Rock & Roll History: The 60's!!

[ABlairican Pie]

Iggy Pop

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On July 20, American astronauts had accomplished the greatest feat of all mankind: landing on the moon.

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To commemorate the lunar landing a song came out by a new British rocker named David Bowie:

Space Oddity

Ground Control to Major Tom
Ground Control to Major Tom
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on

Ground Control to Major Tom
Commencing countdown, engines on
Check ignition and may God’s love be with you

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five,
Four, three, two, one, liftoff

This is Ground Control to Major Tom
You’ve really made the grade
And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear
Now it’s time to leave the capsule if you dare

"This is Major Tom to Ground Control
I’m stepping through the door
And I’m floating in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today

For here
Am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet earth is blue
And there’s nothing I can do

Though I’m past one hundred thousand miles
I’m feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go
Tell me wife I love her very much she knows"

Ground Control to Major Tom
Your circuit’s dead, there’s something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you....

"here am I floating round my tin can
Far above the moon
Planet earth is blue
And there’s nothing I can do."

[ABlairican Pie]

On the weekend of August 15, 1969, another glorious event took place, the crowning moment of the Flower Power generation:

Woodstock.

On the farm of Max Yasgur in upstate New York, music fans came far and wide to see three days and nights of rock and roll!!

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Jefferson Airplane was there to sing "Volunteers".

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The Airplane's politically charged lyrics reflected the turmoil going on back home in Berkeley.

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What a long strange trip it's been!!

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Joe Cocker

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Country Joe and the Fish led the crowd in a *spelling* of his F-I-S-H cheer.

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Crosby, Stills, and Nash performed such favorites as "Wooden Ships".

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Neil Young was a Canadian musician who played in the mid-60's with a band called the Mynah Birds (which included Rick James and had a deal with Motown) when he met Stephen Stills and Joni Mitchell in Toronto. He joined Buffalo Springfiend and was able to maintain a solo career while still with Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young with his band Crazy Horse. In 1969 he released his first solo album "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere" with the song:

Cinnamon Girl

I wanna live with a cinnamon girl
I could be happy the rest of my life
With a cinnamon girl.

A dreamer of pictures I run in the night
You see us together, chasing the moonlight,
My cinnamon girl.

Ten silver saxes, a bass with a bow
The drummer relaxes and waits between shows
For his cinnamon girl.

A dreamer of pictures I run in the night
You see us together, chasing the moonlight,
My cinnamon girl.

Pa sent me money now
I’m gonna make it somehow
I need another chance
You see your baby loves to dance
Yeah...yeah...yeah.

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Roger Daltry of The Who

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Pete Townsend of The Who

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Janis Joplin

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The crowd was really digging it!!!

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The crowd hoped to send a message to the boys in Washington D.C.

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"The freeway is CLOSED, man!!"

[Steve M.]

Joni Mitchell was holed up in Manhattan during Woodstock, but she captured the spirit of the festival in her song "Woodstock," which Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young would do the definitive version of a year later -

Woodstock

(Joni Mitchell)

Well, I came upon a child of God
He was walking along the road
And I asked him, "Tell me, where are you going?"
And this he told me,
"I'm going on down to Yasgur's farm,
Gonna join in a rock and roll band,
I'm going to camp out on the land,
And set my soul free."

(CHORUS)

We are stardust, we are golden
We are billion-year old carbon
And we've got to get ourselves back to the garden.

Then can I walk beside you
I have come here to lose the smog
And I feel to be a cog in something turning,
And maybe it's the time of year
Or maybe it's the time of man
Well, I don't know who I am
But life is for learning.

(REPEAT CHORUS TWICE)

By the time we got to Woodstock
We were half a million strong
And everywhere was a song and a celebration
And I dreamed that I saw the bomber jet planes
Riding shotgun in the sky
Tunring into butterflies
Above our nation.

(SECOND CHORUS)

We are stardust, we are golden
We are caught in the devil's bargain
And we've got to get ourselves back to the garden.

