Course Description

Instructor: Tom Dell

Covering years 1959 - 1963

A look at the world of Rock and Roll in the late 50's and early 60's. We will hear, see, and talk about what became of our music after Buddy Holly died, Elvis went into the Army and then movies. We will talk about the rebirth of the Blues thru R&B and the changing world of rock and roll in the early 1960's.

Bio: Tom Dell
My interest in Rock and Roll and music in general began in Atlanta in 1957 when I got my Stella four string guitar. Bands I was in played for high schools and colleges in the Southeast, along the East coast and clubs in Florida, Atlanta, and New York. 
I still get together regularly with men I have been working with for more than 60 years and play music. We played at four Oakhurst “Porch Fests” and now that the pandemic is slowing down, we will play at future ones. We have also done high school and college reunions. 
I went to Grady High School in Atlanta, later graduated from Georgia State University earning a BBA while serving six years in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. My working career involved being a working musician, owning and running a retail stereo equipment store, industrial sales of digital and fiber optic telephony hardware to the various operating telephone companies, sales management at the vice-president level, and building a functioning marketing department for a fiber optic equipment manufacturer.

Since retiring in 2013, I have enjoyed developing and delivering a series of courses for senior citizens involving the origins of Rock and Roll. I have been presenting my courses at Emory OLLI for the past five years. I also present at Central Dekalb Senior Center, Perimeter Adult Learning, and Brenau Univ. I have continued playing in a rock and roll band, served as a board member of the Grady High School Foundation, and have been watching our granddaughters (33, 15, and 13) grow into beautiful people. We have two daughters, and one son-in-law. The daughters are beautiful and talented, and the son-in-law is a keeper. Our oldest granddaughter had a girl in August 2022. I have been with my sixth-grade sweetheart for going on thirty-five years. We married in 1999.