My Family's Musical Interview

For my interview, I decided to interview my Uncle, Carzell Wallace.

 

Me: Who was your favorite artist as a kid?

 

Uncle Carzell: My favorite artist was James Brown because he was from Georgia and people respected him. People wanted to be like him. They saw him as someone they could look up to. He went through a lot of struggles to get where he was. The people that did not like him could not stop him from playing. My favorite songs by him were Say it Loud I'm Black and I'm Proud and This is a Man's Man's World.

 

 Me: Did you go to any concerts when you were younger and what were they like? 

Uncle Carzell: I went to a James Brown concert. It was very loud and lots of people were screaming. I went to the Uptown Theater on Broad Street, Pennsylvania. I went and I would love to relive that moment again. I had to scrape up a lot of money to go to the concerts. We (his friends) sold newspapers and sold soda bottles. We bought the soda bottles and took them back to the store and get 2 cents or 5 cents back for them.

 

Me: Did your friends listen to the same type of music you did?

Uncle Carzell: Yes, we had dollar parties where people (including him and his friends) went to the basement and they would have James Brown music playing.

 

 Me: What kind of technology did you use to listen to music?

When I was 8 years old, my family had a record player where we would play music with 45 and 43 records. When I was older, my mom got a little stereo system that didn't have a radio. My father played it all of the time.

 

What kind of music did you dislike as a kid?

I disliked rock because it did not have any soul to it. Rock is different now than it was back then. Rock now has a lot of bad languages. If I had to listen to a rock artist it would be Jimmy Hendrix. He was a famous guitar player. He was a beast on the guitar. I really didn't like Kiss because of the way they dressed. They were too wild. I feel like if you played music, you should be yourself. You shouldn't have to put on makeup.

 

 

Me: Do you listen to the same kind of music now then you did when you were younger?

Uncle Carzell: No, because it had too much cussin in it. A lot of my music disrespects a lot of people. I listen to mostly Gospel now like Cece Winans and Kirk franklin.

 

Me: Do you have your first memory of music?

Uncle Carzell: First, it was Elvis Pressly because when I was young I saw him at a drive-in movie I saw him sing! We didn’t believe that he was going to stay on the movie screen because we have never seen a drive-in movie. It was something new to us. It was amazing!

 

If you went to church, what kind of music was there? 

Old-time Gospel! *laughs (Sings part of " Lord, I Want You to Help Me") Now Gospel music has changed. There is too much hip hop in it now. The singing was slower and not as fast. I cant enjoy gospel music like I used to.

 

Me: Were you in a band or choir in school?

Uncle Carzell: No, my schools didn't have any bands or choirs. Kids did not have the opportunities to join choirs and other things like that.   

 

Me: What music did your parents listen to and did you like it?

Uncle Carzell: Muddy Water -really old black music. They maybe had one record out. My father listened to BB King and the Blues.  I liked the Blues because it made a lot of sense. It was like the rap that they have now. But it didn't have any harsh language.

 

Me: Thank you for your time! Would you like to add anything?

Uncle Carzell: Think about the older people before you and how hard they worked to get where they are. Make them proud. Don't travel in their footsteps and be two or three steps ahead of them. That's all you have to do Beuanna.  I grew up in Newberry and we didn’t have as much as kids do today. Now that I am older, I think of how my life has improved from the time I was with my parents. I continue to improve to make them proud.