If You Had The Chance To Go Back To 1969 At The Age Of 19 Would You?

Thanks Meagain and Kenny & Shale. It was in the air, wasn't it. You could feel that something weird, special and wonderful was happening around us, to us and man---we
were free and doing what we wanted. But before that:
I can remember when I was living in Santa Cruz in '67 and thinking--"something is going on an I wonder if I should be a part of it." Me with my little sweaters and short haircut-----used to go to Frisco to concerts and I would pick up hitch hikers --stone hippie types and I thought they should have bathed more often! I was still a dumb-ass drinker and really didn't "know" what was going on. I knew that something was both flying apart and getting together at the same time. A hit of window pane made understanding somewhat easier---and then-------------

Later: Lived on a sailboat in Hawaii. Sailed over from Maui with a bunch of hippies to see Hendrix at the shell in Waikiki--he blew his amps --end of show. Lived in the jungle on the big island-17 acres @ 50 bucks a month. Traveled across Canada in 70' with 3 girls and another hippie guy. I have a million stories about those days just like everyone else that went through the time. Met some great people along the way------wish I'd kept in contact with some--but then an "adventure" was to be had almost every day and with people
you never met before and would never see again. The way it was.

 

Yeah, Scratch.

IT was Alive. Those day.That Time. Like the Sun with the Earth in tow had traveled through a special part of space. Not just solar alignments. (i.e. the Age of Aquarius). It was a transiting though a different type of space and time. With Enlightenment. The switch was turned ON. The very air was active. People actually enjoyed the Sunshine. Not just walked under it.

Everything was discovery. Today Discovery is copyrighted as a charge card brought to you buy Sears Financial. LOL Would you rather live in today? Bull shit!

With Love from Kenny

 

Wow, Kenny. I really enjoyed reading what you have written here....and I am curious, what did you finally go on to do?

 

Thanks, Glow. I'm glad that someone enjoyed it all.

What do ya mean? Glow.
Like, how do I live, lifewise?

Or what kinds of Job? Or Careers ?

 

You went to that wonderful art college, and then left me hanging here on whatever became of that?...so i guess I mean career wise.

Sign of a good writer, too...you could write a best seller....now.
You kept me interested and wanting to know more...that is hard to do....lol

 

Funny that you should ask. Job-wise I was just the other day writing up everything that I do for creating a new type of business card.

Business card would read:

artist
fine artist
design artist
advertising artist
web artist
convention and exhibit art
architectural design artist
advertising
astronomer
gemologist
your private party gemologist
your personal gem buyer
your private antiques and connoisseur buyer
book production layout editor
convention and tradeshow exhibit installation supervisor
website producer
website specialty code enhancement expert
personal finance dept consultant
personal instruction or tutoring in each subject
parties and events d. j. sixties genre

I'm trying to line up my skill set for a future direction for new in-coming gigs.

I'm basically a listless bum, but yet totally turned on and intensely engaged if I'm in a gig that I love. There's none better.

Career Highlights: web dude for the NYSE.com the New York Stock Exchange / Website/ The communication Department. # separate temp job assignments. Interactive Web Specialist at a major Madison Avenue Ad Agency. Three different projects. Ever hear of Marshmallow Peeps? LOL Lead S.F. union trade show installer. Got the send out my quarterly dues tomorrow. Seems like a million other things. And of course there were a bunch of very broke times.

I'm a killer wed Producer.

As to life in general? I believe in letting the flow of the universe a chance and happenstance take me on a new adventure. Some might even call it FAITH. or Trust.

 

Well, thank you for answering me.
i sort of have the same philosophy, as well...and in comedic terms....here is a quote from me...One can only steer a ship for so long before the wind has other ideas.....

 

no, i'm too old to listen to today's music too. most of what i like was from the 90s and early 2000s.

 

Speaking of music.

To further my saga of art college in 69: From August of 1969 through July or 1970 my roommate and I spent almost every Friday and Saturday night at some major concert. For 3 bucks.
That's why I posted the link to chickenonaunicycle.com http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/
So that you folks could get a real live look and what was going on back then, Go and take a short look and come back and tell us all if you think it was all too much of a party.

