Take me back to the Sixties

"The last Innocent Generation"

Thanks, It. I enjoyed that!

I don't know about the 60's being the last innocent generation as opposed to the the 50's being the last naive generation.

It's the last generation where people had any reasonable expectation that the government and big business wasn't declaring open warfare on them.

Just as I've always said, 1967 was a pivotal year in the U.S., and I wasn't here.

I am beginning to see hope in kids in their early 20s. They don't want what Boomers screwed up and allowed to happen. Some kids are discovering that greed and hatred are not enjoyable. Hope spring eternal.

Acually, I think many kids of that generation were of the opinion that exactly that was happening... but they also thought they could do somethng about it.

Today, I would say that most kids are unaware of this dynamic, and are mostly looking to take care of their own individual lives within the context of the existing economic/power structure

Hmmm.... Kent State?

Definitely were two decades of the 1960's: 1960-65 and 1966-1969. This covers the first part, the second was much different.

Mick, your 1967 was my 1965.

Ardy... I really hope you are right... You can't know how much I hope that the young are really facing the future, without the idea that education and prosperity is a "right". The recent loss on the 401K'S has got to be a downer for those who believed that they could achieve security with reasonably safe investments.

I am not in direct touch with that many people who are in the 18 to 40 year bracket, but I wonder if they have the sense that government is working in their interests, or if they have a good understanding of how government works in the new millenium.

Do you, or does anyone here, have a feel for the general level of sophistication of young people about money and politics?

Ah yes, the 60's.
Fredom Riders
Murders of Medgar Evers, JFK, Chaney, Goodman, Schwerner, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy
Kent State and Jackson State
Chicago Police enforcing the Constitution by bashing heads of free speakers
Judge Julius Hoffman
Selma
And on and on and on
What a marvelous decade it was.
NOT!

And not seeing what made it so good up to 1965, either.

In fact, given a choice between staying in the era we're in and going back to relive the 60's, I'll take the current era.

Yes, the autumn leaves are falling.

'

Yes, innocence and naïveté. Also, ernestness and commitment and desire for improvement.

It is true that people were more adventurous than before or after, and this had many consequences, good and bad, both personally and socially. But there were many earnest people with very practical plans for improving society. They were crushed, of course.

After the Second World War, there were segments of the ruling classes which desired a more educated and cultured populace. The 60's taught them not to make that mistake again.

The caricature of the 60's which I cannot avoid seeing in the mass media is unrecognizable to me.

The music to which I was listening was Vivaldi, Bach, Gesualdo, Ravi Shankar and Balinese gamelan. The first popular music which I thought was interesting was the Beatles' Norwegian Wood. When I first heard it in '64 or '65, my immediate reaction was, "Hmm, something new and worthwhile is happening."

In movies, I was much impressed by the 1960 film, Last Year at Marienbad and, of course, the wonderful films of the Canadian National Film Board. Otherwise, I don't remember any movies until Kubrick's 2001.

In the plastic arts, I was studying Optical Art and the researches into color theory by Josef Albers. I remember going to exhibitions of original works by René Magritte, Escher and Remedios Varo.

Of course, in the mid-sixties I was studying at UC Berkeley, so my experience may have been a little different from that of most other Americans.

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Hey, that's me innocence and naïveté.

Thanks... nice... one that I had almost forgotten. My halcyon days were a little earlier... off to college in 1953... Know those years couldn't have been as great as they seem now... but, they were!

Numan... '56 was my liberal arts year for classical music... I can remember long hours in music "lab"... with headphones... and parsing Vivaldi and Bach... thetic 1 and anacrusic two... and I thought it would be a "gut" course. And hitch-hiking 150 miles each way from Maine on Saturday and Sunday to visit future bride at Boston College... Imagine... hitch hiking...

My movie was "Room at the Top", and falling in love with Simone Signoret.

So, in my case, I s'pose it would be "take me back to the '50's.

My-O-My, Bob,

I'm afraid that I was way more interested in latter songs of the Inkspots and like groups that had moved out of the 40's genre to R&B and RnR. Then how could anybody resist greats like Bill Haley and His Comets, Chuck Berry, Big Joe Turner, Carl Perkins, Hank Williams, and of course the emerging Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis, Little Richard, and up to Buddy Holly?

