Today cleaning up our apartment I was listening to a jazz record by an extremely talented guitar player named Wes Montgomery. You probably have no idea who he is unless you are into jazz or just love guitar music.
I first heard his music in 2004 when I was working part time at an antique store called Antiques on the Square, If you are ever in Marietta it's a great place to see. Jim the owner/manager/sales staff was starting to expand the sale of vinyl records and needed some help getting all the albums cataloged and priced.
At the time I was going into my Junior year in high school and had really just discovered a rabid fascination with music I was listening to everything I could get my hands on and learning all I could about the artists I liked. The Clash, Jimi Hendrix, the Velvet Underground, Lynyrd Skynyrd and so many more. I played in a punk rock band I think we were called 10 Gun Consortium, it's hard to tell for sure because I played with some incarceration of that band for about six years and we changed our name about 30 times.
At the antiques store Jim and his wife Melissa always kept music on usually jazz, blues, pop and rock that didn't offend anyone that may wonder into the store, these days they have one of the most extensive record catalogues in north Atlanta so there is no telling what you may hear them playing.
As I was going through all these albums Id come across artists I'd never heard of like Stanley Jordan, Herb Alpert, Boston, Suzie Quatro, and Lightning Hopins. If it was something I hadn't heard we would listen to it, and more often than not I would like it. When I ran across something that I liked that Jim thought was lame he never said, "wow that is terrible, why would you listen to that?", or any of the typical responses, he would always say something like, "that's not really my thing but I understand why you like it".
Through the years working there during summer vacation and Christmas break I would sit near the stereo and expand my knowledge, correct my misconceptions, and talk about music.
I am forever indebted to Jim and Melissa for many reasons, one is they let me keep a lot of records, mostly albums without covers they couldn't sell or that were badly damaged, another is they showed me how awesome the Beatles are. At the time I was working there I had only heard the songs my mom liked, "Obla di, Obla da" and "Yellow Submarine" the sort of happy tunes that made them famous and I was listening to Motorhead, Soundgarden, Megadeth the sort of bands that want to "Shake your Blood" not the kind that "Wanna Hold Your Hand". They let me hear songs like "Happyness is a Warm Gun" and "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" that appealed to my sick, twisted teenage mind.
It's a pleasure to listen to these songs today and remember the first time I heard them, the way I felt and how they have made their impact in my life in their own way. here's a link to a Wes Montgomery tune, I hope all of you enjoy it- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOm17yw__6U
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