Scroll down to start looking at Sept of 1969 and look through the summer of 1970. Check it out. You have no real idea until you've seen this. You won't believe this.
Here's just one place out of many === Fillmore West
http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Fill%20West%20Shows.htm


Examples of My scene that I have seen:
Here's what I can remember

[SIZE=10pt]05 September 1969[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Santana, Sea Train, Yusef Lateef Lights: Brotherhood Of Light[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]18 September 1969[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Taj Mahal, Buddy Guy, Spooky Tooth Lights: Brotherhood Of Light[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]24 September 1969[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]It's A Beautiful Day, Sons Of Champlin / Sanpaku, Outlaws / Ace Of Cups / Terry Dolan Lights: Brotherhood Of Light, Notes: Benefit: Save The Children[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]01 October 1969[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Santana, Mike Bloomfield & Friends, Toung & Groove / Shades Of Joy Lights: Little Princess 109, Notes: Grape Strike Benefit[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]10 October 1969[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Country Joe & The Fish, Albert King, Blodwyn Pig Lights: Brotherhood Of Light[/SIZE]
Winterland
[SIZE=10pt]25 October 1969[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Winterland, San Francisco, CA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Sons Of Champlin, Doug Kershaw Lights: Headlights[/SIZE]
Winterland
[SIZE=10pt]14 November 1969[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Winterland, San Francisco, CA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Crosby, Stills, Nash, And Young, Cold Blood, Lamb/Joy Of Cooking Lights: Little Princess[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]19 November 1969[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Big Brother and the Holding Company, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Barry McGuire and The Doctor (Eric Hord), The Naut Family (Benefit for Family Dog), Moved from Winterland[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]21 November 1969[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Jethro Tull, MC5, Sanpaku Lights: Brotherhood Of Light[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]28 November 1969[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Kinks, Taj Mahal, Sha Na Na Lights: Little Princess[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]04 December 1969[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Grateful Dead, Flock, Humble Pie Lights: Brotherhood Of Light[/SIZE]

December 6, 1969 ----- We all were at Altamont. It was fantastic! Guys hurried through the crowd from the stage to the rear of the field handing out 10 or 12 blue barrel Owsley acid pills to people and telling them to past it all around. (Blue Cheer) Great show. Weird shit happened. Three babies were born and three people died. Turns out that a white chick told her black boyfriend that she was going to go there to have sex with Jagger and drove off with friends. He went and got a gun in order to stop it from happening and he drove out to Altamont. There was a big trial that lasted a year and the Hell's Angels involved were found not guilty. There were tons of witnesses.

[SIZE=10pt]12 December 1969[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Chambers Brothers, Nice, King Crimson Lights: Little Princess[/SIZE]
Winterland
[SIZE=10pt]19 December 1969[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Winterland, San Francisco, CA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Santana, Grand Funk Railroad, Fat Mattress Lights: Brotherhood Of Light, Notes: Also: Kimberley (?)[/SIZE]
Winterland
[SIZE=10pt]27 December 1969[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Winterland, San Francisco, CA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Sly & The Family Stone, Spirit, Southwind Lights: Little Princess, Notes: Also: Ball 'N Jack[/SIZE]

New Year's Eve --- Winterland --- Show ran from 8 till dawn. bacon and eggs and coffee and O.J. for everybody. Tickets were 4 bucks, I think.
[SIZE=10pt]31 December 1969[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Winterland, San Francisco, CA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver, Sons Of Champlin, Hot Tuna Lights: Brotherhood Of Light[/SIZE]

February 6-7, 1970 Family Dog on the Great Highway, San Francisco, CA Quicksilver Messenger Service, Freedom Highway, Mike Seeger FD-700206 Fly-By-Night Grafix

[SIZE=10pt]19 February 1970[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Delaney & Bonnie/Eric Clapton, New York Rock And Roll Ensemble, Golden Earring Lights: Little Princess[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]26 February 1970[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Jack Bruce Friends, Johnny Winter, Mountain Lights: Dry Paint, Notes: Also: Eric Mercury[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]01 March 1970[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Johnny Winter, Mountain, Eric Mercury Lights: Dry Paint[/SIZE]
Winterland
[SIZE=10pt]24 April 1970[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Winterland, San Francisco, CA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Joe Cocker, Van Morrison, Stonemans, The Lights: Brotherhood Of Light[/SIZE]

April 24-25, 1970 Family Dog on the Great Highway, San Francisco, CA Quicksilver Messenger Service, Osceola, Robert Savage Group FD-700424 Randy Tuten
Winterland
[SIZE=10pt]02 May 1969[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Winterland, San Francisco, CA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Mongo Santamaria Lights: Headlights[/SIZE]

There's a bunch of other shows that we went to that are not listed in this source.
Like, I know that I saw a whole lot of Jefferson Airplane shows, Grateful Dead shows, I saw more Quicksilver Messenger Service then I list here.