Vivaldi and Bach and those cats just weren't cool, daddio...

I was slobbering over Grace Kelly, Natalie Wood, Sandra Dee, and Tuesday Weld (just to name a few).

Young upstart !

I was a toddler at the start of the 60's, and a pre-teen at the end of that decade. The only part I miss about the 60's are the Helms Bakery Man, Get Smart and the cars like the Mustang, the Firebird and the Camaro of that decade.

But even as I fully acknowledge the absolute fact that government indeed HAD declared war on CERTAIN SEGMENTS of the American people, most others still had the REASONABLE expectation they had not.
Note that I am emphasizing "reasonable expectation".

Joe Homeowner, for example, did not feel as if Big Business and gumbmit was out to get him.

As of this writing I feel it's safe to say a majority of Americans feel like Uncle Sam and Big Business ARE out to get ALL of them, until all that's left are obedient serfs who do what they're told, and the ultra rich, who come up with the marching orders.

As of this writing, the average "Joe Homeowner" does NOT see Big Business and Uncle Sam as friends, or even assets that make America great.

Can't help you with the first two, but today's Mustangs and Camaros outperform their stock classic ancestors on every level.

They even get better gas mileage WHILE they outperform them!

OMG Natalie Wood...she gave me...well...never mind

In 1963, I was ten, Dylan released "Blowin' in the Wind" and "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" and became my favorite artist
1965. I was all of twelve, Barry McGuire sang "Eve of Destruction" I believed him then and little has changed. Dylan played with an electric blues band that year at Newport.
In '66 I smoked my first joint and listened to Donovan's "Young Girl Blues" and "Writer in the Sun"
Innocence and naivete but mixed with foreboding. I turned to art and drugs and music.
I was 15 in 1968, the so called summer of love. I was still a virgin and knew nothing of love but I knew a lot about acid.
We tripped and surfed and talked about girls and then we tripped some more.
It was as good a time as any to grow up, I guess, but I don't think I want to go back.

But they don't look as cool-except for maybe the new Shelby-style Mustang!

The only drug I had access to was St. Joseph's Baby Aspirin(orange flavored). But I really loved the psychedelic art.

Everything happened for me all at once in 68: Graduated from high school (at 16), got a car, got a good job that would last another 11 years in one form or another, left home and hooked up with the girl who would eventually become wife #1, got laid (lots), got high (really, really high!).

Remember this?

Great one, Joe!

Phil's right. The decade was split down the middle. In the first half I had a hard-ass beehive hair-do. Got to college in '65 and it became long, straight, free & liberating. (I'd say my hair pretty much sums up the difference. )

I think, though, we tend to see that decade in a retrospect of our own personal experiences...especially for those of us who were in the late teen/young adult years.

For me, it was phenomenal. Even the bad stuff - the war, the assassinations. It was high drama that woke the world up. Young people found a voice, a strong one. Women, too. We didn't even have to wear bras anymore. How liberating is that?

You could have sex, drink and smoke pot and it was OKAY! You could be a fan of peace and love rather than war; you could tell law enforcement and politicians that they didn't rule the world.

But that was only my take; the situation I was in produced that perspective. For someone fighting in Viet Nam, for someone in law enforcement, for those whose personality and focus are different, the decade takes on a whole 'nother feel. It was my first time away from home in a party environment; an egocentric environment that was all about us. I spent a semester abroad in Denmark during that time, too. It's not that I didn't take in the dark side of those years...but I had a hell of a lot of fun, too.

The second half of the '60's was super-charged, there's no denying that. But it was like one of those paintings where the subject's eyes follow you and no one else. The way you see it hinges on where - and who -you were.

PIA...

An innate genetic trait in my family of past and present generations is that all children nascent from the womb with a Bud in one hand and a joint in the other. That makes life a bit more interesting from the get-go.

For most of the family, having a Bud and Joint in hand usually continues until one flies out of the cuckoo's nest or "until death do us part" - whichever comes first.

I was luckier than most in my family...the nest was low to the ground when I flew out about 25 years ago - and I'm still alive. Unfortunately, I can't remember the getting laid part. Partaking in too much Bud-wiser and lush, exotic little buds can do that to ya.

