1960s – 1970s Culture Archives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SUNSET STRIP RIOTS . . . November 12, 1966 . . . 1960′s Historic & Classic Rock Albums . . . . . . . . . . BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD . . . December 5, 1966

EXPERIENCE ROCK HISTORY and 1960’s CULTURE!

BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD – BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD  –  December 5, 1966

At fifteen, this was one of the very first albums of my collection. By my mid-twenties my record collection would soar up into nearly three thousand LPs – this due in great part because I became a Rack-Jobber (record and tape supplier/salesman) and Record Store Manager – which allowed me access to hundreds of free “promos” and discounted “cut-outs” in the early ’70s – but it was mainly attributed to the fact that I was a music fiend!

Keeping in mind that in 1966 the shock-wave of the Beatles, Stones and the British Invasion of the previous two years brought a surge of wonderful new music that thrilled all of us early teens. So when I heard “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing” I was entranced.  This was a song that still takes me to one of my favorite places while doing time here on Planet Earth.  A moody transcending song that hits all the right places in my heart and soul and allowed me the pleasure of enjoying the rest of the album’s Country Rock style.
I played this LP to the point that I still remember the lyrics to most of these songs – a classic and landmark LP that showcased the genius talents of: Stephen Stills – lead guitar, keyboards, vocals  –  Neil Young – lead guitar, harmonica, piano, vocals  –  Richie Furay – rhythm guitar, vocals  –  Dewey Martin – drummer, backing vocals  –  Bruce Palmer – bass guitar.

• Buffalo Springfield’s eponymous debut album:

1. “Go and Say Goodbye” (Stills) – 2:20
2. “Sit Down I Think I Love You” (Stills) – 2:32
3. “Leave” (Stills) – 2:42
4. “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing” (Neil Young)  – 3:25
5. “Hot Dusty Roads” (Stills) – 2:50
6. “Everybody’s Wrong” (Stills) – 2:23
7. “Flying on the Ground Is Wrong” (Young) – 2:40
8. “Burned” (Young) – 2:16
9. “Do I Have to Come Right Out and Say It” (Young) – 3:01
10. “Baby Don’t Scold Me” (Stills) – 3:04
11. “Out of My Mind” (Young) – 3:05
12. “Pay the Price” (Stills)– 2:36

We were all so blessed to be living during a time when nearly all the new music was accepted and appreciated For What It’s Worth – which brings me to the obvious and “can’t be denied” tie-in and symbiotic relationship that this LP has had on a generation of us Hippies.
This month marks the forty-sixth year since the single, “For What Its Worth“, reached the Top Ten on Billboard’s Top One Hundred.
For while it was not included on the original issue, it was on all pressings just a few months later when Stephen Stills wrote it inspired by the historic Riots On The Sunset Strip.

RIOT ON THE SUNSET STRIP – NOVEMBER 12, 1966

“For What It’s Worth” then became the historic and iconic representation for that night and for the protest of the Vietnam War, civil rights, the Counter Culture and the feelings of a generation who changed the world.

The “riots” were triggered by the Strip’s retail establishments’ complaints of the overflow of the clubs’ attendance from Pandora’s Box, the Trip, Gazzaris, London Fog and other clubs and the general cruising and congregating of the emerging teenage/hippie culture on the Sunset Strip.
The pressure from the “establishment” incurred unfair 10 PM “curfews” which of course were ignored and protested by thousands of the young .  Continued protests culminated on November 12, when emotions escalated and and the L.A.P.D. were called in and the rest is history.
Pandora’s Box was protest central that night and people like Jack Nicholson and Peter Fonda were among those hand-cuffed – but soon Pandora’s Box was razed to the ground and is now part of the intersection at Crescent Heights and Sunset Boulevard.

The impact from that night and the protests by students, hippies and young people from all parts of the Counter Culture that eventually spread world-wide created an unprecedented force that was never experienced by society until then and registered the beginning of a diametrically-opposed position to the traditional standards that stifled and repressed all generations before – the tide had turned.

But it wasn’t all serious; back in the “good times” of the Strip, we’d cruise and go to the Whisky A Go Go and the Psychedelic Supermarket  and then hang out up on Laurel Canyon at “Houdini’s Castle” – tales for another time – from another time.