Christmas, 1964

The Christmas of 1964 is a beloved memory for me. It was December in that drafty old house, and frigid winds easily found their way in to chill us through insecure windows. Mom wanted to get us a Beatles album for Christmas, but we learned later that the stores were all sold out. Instead, she chose The Rolling Stones' "12 x 5" LP which became a smashing success in our household. The album did feature one hit single: "Time is on My Side", and we played this album repeatedly. We'd seen The Rolling Stones on Ed Sullivan, but they didn't impress any of us as much as The Beatles did. Still, they were fun and the songs they played were good. Mom didn't like The Stones much, but in her infinite wisdom she got us the record because she felt that they were going to be very important in the music world. Darned if she wasn't right again! We didn't think they'd amount to much, but she did, and as it turned out, we were the only kids on the block to have a Rolling Stones album.

The music of 1964 is for me, both marvelous and heart-rending. Just hearing songs from that time take me back to a paved over past, and mental movie reels of my mind's eye revive those excellent days. Songs like "Little Latin Lupe Lu", "You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin'" "You Really Got Me", and "The Game of Love" allow me to walk the corridors of a magnificent and well-ordered life. There were only four of us living in that house: two of my brothers, my mom, and myself. On Christmas morning we put The Rolling Stones on our old record player to liven up the place. As Mick caterwauled his way into a Chuck Berry classic, we sat around and took it all in as if it was the most important music on the planet. "Waayal, the joint was a rockin', goin raound and raound, yaeah reelin and a rockin, what a crazy sownd..."

Earlier in the month, Mom surprised us all by bringing home our first-ever Beatle album: "Beatles '65". After one day of listening, we all knew every song by heart. For me, it's still one of the most endearing and exciting albums from them, and literally timeless. Christmas of 1964 is fondly remembered by songs like "I Feel Fine", "I'm a Loser", "No Reply", "She's a Woman", and Ringo's rockabilly "Honey Don't". Though Mom couldn't find another Beatles album to give us for Christmas, the Rolling Stones' "12 x 5" was an excellent substitution. The years 1964 and 1965 are still very close to my heart. I think this is why I tend to write about them so much. That Christmas morning, as we all sat around in pajamas listening to The Rolling Stones, we were happy. This particular memory is one of many, and is a beautiful bookmark to beautiful days gone by.