Slobbering over Sandra Dee and Tuesday Weld was not allowed. You had to make a choice. Cute blond who was good; cute blond who wasn't.

Heh, heh: Have you read Sandra's memoir?

Cute blond who appeared to be good; cute blond who appeared to be not so good. By age 12, innocent little Sandra was probably getting more action that Tuesday at 21!

Exactly, Scout! Ponder's little tid bit about Sandra Dee is...well, what can I say. She was a yummy little creature to most guys I knew.

Brunettes, it was the brunettes for me.
It has ALWAYS been the brunettes.
Even in the Viking Valhalla of Minnesota, I still sought out the brunettes, and up there, they were ....."exotic". (LOL)

I remember the older boys slobbering over Annette Funicello, and the Men over Elizabeth Taylor in the 60's.

Hey: It turns out, everything bad that ever happened is our fault. We shoulda listened to our parents after all...

Did Woodstock hippies lead to US financial collapse?

Christian Science Monitor article, discussing a new film from the same jerk who took “Hillary: The Movie” to the Supreme Court and destroyed our Republic in the process.

Jeff,

I can think of quite a few really hot Brunettes during the 50s and 60s. I mean what guy who watched "Rebel Without A Cause" and didn't flip for Natalie Wood (as you mentioned in a previous post)...hmmmm, well, you dig what I'm saying.

What about Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Leslie Caron?

I thought Audry Hepburn was awesomely beautiful...but she was way too pristine for the likes of me. After all, I'm an Oak Cliff boy.

Unless one is from Dallas - they'll never know what it means being from Oak Cliff. But, a clue: If you walked around Oak Cliff and you were stopped by the police, searched for weapons, and you didn't have any...they'd issue you a gun and a knife on the spot.

I think I've come to realize that what we are witnessing is the resurgence of the kind of right wing philosophies that we were subjected to in the 1950's, compounded by the lowering of the collective right wing IQ by about 40 points, which of course is what accounts for the tea baggers.
But make no mistake, we're about to see a brand new, uber wealthy backed McCarthyism. Instead of witch hunting commies, they will be witch hunting liberals.
And this time, they OWN the government.

Sorry guys, I won't go quietly, I won't plead the fifth, I won't submit to blacklisting and demonizing.
I intend to fight dirty.

Mick,It really doesn't change much.

Ummm, it was all about Sal Mineo and James Dean, I mean cmon.

Ewww! I remembered Annette from her Mousketeer days as a preteen, and she always reminded me of my older sister. No way!

Why even look at Annette, when Gidget (Sandra Dee) is right down the beach?

I even had a real live Gidget (cute blond girl-midget surfer) growing up right across the street when I was a teen. It seemed like one week we were all playing touch football in the street, and then next week she was out waxing her board on the lawn in her little red bikini, with a chorus of dumbfounded neighborhood boys watching in awe.

Funny thing about Gidget: The original book was written as a collaboration between a Czechoslovakian Jewish immigrant and his daughter (Kathy Kohner, nicknamed Gidget) when she served as his guide to the SoCal surf subculture. So the real Gidget was a Jewish brunette!

In the 60's, I was in love with Johnny Quest!

An American poet in every sense of the word, perhaps somewhat on the "dark side," but, hey, it was the sixties! Or, maybe it wasn't.

Joe, now talk about lusting ....... Jim Morrison was the sexiest man of the decade by far. I always regretted not bing in the audience when he allegedly pulled his ...., well, you know.

Maybe he was looking for his lost chord?

'

That is chord, not cord!.

They both go back to the same root, though: the Greek khordé, meaning "gut."

Mildly interesting music, though. I like the influence of Indian raga. I wonder what year it is from?

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Mrs. Brown you have a lovely walker?

Thanks for the education.

I saw the Light

The music was the best! In 1962, every Saturday from mid-February to May was the day my parents spent viewing homes in anticipation of purchasing their first place. My sisters and I were left with neighborhood babysitters. Our favorite was the teen aged girl that lived across the way from us. She would turn on American Bandstand and teach us all the latest dances. Then, she would pop us some popcorn and play games with us.

