Oooooh - just discovered this thread and I'm loving it!! Read it all in a one-er, so now I'm tired (65 in Feb) and emotional (lots of great memories got stirred). What's changed for me? The knowledge and experience I've acquired as the years rolled by. It's being able to draw on all that accumulated music stuff that makes up for the negatives (mainly physical) of the ageing process. What stands out as very special? Discovering that each new Beatles album was completely different from their previous one (or anybody else's!!) BUT EVEN BETTER; trying to figure out what bass Bill Wyman was playing; getting my first bass ( a sky-blue Watkins Rapier with a fancy black pick-guard); hearing the Mayall/Clapton Beano Album for the first time; marvelling at the latest awesome bass-line from some anonymous Motown bass player; getting hit right between the eyes by Cream; the day that Jimi came to London town; joining a high-school band that won the local Youth Music Festival (we took the gold award in the Jazz category for our rendition of Sunshine Of Your Love would you believe!!); and then going on to play all of the aforementioned plus much more in semi-pro bands over the last 5 decades. Sorry to ramble on (Zep reference unintentional), but I guess there's not much of substance I can add to what's already been posted. Except maybe one thing: for me what makes the music of the '60s and '70s unique was that it was energized by a youth/pop revolution that was standing culture on its head across the western world. That energy is woven into the very fibre of the music and I'm still as passionate about it as I ever was. Latest project? Ran into a guy in the local music store a couple of months back who knows the stuff I know, likes the stuff I like, plays the stuff I play - and we're about ready to hit the road as '2fargone'. Footnote: he's only 40-something (must have had a hard life as he looks much older), so there's hope for those young'uns yet!
Well, got to go now as I'm being told it's my bed-time and my milky drink is going cold...