Celebrate the most historic year in modern American history with the 50th Anniversary of 1968 – featuring JUNE

“00individual Welcomes Summer June 1968” copyright 2018 00individual  TLL

JUNE 1968

EXPERIENCE the HISTORICAL HEIGHT of POP and ROCK and PSYCHEDELIC CULTURE!
and the Year that Shattered American and World History

June is the official beginning of Summer.

The Summer of 1968 was to be a very bold step away from the Summer Of Love of 1967.  While still wildly psychedelic, life’s rainbow colors would soon bring deep, dark ominous tones to the front of the spectrum. The unthinkable would happen again.

Still healing from the wounds of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963; the year 1968 again stunned the nation on April 4, when Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated, then almost exactly two months later on June 5, Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s was assassinated.

1968 was the true turning point in U.S. history, and not just because of the assassinations, but because the ever-expanding Counter-Culture’s Fower Power aspect of the Vibe was peaking.   Soon the last year of a phenomenal decade would mark as a monolith to the end of the sixties, a solemn impending monument to a definite end.

No tears were shed however because the ’70s would only create a whole new level of the Vibe and of the known fun, but there was still a bittersweet feeling of separation from something very strong but intangible – the innocence of the Vibe,

Happenings:
Jun 3 Poor Peoples March on Washington, D.C.
Jun 3 Valerie Solanas, author of SCUM Manifesto, attempts to assassinate Andy Warhol by shooting him three times
Jun 4 Don Drysdale pitches his 6th straight shutout, en route to 58 innings
Jun 5 12:16AM PST-Sirhan Sirhan shoots Bobby Kennedy, who dies the next day
Jun 6 Senator Robert F. Kennedy dies from his wounds after he was shot the previous night
Jun 7 Sirhan Sirhan indicted for Bobby Kennedy assassination
Jun 7 The body of assassinated U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy lies in state at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York
Jun 8 Don Drysdale pitches a record 58th consecutive scoreless inning
Jun 8 Gary Puckett and Union Gap release “Lady Will Power”
Jun 8 James Earl Ray, alleged assassin of Martin Luther King Jr., captured.
Years later Coretta Scott King said, “The civil jury was clearly convinced by the extensive evidence that was presented during the trial that, in addition to Mr. Jowers, the conspiracy of the Mafia, local, state and federal government agencies, were deeply involved in the assassination of my husband. The jury also affirmed overwhelming evidence that identified someone else, not James Earl Ray, as the shooter, and that Mr. Ray was set up to take the blame.
Jun 8 Rolling Stones release “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
Jun 8 The body of assassinated U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy is laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery
Jun 10 “Danny Thomas Hour” last airs on NBC-TV
Jun 10 AL games at Balt & Chicago postponed honoring Robert F. Kennedy
Jun 12 U.S. premiere of horror film “Rosemary’s Baby”, based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Ira Levin
Jun 18 Supreme Court bans racial discrimination in sale and rental of housing
Jun 19 50,000 participate in Solidarity Day March of Poor People’s Campaign
Jun 20 Jim Hines becomes 1st person to run 100 meters in under 10 seconds
Jun 28 Daniel Ellsberg indicted for leaking Pentagon Papers
Jun 29 “Tip-Toe Thru’ The Tulips With Me” by Tiny Tim peaks at #17

Let’s Rock: Album Releases:
Jun 14 Aretha Franklin – Aretha Now
Jun 14 Iron Butterfly – In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
Jun 14 Rahsaan Roland Kirk – The Inflated Tear
Jun 21 John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers – Bare Wires
Jun 24 The Beach Boys – Friends
Jun 24 The Rascals – Time Peace: The Rascals’ Greatest Hits
Jun 29 Pink Floyd – A Saucerful of Secrets 
Chicken Shack – 40 Blue Fingers, Freshly Packed and Ready to Serve
Joan Baez – Baptism: A Journey Through Our Time
Steve Miller Band –   Children of the Future
Fairport Convention – Fairport Convention
José Feliciano – Feliciano!
Otis Redding –  The Immortal Otis Redding Compilation
Spooky Tooth –  It’s All About
Johnny Cash – Old Golden Throat
Os Mutantes – Os Mutantes
The Pentangle – Pentangle
Randy Newman – Randy Newman
Vanilla Fudge – Renaissance
Silver Apples – Silver Apples

US Top 20 Singles for the Week Ending June 22, 1968:
1  THIS GUY’S IN LOVE WITH YOU – Herb Alpert (A&M)
2  MACARTHUR PARK – Richard Harris (Dunhill)
3  MRS. ROBINSON – Simon and Garfunkel (Columbia)
4  YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY – The Ohio Express (Buddah)
5  THE LOOK OF LOVE – Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66 (A&M)
6  MONY MONY – Tommy James and the Shondells (Roulette)
7  THINK – Aretha Franklin (Atlantic)
8  ANGEL OF THE MORNING – Merrilee Rush and the Turnabouts (Bell)
9  TIGHTEN UP – Archie Bell and the Drells (Atlantic)
10 REACH OUT OF THE DARKNESS – Friend & Lover (Verve Forecast)
11 HERE COMES THE JUDGE – Shorty Long (Soul)
12 JUMPIN’ JACK FLASH – The Rolling Stones (London)
13 I COULD NEVER LOVE ANOTHER (After Loving You) – The Temptations (Gordy)
14 I LOVE YOU – People (Capitol)
15 THE HORSE – Cliff Nobles and Co. (Phil-L.A. Of Soul)
16 A BEAUTIFUL MORNING – The Rascals (Atlantic)
17 LICKING STICK – LICKING STICK (Part 1) – James Brown and the Famous Flames (King)
18 THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY – Hugo Montenegro, His Orchestra and Chorus (RCA)
19 A MAN WITHOUT LOVE (Quando M’innamoro) – Engelbert Humperdinck (Parrot)
20 LADY WILLPOWER – Gary Puckett and the Union Gap (Columbia) 

June Movies:
June 1
Bandolero!
June 5
For Singles Only
Jigsaw
June 10
Petulia
June 12
Rosemary’s Baby
While there were many Horror films released during the late ’60’s height of Theaters and Drive-In’s popularity, Rosemary’s Baby was the beginning of the oncoming “A Class” Horror film.
New visions, film direction, style, thrilling chilling scripts, sophisticated effects, and new and classic composers’ suspenseful sound attracted “A” List actors and directors to this new more cerebral, yet visceral view of Horror.
So, in reality, Rosemary’s Baby wasn’t what one was led to believe,
but in reality the Child of Horror Films To Come.


Speedway
The Sweet Ride
June 19
The Green Berets
The Thomas Crown Affair
The Lost Continent
00individual will dedicate a post this month to commemorate the 50 Year Anniversary of this
LSD-infused mondo mindbender, as this film was no mere movie, it cast a spell, it had a mood,
it was a weird experience.

June 25
The Secret Life of an American Wife
June 26
Never a Dull Moment

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The Psychedelic Train hosts a “Beginning of Summer” allnight party for 99 close personal Psychonauts with 36 Rooms, a Concert Hall, a Restaurant, and a full-length Topside Pool!

