1960′s and 1970′s Culture Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . TRUE PSYCHEDELIC TRIPS! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MIND-BLOWER #14 . . . late ’60s / early ’70s . . . . . . the BLACK BOX

Rendition of 00individual’s Black Box circa late ’60s / early ’70s copyright 2013 00individual  TLL

EXPERIENCE TRUE PSYCHEDELIC TRIPS!
MIND-BLOWER #14  – late ’60s / early ’70s
 the BLACK BOX

The Black Box was made by a science-fiend and Spiderman gymnast friend in L.A. and consisted of two big Frankenstein bolts exposed on the top of the Box next to, but apart from each other with a red button positioned below center between them.  Inside was a secret mix of batteries and electrical stuff designed so that whoever touched both bolts and completed the circuit when the red button was pushed would get a good jolt of ee-lec-tricity!

The Black Box put out enough juice that the effect on a group of people holding hands to complete the circuit – once jolted – would/could result in screams, yells, profanity and broken circuits from hands yanked back in shock and laughter; so a single jolt per person was, well, …adequate.

I brought the Black Box along on our move from L.A. to Mammoth Mountain for the winter of 1971 as it was always an exciting and fun Tribe-pleaser. One evening while playing Hearts and listening to Pink Floyd’s new album Meddle, we all agreed that it was time to make things more interesting; so whoever ended up with the Queen of Spades had to take a hit from the Black Box.
The anticipation of the shock was probably worse than the actual shock, well, not really, but it was exhilarating foreplay to the inevitable. That said, we also stipulated that if anyone tried to run all the points and didn’t succeed and held the Queen, then they’d have to take 13 jolts of electricity, per the Queen’s value. However, if they were successful every other player would have to take thirteen jolts each – so this suddenly became a high stakes game of Hearts.

Mr. Frost, our neighbor and fellow psychedelic soul was pretty good at Hearts and he and I had a considerable good-natured competitive one-ups-man relationship for the bizarre, so we all agreed; knowing full well with those stakes that no one but either of us would attempt a “run” anyway.

As he game progressed I felt I had a very real opportunity to get all 26 points and not only win the hand, but the evenings’ game, shut-down Mr. Frost and make everyone take their thirteen jolts.

Although I was very close, I was unsuccessful and took the thirteen jolts. But in doing so I realized that I could take more – for once I was “glued to the bolts” it was like involuntary muscle reaction mixed with a sharp pain, but after that night I felt I could probably take jolts forever.

One night everyone was getting high and we went through a series of Black Box experiments from group hand held shocks to the now famous “endurance” runs where Mr. Frost and I held the joint Championship. This led to the next level of Black Box fun when we tried to get our girlfriends or any girls to try to connect the current through French kissing or just touching tongues. But as much as we tried, none of them were brave enough – however, this alone created a lot of interactive fun that went on for quite some time – which was one of the other mystical secrets that the Black Box held; it created opportunities for playful interaction with the Chicks, Man. But in the end the only ones willing to try were myself and Mr. Frost.

Since both of us were secure in our manhood and Seekers of the Bizarre and with a room-filled audience we decided that we would complete the circuit by touching our tongues.
Imagine our surprise when our wet tongues heightened the shock past what we were normally expecting – plus the electricity ran right under our tongues along the sublingulal ridge and zapped the tips of our tongues with what I heard in my head as a crack like a whip as our heads involuntarily recoiled and the gathered Tribe went wild with laughter – fun was had by all.

Whether straight, stoned or psychedlicized, it’s all about the heightened exciting anticipation . . until . . . zap!

EE-LEC-TRICITY! 

The mysterious inner secrets of the Black Box revealed!

Ah, yes, good times indeed.

Items as seemingly insignificant as the Black Box represented a predestined search by an entire generation to experience the extremes in all of life in order to make sense of life.

Why were we unashamed to shed our clothing and “nude-up” naturally?
Why were we unafraid to consume mind-altering drugs with absolutely no knowledge of the consequences?
Why were we so in tune with an unknown evolving culture while rejecting traditional values?
How did we become aware at just the right time in history to spearhead the “Question Authority” mandate on a generational level?
The answer to these questions and many more like them is simple; Baby Boomers were
predestined to rebel because the times demanded a new reality.

