My New CDs: The Beatles (White Album)

I like The Beatles and it dates way back. When I lived in Sierra Leone as a little kid, we had a pretty darn small record collection and no radio stations that I recall. As a result, I listened to Tchaikovsky (1812 Overture), Saint-Saens (Carnival of the Animals), The Sound of Music soundtrack, The Jackson 5 (ABC), Easy Rider Soundtrack, and The Beatles (Sgt. Peppers.) I'm sure there was other music, but these are the only albums I remember playing over and over again and they form the soundtrack of those 2 1/2 years from when I was 4 until 6 1/2. Of all of these, Sgt. Peppers was my favorite.

Ten years later, my sister and I went to Paris for about 3 or 4 weeks. We stayed in an apartment (I think it belonged to a friend of hers from college) on the Rue Jean Goujon. I had a tremendous time, but as a 15-year old, I couldn't stay out and explore too much on my own, especially at night. My time in the apartment was spent listening to a few albums on an old record player. There were not many records, but I remember two of them: Revolver and The White Album both by The Beatles. Again, the Fab Four accompanied me in a time when I was pretty solitary.

It has taken a long time, but I am finally fleshing out my Beatles collection on CD. Sgt. Peppers was the first, but since then, I have picked up Revolver, Abbey Road, Rubber Soul, and Please Please Me. I just got the White Album and I love it. It's not the greatest collection of singles, but it's a really great album and I like great albums. It has fun little ditties, rockin' tunes, nice ballads, and the mixture of all this along with some off-the-wall craziness really works for me. Revolver is another tremendous album, but the White Album is quirkier. I adore them both.

I want my kids to gain some bit of my affinity for various kinds of music. If I leave their musical taste up to their friends and what they happen to hear on radio or TV, I have only myself to blame when they have crappy taste. If I expose them to music I think is great, then I have done all I can. Music is an important part of my life and sharing that with the kids is really important to me. Luckily, albums like The White Album can make sharing really fun.

The Day

• Workout: crunches and push-ups
  
• Music: The Beatles, Bill Evans, Lalo Schifrin