“The Psychedelic Train Hosts An Allnight Party!” Copyright 2018 00individual TLL

Next stop July 1968!
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1967 Archives
January . . . February . . . March . . . April . . . May . . . June
July . . . August . . . September . . . October . . . November
December

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Celebrate the most historic year in modern American history with the 50th Anniversary of 1968 – featuring MAY

“May 1968 – Vive la Révolution” copyright 2018 00individual  TLL

EXPERIENCE the HISTORICAL HEIGHT of POP and ROCK and PSYCHEDELIC CULTURE!
and the Year that Shattered American and World History

MAY 1968!

May 1968 belongs to the phenomenal world-wide impact and domino effect of the
French student protests. Dates highlighted in bold:

Happenings:
May 2 Student protests in France over out-dated universities and lack of employment for graduates led the administrators of the Paris University at Nanterre to temporarily shut down the educational institution. Instead of quelling the demonstrations, the act led to more protests and the calling of riot police by the university

May 3 A group of 500 students at the Sorbonne in Paris, France, protested against the closure of Paris University at Nanterre and the proposed expulsion of some students. Police arrived to disperse the protesters, and “the first riot of mai 68 ensued” and led to riots and university closures across the country.

May 3 The first heart transplant in the United Kingdom was performed by Dr. Donald Ross and a team of surgeons at the National Heart Hospital in London. The patient, Frederick West, would survive for 46 days until dying from complications of an infection.

May 6 More than 20,000 protesters marched towards the Sorbonne, and the police charged the crowd with batons. When some protesters created barricades and threw paving stones, the police respond with tear gas. Hundreds were arrested. A riot breaks out between police and more than 5,000 university students in Paris. Within a week workers throughout France are staging sympathy strikes, threatening the economy.

May 7 In Paris, the Union Nationale des Étudiants de France (UNEF), France’s largest student union, along with the union of university teachers, staged a march to protest against police actions at the Sorbonne.

May 10 The government of France issued an order prohibiting the state run ORTF from televising the student demonstrations in France, but ORTF radio correspondents were allowed to make live reports. The independent Radio Luxembourg sent its own journalists to France and kept them there despite harassment from the French police.  Because of the live broadcasts, news of the rebellion spread from Paris to the rest of France and to media around the world.
At nightfall, college and high school students began erecting makeshift barricades to seal off the streets around the Latin Quarter of Paris and to keep the police from entering the area. The action was imitative of the history lessons taught about the barricades erected by the crowds of the Paris Commune in 1871 and by the French Resistance fighters against the German occupation in 1944.

May 11 French police stormed the Latin Quarter of Paris in order to clear away the demonstrators in a chaotic end to the “Night of the barricades” that called worldwide attention to the chaos in France.

May 11 A crowd of 30,000 students marched to the parliamentary building in Bonn, the capital of West Germany, where members of the Bundestag were going to vote on the “Emergency Laws” (Notstandgesetze) which would authorize the West German executive branch to suspend basic rights during a national crisis. The “Sternmarsch” would be unsuccessful in blocking the enactment of the emergency measure.

May 11 The psychedelic rock band H. P. Lovecraft performed at The Fillmore in San Francisco . A recording of the event would be released 23 years later, in 1991

May 12 Reginald Dwight, who played the piano for the English R & B group Bluesology, chose the stage name that would make him famous while on an airplane flight back to London after his final concert with Bluesology in Edinburgh. After a discussion with his bandmates, Dwight chose to use the first names of saxophonist Elton Dean and lead vocalist John Baldry to coin the pseudonym Elton John.

May 13 In France, a one-day general strike was called by the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT) and the Force Ouvrière (CGT-FO) as organized labor groups walked off of their jobs as a show of support to striking students. Prime Minister Georges Pompidou announced the release of prisoners and the reopening of the Sorbonne, but protests continued.

May 14 Workers at the Sud Aviation aircraft factory near Nantes followed the example of France’s university students and went on a sit-down strike, becoming “the very first of the French factories to go on strike” and setting a precedent that would soon spread to the Renault automobile factories, then to western France and eventually to the entire nation.

May 14 In Tokyo, Japan’s Matsushita Electric Industrial Company (now Panasonic) introduced what was, at the time, the world’s smallest television set. The tiny device, “so small it can be slipped into a coat pocket”, had a 1 1⁄2 inch (3.8 cm) screen and weighed 1 1/3 pounds (600 grams).

May 14 The Beatles announced the creation of Apple Records, a division of Apple Corps Ltd, at a press conference in New York City.

May 16 Two weeks after students in France had closed most of the nation’s universities with a student strike, employees seized control of the automobile factories owned by the nationalized Renault company, taking control at Boulogne-Billancourt, Rouen, Le Havre, Le Mans and Flins.  Employees of Sud-Aviation, the state operated aircraft factory at Nantes, welded the factory gates shut. Workers struck two factories at Lyon, several newspapers in Paris, and shut down Orly, the Paris international airport.

May 17 The social revolt and labor unrest in France spread as the number of striking laborers reached 100,000 employees of dozens of factories. As the takeover continued, red flags were hoisted in and around Lyon over the Rhône-Poulenc chemical plant; ; the Berliet truck factory; and the Rhodiaceta textile factory.  The airports at Orly and at Le Bourget remained closed.

May 17 Nine antiwar activists enter a Selective Service office in Catonsville, Maryland, remove nearly 400 files and burn them in the parking lot with homemade napalm.

May 17 In Paris, students, teachers and young workers gathered at the Arc de Triomphe to demand that criminal charges against arrested students be dropped and that the authorities reopen Nanterre and Sorbonne universities. The example of the Catonsville Nine (later convicted of destruction of government property and sentenced to jail terms between 24 and 42 months) spurs some 300 similar raids on draft boards over the next four years.

May 18 The two-week long Cannes Film Festival ended on its 9th day after members of the judges panel resigned in sympathy for striking French students and workers, and several hundred workers in the film industry seized control of the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès. An attempt to resume the festival was halted the next day when film technicians (including projectionists) refused to work, and directors of the films scheduled for performance refused to allow the screening.

May 18 The first Miami Pop Festival was staged at the Gulfstream Park horseracing track at Hallandale, Florida. The rock concert included The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, and Blue Cheer. Their return performances for the second day of the scheduled two day concert were rained out, but the success of the first event led to a larger second Miami Pop Festival that took place at the end of the year.

May 21 France’s President Charles de Gaulle exercised his constitutional power to grant amnesty for the leaders of the students who led the strike against French universities, but the number of French workers on strike increased to 8,000,000 as two million people walked off of their jobs during the day. Banks were closed as panicking depositors sought to withdraw their money, and the stock marked in Paris did not open for trading.

May 24 President Charles de Gaulle appeared on national television in France and made a plea to viewers for help in ending the strike by 10,000,000 workers and rioting in French cities. He announced a referendum for June and asked for voters to approve a grant of emergency power to force reforms and to halt the “roll to civil war”. “Frenchmen, French women,” he said, “you will deliver your verdict by a vote. In case your reply is ‘no’, it follows that I would no longer assume my functions.” [128] In the hours leading up to the speech, thousands of demonstrators, many from outside the city, were converging on the center of Paris, while riot police prepared to contain the violence.