History is high-watermarked by individuals, groups, states and nations that have made an indelible impact for change in world history – but there has only been one generation that has done so. That is not random, that is predestined.

The willingness and ability to attain awareness and then use that knowledge to take action and stand up to the “authorities” during a time in history that needed a revolutionary nudge out of the tired, restricted, unjust and unquestioned doldrums of past traditions and moral “laws” was what “my generation” was here to do. That is not random, that is predestined.

Unfortunately, our work was never done and we must forever be vigilant, for no matter what era – there is always a Monster on the loose . . .

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1960’s & 1970′s Album Track Gems. . . . . . . . . . . . . TOP 13 SPIRITUAL ROCK Album Track Gems

“Arrival on the Astral” copyright 2003/2013 00individual  TLL

EXPERIENCE ROCK HISTORY!

TOP 13 SPIRITUAL ROCK
Album Track Gems

‘Tis the season to give thanks and 00individual thanks these artists and bands
for some truly inspirational music!

(in ascending chronological release date order)

The Beach Boys
God Only Knows – 1966 – Pet Sounds – 2:56
Rock/Pop Icons rate this as possibly the Best Song Ever!
Including Lennon and McCartney!

Jeff Beck
I Ain’t Superstitous – 1968 – Truth – 4:53 –  Crank it up!
. . .  well, that limits any religious debates – but spiritually empowers and gives us possibly
the Best Rock Song Ever!

The Rotary Connection
Silent Night – 1968 – Peace – 3:46 –  Crank it up!
Minnie Riperton’s Goddess-like voice is so fine it’s a supernatural match for the Hendrix-esque guitar. Awesome version of Silent Night; truly astonishing! Chills for sure!

Norman Greenbaum
Spirit In The Sky – 1969 – Spirit in the Sky – 3:59 –  Crank it up!
Easily one of the best instrumental song openings ever!  And a solid Classic Rocker throughout! Love it!

Edwin Hawkins Singers
Oh, Happy Day – 1969 – Let Us Go into the House of the Lord – 5:07
Despite assassinations, Viet Nam, the Draft, the Manson murders and the infamous Altamont, there was still much to be celebrated and this song expressed the joy that still existed.

The Rolling Stones
Sympathy For The Devil – 1969 – Let It Bleed – 6:51
Exactly!

Blind Faith
Presence of the Lord – 1969 – Blind Faith – 4:50
. . .the Lord of Wah Wah!

Jimi Hendrix
Voodoo Child– 1969 – Electric Ladyland – 5:13 –  Crank it up!
If I don’t meet you no more in this world, then uh, I’ll meet ya on the next one,
And don’t be late.
(Happy Birthday, Jimi!)

Jethro Tull
Wind Up – 1971 – Aqualung – 6:07 –  Crank it up!
Exactly, . . . again!

Roberta Flack
Go Up, Moses – 1971 – Quiet Fire – 5:23 –  Crank it up!
. . . you been down too long.”
Feel your Spirit rise to this rumbling, driving, haunting Soul Rocker!

Santana
Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation/Waves Within – 1972 – Caravanserai – 8:25
Transcendent, uplifting, enlightening, a Spiritual Rock Experience!

Steely Dan
Bodhisattva – 1973 – Countdown to Ecstasy – 5:33
“… take me by the hand.”
Infectious and (ir)reverent?

Pink Floyd
The Great Gig In The Sky – 1973 – Dark Side of the Moon – 4:51
“And I am not frightened of dying. Any time will do, I don’t mind.
Why should I be frightened of dying? There’s no reason for it. You’ve gotta go sometime.”
– “I never said I was frightened of dying.” –

“Rockin’ the Afterlife” copyright 2013 00individual  TLL

Let’s give thanks to the artists and bands that have performed for our personal life soundtracks:

Top 69 Historic & Classic 1960s Rock Albums

Top 79 Historic & Classic 1970s Rock Albums

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1960′s & 1970′s Album Track Gems . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOHN MAYALL . . . BROKEN WINGS . . . May 1967

“Rock ‘n’ Roll Angel – Broken Wings, Unbroken Spirit” copyright 2001/2013 00individual  TLL

EXPERIENCE ROCK HISTORY!