[Steve M.]

The most exciting acoustic performer to appear at Woodstock was Richie Havens.

http://www.bobdylanroots.com/havens.jpg

His performance of the song "Freedom" was a pinnacle moment!

[Steve M.]

One of the most introspective and one of the moodiest songwriters ever was Engalnd's Nick Drake, whose simple yet profound songs touched a chord in everyone who heard them.

http://www.ondarock.it/Drake.jpg

[Steve M.]

Drake's 1969 debut album Five Leaves Left became a folk rock classic, with contributions from Fairport Convention producer Joe Boyd and Fairport guitarist Richard Thompson. The album's best song was "Time Has Told Me."

Time Has Told Me - Nick Drake

(Drake)

Time has told me
You're a rare, rare find
A troubled cure
For a troubled mind

And time has told me
Not to ask for more
For someday our ocean
Will find its shore

So I'll leave the ways that are making me be
What I really don't want to be
Leave the ways that are making me love
What I really don't want to love

Time has told me
You came with the dawn
A soul with no footprint
A rose with no thorn

Your tears, they tell me
There's really no way
Of ending your troubles
With things you can say

And time will tell you
To stay by my side
To keep on trying
'Til there's no more to hide

So leave the ways that are making you be
What you really don't want to be
Leave the ways that are making you love
What you really don't want to love

Time has told me
You're a rare, rare find
A troubled cure
For a troubled mind

And time has told me
Not to ask for more
For somday our ocean
Will find its shore.

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John Sebastian of the Lovin' Spoonful was there at Woodstock. He admitted he was "slightly high" when he played, but no problem at that time.

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Santana played their huge hit, "Black Magic Woman". Mexican-born Carlos Santana proved how much of an amazing, passionate guitarist he is at the festival.

Black Magic Woman
Santana
Music & Lyrics : P. Green - G. Szabo

I got a Black Magic Woman.
I got a Black Magic Woman.
Yes, I got a Black Magic Woman,
She's got me so blind I can't see;
But she's a Black Magic Woman and
she's trying to make a devil out of me.

Don't turn your back on me, baby.
Don't turn your back on me, baby.
Yes, don't turn your back on me, baby,
Don't mess around with your tricks;
Don't turn your back on me, baby,
'cause you might just wake up my magic sticks.

You got your spell on me, baby.
You got your spell on me, baby.
Yes, you got your spell on me, baby,
Turnin' my heart into stone;
I need you so bad,
Magic Woman I can't leave you alone.

The song then segued into the spell-binding, rhythmic Soul Sacrifice.

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And to close the show, Jimi Hendrix played the most unforgettable
set in all of rock and roll: a twisted, tortured version of "The Star Spangled Banner" which perfectly mirrored the state of the nation at the time--one of disarray and confusion. It was sheer genius.

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Also that summer, a hip new musical, "Hair" taught the generation that we were at the dawning of a new age of peace, love, and harmony. The groupThe Fifth Dimension sang the song:

Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In

When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius
Age of Aquarius
Aquarius!
Aquarius!

Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revelation
And the mind's true liberation
Aquarius!
Aquarius!

When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius
Age of Aquarius
Aquarius!
Aquarius!
Aquarius!
Aquarius!

<instrumental and tempo shift>

Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in, the sunshine in
Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in, the sunshine in
Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in, the sunshine in

<continue to end with concurrent scat>

Oh, let it shine, c'mon
Now everybody just sing along
Let the sun shine in
Open up your heart and let it shine on in
When you are lonely, let it shine on
Got to open up your heart and let it shine on in
And when you feel like you've been mistreated
And your friends turn away
Just open your heart, and shine it on in

FADE

[Penny Lane]

The Doors weren't invited to Woodstock. I never understood why?. :eek:

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Let's Get It Together
The Youngbloods

Love is but the song we sing,
And fear's the way we die
You can make the mountains ring
Or make the angels cry
Know the dove is on the wing
And you need not know why

C'mon people now,
Smile on your brother
Ev'rybody get together
Try and love one another right now

Some will come and some will go
We shall surely pass
When the one that left us here
Returns for us at last
We are but a moments sunlight
Fading in the grass

C'mon people now,
Smile on your brother
Ev'rybody get together
Try and love one another right now
If you hear the song I sing,
You must understand
You hold the key to love and fear
All in your trembling hand
Just one key unlocks them both
It's there at your command

C'mon people now,
Smile on your brother
Ev'rybody get together
Try and love one another right now
Right now
Right now!