It was a fun time.

 

Seriously though, pop music might have been slightly better in the 60's.

 

LOL wouldn't you go back to 1969?
Don't try to tell me that we should all be living and loving the FUN Times of today. I'd offer you a hundred bucks to show me where?

 

Are you asking me? I would go back to many different periods in time if I could (I agree with Nox: 60's are overrated... French revolution is where it's at! )

In regards to music now: I could tell several great music festivals and also some fun places with good music to go in a city. I'm just saying I enjoy music from these days as much as music from the 60's. Far from all of it, but that's just logical. There's even more music as back then.

 

Nah, Not asking you specifically. Just asking everyone.

LOL My 60s were super highly rated. LOL Life was over the top.

 

I wouldn't want to go back and be 19 in '69, when I was actually 12. The 60's was a good time to be a kid growing up, and so many things happened to me that would have either not happened or happened differently that it would mess up my life. Had I been born in 1950, I'd have grown up to age 10 in the 50's, which would have been very different. The range of influences to which I was exposed would not have been the same, and I'd probably be a different person now. As I'm quite happy in myself, I wouldn't want things to have been different. I might have made some different choices, but maybe not.

Easy to romanticize the 60's as a kind of golden age, which it really wasn't, and nowadays it looks archaic to me. I think a lot of 60's idealism was very naive, self-congratulatory and destined to crumble as history shows it did.
Music from the 60's sounds to me these days like a museum exhibit - listen to a couple of tracks now and then, but soon get very bored with it.

 

I think one had to understand what life was like before the 60s to see what was happening in the 60s. It became frightening to the powers that be/were. The beatnicks began to see through the facade of the don't cuss, don't fuck, don't question, dress properly, get a job for life, join society as your parents did, do not question authority, never mind the civil rights of those damn uppity nigs, and this was in the 40s. But the beats were harmless in a way. They sat in coffee houses and recited poetry and lamented the state of their being in
books-Kerouac and others, poetry-Ginsburg--Howl, but direct action against the forces of 'the way life is' was not their way. It really was a Leave it to Beaver kind of existence in the main. The dogs were set loose on people, some went to jail for decades for weed, people began to be drafted into a war that seemed to make no sense, the Native Americans were pissed and took over Alcatraz, Patty Hearst, of all people was robbing banks with the SLA, people were getting restless and uneasy. The confluence of events --civil rights, the war,
societies unwritten but strictly enforced codes of behavior were all coming under question. Much of the music reflected as much. Didn't hurt the Kesey stole LSD from Stanford and turned his friends in their artists and writers enclave onto ---well--something interesting, to say the least. It seemed that there was no turning back. It took the society at large to eventually wear most of the movements out, with their constant denigration of each by way of their media and of course, many of us settled back into a workaday world simply because one could only live so long running loose with children. Some have, though. Communes still exist here and there.

It was a time for impetuous action, for the youth to point the way towards a more equitable society, which in turn, had the equal but opposite reaction from the authorities.

The womens' movement, civil rights movement and others have persevered to this day and are getting results. SOME results. The upheavel of the 60s was necessary---I can see that now. It took a kick in the virtual plumsack of the "so-called" leaders to stir things up. WE gave em' a pretty good one. It was what it was--some good, some bad, some leaders, some followers, some smart, some dumb, but always-------always a sense of adventure and anticipation of the next moment.

 

I'm just curious, I made this thread for multiple purposes. Manly to get the insight from the older crowd, i understand there was a ton of negative issues along side the positive ( to the trolls or other people who want to be negative towards me) to attack me directly is VERY low and honestly not needed to please keep any hate directed at me to yourself as i really need those vibes in my live. ON a better note i appreciate everyone's stories and view on this topic it really has given me another outlook on the topic.

Have a beautiful day everyone.