JOHN MAYALL – BROKEN WINGS – 1967
from the album “the Blues Alone”

John Mayall and the Blues Breakers’ early mid-’60s albums were our introduction to the first wave of British Blues – and Rock History would prove that Mayall’s Blues Breakers were probably the best ongoing “supergroup” ever.
Here are the band members:
Eric Clapton (April–August 1965, November 1965–July 1966) and Jack Bruce, both later of Cream, Peter Green (July 1966-July 1967) departed with Mick Fleetwood (April-July 1967) and then also enticed original bassist John McVie a few weeks later to form Fleetwood Mac.
Mick Taylor (August 1967–July 1969) later joined The Rolling Stones, Harvey Mandel, Walter Trout, Larry Taylor left Canned Heat to join Mayall, Don “Sugarcane” Harris (Zappa), Aynsley Dunbar (Retaliation, Zappa/Mothers), Dick Heckstall-Smith (Blues Incorporated, Colosseum), Andy Fraser (Free), Chris Mercer (Juicy Lucy),  Johnny Almond and Jon Mark (later of Mark-Almond).

Mayall’s “the Blues Alone” album was just that, with Mayall on vocals, guitars (6- and 9-string), harmonica, piano, organ, celeste, drums and with Keef Hartley on drums on nearly all tracks.

Somewhere deep within a Blues Rock God a perfect song was created.
The perfection comes from a specific space in time when planets align to give talented artists access to higher levels of creativity to bring back super natural art. Mayall certainly had that connection and when that happens we get “Rarefied Air” Album Track Gems – and this is a pure example:

BROKEN WINGS
Somebody broke your wings – little bird, you can’t fly.
Somebody hurt you bad, – feelin’ down, enough to cry,
And the price you’ll have to pay you’ll be payin’ yeah, rest of your life.

Somebody is to blame – can’t you see, the feelin’s there,
Somebody got away and it makes me feel sad,
And the price you’ll have to pay you’ll be payin’ yeah rest of your life.

Somebody gotta help you, I believe I love you so.
Somebody’s gonna touch you, I don’t believe he’ll let you go,
And the love I have to give, I’ll be givin’ you, yeah, rest of my life
And the love I have to give, I’ll be givin’ you, yeah, rest of my life.

00individual knows the feelin’.

Since the image to represent this Album Track Gem’s emotion and soul in header art was elusive per this post’s deadline, the decision was made to use the tried and true “Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll” approach as a nice placeholder until a perfect image can be created.

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00individual does not endorse nor receive any payment of any kind from any advertiser(s).

1960′s and 1970′s Culture Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . RECORD STORE MANAGER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Part One: The Maverick Years . . . 1971 – 1972

“00individual’s Mythic ’70s Record and Tape Store” copyright 2013 00individual  TLL

EXPERIENCE RECORD STORE CULTURE CHRONICLES!

1st quarter 1971 to 2nd quarter 1971 – Crane’s Record Store, Inglewood, CA
2nd quarter 1971 to end of 2nd quarter 1972 –  Crane’s Record Store, Palos Verdes, CA

THE MAVERICK YEARS!

First, know that the following played out across the U.S and the world for that matter during those historic years of 1965 through 1975; this is just one individual’s experience of that kick-ass cool, far out era.

In the late ’60s and early ’70s all you needed to start a bona-fide Head Shop, Book Store, Clothing Store or Record Store was $2,000.00 and you were in biz; fixtures, inventory and rent. Back then you could make stuff happen.

When my girlfriend and I and our three dogs decided (yes, they were in on the decision) to move back to L.A. after a winter of High Adventures in Mammoth Mountain; I was able to defeat hundreds of other applicants for a job at the notoriously-discounted and famously-known Crane’s Records in Inglewood; the Home of the Fabulous Forum! (See at bottom.)

Well, …actually at $1.00 an hour, ten hours a day from 10 AM until 8 PM, Monday through Sunday (seven days a week) – for three months straight – no one else wanted the job.

I was already known to Crane as a previous good customer and music/vinyl fiend and this was my door to the “record biz” and I wanted in.
Once hired, my responsibilities included picking-up orders from the One Stops and distributors, stocking the bins, running the cash register, keeping inventory, providing up to the minute info to customers, serving as the “bouncer” for the store, attempted collecting on bad checks in person with the store’s “marketing” guy and constantly inserting those weekly yellow updated pages that contained the record names, artists and label catalog numbers into the massive Phonolog catalog “data-base” – this was the bible back then – the blue pages were the Classical releases.