[ABlairican Pie]

In 1969, during a concert in Florida, a drunken Jim Morrison asked the concert if they wanted to see him expose himself. It was the beginning of the end for the Doors. Morrison's reputation as a dangerous and unpredictable performer had gotten the group banned across the country.

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In the fall of 1969, the Beatles prepared to release their album, "Abbey Road", which, sadly, was to be their last. Squabbles within the group had sapped the creative energy from the band, over issues such as finances, personal lives, and career moves. The band decided to call it a day with one last outing. "Abbey Road" contained such classics as "Here Comes the Sun", "Come Together", and the "Golden Slumbers" medley.

Here Comes the Sun

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
And I say it’s all right

Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it’s all right

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it’s all right

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...

Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been clear
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
And I say it’s all right
It’s all right

[ABlairican Pie]

Led Zeppelin's debut album

How Many More Times

How Many More Times, treat me the way you wanna do? [X2]
When I give you all my love, please, please be true.

I'll give you all I've got to give, rings, pearls, and all. [X2]
I've got to get you together baby, I'm sure, sure you're gonna crawl.

[spoken]
I was a young man, I couldn't resist
Started thinkin' it all over, just what I had missed.
Got me a girl and I kissed her and then and then...
Whoops, oh Lordy, well I did it again.
Now I got ten children of my own
I got another child on the way that makes eleven.
But I'm in constant heaven.
I know it's all right in my mind
'Cause I got a little schoolgirl and she's all mine
I can't get through to her 'cause it doesn't permit
But I'm gonna give her everything I've got to give.

Oh, Rosie, oh, girl. [X2]
Steal away now, steal away [X2]
Little Robert Anthony wants to come and play.

Well they call me the hunter, that's my name.
They call me the hunter, that's how I got my fame.
Ain't no need to hide, Ain't no need to run.
'Cause I've got you in the sights of my..........gun!

How Many More Times, barrelhouse all night long. [X2]
I've got to get to you, baby, baby, please come home.

Dazed and Confused

Been Dazed and Confused for so long it's not true.
Wanted a woman, never bargained for you.
Lots of people talk and few of them know,
Soul of a woman was created below.

You hurt and abuse tellin' all of your lies.
Run around sweet baby, Lord how they hypnotize.
Sweet little baby, I don't know where you've been.
Gonna love you baby, here I come again.

Every day I work so hard, bringin' home my hard earned pay
Try to love you baby, but you push me away.
Don't know where you're goin', only know just where you've been,
Sweet little baby, I want you again.

Been dazed and confused for so long, it's not true.
Wanted a woman, never bargained for you.
Take it easy baby, let them say what they will.
Will your tongue wag so much when I send you the bill?

[ABlairican Pie]

Led Zeppelin II was released later in 1969.

Whole Lotta Love
You need coolin’, baby, I’m not foolin’,
I’m gonna send you back to schoolin’,
Way down inside honey, you need it,
I’m gonna give you my love,
I’m gonna give you my love.

Wanna whole lotta love?
Wanna whole lotta love?
Wanna whole lotta love?
Wanna whole lotta love?

You’ve been learnin’, baby, I bean learnin’,
All them good times, baby, baby, I’ve been yearnin’,
Way, way down inside honey, you need it,
I’m gonna give you my love,
I’m gonna give you my love.

Wanna whole lotta love?
Wanna whole lotta love?
Wanna whole lotta love?
Wanna whole lotta love?