God bless you.

She moved throught the fair.

you think?1967 wiki

Wasn't Paul McCartney in that band before WINGS?

Morrison's first and last appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on September 17, 1967.

Satisfaction performed by The Rolling Stones on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 13, 1966.

Another popular band of the 60's

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I was re-reading my posting at the top of page two of this thread, and suddenly wondered if the unstudied expression of my native woodnotes wild might cause some people to think that I am a snob?

Now I know that it is ridiculous that anyone could think me a snob --- but I have known the occasional American who was capable of being so obtuse.

So I just wanted to mention that, although most of my time and energy in the 'sixties in Berkeley was devoted to learned studies and High Culture, I did also engage in healthy, socially constructive activities. For instance, I volunteered as a teaching assistant in an elementary school in Oakland, and I was part of a group that handed out leaflets in front of the Oakland Induction Center, which explained how to avoid induction into the military machine of the time.

I think being in Berkeley in the 'sixties was the only time that I actually enjoyed living in the United States. There was a combination of learning, culture, ferment and earnestness which was very appealing, if unconnected with the real nature of the United States. I, for one, have not given in to the illusion that the counter-culture ended the Vietnam War. The War ended when the war profiteers were no longer making sufficient money, due to the degradation of the economy, and the distortions in it caused by the Military-Industrial Conspiracy.

Still, it was an interesting and pleasingly un-American time. I remember May 4, l967 walking across the campus at noon and hearing the strains of the Red Chinese (as we called them at the time) National Anthem ringing out all over the University from the carillon tower: "Arise, arise, arise! All ye who do not wish to be slaves!"

Later that day, I chanced to meet the elderly lady who played the bells of the carillon and congratulated her on her prank. Apparently, I was the only person who had noticed what she was playing!

In the 'nineties I went back to Berkeley to visit the bookstores on Telegraph Avenue, and was repulsed by how the place had descended into the vacuous abyss of Yuppie-dom. I have no desire to see the place ever again.

So, Numan... you were one of those draft dodging, pot smokin', free lovin', flower children who were screwin' up traffic, livin' in tree houses... and growing poppies. That was probably you that I met in Turners' Falls Mass... Running the Sun Y. Moon Shoppe.
That tie-dye shirt you sold me, "ran" the first time it was washed.

My wife really thought your nose ring looked great, and I had to lock her in the house for a week, 'til the sit-in was over.

Anyway... Speaking of Natalie Wood... "Rebel without a Cause" was on AMC two days ago. I had almost forgotten Natalie... and then I remembered... tiny waist, cute white blouse with sharp points... yeah... yeah... almost forgot...

My generation was more into Betty Grable, and (ahem) Terry Moore (only the older generation would remember the tiny telescopes with special Pics of Terry, sitting on a fence)... ... but... Natalie Wood was a good transition into bigpersonhood.

Sixties... sheesh... by that time I was married with 2 sons.

I am sure that I never once saw a nose-ring in the 60's, or even in the 70's. When I was growing up, a girl who had her ears pierced was considered to be an abandoned soul headed straight to hell. What I remember are girls who were fresh and natural and healthy, liberated from lipstick and cosmetics --- and sundry other restrictions.

If it just weren't for the hideous stench of patchouli oil that permeated every crevice of the 60's, it would have been paradise.



Yes, all these pathetic delusions that people have about the counter-culture of the 'sixties.

Americans do love to tell lies to themselves.

And amid the oceans of lies in which Americans live and swim and have their essential being, what do the little lies about the 'sixties matter?

Then and Now. They discuss the differences between then and now in this interview.

You're not the only starfish in the sea...circa 1966

1966

Exercise that mind...

Numan, were we in Berkeley at the same time? I arrived fall 1967.

And I left in the summer of 1967.

Neat pictures. You looked pretty cool -- back then.

Ah, Joan Baez! I remember hearing her singing against the Vietnam War on the steps of the Federal Building in Los Angeles!

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for her!

Numan said:


Yeah... sixties... seventies... all in the missing part of my memory... It ain't lies... It's AZ. About all I ever had any contact with (generational stereotypes) was Timothy Leary...in the '50's, and as I recall, in Cronin's Bar, in Harvard Yard...