After a crash course of three months of record store boot camp and upon achieving super-human knowledge coupled with my trivia-obsessed blessing/curse, I was put in charge as sole manager of Crane’s Palos Verdes store located near the beach, just north of Malaga Cove which was around the point from the original “Marineland” of the Pacific.
I got a $3.00 raise to $4.00 an hour; managed split shifts with one, sometimes two days off a week, (but always on call*), hired an assistant manager and met the existing clerks; and I was in my element! This was the coolest next to owning the store myself.

As Manager I ordered all of the LPs, tapes and new releases based on my now professional knowledge and discretion of sales, arranged employee’s schedules and was responsible for all aspects of the store’s business. These were responsibilities that I embraced as it got me deeper into the whole Record Biz and it was a job that literally gave me pleasure, kind of a natural high!

I mean, dig it, I got paid to listen to and educate myself on all genres of available music and became a human bank of knowledge with imprinted data from record label’s catalog numbers, album names, songs, bands, band members and the instruments they played and general to insanely specific Pop/Rock/Movie trivia – all retained without any deliberate intent.
I still have album catalog numbers from WarnerElektraAtlantic, Columbia, RCA, Capitol, and so on, memorized to this day. This type of memory served me well as a “T-6” Malibu postman as I memorized and delivered one-third of all of Malibu and was a “Postman to the Stars” to Madonna and Sean, Michael Jackson, Sam Peckinpah, the Exorcist author William Peter Blatty and many top TV and movie stars – this was back in the early half of the Last Great Decade; the ’80s.

A Record Store Manager back in the early to mid ’70s was seen by some girl “record store groupies” as close to a Rock Star as they’d ever get and I discreetly exploited that persona with my “Rock” uniform of Frye Boots, Jeans, t-shirt, jacket and long hair – that persona served me well, way up into my “Hollywood” days of designing and sculpting licensed action figures, toys, statues and collectibles in the mid-to-late ’90s. I’d walk in to meetings at the major studios with the appearance of a “Rebel Artist”, and that was always good for business as the suits would smile because they already felt assured that I’d design some kick-ass cool shit for them, and I would. Rockers Rule!

The guy store groupies, or Music Aficionados, unlike the girls, knew if you managed a record store you had to know your shit, so I would be challenged or respectfully questioned daily.  But that was cool ‘cuz I knew everything back then, all there was to know and then some, I was good!  How good? Just like in the Cusack movie “High Fidelity”, I had a customer come in once who said, “I don’t know the name of the song and I don’t know the name of the artist …” I stopped him, motioned him to follow me, and a few bins down I pulled out an album and handed it to him. Looking at the album he smiled, remembered and confirmed that it was the record he wanted, and said, “You’re good!”.
Today, that’s just called profiling, but back then I was psychic!

Imaginary Crane’s record store customer.

Being a Record Store Manager gave me a certain level of Rock Cred with whatever groups or people I met. I never flaunted it, as I was way too cool for that, but if someone weren’t local or part of the Vinyl Cult and asked, I was proud to say, “I manage a Record Store” which then followed with, “What store?” I’d reply, “Crane’s, . . . Independent“,  Back then the Counter Culture celebrated and supported independence that stood up to the “establishment” and their corporate store chains.
I was totally diggin’ my scene.

As Manager I got the pick of the promo LPs and tapes from just about every label and all were available to me from day one.  So I was always up on the latest releases and literally sampled everything from rock, pop, jazz, folk, blues, soundtracks, comedy, show tunes, classical, spoken word, anything, everything as every day brought new releases.  Plus my record collection began to grow as I was consuming more and more music for free or at cost and at the same time widening my musical horizons.

That store became my second home and I really styled and customized the place; I took the fixtures from a clothes store next door that had closed and installed their slanted shingled “roof” over the length of the whole cash register area; supported by slender real tree trunk poles braced at both ends, this gave the counter area a “natural” environment and a nice place for me to do my business.

As Manager I retained a good rapport with all of my customers, but sometimes there would be an unreasonable customer and this being the phase that I smoked cigarettes (too cool, ya know?)
I would use cigarettes as great props for dealing with troublemakers – as many a wise pause to reflect a professional yet witty shut-down comeback rested in an inhale and slow exhale.

