My dad bought me my first tape recorder in the early 1970s. This was before boom boxes. I bought a similar one many years later and used it for a long time (pictured on the left) I was about seven when Dad handed me the recorder for the first time and I thought it was the coolest invention ever. We’d drive around in his car on Saturday afternoons and he’d sing songs like “Yankee Doodle Dandy” into the recorder and try to get me to sing along or to say something so he could record it. I was bashful and I shied away from it at first, but I eventually warmed up to it. He also gave me a Tom Jones cassette with the tape recorder. It turned out to be my first cassette. I don’t remember a lot about it. But I do remember two things. First, Tom’s name was printed as “A-Tom-ic” Jones on the cassette. I thought that was pretty funny, even though I had no idea what it meant. Second, I remember a song called “Promise Her Anything.” In preparation for writing this post, I did a little online research to see if I could find the title of the album/cassette. “Promise Her Anything” appears on several of Jones’ albums, but I did find that it appeared on his 1966 album titled A-Tom-ic Jones. I’m thinking that it must be the one. I listened to the cassette quite a few times, but it never really resonated with me. I liked it because my dad gave it to me and somehow, even then, I felt like he’d given me a little piece of himself because music is so personal.
I’ve lost track of the cassette over the years, but I’m certain that it is in a box somewhere in my basement. The sound quality is probably muddied. The tape may or may not even work in a cassette deck. But the memory of it lives on.
What was your first album or cassette? Tell me the story behind it.
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