(various mumblings and screechings with cool effects)

You’ve been coolin’, baby, I’ve been droolin’,
All the good times I’ve been misusin’,
Way, way down inside, I’m gonna give you my love,
I’m gonna give you every inch of my love,
Gonna give you my love.
Yeah! all right! let’s go!

Wanna whole lotta love?
Wanna whole lotta love?
Wanna whole lotta love?
Wanna whole lotta love?

Way down inside, woman,
You need love.

Shake for me, girl
I wanna be your backdoor man.
Hey, oh, hey, oh
Oh, oh, oh
Keep a-coolin’, baby,
Keep a-coolin’, baby.

Heartbreaker
Hey fellas, have you heard the news?
You know that annie’s back in town?
It won’t take long just watch and see
How the fellas lay their money down.
Her style is new but the face is the same
As it was so long ago,
But from her eyes, a diff’rent smile
Like that of one who knows.

Well, it’s been ten years and maybe more
Since I first set eyes on you;
The best years of my life gone by,
Here I am alone and blue.
Some people cry and some people die
By the wicked ways of love;
But I’ll just keep on rollin’ along
With the grace of the lord above.

People talkin’ all around ’bout the way you left me flat,
I don’t care what the people say, I know where their jive is at.
One thing I do have on my mind, if you can clarify please do,
It’s the way you call me by another guy’s name when I try to make love to you!
I try to make love but it ain’t no use.
Give it to me, give it!

(guitar solo)

Work so hard I couldn’t unwind,
Get some money saved;
Abuse my love a thousand times,
However hard I tried.
Heartbreaker, your time has come,
Can’t take your evil way;
Go away,
Heartbreaker.
Heartbreaker!

Living Loving Maid

With a purple umbrella and a fifty cent hat,
Livin’, lovin’, she’s just a woman.
Missus cool rides out in her aged cadillac.
Livin’, lovin’, she’s just a woman.

*come on, babe on the round about,
Ride on the merry-go-round,
We all know what your name is,
So you better lay your money down.

Alimony, alimony payin’ your bills,
Livin’, lovin’, she’s just a woman.
When your conscience hits, you knock it back with pills.
Livin’, lovin’, she’s just a woman.

* chorus

Tellin’ tall tales of how it used to be.
Livin’, lovin’, she’s just a woman.
With the butler and the maid and the servants three.
Livin’, lovin’, she’s just a woman.

Oh, you got it.

Nobody hears a single word you say.
Livin’, lovin’, she’s just a woman.
But you keep on talkin’ till your dyin’ day.
Livin’, lovin’, she’s just a woman.

* chorus

Livin’, lovin’, she’s just a woman.

[ABlairican Pie]

Led Zeppelin performing at an outdoor festival

[ABlairican Pie]

Originally posted by Penny Lane
The Doors weren't invited to Woodstock. I never understood why?. :eek: I wonder if it was because of the trouble Jim Morrison was getting into... Funny because he would have been right at home there!!:crazy: :lol: All the drugs and skinny-dipping in the mudbogs....

[ABlairican Pie]

One of the albums Creedence Clearwater Revival released in 1969 was "Green River".

GREEN RIVER

Well, take me back down where cool water flows, yeah.
Let me remember things I love,
Stoppin' at the log where catfish bite,
Walkin' along the river road at night,
Barefoot girls dancin' in the moonlight.

I can hear the bullfrog callin' me.
Wonder if my rope's still hangin' to the tree.
Love to kick my feet 'way down the shallow water.
Shoefly, dragonfly, get back t'your mother.
Pick up a flat rock, skip it across Green River.
Welllllll!

Up at Cody's camp I spent my days, oh,
With flat car riders and cross-tie walkers
. Old Cody, Junior took me over,
Said, "You're gonna find the world is smould'rin'.
And if you get lost come on home to Green River."

Welllllll!
Come on home.

