SUMMERTIME TRIP

It's summertime! Sorry to be so "boomercentric", but I came across these short clips about the "The Summer of Love," and had to post them. One is a "straight" documentary for TV news about the "hippie temptation." The grim expose style of the piece belies it's objectivity as square news media tries to make sense of the counter-culture.

We'll get to that, but first is a clip from a documentary on the same scene, but from the inside. This is an entirely different planet. Joy and celebration -- and sex and dope -- replaces fear and guilt. Afghan vests and love beads replace the gray flannel straight-jacket. True, it's not objective, and it doesn't claim to be.


Something's happening, and you don't know what it is. Do you, Mr. Jones?

A famous educator once said: the person who has the hardest time learning something new is the person who has all the answers -- or thinks he does. That fits Mr. Newsman to a tee.


The Hippie Temptation: straight news on the subculture

Finally, you have to play the music. Here is a sweet soulful sixties gal, and a big part of the Haight Ashbury scene, infiltrating plastic mainstream America; Janis Joplin on "Hollywood Palace." In spite of the cheesy setting, she sings her heart out on "Summertime" and "I Need a Man to Love." She represents. Afterward, host Don Adams tries to make fun of her-- typical for this era when you've caught a real live hippie. Don't worry, Janis can handle that little twerp. She zaps him with love.

LOVE

LOVE deserves some respect. The group is roundly ignored by meat-headed classic rock stations, and sadly remains unknown to younger music fans. With the amazing Arthur Lee at the helm, Love first scored radio play in 1966 with the garage nugget "My Little Red Book," followed by their first real "hit" early the next year, "7 and 7 is," which hinted at things to come. In 1967 they emerged with strings, brass, and spanish guitars to deliver their masterpiece, "Forever Changes," a collection of shimmering baroque pop and psychedelic rock tunes that perfectly captured the spirit of the time like a butterfly in amber.

Love is acknowledged as a major influence on everyone from the Doors and Pink Floyd to Yo La Tengo, but nothing came easy for the band. Lee was fragile, both physically and mentally -- not the only qualities he shared with Syd Barret and Brian Wilson -- and terrified of flying, which held the group back from a wider success since they rarely left Los Angeles. I'm glad they ventured up the coast on at least one occasion, when I saw them perform in Portland. Shortly after the release of "Changes," the band fell apart.
In 1996, Arthur Lee was sent to prison for twelve years for illegal possession of a firearm. He served six years of his original sentence, and was released in 2001. Lee died of leukemia in 2006.

This film clip is from the "Forever Changes" anniversary tour in 2002.

SGT. PEPPER HOAX REVEALED

Close examination of a newly-discovered photograph reveals Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to be none other than super pop group, the Beatles. The photograph was discovered among letters written by the late former Beatle John Lennon in a storage locker registered to his name. Until now, the Pepper band was thought to have produced only one album -- albeit a great one -- and then vanish into rock obscurity.

"We've had our suspicions for years," said rock critic Greil Marcus, "but this is the smoking gun."

Sir Paul McCartney was reached at his Kensington estate. "Remember, this was the age of the put-on," he said. "We were just trying to have a little fun." He added, "Sorry we hurt your field, mister."

For more Pepper/Beatle fun, check out the cool link to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, where you can click on every person on the Sgt. Pepper album cover for their bio.

http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/sgtpepper/