May 25 The world’s 17th human heart transplant was performed at the Medical College of Virginia by Dr. David M. Hume and Dr. Richard Lower, but the hospital initially refused to disclose the name of the recipient or the donor, and an armed guard was kept on the floor where the patient was recovering. . Reporters soon learned from other sources that the recipient was a white man, Joseph G. Klett, and that the heart came from an African-American, Bruce O. Tucker, who had suffered a traumatic brain injury the day before the surgery and whose body was unclaimed;  and then found the reason for the secrecy. William Tucker, the donor’s brother, brought a lawsuit on behalf of the family on grounds that the heart had been removed without consent and that Bruce was technically alive when he had been was taken off of life support. The suit, Tucker v. Lower would be “the first case to present the question of the ‘definition of death’ in the context of organ transplantation”. Four years to the day after Tucker’s death, a Virginia jury would become “the first anywhere to accept the new medical concept of brain death, the idea that a man is no longer living if his brain is dead.”

May 27 The government of France and representatives of its striking trade unions informally settled on the Grenelle agreements that would end the strike in return for a 35% increase in the minimum wage and an average increase of 10% in overall wages.

May 27 The Supreme Court rules 7-1 that burning a draft card is not an act of free speech protected by the First Amendment.

May 30 – The Beatles begin recording The White Album (officially titled, simply, The Beatles). Sessions would span over 4 months, ending on October 14.

Let’s Rock
May Album Releases:
May 1 Speedway Soundtrack – Elvis Presley
May 4 Just Because I’m a Woman – Dolly Parton
May 24 Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake – Small Faces
Live At Folsom Prison – Johnny Cash
Basic Blues Magoos – Blues Magoos
The Beat of the Brass – Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
La La Means I Love You – The Delfonics
The Papas & The Mamas – The Mamas & the Papas
Quicksilver Messenger Service – Quicksilver Messenger Service
The Tom Jones Fever Zone – Tom Jones
A Tramp Shining – Richard Harris – “Macarthur Park”

When MacArthur Park, sung by Richard Harris, first came out it became an easy target for ridicule, however coming a year after The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s and The Moody Blues’ Days Of Future Passed, this psychedelic swingin’ mind-bender quickly went from ridicule to a track that was held in high esteem,

00individual has always heard and felt this track as sincere and moving, never to be made fun of, as for some it was harder to admit to connecting to the depth of sincere heartbreaking emotion, which Richard Harris achieved and presented honestly and with no tongue-in-cheek attitude whatsoever, than to admit to experiencing a very dramatic and heartfelt portrayal via orchestration and word.

The fact that it was released during the height of the psychedelic period only added to the far-out aspects of the lyrics which simply, or complexly, convey the emotions within the break-up of a relationship.

Richard Harris’ debut solo album “A Tramp Shining” written, arranged and composed by the highly prolific Jimmy Webb (Webb is the only artist ever to have received Grammy Awards for music, lyrics, and orchestration.) reached #4 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums of 1968 – and – MacArthur Park reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 – the album and track were well-received and well-liked worldwide.

Richard Harris, was a great Irish actor, singer, theatrical producer, film director, and writer; known off camera for his rowdy and robust hard-drinking lifestyle he was loved by friends and fellow actors alike for his kind, considerate and gregarious ways.  He was a man who lived life to it’s fullest – right up to the end as Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films.

MacArthur Park is a telling rarity; at nearly seven and a half minutes with lush orchestration, harpsichords and swingin’ ’60s interludes driven by dramatic symbolic psychedelic lyrics and imagery sung mostly in a spoken word style, it stands as a true example of the heights that Psychedelic Pop/Rock’s creativity, through overwhelming acceptance, would and could achieve.

“MacArthur Park” copyright 2014 00individual  TLL

 “MACARTHUR PARK”
Spring was never waiting for us, girl
It ran one step ahead
As we followed in the dance

Between the parted pages and were pressed
In love’s hot, fevered iron
Like a striped pair of pants

MacArthur’s Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain

I don’t think that I can take it
‘Cause it took so long to bake it
And I’ll never have that recipe again, oh noooooo

I recall the yellow cotton dress
Foaming like a wave
On the ground around your knees
Birds like tender babies in your hands
And the old men playing checkers, by the trees

MacArthur’s Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain

I don’t think that I can take it
‘Cause it took so long to bake it
And I’ll never have that recipe again, oh noooooo

(Short instrumental interlude)

There would be another song for me
For I will sing it
There would be another dream for me
Someone will bring it

I will drink the wine while it is warm
And never let you catch me looking at the sun
And after all the loves of my life
After all the loves of my life, you’ll still be the one

I will take my life into my hands and I will use it
I will win the worship in their eyes and I will lose it
I will have the things that I desire
And my passion flow like rivers through the sky

And after all the loves of my life
Oh, after all the loves of my life
I’ll be thinking of you – and wondering why

(Longer instrumental interlude)

MacArthur’s Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain

I don’t think that I can take it
‘Cause it took so long to bake it
And I’ll never have that recipe again
Oh noooooo, o-oh no-ooooo

“MacArthur Park II” copyright 2014 00individual  TLL
(Created in Classic ’60’s Mad Men-era Painting Style.) Click on image for full-screen enjoyment!

US Top 20 Singles for the Week Ending May 18, 1968:
1  TIGHTEN UP – Archie Bell and the Drells (Atlantic)
2  MRS. ROBINSON – Simon and Garfunkel (Columbia)
3  HONEY – Bobby Goldsboro (United Artists)
4  THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY – Hugo Montenegro Orchestra & Chorus (RCA Victor)
5  A BEAUTIFUL MORNING – The Rascals (Atlantic)
6  COWBOYS TO GIRLS – The Intruders (Gamble)
7  LOVE IS ALL AROUND – The Troggs (Fontana)
8  THE UNICORN – The Irish Rovers (Decca)
9  YOUNG GIRL – The Union Gap Featuring Gary Puckett (Columbia)
10 DO YOU KNOW THE WAY TO SAN JOSE – Dionne Warwick (Scepter)
11  SHOO-BE-DOO-BE-DOO-DA-DAY – Stevie Wonder (Tamla)
12  CRY LIKE A BABY – The Box Tops (Mala)
13  TAKE TIME TO KNOW HER – Percy Sledge (Atlantic)
14  AIN’T NOTHING LIKE THE REAL THING – Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell (Tamla)
15  LADY MADONNA – The Beatles (Capitol)
16  SUMMERTIME BLUES – Blue Cheer (Philips)
17  I GOT THE FEELIN’ – James Brown and the Famous Flames (King)
18  FUNKY STREET – Arthur Conley (Atco)
19  MONY MONY – Tommy James and the Shondells (Roulette)
20  LIKE TO GET TO KNOW YOU – Spanky and Our Gang (Mercury)

May Movies:
May continues to make a juggernaut impact with a potent line up of classics:
May 2
The Odd Couple
Historic Classic Neil Simon, Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon comedy.

May 15
The Devil’s Brigade
The Swimmer
Classic psychological mind-bender – a real acid trip.
At a neighborhood pool party Burt Lancaster’s character Ned realizes that there are a series of backyard swimming pools that could form a “river” back to his house, making it possible for him to “swim his way home” – and the journey trip begins . . .

Witchfinder General (aka The Conqueror Worm}
May 23
Prudence and the Pill
May 28
The Detective
May 29
Villa Rides
Wild in the Streets
The psychedelic classic of a Rock ‘n’ Roll 24 year old President who puts adults over thirty in LSD camps. Movie has the righteous cult-hit
“ The Shape Of Things To Come” by Max Frost and the Troopers!

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After last month’s outer space excursion The Psychedelic Train lands back on Earth and is rip-roarin’ ‘n’ ready to continue cruisin’ the 1968 landscape.