With a wall of cassettes behind me I’d look out across my domain and down all of the aisles as my satisfied subjects flipped through bins of choice records while Hendrix’ “In the West” was cranked or Neil Young’s “Harvest” or Alice Cooper’s “Schools Out” or T-Rex’ “Electric Warrior”, or America’s 1st LP – and those were just the most recent Warners/Reprise releases!!!  Good times?  No, epic times!

Crane’s started offering “limited” electronic equipment and stereo systems and through him I acquired a Sansui QR-4500 Quadraphonic Receiver/Power Station (above – front and back) AND 4 Altec Lansing speakers AND a Teac 2340 Simul-Sync 4 Channel Open Reel to Reel Quad Tape Deck (below – that my good buddy and I used my to make a radio spot for Crane’s that aired on either KMET or KLOS) all at cost – Crane had all kinds of deals going on.

But he was no different than any of the other independent Counter Culture businesses of Record Stores, Head Shops, Hippie Boutiques, Second Hand Stores or Street-Vendors – they all took their entrepreneurial energies seriously and worked hard while operating loose, from the hip and under the table as much as possible. The successes of these Counter Culture shops inspired “social storefronts” like Free Clinics, Draft Counselors and grass roots groups like Green Power and other community service and alternative business models that became part of our Hippie Landscape.
These were the Maverick Years when the rogue rules of business were being made and you could do “legitimate” business under the radar. My good buddy and I were part of this “legitimate” business under the radar as Candle Entrepreneurs prior to my “record biz career”.

Very fortunately I have had jobs that I actually enjoyed going to and working at – that’s a rare experience for anyone  . . . but, it just seemed natural back then, not so much easy, but natural to flow into work positions that were pleasant, fun, interesting and exciting even – life was exceptional.

And we didn’t have to do too much other than hold on tight for the daily ride – cool shit was always happening; here’s a groovy Record Store example: Hippie Levitation After Hours at Crane’s Records.

*One late night I got a call from Crane that the alarm went off in the Palos Verdes store, so I drove over quickly to check it out; someone who obviously had it in for Crane ran a car up and into the huge ground-to-top-of-the-door full-length frontage window, which exploded the wall of cassettes half-way into the store – the place was a mess – shards of glass and cassettes tapes were everywhere – but my shingled roof was still standing!
I had a lot of clean-up to do – a Record Store Manager’s work is never done . .

Here is a rendition of Crane’s Record and Tape Store in Inglewood circa 1970, Home of the Fabulous Forum!

End
PART ONE
1960s – 1970s Culture Archives
Record Store Manager

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PART TWO:
1960s – 1970s Culture Archives
Adventures as an L.A. Record and Tape Rack Jobber!
(view it now!)
End of 2nd quarter 1972 thru last quarter 1973 – (Record and Tape Rack Jobber) Record Rack/One Stop,
Vermont and Normandie, L.A., serviced greater L.A. and the Southland

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PART THREE:
1960s – 1970s Culture Archives
Record Store of the Stars!
(view it now!)
1st quarter 1974 – Grammy n Granny’s Record Store, Westchester/LAX
(The Grammy Awards threatened to sue so the owners changed their name to DisConnection)
2nd quarter 1974 thru all of 1975 – DisConnection Record Store (GnG’s), Westwood Village/UCLA

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1960′s and 1970′s Culture Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . TRUE PSYCHEDELIC TRIPS! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MIND-BLOWER #13 . . . late ’60s / early ’70s . . . . . . MARIJUANA GAS MASK

“One hit from the “Mask” copyright 2013 00individual  TLL

EXPERIENCE TRUE PSYCHEDELIC TRIPS!
MIND-BLOWER #13  – late ’60s / early ’70s
MARIJUANA GAS MASK 

MARIJUANA GAS MASK
Back in late 1970 Santana’s “Abraxas” album was making Rock History and besides Carlos Santana’s amazing guitar virtuosity he had a distinct look and 00individual’s tight buddy a guitar playin’ Stewardess chaser and fellow road trip warrior, beach-pad dweller, acid trip taker,
motorcycle rider had a close enough resemblance to Carlos Santana (he even sported Santana’s famous ‘stache and “soul patch”) that we’d sometimes call him “Carlos” or “Santana” just to goof with him.

