Death of Rock 'n' Roll

At eighty+ I pretty much say what i think .
  I never heard a note of classical till I was over 30 and a soldier in Vietnam . The Armed forces radio ,which never played classical, that day played a Beethoven song sung by the Great Swedish tenor , Jussi Bjorling, which swept over me in a tsunami of true beauty .
I am sure, very sure, that if that had that had not happened I would never , with my 8th degree education , got degrees from top US and German universities , married a beautiful educated women , and thanks to Bach, become a Christian . And many other things .

I was always smart but Classical music gave me something I never had ,
"Good Taste ", without which intelligence is rather lame .And it does it in all elements of life , not just music ! No other form of music
can do that, some do just the opposite .That is why when I hear , "oh, its a just a matter of taste " I think yes, good taste and bad taste .

That's a great story, Schubert.  Was it something like the scene in "The Shawshank Redemption" in which Tim Robbins plays an opera record for the men in the prison courtyard?

Thank you bdp24 for the availability of current Country/Americana that I would enjoy listening to. There are some old performers locally in Ventura County that my friend Robert hears all the time. I like the mix of blues with country. I like rock mixed with country and/or blues as well (some great groups from the 70s and 80s did that).

The problem is that most millennials are overwhelmed/overwhelmingly favor yukky music and the good music is shoved aside. The live performances of musicians are where the money is rather than in studio recordings cheaply available on the internet.

schubert, after I met my wife, I was introduced to more modern rock from the 70s and 80s and enjoy much of it now (not so much heavy metal). From my 40s, I was introduced to modern jazz. So, my music tastes have evolved over time. It began with opera, classical, pre-1960s pop and ethnic music from childhood. I have a large collection of jazz now which makes listening frustrating as I have 42,000 LPs/78s/CDs. One day it’s one format, another day another but jumping from one music genre to another. I can’t hear it all.

bdp , exactly so . I don’t listen to rock for that reason and if I want something on the "earthy plane", after all we are human and can’t praise God 24/7/365,
I listen to jazz which is FAR better both on the musical plane alone and the skill and dedication of those who play it .
I also hated/hate rock for clearing the airwaves in a year of the "swing" / American Standard Songbook era which was the high-water mark in real musical appreciation among the American general population .

I’d go so far as to say that American Jazz is better overall than American composed classical , bring in the big guns from Europe and you have another story .

tosta , perhaps . I had lost several men and shooting
the "enemy" in such a bogus war also heavy on my mind . In short my defenses were low and I imagine that is also so in prison .
But I often wonder, since as I said , Armed Forces Radio NEVER played
classical , if what I heard was just for me alone which would qualify for a miracle . Not that I know that or claim that .

flesher, what I would advise my grandson in your situation is to stop listening to music at all for at least 6 months , better yet a year .Music is a gift for us to be happy on this vale of tears but with 48Ksounds like you may have taken it a bit far and a vacation might be in order .
The recordings ain’t going anywhere and you might get a different perspective on things .