“The Psychedelic Train Rip-Roarin’ ‘n’ Ready”. Copyright 2018 00individual TLL

Next stop June 1968!
.
1967 Archives
January . . . February . . . March . . . April . . . May . . . June
July . . . August . . . September . . . October . . . November
December

 . . .

Celebrate the most historic year in modern American history with the 50th Anniversary of 1968 – featuring APRIL

“00individual Easter Bunny Celebrates April 1968” copyright 2018 00individual  TLL

EXPERIENCE the HISTORICAL HEIGHT of POP and ROCK and PSYCHEDELIC CULTURE!
and the Year that Shattered American and World History

The year 1968 was to be a very bold step away from the Summer Of Love serendipity of 1967.  While still wildly psychedelic, life’s rainbow colors would soon bring deep, dark ominous tones to the front of the spectrum. The unthinkable would happen again, and again.

As a mid-term student 00individual began the 12th grade in the first quarter of 1968. At seventeen his world was a swirl of the freedom of his own car, girlfriends, Marijuana (eventually Psychedelics), a part-time job, incredibly fun weekends – and the social experiment that was high school.  At this point 00individual’s mind had been opened to a whole new way of seeing the world through a “lens of importance” that helped define priorities.  School was no longer a place of academic learning, instead it became a place for social interaction that would ultimately far outweigh the benefits that academics could supply in real-world situations where street-wise knowledge was needed.

APRIL 1968!

There were three distinct cultural events that took place during April 1968 that have become everlasting important historic impressions that still influence, and have created discussion every day since.

1) The film “2001 A Space Odyssey” became a Quasi-Trip Counter-Culture must see.  This was a mind-bender and not just for the Psychedelic Head Trip Visual Ending, but for the filmed reality of space flight to back up the underlying mystery of life itself.
2) The nation had been numb since JFK’s asassination in 1963 with only time to heal those wounds, when on April 3rd another beloved leader was shot down; Civil Rights Leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was asassinated.  Things were getting ugly.
3) “Hair: the American Tribal Love-Rock Musical” was a celebration of the Counter-Culture centered around the zeitgeist theme; “Make Love Not War”.  Along with the top ten songs, the important current societal issues, and the popularity of the Broadway show that triggered performances around the world; the free-spirit of “Hair” paved the way for new attitudes toward theater – and life.

April was a huge month on every level. Dig it.

Happenings:
Apr 2 The Beatles form Python Music Ltd
Apr 2 Senator E Mccarthy wins Democratic primaries in Wisconsin
Apr 2 “2001: A Space Odyssey” story by sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke, directed by Stanley Kubrick, and starring Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood, premieres at the Uptown Theater in Washington, D.C.
Apr 3 N Vietnam agrees to meet US reps to set up preliminary peace talks
Apr 3 “Planet of the Apes” United States wide premiere
Apr 4 Apollo 6 launched atop Saturn V; unmanned
Apr 4 US civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee
Apr 6 With EMI getting impatient for another record and the ‘new’ quartet clear that they would carry on without their founder, an announcement was made to the press that Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd had parted company.
Apr 8 Gangsters Henry Hill and Jimmy Burke commit the Air France robbery, stealing $420,000
Apr 9 Martin Luther King Jr., buried in Atlanta
Apr 10 “George M!” opens at Palace Theater NYC for 435 performances
Apr 10 40th Academy Awards: “In the Heat of the Night”, Rod Steiger & Katherine Hepburn win
Apr 10 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Apr 11 US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs 1968 Civil Rights Act
Apr 12 Nerve gas accident at Skull Valley, Utah
Apr 14 First NBA game at Madison Sq Garden, Knicks beat SD Clippers
Apr 18 178,000 employees of US Bell Telephone System go on strike
Apr 18 London Bridge is sold to US oil company (to be erected in Arizona)
Apr 18 Mart Crowley’s “Boys in the Band” premieres in NYC
Apr 18 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Apr 24 Leftist students take over Columbia University, NYC
Apr 24 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
Apr 26 Students seize administration building at Ohio State
Apr 26 US underground nuclear test, “Boxcar,” 1 megaton device
Apr 27 Congress of Political Party Radicals (PPR) forms in Netherlands
Apr 29 “Hair” premeires on Braoadway at the Biltmore Theater NYC for 1750 performances

Let’s Rock:
Apr 3 – Simon & Garfunkel -Bookends
In a weird way, Bookends served as a prescient album that echoed the mood of 1968.  Side one of this concept album dealt with stages of life with the standout track “America”. Side two was enigmatic, a perfectly rare set of album tracks that capture a moment in history when songs like these elicited the heights of what the power of voice and lyric can achieve. Besides the mini-anthem “Fakin’ It”, and the  playful “Punky’s Dilemma”, S & G delivered some heavy Rock with “Mrs. Robinson”, “A Hazy Shade of Winter”, and “At the Zoo”.
Apr 3 – Moby Grape – double LP – Wow/Grape Jam
Apr 6 – Cilla Black – Sher-oo!
Apr 8 – Merle Haggard – The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde
Apr 19 – The Zombies – Odessey and Oracle
Apr 22 – The Monkees – The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees
Apr 27 – Sly & the Family Stone – Dance to the Music
Apr 29 – The Temptations – The Temptations Wish It Would Rain
Booker T and The MG’s – Doin’ Our Thing
Tiny Tim – God Bless Tiny Tim
James Brown – I Got the Feelin’
Amboy Dukes – Journey to the Center of the Mind
Spanky and Our Gang – Like to Get to Know You
Spanky’s vocals counter-point the male choruses, and the lead male vocal is sublime – and then there’s that righteous coda.
Linda Ronstadt – Stone Poneys and Friends Vol. III
1910 Fruitgum Company – Simon Says
Eric Burdon & The Animals – The Twain Shall Meet

US Top 20 Singles for the Week Ending April 20, 1968:
1 HONEY – Bobby Goldsboro (United Artists)
2 YOUNG GIRL – The Union Gap Featuring Gary Puckett (Columbia)
3 CRY LIKE A BABY – The Box Tops (Mala)
4 LADY MADONNA – The Beatles (Capitol)
5 (Sweet Sweet Baby) SINCE YOU’VE BEEN GONE – Aretha Franklin (Atlantic)
6 (Sittin’ On) THE DOCK OF THE BAY – Otis Redding (Volt)
7 THE BALLAD OF BONNIE AND CLYDE – Georgie Fame (Epic)
8 DANCE TO THE MUSIC – Sly and the Family Stone (Epic)
9 I GOT THE FEELIN’ – James Brown and the Famous Flames (King)
10 MIGHTY QUINN (Quinn the Eskimo) – Manfred Mann (Mercury)
11 SCARBOROUGH FAIR (Canticle) – Simon and Garfunkel (Columbia)
12 LA-LA MEANS I LOVE YOU – The Delfonics (Philly Groove)
13 VALLERI – The Monkees (Colgems)
14 IF YOU CAN WANT – Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (Tamla)
15 LOVE IS BLUE – Paul Mauriat and His Orchestra (Philips)
16 SUMMERTIME BLUES – Blue Cheer (Philips)
17 PLAYBOY – Gene and Debbe (TRX)
18 COWBOYS TO GIRLS – The Intruders (Gamble)
19 THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY – Hugo Montenegro, Orchestra/Chorus (RCA Victor)
20 THE UNICORN – The Irish Rovers (Decca)

April Movies:
April 2 – The Scalphunters
April 3 – 2001: A Space Odyssey
April 4 – The Party
The Party was a hoot with the genius of Peter Sellers on full display.
Fired as an extra from a movie set when he causes a disasterous and costly “accident” he is mistakenly invited to a swinging Hollywood party at the mansion home of the movie producer that fired him. Like a magnet for mayhem, Sellers’ mostly improvised interactions with the guests serve as an amazingly funny and continuously amusing journey through the escalating happenings one night at The Party.
April 10 – Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows
April 10 – Will Penny
April 24 – Yours, Mine and Ours

After cosmic upgrades and modifications at the underground Secret Garage and R & D Labs,
the Psychedelic Train takes off into 1968 space to commune with the 2001 A Space Odyssey StarChild.

