The nostalgia of Mystery Train

Recently I wrote an essay on a book by Greil Marcus called Mystery Train. Mystery Train is book that includes the history of rock & roll whether it'd be the early years of Harmonica Frank in the 1950's onto the bad ass stylings of Little Richard, Sly Stone, and the King himself, Elvis Presley. As I finished my essay, I realized that there is a delicate nostaliga that lies deep within my heart that makes me miss the 1960's. Now, you're probably rather confused that a sixteen year old has a sense of nostaliga from the sixties, but the culture of the sixites was phonomenal. No, I'm not reffering to the stoner counterculture of the sixties, as much as I love my Jimi Hendrix album doesn't mean that I'm going to go and do acid and then rebel against the Vietnam war. The 1960's brought about a pleasant time, on the brink of changing in the United States, what I love about the 1960's is the simplicity and how such a changing time brought about a whole movement and country focused around the a lot of the same things.

Here is an excerpt from my essay:

"In 1951 Sam Philips set out to become the founder of what would later become known as Sun Records. Philips was dedicated to finding somebody who had the talent of the later 40’s African American blues artists but who was white. “If I could find a white man who had the Negro sound and the Negro feel, I could make a billion dollar,” Philips said. One of Philips’s first attempts was a man who went by Harmonica Frank Floyd. Harmonica Frank was considered a joke. His music lacked elements that were heard of the time and hardly had elements that people of the time would appreciate. Although Frank did record several songs, he was considered a weird man who was unlike much of the smooth soulful blues singers of the time. What Philips and the others who criticized Harmonica Frank didn’t know was that this sound, the abnormal and uncanny sound that came with Harmonica Frank was one of the earliest forms of what America and a generation focused around counterculture would soon call rock & roll. Harmonica Frank Floyd never became famous, he was never considered among the greats such as Elvis Presley, and was barely allowed to make music without ridicule. But what Harmonica Frank did do was inspire a sound which allowed for artists of the generation and the artists of today to become what they are.

            What Harmonica Frank had started and what artists like Sly Stone, The Band, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Simon & Garfunkel all picked up with their styles of music became a huge focus centralized around the counterculture movement of the United States. Most importantly, what the new distinct, and to some considered peculiar sound brought about was decades of what Americans and folks around the world would be listening too. Whether it would be the development of early hip-hop emcees and DJs of the 1970’s or the mainstream chart toppers that have showcased classic records played upon the radio ever since they have derived some inspiration from the early development of rock & roll.

            In Greil Marcus’s fifth edition of Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock ‘n’ Roll Music, Marcus exemplifies how rock & roll music has not only influenced the generations of the 1950’s and 60’s, but also continues onto making a substantial contribution to music today. The informative past of such an influential generation is shown throughout Mystery Train and shows why rock & roll, a genre of music that is often looked down upon is in fact an important development in American culture today. Through Mystery Train, Marcus demonstrates truly why rock & roll matters:

Rock ‘n’ roll may matter because it is fun, unpredictable, and anarchic, a neatly         packaged and amazingly intense plurality of good times and good ideas, but none save the very youngest musicians and fans can still take their innocence for granted. (Marcus)"