Here is a classic photo taken while in Aspen, Colorado in 1971 on one of our L.A. to Aspen road trips of 00individual providing “Santana” a wake-up stream of reverse-engineered weed through a standard tobacco pipe – nothing like waking up stoned, before you’re awake.  What you see is the tail end of an exhausted pipe-load of turbo-charged weed.

This fun technique of dispensing marijuana brings up the similar technique we’d use to stoke another fun piece of marijuana paraphernalia – the “deadly” Gas Mask.

00individual dispensing weed via reverse-engineering to “Santana” – 1971.

As evidenced above, the inevitable search for the 1001 ways to consume weed was on!
Someone was always coming up with a new technique, pipe, contraption or apparatus to smoke weed. We were blazin’ trails while we were blazin’ weed; we were in new territory and therefore tried everything, but nothing came as close to a hallucinatory marijuana overdose than with the use of the deadly Gas Mask!

Rendition of 00individual’s Famous Gas Mask circa late ’60s / early ’70s.

00individual fashioned a screened elbow copper tube for a bowl at the end of the mask’s accordion breather tube. This mask was stripped down with no goggles and straps removed so that it fit air-tight over the nose and around the face and chin, kind of like a ninja mask, and was a convenient way for passing around to group meetings of the Tribe.

Starting the flow from the bowl to the face mask end was quite a “lung” job, but if someone else cupped the rim of the lit bowl and blew through it gently and steadily it would stoke the fire and begin priming the smoke up the tube to the masked inhaler who would do the rest. This technique is demonstrated in the color photo above.

Thus, you were able, and encouraged, to exhale a monster lungful to inhale a monster lungful through your nose or mouth or back and forth – and once the bowl got going there would be clouds of smoke that would billow out as the mask was passed from Tribe member to Tribe member.
Those overdose tokes created a domino-effect of unavoidable coughs, hacks and laughter courtesy of the Mask. Groovy!
This scene was not a common one as the Mask usually only introduced itself when the right number of Tribe members were present, the vibe was right and when there was enough stash to blow – the Mask was for pure decadence.

The only downside, if you’d call it that, was that if you were serious about your deep held inhalations of the Mask then you could get really stoned; which in most cases resulted in a physiological state of immobility with, yes, only in this case; a lack of motivation, but the Mask provided an upgraded keen sense of sight and sound. For sight; reality-bending hallucinations like the header art above may appear and for sound; the best years of Historic and Classic Rock Albums were being released during 1969,  1970 and 1971 and were surely playing for our sheer pleasure during any of our Pow-Wows while we “gassed” ourselves into oblivion.

“It’s A Gas”

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For those of you interested in numerology, the number 13 and synchronicity:
00individual posted this Mind-Blower #13
on November 13
at 13 hundred hours
and 13 minutes (1:13 PST) .

Groovy!

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00individual does not endorse nor receive any payment of any kind from any advertiser(s).

1960′s & 1970′s Album Track Gems . . . . . . . . . . . . . the STEVE MILLER BAND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SONG FOR OUR ANCESTORS . . . October 1968

Digitally-Altered Original Analog Oil Painting “SHAMAN” copyright 1969/2013 00individual  TLL

EXPERIENCE ROCK HISTORY!

THE STEVE MILLER BAND – SONG FOR OUR ANCESTORS – 1968
from the album “Sailor”

00individual was late to Steve’s party and only caught up with him on his second album, “Sailor“.
“Dear Mary”, “Living in the U.S.A.” and “Gangster of Love” were stand-outs but it was “Song For Our Ancestors” that kick-started the album off with such class.

Preceding Pink Floyd’s “Atom Heart Mother Suite” by two years, this track is the archetype for that album’s entire production – packed into just under six minutes – minus the bombastic “Silence in the studio!” part.

Complete with eerie fog horns, the swelling sonic build of the organ with the sensation of the tides’ movement at a hauntingly cool ancient harbor gives way to a beautiful spooky Gothic organ-driven, tribal heartbeat, cosmic rockin’ Album Track Gem!