I found this little blurb in my hunt for "Cronin's" and I sure it was the same place:


Cronin's also served brown (Bock) beer,

Had not a clue as to drugs, peaceniks, and flower children... That was in my early working days, and with four little kids and a wife to feed, had no time . The "60's". A "blur".

That is a very cool presentation Cousin It but the author COMPLETELY skipped over the US/USSR moon race.
It ain't the 1960's without the moon race, in my humble opinion.
To me, that picture of Neil Armstrong setting foot on the moon is pretty much THE iconic picture of that era.

America was at its technological peak in the 1960's.
We singlehandedly led the entire planet to the top of the mountain and brought them into "the promised land" in technological terms.

---Ehh...I dunno Scoutgal, you tell me if you really feel that way after watching these spots I just finished.

Momentum Race Group

Reed Automotive Design

I can't help it! I do love the classic Camaro and Mustang, but after having been around a road course in both of the new models, I have to say that Ford and GM have really done an incredible job...

AND deep down, I am STILL a MOPAR (Chrysler) GUY!

This is what got my heart racing in the 60's!

Hemi Cuda

66 Hemi Charger - the exhaust is saying "giddyup giddyup giddyup"

And of course I am kicking myself because I OWNED one of these
1966 Dodge Coronet 426 Hemi - they can fetch as much as
TWO HUNDRED thousand dollars at auction these days.

There's nothing that can match the raw power and might of a
1960's MoPar Hemi.

Holy krap just found another one, doing its business!
1966 Hemi Coronet takes the 1/4 mile in 9.9 seconds

WOW! Those spots were great! To produce that quality you have to love cars and had been active in the 60's "muscle car" culture. It was a good time.

I remember Baez for speaking out against the Communist Khmer Rouge slaughter of millions of Cambodians, while MSM and the "Libruls" remained silent as they had when Stalin starved millions of Ukrainians to death.

The then president of F.E.A.R. asked me to address the Berkeley Chapter around '93 or so. Since I liked her and was there anyway, I did. I spoke with Donald Scott's personal friend and lawyer. Despite my own personal experiences. I was still naive. I wanted to believe. People came up to me afterwards, and shared some stories that spun my head around. I didn't believe that this abuse was possible in our country. It is.

Remember this?

And unfiltered Camels?

Some of what I remember...











The Beatles

An interesting decade. Brown eyes?

Yes, the Khemer Rouge were terrible, but what Americans do not like to remember is that it was the horrific American covert bombing of Cambodia that destabilized the country, and permitted the Khemer Rouge to take over.

Cambodia was a pretty nice country before Americans decided to give them freedom.

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No hodad worth his salt doesn't!

Nope it doesn't speak to me personally. I've got very green eyes.
It just epitomizes the diversity of the time. It wasn't even a favorite of mine, tho I did like it.

Others that come to mind are Peter and Gordon, Chad and Jeremy, The Monkeys, certainly the Beach Boys, Jefferson Airplane, all the Motown stuff.

This...

Did you know that they're putting a whole bunch of previously unreleased Hendrix music on the market?

For starters, there's a new album "Valleys of Neptune".

Jimi Hendrix dot com

In 1995, while I was struggling to get free of my crack cocaine demons, I managed to stay up late one night without the aid of chemical enhancement and listened to a late night rock and roll interview show on FM radio. The host had Greg Lake and Carl Palmer as guests, and they dropped a huge bombshell.

They said that Jimi had tired of the hype and wasn't satisfied with his old band anymore and he wanted to branch off into new forms of music.

They wanted Jimi to help them put together a new group.



However, in the radio interview, Greg said that they did INDEED drop by and "noodle around a bit" at Electric Ladyland.
He did not however, elaborate even after being pushed for more clarification by the host.

The group was to be called H.E.L.P. or Hendrix, Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

The mind boggles!

The Sixties also gave us Lowell George.
Dixie Chicken was originally written in 1968!
Here they are with Jessie Winchester, Bonnie Raitt and Emmylou Harris in 1977 performing this classic
Little Feat - Dixie Chicken

Unfortunately, network Tee Vee being what it is, it's the SHORT version.

