I feel bad for GenX'ers that missed out on the 60s and 70s.

Elvis, The Doors, Aretha Franklin, The Ramones, Drake. Who will remember who they are in 200 or 300 years?
Beethoven will sail through the centuries without missing a beat.

If you were born in 55’, as I was, it was a truly special time. Color TV and home computers had yet to be invented. Who remembers watching Gunsmoke on Sunday nights on a BW television. Much of the music created in my generation was dictated by the times. Frank Sinatra still crooned throughout the 60’s. If you were into Motown, and Jazz, as I was, you developed a special appreciation for the musicians of this period. Miles didn’t peak until BB in 1969. Coltrane was at his height in the early 60’s. There were so many musicians from RNR to Motown! Motown was created by a man who had the foresight to explore the best jazz artist’s performing in his communities nightlife and employ them to create an in house band like no other. Without them, there would not have been the success of Motown. And I enjoyed the musical ride from 1960, just before the Beatles arrived on the scene, through the wave upon wave of musicians with names like The Beach Boys, Lovin Spoonful, Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, on and on, and on. The music scene for a 17 year period was special and endless! It’s the finest musical period in history defined by one thing. Musical hits. We had hits. Besides the gifted Whitney Houston in the nineties there’s been no true hits. Music today has no such movement. And it’s not defined by the times in which we lived. Tower of Power, War, Santana. I could go on but what’s the point, you know who they were. We lived with a simple AM radio and listened to these hits, one after another. Carol King, Carly Simon, Aretha! It seems there were thousands of artists who created genuine hits. Today’s music, not so much.

Not to be argumentative @coltrane1, but I must disagree. My first concert was The Beach Boys in the summer of ’64, The Beatles the following year. After that it was up to San Francisco to see The Dead and The Airplane in Golden Gate Park, then a LOT of shows at The Fillmore Auditorium (Cream’s first USA tour), Winterland (Hendrix, The Kinks), The Avalon Ballroom (The Who), The Berkeley Community Theater (The Band), etc.

Yet there is music being made today that is as good as I’ve ever heard. Rodney Crowell, John Hiatt, Marty Stuart, Jim Lauderdale, Los Lobos, Emmylou Harris, Mary Gauthier, Iris Dement, Buddy & Julie Miller, Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch, hundreds of others. And that’s just in the Americana genre! No, you don’t hear them on radio or see them on TV, but with a little effort they are easy to find.

@hshifi 
 
If you were born in 1970 then you still missed out. Half of the acts you mentioned such as Queen and Elton John heyday ended when you were like 5 years old in 75. 

You still missed out young'un

@punkrock67

thanks for the laugh, I think I’m going to hangout on your lawn for awhile. You sound butt hurt. I sure as hell can state that Aretha, Diana Ross, Ray O, and the rest were within my generation performing. They may have started in your time, but they like all great musicians and singers transcend generations, and luck for Gen X were still performing well into their Golden years with amazing voices, we are the last best generation. We are the last generation that new analog music, bought vinyl and had some great FM radio stations before the destruction caused by satellite and streaming music services.

We were the last generation for drive ins and good movies, the last generation to enjoy being a kid, and just living. Gen y will have had some experience but not like we did. Music makes memories and I have many memories seeing some great acts from the 60’s and many I missed due to tragic deaths. Way to keep an open mind Boomer I think your recliner is calling, no crank up that tv so you can hear it and have your microwave meal

Seeing them live in concerts doesn’t mean they are part of your generation, by this logic Elvis Presley is part of my era (because I saw him live when he was way past his heyday) and he was just seen as this guy who made bad movies and his music was on a decline then.

The 60s acts I mentioned such as The Beatles, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Jimi Hendrix, Velvet Underground, Otis Redding, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sly Stone etc etc had their peak (keyword peak) before you were even born. You had to be there to actually say they were part of your generation to have experienced their impact.

I’m sorry to say but you simply missed out. Seeing them live in concerts years after their prime ended and when their artistic decline happened doesn’t count. Music is generational.

The Beatles peak was until Let It Be (you would have been 3 years old in 1970), Aretha Franklin’s peak was from 66-69 which we both know you certainly missed out. Jimi Hendrix died before you could even speak.

Now I understand the jealously. Maybe if you were born earlier than 67.