SONG FOR OUR ANCESTORS

Steve Miller – guitar, harmonica, lead vocals
Boz Scaggs – guitar, backing vocals
Lonnie Turner – bass guitar, backing vocals
Jim Peterman – keyboards, background vocals
Tim Davis – drums, backing vocals

GROOVY!
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1960′s Historic & Classic Rock Albums . . . . . . . . . . (The) VENTURES IN SPACE . . . . January 25, 1964

EXPERIENCE ROCK HISTORY!

(the) VENTURES  IN SPACE – January 25, 1964 – Space Rock is born!

In 1964 there was a feeling of change; 00individual was only thirteen in ’64, the perfect age to grow up and absorb the Pinnacle of Pop Culture of the 1960s and later the Pinnacle of Rock of the early 1970s – but right now in ’64 every day seemed to have an exciting magical aura about it. Perfect.

Coming off the late ’50’s Soviet Sputnik satellite craze (I had a Sputnik replica transistor radio) and the early ’60’s U.S. first man to orbit the Earth celebrations; the Space Race was a fully-engaged competition between the Soviet Union (USSR) and the United States (US) for supremacy In Space exploration.

The ongoing paranoid era of Atomic Bombs and Radiation spawned the classic late ’50s, early ’60s fascination with movies where renegade science or radiation was the cause of everything from gigantic insects to Alien invasions. All of this contributed to the heightened mysterious interest in outer space, science, the supernatural, robots, aliens, monsters, the future and the paranormal.

Capitalizing on this new era of the unknown becoming the known, Rod Serling created one of the most iconic television programs in TV History with the Twilight Zone.

“There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.”

The Twilight Zone ran from 1959 – 1964

Another terrific television anthology series, “The Outer Limits” explored the regions of science, space exploration and the supernatural.
The Marketts had a hit with an instrumental version of the theme to “The Outer Limits” but because of legalities, even though they were riffing the Twilight Zone’s theme not the Outer Limits’ theme, they had to change it to “Out of Limits“.

“There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. For the next hour we will control all that you see and hear. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to The Outer Limits.”

The Outer Limits ran from 1963 – 1965

The entertaining series, “One Step Beyond”, was also an anthology of the unexplained that was inspired by “Science Fiction Theater” from the ’50s. Harry Lubin’s theme “Fear” was just that, a real creepy and spacey theme.

“What you are about to see is a matter of human record. Explain it: we cannot. Disprove it: we cannot. We simply invite you to explore with us the amazing world of the Unknown… to take that
One Step… Beyond.”

One Step Beyond ran from 1959 – 1961

The Space Race era excitement was reflected by hits on the music charts like “Telstar” and the current “Out of Limits“,

The Ventures; Bob Bogle – bass, Don Wilson – guitar, Nokie Edwards – guitar, Mel Taylor – drums and Red Rhodes – pedal steel guitar, with thirteen successful albums released in less than four years, were so inspired by the current interest in space exploration, science fiction and the supernatural that they chose to make an entire album about those themes; an album that was as important to Space Rock as the Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s was to Pop Rock.

This was undeniably a conceptually- themed album of Space, Sci-Fi, Satellite Wars, a touch of horror, Fear and Terror, a vampire Bat, a Fourth Dimension, a Twilight Zone and a Love Goddess from Venus that combined – like the Outer Limits and the Twilight Zone – an anthology of spacey tracks that together created the first true Space Rock album – as well as the first Space Rock themed album.

The Ventures would continue on to be wildly successful with dozens of world-wide releases yet to come; but on this album they hit on Rock History truth, a transcendent single album packed with seminal Space Rock instrumental gems.
And even more impressive, The Ventures slip cover states that “. . . all the unique, unworldly sounds featured in the album’s tracks were made with musical instruments, rather than with electronic devices.”

Their talents and prescient understanding of what was musically possible created a historic album and a gift to all of us Space Rock Fiends.

In 1964 I was there for the Birth of Space Rock and listened to it grow up to become Pink Floyd!

An extreme top favorite of 00individual’s.