[ABlairican Pie]

Another great album Creedence released that year was "Willy and the Poorboys".

FORTUNATE SON

Some folks are born made to wave the flag,
ooh, they're red, white and blue.
And when the band plays "Hail To The Chief",
oh, they point the cannon at you, Lord,

It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no senator's son,
It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no fortunate one, no,

Some folks are born silver spoon in hand,
Lord, don't they help themselves, oh.
But when the taxman come to the door,
Lord, the house look a like a rummage sale, yes,

It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no millionaire's son.
It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no fortunate one, no.

Yeh, some folks inherit star spangled eyes,
ooh, they send you down to war, Lord,
And when you ask them, how much should we give,
oh, they only answer, more, more, more, yoh,

It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no military son,
It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no fortunate one,

It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no fortunate one, no no no,
It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no fortunate son, no no no

[ABlairican Pie]

In 1969, the Jimi Hendrix Experience broke up, and Jimi formed a band with his army buddy Billy Cox called Band of Gypsys.

Machine Gun

"HAPPY NEW YEAR FIRST OF ALL. I HOPE WE'LL HAVE
A MILLION OR TWO MILLION MORE OF THEM... IF WE
CAN GET OVER THIS SUMMER, HE HE HE. RIGHT I'D
LIKE TO DEDICATE THIS ONE TO THE DRAGGIN' SCENE
THAT'S GOIN' ON ALL THE SOLDIERS THAT ARE FIGHTIN'
IN CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE AND NEW YORK... OH YEAS, AND
ALL THE SOLDIERS FIGHTIN' IN VIETNAM. LIKE TO DO
A THING CALLED 'MACHINE GUN'."

MACHINE GUN
TEARING MY BODY ALL APART

MACHINE GUN
TEARING MY BODY ALL APART

EVIL MAN MAKE ME KILL YA
EVIL MAN MAKE YOU KILL ME
EVIL MAN MAKE ME KILL YOU
EVEN THOUGH WE'RE ONLY FAMILIES APART

WELL I PICK UP MY AXE AND FIGHT LIK A BOMBER
(YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN)
HEY AND YOUR BULLETS KEEP KNOCKING ME DOWN

HEY I PICK UP MY AXE AND FIGHT LIKE A BOMBER NOW
YEAH BUT YOU STILL BLAST ME DOWN TO THE GROUND

THE SAME WAY YOU SHOOT ME DOWN BABY
YOU'LL BE GOING JUST THE SAME
THREE TIMES THE PAIN
AND YOUR OWN SELF TO BLAME
HEY MACHINE GUN

OOOOOOOOOO

I AIN'T AFRAID OF YOUR MESS NO MORE, BABE
I AIN'T AFRAID NO MORE
AFTER A WHILE YOUR YOUR CHEAP TALK DON'T EVERN CAUSE ME PAIN
SO LET YOUR BULLETS FLY LIKE RAIN

'CAUSE I KNOW ALL THE TIME YOU'RE WRONG BABY
AND YOU'LL BE GOIN' JUST THE SAME
YEAH MACHINE GUN
TEARING MY FAMILY APART
YEAH YEAH ALRIGHT
TEARING MY FAMILY APART

DON'T YOU SHOOT HIM DOWN
HE'S ABOUT TO LEAVE HERE
DON'T YOU SHOOT HIM DOWN
HE'S GOT TO STAY HERE
HE AIN'T GOING NOWHERE
HE'S BEEN SHOT DOWN TO THE GROUND
OH WHERE HE CAN'T SURVIVE NO NO

YEAH THAT'S WHAT WE DON'T WANNA HEAR ANY MORE, ALRIGHT
NO BULLETS
AT LEAST HERE, HUH HUH
NO GUNS, NO BOMBS
HUH HUH
NO NOTHIN', JUST LET'S ALL LIVE AND LIVE
YOU KNOW INSTEAD OF KILLIN'

[Brian]

Originally posted by Captain ABlairica
Also that year, the Who recorded a bold rock opera called "Tommy" about a miraculous blind deaf-mute boy.