“The Psychedelic Train Communes With The 2001 A Space Odyssey StarChild.”
copyright 2018 00individual TLL

Next stop May 1968!
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1967 Archives
January . . . February . . . March . . . April . . . May . . . June
July . . . August . . . September . . . October . . . November
December

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Celebrate the Height of Psychedelic Culture and U.S. History with the 50th Anniversary of 1968 – featuring MARCH!

“50th Anniverary Celebration of 1968” copyright 2018 00individual  TLL

EXPERIENCE the HISTORICAL HEIGHT of POP and ROCK and PSYCHEDELIC CULTURE!

MARCH 1968
1968 remains arguably the most historic year in modern American history, so far.

The first true “innocence killer” that required a new adjusted reality became the norm after the shocking President John F. Kennedy asassination in 1963. One must remember that for most Americans this was an unheard of and totally-disheartening event.  This was a wound that never healed, the fact that it could/would happen was enough, but the mounting general distrust of the Government’s lies and with the conspiracy theories of a lone gunman, and the shooter(s) on the grassy knoll only fueled the flame that the truth was being withheld from U.S. citizens who were the stewards of a Government of the People, by the People, and for the People.

March was the not-so-quiet before the storm – as stated in Happenings! below, protests against the War in Vietnam and social injustice were becoming a daily activity taking place world-wide, and some were violent as tensions mounted.

Happenings!
Mar 1 NBC’s unprecedented on-air announcement, Star Trek will return.
Mar 7 The BBC broadcasts the news for the first time in color on television.
Mar 8 New York rock venue Fillmore East opens in Manhattan.
Mar 9 10th Grammy Awards: Up Up & Away, Sgt Pepper’s wins 4.
Mar 11 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson mandates that all computers purchased by the federal government support the ASCII character encoding.
Mar 11 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson barely edges out antiwar candidate Eugene McCarthy in the New Hampshire Democratic primary, a vote which highlights the deep divisions in the country, and the party, over Vietnam.
Mar 11 Otis Redding posthumously receives gold record for ” Dock of the Bay”.
Mar 13 The Beatles release “Lady Madonna” in the UK.
Mar 15 LIFE magazine calls Jimi Hendrix “most spectacular guitarist in the world”.
Mar 16 Senator Robert Kennedy, former Attorney General and brother of former president John F. Kennedy (1961-63) ends months of debate by announcing that he will enter the 1968 Presidential race.
Mar 16 Although it will not become public knowledge for more than a year, US ground troops from Charlie Company rampage through the hamlet of My Lai killing more than 500 Vietnamese civilians from infants to the elderly. The massacre continues for three hours until three American fliers intervened, positioning their helicopter between the troops and the fleeing vietnamese and eventually carrying a handful of wounded to safety.
Mar 19–March 23 – Afrocentrism, Black Power, Vietnam War: Students at Howard University in Washington, D.C., signal a new era of militant student activism on college campuses in the U.S. Students stage rallies, protests and a 5-day sit-in, laying siege to the administration building, shutting down the university in protest over its ROTC program and the Vietnam War, and demanding a more Afrocentric curriculum.
March 22 – Daniel Cohn-Bendit (“Danny the Red”) and 7 other students occupy the administrative offices of the University of Nanterre, setting in motion a chain of events that lead France to the brink of revolution in May.
Mar 25 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
Mar 26 – Joan Baez marries activist David Harris in New York.
Mar 28 Martin Luther King Jr. leads a march in Memphis which turns violent. After King himself had been led from the scene one 16 year old black boy is killed, 60 people are injured, and over 150 arrested.
Mar 29 Students seize building at Bowie State College.
Mar 31 President Lyndon Johnson delivers his Address to the Nation Announcing Steps To Limit the War in Vietnam and Reporting His Decision Not To Seek Reelection. The speech announces the first in a series of limitations on US bombing, promising to halt these activities above the 20th parallel. HOWEVER – on Mar 31 US President Lyndon B. Johnson also authorizes a troop surge in Vietnam, bringing the total number of US soldiers to a peak of 549,500.
By the war’s end in 1975 over 58,000 U.S. soldiers (average age, 19) would die.

Let’s Rock:
Album releases:
Mar 3 Lauro Nyro – Eli and the Thirteenth Confession
Mar 4 The Mothers of Invention – We’re Only in It for the Money
Mar 6 The United States of America –  The United States of America
Mar 23 Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls Dionne Warwick
The Association – Birthday
The Incredible String Band – The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter
James Brown – I Can’t Stand Myself When You Touch Me
Electric Flag – A Long Time Comin’
The Move –  The Move
Miles Davis – Nefertiti
Ray Charles – A Portrait of Ray
The Supremes – Reflections
The International Submarine Band – Safe at Home
Scott Walker – Scott 2
Joni Mitchell – Song to a Seagull

US Top 40 Singles for the Week Ending March 16, 1968
1  (Sittin’ On) THE DOCK OF THE BAY – Otis Redding (Volt)
2  (Theme From) VALLEY OF THE DOLLS – Dionne Warwick (Scepter)
3  LOVE IS BLUE – Paul Mauriat and His Orchestra (Philips)
4  SIMON SAYS – 1910 Fruitgum Co. (Buddah)

5  JUST DROPPED IN (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) – The First Edition
A celebration or condemnation of LSD? Either way; classic trippy lyrics of the Psychedelic Era:
I woke up this morning with the sundown shining in, I found my mind in a brown paper bag within,
I tripped on a cloud and fell-a eight miles high, I tore my mind on a jagged sky,
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in
Yeah, yeah, oh-yeah, what condition my condition was in
I pushed my soul in a deep dark hole and then I followed it in
I watched myself crawling out as I was a-crawling in
I got up so tight I couldn’t unwind, I saw so much I broke my mind
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in
Yeah, yeah, oh-yeah, what condition my condition was in
Someone painted April Fool in big black letters on a Dead End sign
I had my foot on the gas as I left the road and blew out my mind
Eight miles outta Memphis and I got no spare
Eight miles straight up downtown somewhere
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in
I said I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in
Yeah, yeah, oh-yeah

6  I WISH IT WOULD RAIN – The Temptations (Gordy)
7  LA-LA MEANS I LOVE YOU – The Delfonics (Philly Groove)
8  VALLERI – The Monkees (Colgems)
9  (Sweet Sweet Baby) SINCE YOU’VE BEEN GONE – Aretha Franklin (Atlantic)
10  I THANK YOU – Sam and Dave (Stax)
11  SPOOKY – The Classics IV (Imperial)
12  EVERYTHING THAT TOUCHES YOU – The Association (Warner Brothers)
13  BOTTLE OF WINE – The Fireballs (Atco)
14  WALK AWAY RENEE – The Four Tops (Motown)
15  THE END OF OUR ROAD – Gladys Knight and the Pips (Soul)
16  DANCE TO THE MUSIC – Sly and the Family Stone (Epic)
17  THE BALLAD OF BONNIE AND CLYDE – Georgie Fame (Epic)
18  WORDS – The Bee Gees (Atco)
19  TOO MUCH TALK – Paul Revere and the Raiders Featuring Mark Lindsay (Columbia)
20  I WONDER WHAT SHE’S DOING TONITE – Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart (A&M)

MARCH MOVIES
March 1 – Day of the Evil Gun
March 8 – Stay Away, Joe
March 13 – Counterpoint
March 18 – The Producers
March 20 – No Way to Treat a Lady
March 21 – The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
March 29 – Madigan

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An isolated gas station is cover for the underground Secret Garage and R & D Labs that further the Psychedelic Train’s cosmic overhauls.

