What a Long Strange Trip It's Been

This photo shows a few records, album, cassette, and CD's that have helped to shape me in my musical endeavour throughout my life. The album in the middle is a recording of Johhny Cash at Sun Records played at 33 1/3 rpm. I remember my father singing to this album as it played throughout our home when I was very young. The record to the right of it is a story song for children called Hobble-De-Hoy on Cricket Records that was played at 78 rpm one of the first records my parents bought for me(or my brothers and sisters) I can't remember, but I do remember listening to it alot.
As I grew older I remember I was greatly influenced by what my older brother and sisters were listening to. The records at the top show The Beatles, and the Rolling Stones in a 45 rpm format. When I was old enough to have my own record player(I think I was around 12 or so) I was spinning albums such as Kiss Live, Grand Funk Railroad, Buddy Miles, Light House, and so my record collection began. Today I still have around 200 albums. Not far behind was cassette technology, and I was buying them up too. My taste for music was leaning alittle more towards Hard Rock during my teens. I was into AC/DC, Led Zepplin, Judas Priest, and Mountain. I should mention before cassette came out there was 8 track. This was a terrible format that could not play continuously and while changing tracks you would hear a loud clunk sound. Thank God for cassette! Now that CD technology is here I found my self again buying them up like I did with albums, but now I have learned to burn my own, and I'm sure now my collection will grow even faster. With all the changes to how we record, and listen to music, and the availability via internet it's hard not to be a fan of music. I have enjoyed Rock music all my life both listening and playing it, but with all the exposure one can find now-a- days I'm enjoying a vastly larger selection.