I have that. Awesome soundtrack.

[ABlairican Pie]

On December 6, 1969, the Rolling Stones were to celebrate a glorious, yet tumultuous year with a free concert at Altamont Speedway in California with Jefferson Airplane and Santana opening. The concert ended in disaster and tragedy as the Hell's Angels, hired as "security", killed a black man and beat several others in front of the stage. Taking the idea from the Grateful Dead who used the Hell's Angels while in Europe, the Stones decided to use the notorious biker gang and pay them in beer. It turned out to become one of the biggest mistakes ever made in music history. The Angels beat and harassed concert-goers with almost no provocation. One nude girl attempting to climb onstage was beaten by the Angels with pool cue sticks, and others had similar punishment meted out by them. The young black man, by the name of Merideth Hunter, was knifed in the back by the Angels because, it was claimed that he had a gun, but it may have been more likely it was that he was seen with a white girl which offended the Angels. The Stones stood by and watched helplessly--in front of cameras covering the event--as Mick Jagger pleaded for calm, to end the fighting in the crowd. The murder was committed during their performance of "Sympathy For the Devil", which caused Jagger to remark, "Something funny always happens when we play that song." Four people in fact died at the concert, which was was plagued with bad acid which enabled the violence to break out. In addition to Hunter, two people were crushed to death when the Angels' motorcycles ran over them in their sleeping bags. Another person drowned in a nearby lake.

The backlash against the Stones was swift and merciless. People accused the band, who had lived and played by their own rules and flipped the bird at conventional society, of creating the bloody outcome of their creed by employing lawless thugs who brutalized the peaceful flower children who came to enjoy a concert. It was a sad--and accurate--indictment on the guardians of the Woodstock generation who betrayed the ideals of the young with unfettered violence.

It was the end of the '60's innocence.

Gimme Shelter
Oh, a storm is threat’ning
My very life today
If I don’t get some shelter
Oh yeah, I’m gonna fade away

War, children, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
War, children, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away

Ooh, see the fire is sweepin’
Our very street today
Burns like a red coal carpet
Mad bull lost it’s way

War, children, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
War, children, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away

Rape, murder!
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away

Rape, murder!
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away

Rape, murder!
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away

The floods is threat’ning
My very life today
Gimme, gimme shelter
Or I’m gonna fade away

War, children, it’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
I tell you love, sister, it’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
It’s just a kiss away
Kiss away, kiss away

[Steve M.]

Family managed to survive the loss of Rick Grech, replacing him with John Weider. They had had a rough year - blowing their American debut gig, separating from their original manager in a rather unamicable way - but Weider proved to be more than an adeqaute replacement for Grech. Like Grech, Weider played both bass and violin, and his playing on both instruments shone on their October 1969 single, "No Mule's Fool."

http://members.aol.com/gabihol/fam/25years.jpg
From left: Jim King, Roger Chapman, John Weider, Rob Townsend, Charlie Whitney

No Mule's Fool - Family

(Whitney / Chapman)

A dusty day in this old town,
A hazy yellow eye looks down,
A buzzing bee's the only lazy sound.

I take the grass, he hits the hay,
The two of us drift through the day,
A butterfly, a sigh, and it's a flick away.

I know we're lazy, lots of people say so,
But one day they're going to see,
We're only doing whatever makes us happy,
We're sitting here, me and my mule,
We make our own rules, and it's cool.

I know we're lazy, lots of people say so,
But one day they're going to see,
We're only doing whatever makes his happy,
We're sitting here, me and my mule,
We're nobody's fool, and it's cool.

I close my eyes, yeah, I feel alright
Must be close to ninety-five
I get my shade from a good old hat that's made from hide.
One more day in God's good sun,
We won't move for anyone
Spend our lazy days and ways just turning on.

I'm looking down there's my old mule,
A stubborn nag but no, no one's fool
He's my only friend and he's cool.