“The Psychedelic Train Gets A Tune Up at the Secret Underground Garage”
Copyright 2018 00individual  TLL

OK, Cosmic Kids, after a much-needed tune-up
the Psychedelic Train will be back on the rails through Historic Psychedelic 1968!

Next stop, April!

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1967 Archives

January . . . February . . . March . . . April . . . May . . . June
July . . . August . . . September . . . October . . . November. . . December.

– Please disregard any advertisements that may appear directly below on this site –
00individual does not endorse nor receive any payment of any kind from any of those advertiser(s).

1960’s & 1970’s Historic & Classic Rock Albums . . . . THE MOODY BLUES – Classic Era: 1967 – 1970 Music: a Catalyst for Time Travel

“Moody Montage” Copyright 2014 00individual

THE MOODY BLUES
Classic Era: 1967 – 1970
The Height Of Classic Rock

Music: a Catalyst for Time Travel
The amazing thing about these posts for 00individual is that with each trip back in time, the ambient feeling wafts in and out of the five senses and bits of the sixth (Extra Sensory Perception) and maybe seventh (Time/Dimensional Shift).  Different subjects trigger not only memories but in some cases a strong moment of time travel.  As a Malibu Postman in the ’80s while delivering mail one day 00individual rounded a rural bend and caught a smell, a woodsy flowery smell that immediately brought him back when he was a kid running through trees and bushes in a local park – and for that moment he was there, for real; the smell, the view, and most importantly how it felt to be a kid once again.

While aromas have this ability, Music has a far deeper and imprinted memory bank to pull from and provides the ability to create time travel experiences for anyone who had a musical soundtrack in their lives. But there is also music that transcends personal experience and becomes a personal experience.

All kinds of music, from TV commercial jingles to well-known song-stylist classics, and from Classical to Classic Rock have served as triggers to memories. But within those simple trigger-shots there were some that went deeper than just a flesh wound, some went straight to the heart.

The Moody Blues
From ’67 to ’70 The Moody Blues’ music had that unique quality to access places in one’s spirit; a sublime place where lyrics flowed with intelligence and evergreen meaning, and where the righteous Rock was Progressive, but solely unique, one of a kind, super rare.

The Moody Blues created their own genre; irresistable rockin’ music that consistantly reflected on life and more often on expanding one’s consciousness.

Below are five triggers waiting to be pulled (squeezed) to release time travel elements for any one and every one.  Create a lifetime moment, get to know these albums, really.

Just reading the album and track titles tells volumes; the Moody Blues were the perfect group for the enlightened times, and for all time.

Days of Future Passed (1967)
A1 The Day Begins 5:45
A2 Dawn: Dawn Is A Feeling 3:50
A3 The Morning: Another Morning 3:40
A4 Lunch Break: Peak Hour 5:21
B1 The Afternoon: Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?) 8:25
B2 Evening: The Sun Set: Twilight Time 6:39
B3 The Night: Nights In White Satin 7:41

In Search of the Lost Chord (1968)
A1 Departure 0:48
A2 Ride My See-Saw 3:37
A3 Dr. Livingstone, I Presume 2:58
A4 House Of Four Doors 4:11
A5 Legend Of A Mind 6:40
A6 House Of Four Doors (Part Two) 1:43
B1 Voices In The Sky 3:32
B2 The Best Way To Travel 3:12
B3 Visions Of Paradise 4:15
B4 The Actor 3:09
B5 The Word 1:35
B6 Om 6:27

On the Threshold of a Dream (1969)
A1 In The Beginning 2:08
A2 Lovely To See You 2:35
A3 Dear Diary 3:56
A4 Send Me No Wine 2:20
A5 To Share Our Love 2:54
A6 So Deep Within You 3:07
B1 Never Comes The Day 4:43
B2 Lazy Day 2:43
B3 Are You Sitting Comfortably 3:31
B4 The Dream 0:55
B5 Have You Heard – Part I 1:23
B6 The Voyage 4:07
B7 Have You Heard – Part II 2:38

To Our Children’s Children’s Children (1969)
A1 Higher And Higher 4:06
A2 Eyes Of A Child I 3:24
A3 Floating 3:02
A4 Eyes Of A Child II 1:20
A5 I Never Thought I’d Live To Be A Hundred 1:06
A6 Beyond 3:00
A7 Out And In 3:44
B1 Gypsy 3:35
B2 Eternity Road 4:17
B3 Candle Of Life 4:19
B4 Sun Is Still Shining 3:35
B5 I Never Thought I’d Live To Be A Million 0:34
B6 Watching And Waiting 4:17

A Question of Balance (1970)
A1 Question 5:40
A2 How Is It (We Are Here) 2:48
A3 And The Tide Rushes In 2:57
A4 Don’t You Feel Small 2:40
A5 Tortoise And The Hare 3:23
B1 It’s Up To You 3:11
B2 Minstrel’s Song 4:27
B3 Dawning Is The Day 4:22
B4 Melancholy Man 5:49
B5 The Balance 3:33

What a heavy body of work and in such a short period in time.
There would be more albums with hits, but these five albums in a row were nothing less than perfect.
A fine collection to send into space to truly rep the the Height of Classic Rock of the’60s and the ’70s.
These guys had magick.

“THINKING IS THE BEST WAY TO TRAVEL”

To whatever forces that were responsible for 00individual to experience this time frame
he is eternally greatful.

And just in case it was missed
stare at the “DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED” album cover above
for less than 13 seconds for a Psychedelic Trip!

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– Please disregard any advertisements that may appear directly below this post –
00individual does not endorse nor receive any payment of any kind from any advertiser(s).

Celebrate the most historic year in modern American history with the 50th Anniversary of 1968 – featuring FEBRUARY!

“00individual Celebrates February 1968” copyright 2018 00individual  TLL

EXPERIENCE the HISTORICAL HEIGHT of POP and ROCK and PSYCHEDELIC CULTURE!
and the Year that Shattered American and World History

FEBRUARY 1968!

As a mid-term student 00individual graduated high school the following February, 1969.  But for now at seventeen, his world was a swirl of the freedom of his own car, girlfriends, Marijuana, a part-time job, incredibly fun week-ends – and high school.  At this point with only the 12th grade to go, 00individual’s mind had been opened to a whole new way of seeing the world through a “lens of importance” that helped define priorities.  School was no longer a place of academic learning, instead it became a place for social interaction and plying one’s trade on the straights.  A place to develop personality traits – that would ultimately far outweigh the benefits that academics could supply – with street-wise knowledge and interaction with friends a year or two older.

