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I got to thinking about this the other day, and thought it'd make an interesting topic; I'd be really interested to hear from others on their first music memory.

For me, it can only be the climax section of "Appalachian Spring" composed by Aaron Copland being played at tremendous volume on the stereo in our living room by my father.

(Link, starts ~30 seconds out from the specific section I mention in the previous paragraph: Aaron Copland - Appalachian Spring - Detroit Symphony Orchestra)

I must have been three, maybe four years old. I don't really remember much from my childhood, but that particular phrase/melody stayed firmly etched in memory until I finally found out what it was nearly 30 years later, and bought a couple of different copies. Every few years I would have a thought about the song and 'I really need to find out what that was so I can listen to it again' but would quickly forget about it.

Undoubtedly I'd been exposed to plenty of music prior to that, but this was the first time I'd ever had an emotional connection (and such a strong one that lasts to this day) with a piece of music.



(**Bumping this as we have a fair assortment of people who weren't around when I originally started this thread - keen to hear their thoughts!)

The first music I remember hearing is what my parents would play when I was about 3. They were pretty young, and Kurt had just died, so I think they played loads of Nirvana because I remember hearing Heart Shaped Box a lot. That and Stone Roses Second Coming album, which I reckon is more consistent in quality than their first.

Hmmm... I'm not sure which memory comes first. I would probably have been 3 or 4 and my grandmother was playing a 78 of "Little Redwing." 78's were an ancient-obsolete recording medium at that time. Or... my father visiting his friend Jack, and him singing "16 Tons" into a wire recorder that my dad had.

My earliest memories are definitely songs from Carole King's Tapestry. I think Glen Campbell's Rhinestone Cowboy got in my head pretty soon after that, and probably Strawberry Fields Forever. Willie Nelson's Stardust needs to be in there - that was the first new album I remember listening to, fresh out of the wrapper. All of these seem almost like one big album in my memory. That would have been a good tour to catch.

I reckon my memories start at 4 or 5 years old. We had a beanbag chair next to the turntable, and a big pair of headphones with a coily wire. I can almost feel the 1/4" plug going into the jack on the stereo now...

I must admit, I chuckled a bit at Mecha's Nirvana memory. That seems like just a few years ago!

Oh yeah, in middle school I discovered my mother's copy of Sly's Fresh on the shelf - how would my life have been different if I'd been on that instead of Tapestry?

The first melodies I can remember are probably Grant Hart- 2541 and The Box Tops- The Letter. My dad played them both a lot in the record shop he owned until I was about 5. Ananda Shankar's cover of Jumpin' Jack Flash is another early memory.

Burl Ives "Little White Duck" coming out of my grandfather's record collection, most likely. Also the Live at the Berlin Wall version of "Goodbye Blue Sky" with Joni Mitchell on it and endless, endless, endless Beatles songs.

My father listening to some hip hop tapes back in the early 90s.

Then Los Tigres del Norte.

countertext wrote:My earliest memories are definitely songs from Carole King's Tapestry

You could do a lot worse. Fantastic album.

My earliest memory is "I Saw Her Standing There".

Generally: My mom putting on records every Saturday. Lots of Willie Nelson, Hall and Oats, Neil Diamond. That kind of stuff. And the Beatles of course

Specifically: Seeing Willie and Family live when I was six. It was after the minor league baseball game. They brought the whole stage out on a flatbed into the infield, facing the outfield. Everyone who went to the game could go out onto the outfield grass to watch. My mom and I laid out a blanket and watched. She kept going "Wooo Willie!!!" I'll never forget that.

The first specific melody I can remember is probably "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt", which my mom used to sing to me and I think we actually had a record of it, but I think my mom probably bought that because I liked it when she sang the song, not the other way around. "Puff the Magic Dragon" was around that same time for me so I'm not sure which was technically first. I was probably around 2 for both. I'm sure the latter was just a song my parents had and liked, since it was a popular song that was only around ten years old at the time, but it's the first specific recording of my parents' music that I remember sticking in my head.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOJSM46nWwo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
side note. filmed in the pub where my parents met

I couldn't tell you which came first, but I bought a B-52s tape of "Roam" and "Bushfire", taken in by the tie-die cassette tape (they became the first band I considered my favorite) from a yard sale across the street.

Another was telling my mom that the oldies radio station was my favorite.

I also decided when I was five that I wanted to be in a band and be the drummer.

.

My mother singing "Dream a Little Dream" by Mama Cass Elliot to me.

Lots of vague memories of stuff like Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, early Beatles, that sort of stuff. That was what my parents listened to and it was on all the time.

First fully realized memory was Michael Jacksons Thriller album which I bought when it came out at a very young age and wore the tape out.