SO, YOU WANNA BE A ROCK N' ROLL STAR--ling?
Rock n' Roll has become somewhat of a generic term used to
identify a wide variety of popular music today. Like many other
things associated with this generation, it has been reduced to
an almost pathetic state of relativism, but it wasn't always so.
When Rock'n Roll was born, it offered up a fresh new sound that
was radical and different. Rockers such as Little Richard, Buddy
Holly, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Haley and the Comets,
and Elvis, among others, burst onto the scene in such a way that
audiences were amazed, some were shocked and others were
absolutely appalled. However, most of us can now look back in
hindsight and recognize the important influence these early
artists had on the direction that popular music was to take.
Which brings me to the point of this article. Last week, my
husband informed me of an interesting fact about a little bird
known as a starling. Since we happen to have a family of them
living under the eave of our house, he has been having fun
recording them with his new camcorder. He showed me the clip and
pointed out that I should listen to them sing. At first they
sounded like themselves. Then, all of a sudden, one of them sang
like a meadowlark! He told me that he has heard them sound like
magpies, ravens, and even a rooster once! Starlings love to
mimic other birds.
Mr. B.B. King once told a class of young guitar students that he
didn't care if they could play like him. No one needs another
B.B. King, he said; that's already been done. You've got to find
your own voice.
This is a wise piece of advice from someone who knows from
whence he speaks, so please take heed. Do you have dreams of
really making it big someday? Then let me ask you an important
question: are you going to be a Rock n' Roll Star or a Rock n'
Roll Star--ling? How you answer, may well determine your future.