The year 1968 was to be a very bold step away from the Summer Of Love serendipity of 1967.  While still wildly psychedelic, life’s rainbow colors would soon bring deep, dark ominous tones to the front of the spectrum. In the months to come the unthinkable would happen again, and again.

The War:
Gallup Poll shows that 50% of Americans disapprove of President Johnson’s handling of the war in Vietnam.
This was no longer a Generation Gap issue as both sides met middle ground for sanity’s sake.  Something was wrong and the average citizen was waking up and smelling the napalm every morning.
Feb 1 Photographer Eddie Adams takes now-iconic image of South Vietnamese police chief executing Viet Cong officer and is published in The New York Times,  Widely seen, it becomes an anti-war icon.

Feb 13 US sends 10,500 additional soldiers to Vietnam
Feb 8 Officers kill 3 students demonstrating in SC State (Orangeburg)
Feb 17 American officials in Saigon report an all-time high weekly rate of U.S. casualties–543 killed in action and 2,547 wounded in the previous seven days. These losses were a result of the heavy fighting during the communist Tet Offensive.
Feb 18 Thousands of people in West Berlin demonstrate against US involvement in the Vietnam War
Feb 19 1st US teachers’ strike (Florida)
Feb 24 US troops reconquer Hue Vietnam
Feb 27 CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite delivers a scathing editorial on America’s chances of winning the Vietnam War Broadcast of CBS News report about his
Vietnam trip, in which he says, “For it seems now more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate.”
University students in Boston stage four-day hunger strike to protest the Vietnam War.
More than 10,000 march through Paris, protesting the Vietnam War; later in the month, thousands in Berlin protest the war.
The Japanese student organization Zengakuren, and other Japanese citizens, stage massive protests of the docking of the USS Enterprise, a nuclear armed vessel, in Sasebo harbor. Police use violence against protestors.

Let’s Rock:
Feb 8 “Planet of the Apes” premieres in New York City
With the war over, from 1945 through the mid ’60s prosperity was on the rise, Americans could work, raise a family and enjoy life during a pretty idyllic time.
However the mid-60s to mid-’70s revealed the reality of the dirt under the crabgrass as JFk’s assassination in ’63, the mounting war in Vietnam, and the emergence and influence of the Counter-Culture only added to the tension.
00individual saw “Planet of the Apes” at the Studio Drive-In in Culver City.  This was one of the first anti-war “visual parables” that really had an impact on a world-wide base.  With current bomb tests, war, US teenage soldiers coming home in body bags, civil unrest, and mass protests, the world seemed on the precipice of disaster. With The Planet Of The Apes’ Twilight Zone shocking ending – the point was made; the war nedded to be ended.
Writer Dalton Trumbo’s 1971 film, “Johnny Got His Gun” would make the ultimate anti-war movie and create an even deeper and much more (sur)realistic view of the horrors and futility of war.  00individual saw this in a darkened theater, and while not one who needed to be “preached to the choir” it was a mind-bender and left an imprint – just as POTA did in ’68.

Feb 16 The Beatles George Harrison, John Lennon and their wives fly to India for transcendental meditation study with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Feb 18 David Gilmour officially joins Pink Floyd
Feb 19 “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” debuts on NET (now PBS)
Feb 19 The Rascals – Once Upon a Dream
Feb 21 Blood, Sweat & Tears -Child Is Father to the Man
Feb 23 The Dock of the Bay Otis Redding Compilation
Feb 24 Fleetwood Mac – Fleetwood Mac
Feb 29 The Beatles’ “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” wins Grammy Award for Album of the Year, the first Rock LP to do so
Vanilla Fudge – The Beat Goes On
Waylon Jennings – Hangin’ On
Bee Gees – Horizontal
The Chocolate Watch Band – The Inner Mystique
Mason Williams –The Mason Williams Phonograph Record 
Oxford, Ohio band The Lemon Pipers hit #1 US with the psychedelic pop single, “Green Tambourine”; considered the first “bubblegum” rock song to top the charts.
Fifties doo wop sensation Frankie Lymon, who went to #1 as a teenager in 1956 with the single “Why Do Fools Fall In Love”, dies of a heroin overdose at age 25

Also in February:
Feb 6 10th Winter Olympic games opens in Grenoble, France
Feb 10 Peggy Fleming wins Olympic figure skating gold medal, Grenoble, France
Feb 16 US 1st 911 phone system went into service in Haleyville, Alabama
Feb 18 10th Winter Olympic games close at Grenoble, France
Feb 23 Wilt Chamberlain becomes 1st NBAer to score 25,000 points
Feb 24 Discovery of 1st pulsar announced
Feb 29 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Feb 29 US end regular flights with nuclear bombs
Feb 29 National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders reports against racism & demands aid given to blacks.
Activist César Chavez fasts for 21 days to promote non-violence in the struggle for farmworker rights and social justice. Chavez meets with Robert Kennedy at end of fast.

US Top 20 Singles for the Week Ending February 10, 1968:
1  LOVE IS BLUE – Paul Mauriat and His Orchestra (Philips)
2  GREEN TAMBOURINE – The Lemon Pipers (Buddah)
3  SPOOKY – The Classics IV (Imperial)
4  JUDY IN DISGUISE (With Glasses) – John Fred and His Playboy Band (Paula)
5  CHAIN OF FOOLS – Aretha Franklin (Atlantic)
6  I WISH IT WOULD RAIN – The Temptations (Gordy)
7  GOIN’ OUT OF MY HEAD/CAN’T TAKE MY EYES OFF YOU (Medley) – The Lettermen (Capitol)
8  NOBODY BUT ME – The Human Beinz (Capitol)
9  WOMAN, WOMAN – The Union Gap Featuring Gary Puckett (Columbia)
10  BEND ME, SHAPE ME – The American Breed (Acta)
11  SUSAN – The Buckinghams (Columbia)
12  BABY, NOW THAT I’VE FOUND YOU – The Foundations (Uni)
13  I WONDER WHAT SHE’S DOING TONITE – Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart (A&M)
14  BOTTLE OF WINE – The Fireballs (Atco)
15  (Theme From) VALLEY OF THE DOLLS – Dionne Warwick (Scepter)
16  ITCHYCOO PARK – The Small Faces (Immediate)
17  MY BABY MUST BE A MAGICIAN – The Marvelettes (Tamla)
18  AM I THAT EASY TO FORGET – Engelbert Humperdinck (Parrot)
19  DARLIN’ – The Beach Boys (Capitol)
20 DIFFERENT DRUM – The Stone Poneys Featuring Linda Ronstadt (Capitol)

Although it only reached number 26,  SOME VELVET MORNING by Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra, felt like the soundtrack to the reflective part of a Psychedelic Spaghetti Western.  A strangely mesmerizing song that actually captured a moment in time when a song like this made it to number 26!

Cost of Living U.S. 1968:
Yearly Inflation Rate USA – 4.27%
Year End Dow Jones Industrial Average – 943
Average Cost of new house – $14,950.00
Average Income per year – $7,850.00
Average Monthly Rent – $130.00
Gas per Gallon – 34 cents
Average Cost of a new car – $2,822.00
Movie Ticket – $1.50
The Federal Hourly Minimum Wage – $1.60 an hour

February Movies:
Feb 6 Doctor Faustus
Feb 7 The Fox
Feb 8 Planet of the Apes
Feb 7 Sol Madrid
Feb 8 Blackbeard’s Ghost
Feb 21 Bye Bye Braverman
Feb 29 The Secret War of Harry Frigg

Zeta Reticuli friends test drive their upgrades on the Psychedelic Train.