 

Well, for those who like to say "Too Long - Did Not Read" blame Scratcho & Scorpio Kenny. (And, don't actually say it, just scroll on without mentioning it)

Since they posted an account of the time, here is a segment from my life story. In 1969 I was 25 years old and working on the Harbor Police Dept as a beat cop in New Orleans. We'll start there as that is when I started leaving the establishment and dropping out.

[SIZE=11pt]New Orleans 1969[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Shale - Harbor Police Patrolman[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]... These little corruptions and selective law enforcement always annoyed me, but they were well established - a police tradition. I attempted to be impartial and when they told us to issue citations on the longshoremen's cars that were illegally parked on the wharf, I did. I also ticketed the Cadillacs and Lincolns of the steamship company executives that were illegally parked. They made me turn in my ticket book. Shortly after that I was transferred from the very visible beat at Canal Street to the downtown beat past Governor Nichols Street Wharf.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt] By this time I was wearing bellbottom pants and sandals off duty and had a wide leather watchband in the mod style of 1969. I was also being told by the Lieutenant to trim my sideburns, as they were too long. I was beginning to identify with the growing subculture of young people who were dropping out of the established values.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt] Long hair on men was becoming more common, especially in the Quarter around Decatur and St. Philip Street. I started hanging out at the Seven Seas bar to watch the action of the young drifters and hippies and freeks. I knew about dope at this time, but had never tried it. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt] I realized that my identity was here, with the dropouts. Mixed with the drifters, the rough and bizarre, were those with ideals and integrity that you could sense. Here I could relate to the people, whereas since Charles had left the department, I didn't have one friend from work. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt] I turned in my resignation in December of 1969 and on my last day of work as a cop, met Stephanie walking her dog on the wharf. We talked and planned to meet that night at the Seas. She took me to another place on Decatur Street that I recalled passing often in the patrol car and seeing all the longhaired hippies inside. It was the Sphinx Coffee House and would soon replace the Seas as my hangout. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Dropping Out[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]January [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]1970[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The Sphinx Coffee House, as with all true coffee houses of the '60s, was very informal, more a community meeting place than a business. The decor was a mismatched collection of couches, chairs and tables scavenged from the streets and the wall hung with the works of local artists, much of it for sale. Lighting was subdued, a few table lamps and candles gave a cozy atmosphere to the large room of a produce warehouse that it was. In warm weather the large folding doors would be opened so there would be no barrier between the coffee house and the sidewalk in the traditional openness of the French Quarter cafe and a person could very quickly scope out who was "home" at the Sphinx.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt] There seemed always to be a chess game in progress and someone reading by the corner lamp, with small groups of friends talking. You would also see an occasional person meditating or just sitting and staring blankly. It was definitely an establishment for the underground drug culture of the day.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt] It was here, on my first visit that I met "Mike," one of the many young runaway girls that were common in the subculture. She later took me to her crash pad where I smoked marijuana for the first time. There were five of us passing this joint around and Mike showed me how to inhale and hold the smoke. I had no idea what to expect from being stoned, my only experience with altered consciousness was being drunk from alcohol. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt] All of a sudden I realized I couldn't keep up with the small talk going around. It seemed as though no one was into the same train of thought except for the occasional agreement that this was some heavy Colombian grass. As I looked at the others in the room they became two-dimensional, as if they were cut out of cardboard. This was frightening but soon distracted by Mike who had crawled onto me and began kissing me. I pushed back from her and lay there with my eyes closed, praying that it would end and I would get out of it intact. Then I came down, very fast, and reality was again a familiar thing that I was used to and in this secure world I immediately wanted to experience again that distorted reality that had just frightened me. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt] I think it was the fact of the distortions that intrigued me, by seeing that the mind interprets reality and that personal reality can be changed by altering the mind. Not too long after that I took my first psychedelic acid trip and as with all first experiences, it left a most vivid impression. The distortions were much more intense than with marijuana and as I looked down the straight streets and sidewalks of the French Quarter, they seemed to curve and twist like ribbons. With each step my foot extended far out on a long elastic leg, distorted and flowing as with everything else coming into my awareness. Colors, sounds and taste were amplified and often intertwined. Time and distance had no relevance. Everything flowed in oneness, and street sounds and language were in harmony, though not always discernable. The feeling was of newfound awareness of secrets and truth that are always there but unseen by the uninitiated. A trip could be physically pleasurable or mentally frightening, depending on a mood, for those too were amplified and distorted. Everything had profound meaning and this was the beginning of a three-year exploration of mind-altering substances and a consequent altering of values and lifestyle. