FAMILY ALBUMS
The Songs & Sounds that Shaped Us.

Almost all my love from music came from the biggest record collection i had ever seen. My sister Chris had everything - across all genres, and not just the classics.

At a young age (7 or 8) I was introduced to the Grateful Dead. I knew the words to Casey Jones and Truckin before i knew the names of the presidents.

She introduced me to the Beatles and the Stones before most kids understood how to do the multiplication tables. I would go in her room when she wasn't home and dig through the stacks, and I would records songs on a Maxwell 90 minute cassette, which I would play at night on one of those crappy portable tape recorders. Here's the one - if you remember it.

https://www.amazon.com/QFX-RETRO-39-Shoebox-Recorder-Player/dp/B076W2F1GV/ref=asc_df_B076W2F1GV/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309807586683&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3590378580760362849&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9004236&hvtargid=pla-554049839164&psc=1

I was making the first mixtape, before there were mixtapes.

She had all the Nugget compilations of garage rock and psyche.

She had all the early Who, Steppenwolf, the Guess Who and of course the Stones.

And because her boyfriend had a driver’s license they took me to all of my first concerts. We went and saw the Police (with the Knack and Robert Johnson) at Zellerbach Auditorium in Berkeley. This had to be in 1979 or so -- the Police was so new, they didn’t have a enough songs for encores, so they just repeated part of their set. They also took me to see the Clash on the London Calling Tour, and U2 when they were a tiny band with one album on import --- they played at the Old Waldorf which maybe held 300 people. (I shared champagne with Bono and the band because it was Larry or the drummers 18 birthday or something close to that)

They also took me to see Cheap Trick and Blue Oyster Cult, with Pat Travers at San Jose Civic, also in late 70's.....I think that might have been my first show. I remember it well, because some wasted dude threw up on my shoes.

In short - she introduced me to music and encouraged me to keep digging and discovering new things.

She has exquisite knowledge and taste on music from the early 60's to early 80s and got me on the road to punk, new wave, thrash, rap and so on.
I'm always very grateful for this.

And with that please welcome my sister Chris to The GUTTER for our new Music Section Family Albums…The songs & sounds that shaped us all. Here, my sister and I will dive into musical influences and how they shape us.
ASK CHRIS....

Regards,
GG & The Gutter Team