“Aliens test drive the Psychedelic Train’s upgrades.” copyright 2018 00individual TLL

Next stop March 1968!
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1967 Archives
January . . . February . . . March . . . April . . . May . . . June
July . . . August . . . September . . . October . . . November
December

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1960’s Culture Archives and Classic Albums . . . . . . . Growing Up With The Beach Boys

“THE BEACH BOYS”  Copyright 2018 00individual  TLL

Growing Up With The Beach Boys

People like to joke about the ’50s and ’60s “Leave It To  Beaver” lifestyle, but in reality, growing up in the 1950s was a very special gift. It allowed 00individual to experience a childhood that was innocent and pure during a time when life unfolded slowly to meet each maturation level naturally. He was fortunate to personally experience the evolution of the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, – the absolute best decades in history – and he is eternally greatful.

Just a few miles from 00individual’s hometown of Westchester, the Beach Boys grew up in Hawthorne, and although the Beach Boys were five to ten years older than 00individual he still had a “general proximity” shared vibe of them in regard to nearness in area and age.

Living and growing up on L. A.’s west side near the beaches and L. A. International Airport, 00individual was prime for the sunny Southern California Beach Culture.  As a young tan teen with a bushy, bushy blonde hairdo, 00individual dug the beach, so much so that in the Summer of ’68 with the exclusion of seven random days he was at the beach every day for three months.

The beach had a strong ulterior motive, back then it was the ultimate way to meet cool chicks. When a guy is nude except for shorts and girls nude except for a bikini, inhibitions are already stripped away by half which made it easy for both sexes to engage in talk, laughter, playful surf splashing, flirting, and walking along the beach, and maybe more.

At fifteen, 00individual met his first long-term (two or three months of the summer) tan blonde Swedish girlfriend at the beach. He would thumb (hitch-hike) to her house in Inglewood (one town closer than Hawthorne) and they would sit on an outside canopied swing/couch, hold hands, and make-out. There was magick in the air.

But none of this would have come about if not for The Beach Boys.

Although surfing had been a central part of ancient Polynesian culture for hundreds of years, it was the Beach Boys who popularized the sport in song, and in turn, popularized the entire Southern California Surf / Beach Culture / Lifestyle.

Their November 1961 Candix label debut single “Surfin'” was one of the first 45 RPM singles 00individual bought at ten years old. As simple as that song was it opened up a world for him, somehow the genius of Brian Wilson, along with Mike Love, Al Jardine, Carl Wilson, David Marks, and Dennis Wilson, created a magickal spell right from the start of this one song.  It conjured up visions of fun, sun, beach, parties, girls, cars, freedom – and surfing – all things that were right in 00individual’s own backyard to enjoy as he entered his teens.

“Surfin” was the gateway drug to the allure of the “California Sound”, the Beach Boys golden harmonies graced all of their songs from rockers to ballads to love songs. Whenever a Beach Boys song came over the radio smiles and sing-alongs were irresistable.

Prior to the late ’60’s rebellion and Drug-Culture, the innocence of the Beach Boys ruled.  They sang of a lifetsyle that was embraced by the Baby Boomers whose influence was on the rise in the form of this new entity called the American Teenager.

On October 1, 1962 the Beach Boys released their first album,“Surfin’ Safari” .  The album featured the tracks Surfin’, Surfin’ Safari, and the seminal Car-Culture anthem 409.  409 celebrated the So. Cal. love of everything cars and triggered yet another genre; Rod Rock.  There was already a strong Car-Cult that was an integral part of the ’50s and the ’60s, and the Beach Boys sang its praises with future hits Little Deuce Coupe, Shut Down, I Get Around, and Fun, Fun, Fun.

“Surfin’ U.S.A.”, their second album, released in early 1963, contained the smash hit album title track which reflected the ubiquiteous nature that “surf music” had become: a Nation-wide phenomenon. The attraction of the “surfer lifestyle” went beyond the surf scene and was enjoyed and embraced by free-spirited people everywhere.

The California Sound included instrumental bands like The Ventures, The Challengers, and the King of the Surf Guitar, Dick Dale.  The singing duo, Jan and Dean, compatriots and friends of the Beach Boys, rose to the top with their hits Surf City, Dead Man’s Curve, Ride The Wild Surf, and The Little Old Lady from Pasadena, as well as their Beach Boys collaboration and monster hit Barbara Ann.

Since it was cheaper for a kid on a limited allowance to buy 59 cent singles than to purchase a 2 or 3 dollar album, 00individual’s 45 RPM collection grew.  It wasn’t until “Beach Boys Concert” album that 00individual splurged and bought the album.

On October 19, 1964 the Beach Boys released the live album “Beach Boys Concert”; it was their first and only No. 1 album in the US, and the first live album to top pop music record charts, staying at #1 for four weeks during a sixty-two-week chart stay, and becoming another gold seller.

Earlier that year The Beatles performed on the Ed Sullivan show – which basically launched / exposed Beatlemania to the masses. With the Beatles and the oncoming British Invasion, Teens, Rockers, and Music Lovers everywhere were blessed with great new songs from great new bands.

This influx created competition for airplay and popularity; the field widened and somewhat marginalized the Beach Boys dominance of the Pop Rock genre. The Beach Boys were aware of the changing zeitgeist and Brian Wilson met the competition by excelling in record production techniques and arrangements.

On March 8, 1965, the Beach Boys released “The Beach Boys Today!” – this was 00individual’s second Beach Boys album and was purchased with money from his fourteenth birthday a month earlier.

This album is historic within the Beach Boys legacy as it was their first album that did not have surf or car themed songs. Resigned from touring with the group, Brian focused solely on writing and producing. He began using Marijuana and LSD, which he says had profound effects on the way he perceived and composed music.

Therefore, when seen structurally as a near concept album with side one up-tempo and side two ballads, there is a sophisticated, orchestral approach with instrumentation that includes accordions, harpsichords, French horn, tack pianos, mandolins, and sleigh bells.  The distinct arrangements with multi-layered “Wall of Sound” productions proved the Beach Boys to be true artists beyond a singles band.  This was prescient timing on Brian’s part because many bands were exploring every avenue of creative instrumentation, composition, and arrangements,  but the one thing all of those other bands didn’t have was the golden harmonies of the Beach Boys and the leadership of Brian Wilson.

The Beach Boys deserve all the credit that history provides as they single-handedly created a cultural and musical genre tidal wave.  A wave that broke through the harbors of the original Rock of the ’50s, a wave that burst the dams for the British Invasion of the ’60s, and then a wave that morphed into a psychedelic pipeline with Brian Wilson’s epic “Good Vibrations“.

On October 10, 1966, the Beach Boys released thee perfect song, Good Vibrations.  00individual was just four months away from getting high for the first time (Marijuana), five months away from his sixteenth birthday (legal driving age), and seven months from getting his own car (good lovin’) – he was experiencing Good Vibrations in his life and the song stands as an important and meaningful personal era imprint.

00individual is very thankful to have been able to experience and enjoy his youth-to-teen years in an innocent natural progression in large part courtesy of “growing up with” The Beach Boys music and spirit.

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