthrie album, Sgt. Pepper, Sinatra's Only the Lonely album.
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