My old mule,
Nobody's fool.


The single got up to number 29 on the British charts, not good enough to be considered a hit, as a hit in the U.K. was a single that managed to crack the top twenty. But it showed that Family were on their way back.

Then, suddenly, Jim King left the group. He was replaced by pianist/flutist/vibraphone player Poli Palmer, whose contributions would serve Family well in the new decade. His playing would dominate Family's third album, released in January 1970, the classic LP A Song For Me. :) Family were indeed on top of the British underground rock scene again.

[Steve M.]

Meanwhile, time was running out fast for the Beatles. The Get Back / Let It Be project was nowhere near ready for release, and so Capitol patched together a string of uncollected singles for the North American market in the meantime; released in January 1970, the title of this greatest-hits record, The Beatles Again, was later changed to Hey Jude.

Events moved quickly. In November 1969, rumors out of Detroit, based on "clues" found on Beatles album covers and in Beatles reocrdings (some played backwards!), started that Paul McCartney was dead and had been since 1966 - with a replacement in his stead. The Beatles denied that clues had been planted or that Paul was even dead, but a lot of folks continued to believe for awhile that it was true.

John Lennon closed out the decade with a Plastic Ono Band jam concert featuring Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Keith Moon, Billy Preston, and several others at the Lyceum Ballroom in December 1969. He also let Paul, George, and Ringo know in no uncertain terms he wanted out. "I want a divorce," he said.

That same month, the Beatles's official fan magazine published its last issue. In it, the editors took the Fab Four to task for letting the group deteriorate and allowing petty differences get in the way of making music.

Three months later, Phil Spector was brought in to put together an album from the Let It Be tapes, and the album itself was finally issued in May 1970. Spector's use of echo and reverb, coupled with the cheesy orchestras on songs like "The Long and Winding Road," would prove controversial with many listeners.

Through early 1970, hope remained that the Beatles would stay together. But on April 10, 1970, with his first solo album a week away from release, Paul McCartney announced that the Beatles - the greatest rock and roll band of all time - were no more. :(

[Steve M.]

Released in February 1970, Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water album, with its majestic title song, provided a soothing balm for the tumultuous events of the times tearing the country apart. But Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, their musical and career differences becoming irreconcilable, would also break up after their fifth and final album's release.

[Steve M.]

It seems ironic that the last number one hit of the sixties was "Someday We'll Be Together" by the Supremes. Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Cindy Birdsong literally had the last word on the decade, promising hope for the future that popular music would remain harmonius. But it was not to be, least of all for the Supremes themselves. A month later, Diana Ross left for a solo career. The Beatles began their solo careers in 1970, the Stones were reeling from Altamont, and pop splintered into various genres and subgenres, with no one performer, group, or unifying idea to keep them together. Rock fans abandoned Top 40 AM to adult-contemporary singles buyers, defecting to free-form FM rock radio, which soon became conservatively programmed by greedy radio executives. New performers emerging from the tail end of the sixties - David Bowie, Chicago, Led Zeppelin, James Taylor, and a pop singer-songwriter named Reginald Dwight, who had already changed his name to Elton John - were the new pop stars. Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix - who closed out the sixties with four shows at the Fillmore East on December 31, 1969 and January 1, 1970 - would soon be dead, with Jim Morrison following close behind.

A new decade - the seventies - had arrived.

[ABlairican Pie]

Well, here we are kiddies, it's the end of the 60's, what a long, strange trip it's been!! Certainly not the end of thread, there's so much to tell about it, but chronology-wise, we're going into a new decade!! Now it's time to take off the love-beads and throw on the bell-bottoms, 'cause now we're heading into--

THE 70's!!!!:cool:

[Steve M.]

The End - The Beatles

(Lennon / McCartney)

Oh yeah, alright,
Are you gonna be in my dreams tonight?

Hold you, love you
Hold you, love you. . . .

And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love. . .
You make.

[Steve M.]

"If you remember the sixties, you probably weren't there." - Robin Williams