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt] There were many of us exploring these alternate values and we grouped together to share our experiences and lives. We were strongly against the war in Vietnam, against nuclear proliferation, and against racial inequality. Though a motto of the time was "turn on, tune in, drop out," dope was just a small part of a bigger movement. Perhaps, as in my experience, just a catalyst for more meaningful awakenings. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt] It was spring of 1970, the season of rebirth and my metamorphosis was taking place rapidly. I was still working a straight job during the week but would spend the weekends with my new friends tripping on acid in Audubon Park. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt] The computer job only lasted a couple of months, in which time I put my supervisor on the spot by growing a beard and coming to work in sandals, not acceptable attire by bankers standards. Once, toward the end of the job, I came to work tripping on acid and got thru only by becoming one with the computer and following the program of sequential steps in the operator's manual. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I quit the job at the bank rather abruptly, gave up my apartment, loaded my clothes in my VW beetle and hit the road with my new friends. I had dropped out and we were going to a gathering of the tribes in Byron Georgia, known as the Atlanta Pop Festival.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]July 4, 1970[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt] Atlanta was possibly the last of the big Pop Festivals, and though not as widely known as its predecessors Monterrey and Woodstock, it was impressive to someone just joining the youth subculture. An estimated 250,000 people converged on this rural area of pecan groves to listen to rock music for a three-day weekend. As with most of the people, none of us from New Orleans had tickets to the stage compound, but just came for the gathering of the tribes, with the hope that the gates, guarded by bikers would come down. To me it didn't matter whether I was sitting on the ground in front of the stage or overhearing the music with the thousands of heads sitting and lying outside the walls, for it was the total experience of the occasion that turned me on. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt] We were also turned on by an unlimited supply and assortment of drugs being openly sold and consumed in the presence of the vastly outnumbered sheriff's deputies. It was our culture and our celebration, running by our rules and mores, which were basically; "if it feels good, do it."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt] I only did one hit of acid that weekend and managed not to stay too stoned despite the frequent offers to toke someone's joint or pipe. There was enough contact high to pick up on wandering thru the groves, smiling at brothers and sisters sharing the good vibes. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt] At the local swimming hole, a stream that ran under a bridge, someone did what we all did in our childhood in the country; went skinny dipping. The shedding of inhibitions and clothes spread and there were hundreds of us wading and swimming naked along the stream. There was no feeling of sexuality in this mass voyeur/exhibition, just a feeling that it was natural for men and women and children to bathe together naked. We had set the norm for this moment and those few who wore bathing suits seemed as out of place as the deputies and other straights with binoculars and cameras watching us from the bridge.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt] This was my initiation into the Hippie lifestyle, which had grown during the late 1960s. Traditional values were dropped at every turn as we tried to redefine our lives based on newly formed truths. There was a sense of oneness with all people and we called each other brother and sister. Our lifestyle was often communal as we formed loose extended families. Eastern philosophy was replacing the more materialistic Western thought and racial or individual differences meant little in the face of Karma and reincarnation. Many of us became vegetarians, either being repulsed by the killing of fellow creatures or just realizing we consumed too much meat with its added hormones. Natural and health foods with no additives became more common as well as yogurt, kelp, sprouts and other Asian foods. Communes went to the country to grow organic food and artisans and craftsmen emerged, making things by hand to satisfy the new natural aesthetic. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt] The openness and sharing of communal lifestyle extended to personal relationships, often with the casual sexuality of the time called "Free Love." Physical intimacy was just another way of attempting to be totally open with others. We were rebels against the contrived propriety we had been raised in and had to question for ourselves the old social mores and form new values from our own reasoning. Though casual sex was socially acceptable in the subculture, people would often pair and these joinings were recognized and respected as a marriage, whether hetero or homosexual. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]1970 Road Trip[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt] After Atlanta, Myke (Barbara) and I went to San Francisco. It was a pilgrimage of sorts, to the hub and source of the Hippie movement and also to the place of my birth a quarter century earlier.[/SIZE]

 

To whom are you referring? I like that you started this thread.

 

Ok but in our Hippie Time Traveling Vacuum. That music would be Music of the NOW.

The music of the 60's was Light Years beyond anything that preceded it.