Side 1
“Out of Limits“
(Live ’65)
Michael Z. Gordon – The Ventures – 2:14
“He Never Came Back“
Bob Bogle / Nokie Edwards / Mel Taylor / Don Wilson – The Ventures – 2:07
“Moon Child“
Cissy Wechter – The Ventures – 2:07
“Fear“
Harry Lubin – The Ventures – 2:24
“Exploration in Terror“
Bob Bogle / Nokie Edwards / Don Wilson – The Ventures – 2:14
“War of the Satellites“
Dan Hamilton – The Ventures – 1:57

Side 2
“The Bat“
Lou Forbes – The Ventures – 2:14
“Penetration“
Steve Leonard – The Ventures – 2:09
“Love Goddess of Venus“
Don Wilson – The Ventures – 2:36
“Solar Race“
Bob Bogle / Nokie Edwards / Don Wilson – The Ventures – 2:35
“The Fourth Dimension“
The Ventures – 2:15
and the dreamy, spooky, spacey classic:
“Twilight Zone”
Marty Manning – The Ventures – 2:37

One last comment about probably one of the Best Album Covers of All Time.
While parking and making-out in a cherry hot rod in a quiet spot overlooking the city was every guy’s ultimate ’50s /’60s wet dream, this photo caught a moment in time when that’s all it took for a trip to the stars and a night in Heaven; a guy, a girl and a car.

However, there’s something strangely otherworldly about the image; the city lights seem to extend out into the vastness of space and the pristine quality of the white and chrome hot rod seems to emulate “basic white” spacecraft imagery, all set in an ambient blue “outer space” environment. Groovy!

A classic and perfect piece of Album Art!

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1960′s Historic & Classic Rock Albums . . . . . . . . . . the DOORS . . . . . . January 4, 1967

EXPERIENCE ROCK HISTORY!
The Doors were Truth; the purest form of Rock that we’d ever get.

the DOORS – the DOORS – January 4, 1967

To hear the Doors debut album for the first time is an exhilarating experience for anyone – to hear the Doors’ debut album for the first time in 1967 was a life-changing experience.

The Doors’ lyrics and music undeniably released an awareness in primal ancient mysticism, metaphysics and knowledge of the supernatural that were lying dormant in my soul.

No matter how many times 00individual has listened to this album it always feels like the first time. Even though every note, word, phrasing and emotion is a part of him now; the Doors’ music had the mystical magical ability to never get old.

Their songs Rocked the hardest, yet were seductive and etheric with a mysterious vibe that cast a spell; a spell that empowered.
All good Rock has the ability to empower but there was something otherworldly, spiritual and unique about the Doors’ music – and this album specifically.

The messages in many of the songs of ’67 were filled with revelations of freedom, humanity, love, rebellion and change and the Doors upped the ante and delivered an album light years from what was known. “Light My Fire“? “The End“? Ye gawdz; this was some mysterious shit!
Like a good drug, it had the allure of danger, and to indulge in the Door’s mystical aura created an overwhelming desire for more – which made it just that much more thrilling!

While Morrison’s vocals and lyrics were spellbinding, the music was equally profound; Manzarek, Densmore and Krieger were indispensable forces of the quartet whose total sound Rocked and encouraged us all to “Break On Through” – and a whole generation did.

The Doors were more than a band, they were a coming together of destined souls who had probably made music together in past lifetimes.
In this lifetime, the Doors’ cerebral music triggered awareness of the opportunity to gain as much knowledge and experience as possible on this plane of existence which is only limited to our desire and lifespan.
And for those of us who pushed limits everyday and embraced the mysterious psychedelic unknown we welcomed the Doors as a Rock band from that realm.

The Doors’ inimitable quality set them apart from every other band and established an exalted place in Rock History that still holds Rock steady today, forty-six years later.

The DOORS:

Side one
1. “Break On Through (To the Other Side)” 2:29
2. “Soul Kitchen” 3:35
3. “The Crystal Ship” 2:34
4. “Twentieth Century Fox” 2:33
5. “Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)” (Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill) 3:20
6. “Light My Fire” 7:06

Side two
7. “Back Door Man” (Willie Dixon) 3:34
8. “I Looked at You” 2:22
9. “End of the Night” 2:52
10. “Take It as It Comes” 2:23
11. “The End” 11:41

00individual was blessed to be in attendance for a truly classic and historic concert:
the DOORS —- HOLLYWOOD BOWL —-  July 5, 1968
(Scroll down past Cream – Anaheim – ’68)
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– The Doors –
One of 00individual’s Personal All Time Favorite Albums

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This is the End.

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