Been There Thread, If you're going to San Francisco.....

It was a helluva party. 40 years ago, in 1967, San Francisco experienced what many called "The Summer of Love," heralded in Scott MacKenzie's song, "If you're going to San Francisco" (be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.) People, or should I say young people, came from "all across the nation," to experience that "strange vibration" of "people in motion." In motion in one way or another. It was, for the most part, a lot of fun.

Well, the years and the decades have passed, 40 and 4, respectively, and there's been a lot of water under the (Golden Gate) bridge since then. This weekend, various groups organized a remembrance concert in Golden Gate Park, celebrating that Summer of Love and held this first weekend of September, 2007, excactly 40 years after the first Summer of Love concert. Many of the original groups who participated in the first concert came back for reunions at today's concert, including Country Joe (McDonald) and the Fish; Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Grateful Dead (or what's left of them) and The Jefferson Airplane and others.

It was an interesting crowd; mostly San Franciscans, and not large numbers of suburbanites who usually come to enjoy these events. The reason for this being that the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which connects San Francisco to the East Bay, is closed for this entire weekend so that contractors can replace a large concrete section of it, part of the rebuilding of the eastern portion of the bridge which was damaged during the 1989 earthquake. This weekend, the three day Labor Day weekend, was chosen because closing the bridge during a normal work week would've been even more bothersome, traffic wise. As a consequence of the closure and several weeks worth of dire warnings of catostrophic traffic jams on the Golden Gate and other bridges, people mostly stayed home this weekend.

Lord Plye Wood was absent from the concert, having been at the original in '67. Been there, done that. But as I polished my car in my driveway on the hill above Golden Gate Park, about a mile from the concert, I could hear it like it was just down the street. And when I heard that familiar intro on the bass guitar, and Grace Slick's familiar, still powerful voice begin to sing, "One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small," floating up out of the park through the crystal clear blue skies of Summer in San Francisco, I looked up at my own little piece of San Francisco and relished the fact that I'd lived through it all and come out mostly unscathed. As she sang and The Jefferson Airplane played, I looked around and saw all my young neighbors also standing outside, many of them no doubt thinking, "Hey! Look at Lord Plye Wood! I'll be he was there back then."

As the song built to it's powerful finish, with Slick belting out the last phrase of the lyrics, "Feed your heaaaaad! Feed you heaaaad! Feed your heaaad!" the crowd at the concert gave out a huge roar which lasted 30 seconds or more. As I looked at my neighbors from next door, they and their friends were clapping wildly, their little kids jumping and screaming with glee.

It was great to be a San Franciscan today. Well, it's always great to be a San Franciscan, but today was especially good.

This pictures were taken by San Francisco Chronicle photographers.

Country Joe McDonald worked up the crowd with old anti-Vietnam War slogans tailored to the latest overseas military misadventure.


From the looks of things, lots of people who were at today's concert probably were at the concert in '67, and most of those were little kids at the time.


Check out all those "young" folks playing "Hippie" again.


Packed in to Speedway Meadows like the proverbial sardines, and loving every minute of it.



Youth. It's all in your head. And it helps to be a bit of a "head", too.


I think I remember that girl from Haight Street. She's a housewife and a mother of 3 from Noe Valley now.


The final "jam".

__________________
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2001-...beAnchorSM.jpg
Lord Plye Wood
Duke of Earl

Sounds like it was a great day mate, we could do with some of that sunshine here. :lol:

Edited to say; the photo's are excellent.

__________________
You can take the kid out of Brum, but you'll never take Brum out of the kid.

Thanks for all of that LPW, the photos are spectacular 8)

__________________
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."~ Mark Twain,

Gawd! Just MY cup of tea, how I'd love to be there... 8)

I almost wish I'd been there but then I'd have missed what I did do if I had.

I didn't know that Grace Slick was still around. What a Voice!

I lived in Chelsea in the 60's and you should have seen me in the beads and bells. We, some of my flatmates had real talent, frequently printed T-shirts and made shirts and ties to sell on the Kings Road. Did some work for the Dead when they appeared at the Alexandra Palace in '65 (I think) and generally enjoyed that period as I ran a Mobile Disco (one of the UK's first) through the 60's and early 70's.

__________________
"don't dream it, be it"

I sent my article to several of my friends here. One of my best friends, a retired San Francisco Lieutenant of Police and, like me, a US Marine, wrote this email to me:

"Z,

Wish I coulda been there, MAN....! You sure you didn't insert your face into Country Joe's? You look strangely like him. You could pass for the guy with flowers in his hair too! You are EVERYMAN, man!
Far Out !

Grace looks a little wide these days.

Memories:

After I left 1 Battalion/2nd Marines at (Camp) LeJeune and the Marine Corps, I drove my '62 VW home from there and almost immediately met a girl in Boulder (Colorado), who was a CU (Colorado University) student, one weekend. I had just gotten a copy of Psychedelic Pillow and could falsetto my way through most of White Rabbit AND I'd never even smoked a joint!

The Airplane was touring, promoting that album and I took the girl from Boulder to Colorado Springs to the Broadmoor Country Club, of all places.( Jackie Gleason would play golf there, for God sakes!)
In those days one would drive 200 miles round trip for a date.

Small venue, maybe seated 100 people and I think I got a contact high from the haze. What a great time! Went back to her place-she was living with her parents near the campus at CU and we were kissing on the couch in a state of disrobement when her mother and father came walking into the living room. Don't think they were amused. Last date I think, but many more chicks would come and go during the "free love" period.

I also remember stopping Paul Kantner in his Porsche, doing 50 in a 25 on California St when I was a radar guy. Me thinks he didn't really care much for coppers......man. He sent a lawyer to protest the citation, but the LAW won.

Ahh, memories of our youth...

J"---------------------

Ah, but everyone wasn't so groovy and happy about my article. A woman who used to be a frequent contributor here, who is very "conservative" had this opinion (quoted in its entirety and verbatum):

"Good thing I was not there then as I don't view Iraq and Afghanistan as our "latest overseas military adventure". I would not have fit in and am glad of it."

(actually, I didn't say "our latest overseas military adventure." I said, "our latest overseas military MISadventure." LPW)

-------------------------

Opinions are like belly buttons. Everyone's got one. You don't have to wear a toga made out of the American Flag to be a good American. The concert in Golden Gate Park on Sunday was a good example of that.

__________________
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2001-...beAnchorSM.jpg
Lord Plye Wood
Duke of Earl