And then there is the budding genius of one young musician from Baltimore who managed to appear on The Steve Allen Show in 1963.

What was his claim to fame?
He played a BICYCLE.

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Which of course was a natural segue to
THIS????

Fifty years ago today (click image to enlarge)

While these pictures were technically just beyond the sixties (June 1970) the Who were among my favorite 60's rock bands. These were taken onstage at Angel Stadium while I was floating on some Orange

these are great, phil. you say you took them yourself?

Yes I did, my brother got me 15 minutes on stage, unfortunately the dozens of color shots have disappeared. I was in such an orange altered state I am now amazed I was able to concentrate, focus and remember to click.

well, orange or purple, the haze didn't alter what are quality shots of one of the most famous rock bands in the history of the music. very cool. i saw them in 82 on their first farewell tour at the cotton bowl in dallas. that show was color coded in purple.

Thanks, that means alot coming from you 2wins. Purple haze, hmmmmm
The whole set is at Link

I heard something interesting on the radio today: Van Morrisson originally wrote and performed it as "Brown-Skinned Girl". When he went into the studio to record it, he decided it would get more airplay if he changed the lyrics and title. So he just sang "brown-eyed girl" without even writing down the change.

Some radio stations still banned it for the "making love in the tall grass" part, but imagine the suppression if he recorded it without the change!

That's too very bad. Making love to a brown skinned gal twixt the tall grass is something I will always remember fondly. And fondley.

This is one of my favorites from the sixties. It's funny how the term "the sixties" means different things to different people.

1968

Is it just me, or does this guy look like a young Bill Clinton?

What? No package shot???

Siannon, I wasn't that brave back then

CRANK IT UP! As Tears Go By

Bump:

Phil, olyve, Mick and anyone else who may care..here's Harry Reasoner's 1967 take on the 1960's and the Grateful Dead Haight Ashbury scene. I love his serious tone. And we have thought and discussed about what evolved from it. Who knew?

Them dang hippies

LOL! Who knew indeed!
Poor old Harry. Somebody needs to give that man a joint and tell him to relax.

His fear and loathing was for naught.
From there to here.

I guess he'd be turning over in his grave if he knew.

Thank you, Ken. That was awesome.

Olive my dear---Robert Towne, in his classic film Chinatown, had Noah Cross (John Huston) uttering the following phrase to Mr. Gittes (Mr. Gits)--Jack Nicholson-- as they sat down to an afternoon lunch of whole fish—heads included. Of course I'm respectable. I'm old. Politicians, ugly buildings, and whores all get respectable if they last long enough. Much to Mr Reasoner's grave turning chagrin, that also applies to the Grateful Dead.

The Atlantic Monthly recently had an interesting article on The Dead's business model. Again—who knew?

Management Secrets of the Grateful Dead

I couldn't get your U Tube link to open. I'll try another path.

I love it! You have NO idea how much I can relate, Ken.
Does this work better? (the other one still works for me but there a bunch of references to this event)
Unbroken Chain: The Grateful Dead in Music, Culture and Memory, UMass at Amherst

...and a gentler time. Ballads were "in" around 1961.

Part of the "Brittish Invasion."

War changes things

Sometimes it is the weasels who hang the heroes that write history, too.

My favorite Donovan song.

'

Though hardly his most sophisticated composition, I always liked "There Is a Mountain" because of its incorporation of a Zen koan: ("First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is").

Did you know that Donovan contributed the line "sky of blue and sea of green" to the Beatles' song "Yellow Submarine"? Probably the most memorable line of a song that may be the simplest, most memorable and most universally loved of the Beatles' songs, and may be the song of theirs which will best be remembered through history.

By the way, why has Phil Ochs been air-brushed out of history by the propaganda machine? Much of his oeuvre was outstanding.

I don't think he has. I'd never heard of him until maybe 10 years ago when a new biography came out, and I bought some of his music then. I've heard a number of musicians refer to his influence and so far as I know his music has been re-released on CD.

Thanks for the update. Seems to me Can't turn back the hands of time...

Maybe you can?

Don't know about turning back time, but she seems to have stopped it:

you win