Aww…Monday’s Music Moves Me

Aww Mondays…Cocker Soccer

CockerSoccer

Monday’s Music Moves Me

It’s free choice week at 4M so I am going to relive part of my 60’s experience. When I came home from Vietnam the Hippie Movement was in full swing here in the U.S. There was a genre of rock music that came to be known as psychedelic or acid rock. It was influenced by a drug known as LSD. Bands that came out of this time period were Steppenwolf, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Emerson/Lake&Palmer, Cream, Grateful Dead, Blue Oyster Cult, and a host of others. I took a portion of the money that I had saved while in the service, actually almost all of it, and bought a component stereo system. A component stereo was a system in which each piece was purchased separately and could be from different manufacturers. I had a tuntable (for playing vinyls), an amplifier/tuner, a pair of speakers with tweeters, mid-range and 12″ air suspension bass, and last but far from least, a reel to reel tape deck. The sound from my system could rattle the walls and make the earth move. So what was I listening to? First up was Steppenwolf. Their most famous song, “Born to be Wild” was an anthem for the counter culture and was featured in the movie “Easy Rider”, starring Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and the guy wearing the gold football helmet is none other than Jack Nicholson. Easy Rider was his break-out role.

Nearly all of us listened to Led Zeppelin and their first major hit was “Whole Lotta Love”.

Another group that spawned a rock icon was the group Cream. Jack Bruce on bass guitar, Ginger Baker on drums and none other than Eric Clapton playing lead guitar and singing lead vocals. Their first and biggest hit was Sunshine of Your Love. Internal squabbles, drugs and alcohol, contributed to the demise of this group and they each went their separate ways to form their own careers.

The hardest rockin’ female of the day was Janis Joplin. She was the epitome of the “Hippie Chick”. Her life was cut short by bad decisions with drugs and alcohol, but her talent was undeniable.

Probably the second most famous female vocalist of the day was Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane. This group came out of San Francisco, which was ground zero for the whole hippie counter culture movement of the day.

One thing you will notice about these groups, nearly everyone of them made an appearance at the greatest rock concert of all time, Woodstock. Well, there you have it, the hippie side of my music tastes from the 60’s. Have a blessed week.

32 thoughts on “Aww…Monday’s Music Moves Me”

  1. Alana Mautone (@RamblinGarden)

    I remember those component systems! I was no audiofile, but in 1971 I decided I wanted to record music off the radio and, after saving up money, purchased a Sony reel to reel tape recorder. I recorded lots of music. So different than the tinny transistor radios I grew up with (I am a little younger than you are). I left those reel to reel tapes behind but still think of them. I actually had the Sony until 1986, I believe, when I moved my next to last time and left it behind. I regret that now, believe it or not. I know all of these songs – it was my era. As for Woodstock and its 50th anniversary this August (my father forbade me to go, by the way), that is becoming an interesting story in itself. It’s in my part of the country, so maybe I should blog about it one day. Have a great week, Driller!

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    1. DrillerAA

      I loved that reel to reel deck. I could make my own playlist and record 8 hours of music. Of course it was only good for home use. a sixty pound tape deck was not exactly portable.

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  2. Sandee

    Awww, on the pups. They play soccer very well. Cute.

    Love all the videos. Takes me way back in time.

    Thank you for joining the Awww Mondays Blog Hop.

    Have a fabulous Awww Monday and week, my friend. 🙂

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  5. XmasDolly

    Dude, you soooooooooooo ROCKED THE HOUSE! DANG, I didn’t know you could rock like that , much less move like that….. ROCK ON! Great tunes my friend and we have the same artist too so must be on the same wave length… Have a great day! hugs

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  6. Debbie D.

    SO glad I came over here! Psychedelic rock is one of my favourite genres. That era had the best music. Didn’t need LSD; getting high on the music was (still is) good enough for me. 🙂 Thanks for this fabulous concert! And your Cocker Spaniels are adorable. Cheers!

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  9. Cathy Kennedy

    Driller,

    Cocker Soccer, oh that’s just too cute! What adorable puppies!! 🙂 The late 60s and early 70s were hippie days. I was too little to get into the groove of the era but the mewsic was so popular throughout the 70s and remains. Let me say, thank you for serving our country. That was a huge sacrifice regardless of how you came to enlist. Three of my uncles served during the conflict. Your mewsic choices are a huge part of my childhood. I remember thinking when I heard about Janis Joplin’s death that drugs were bad mews and I didn’t want anything to do with that scene. I think at the time ‘Me and Bobby McGee’ was the only song I knew of hers. She had a lot of talent. It’s a shame how some allow themselves to become slaves to addiction and sadly many lose their lives to it. 😦

    Let me ask ya, would you consider filling in as honorary co-host with the 4M gang sometime? We’d love to have you pick a couple of themes! Don’t feel obligated but if you want to just shoot me an email or leave a comment on my blog. Thanks for hitting the dance floor with us, my friend. Have a boogietastic week!

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    1. DrillerAA

      Sadly, the trail of “gone too soon” talent is overloaded with victims of drugs and alcohol abuse. One would think that the message is loud and clear…JUST SAY NO!!! Have a blessed week.

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  12. yogiabb

    Talk about a trip down memory lane. That was back in the day where lots of people shared tastes in music and so you had these supergroups like you mention. Now I look at the top 40 tracks and I don’t recognize any of them except for Country music. Oh well, everybody has their own device that they listen to these days, including me. People used to get together and listen to albums and read the liner notes and it was cool. I have not done that in decades.
    And the component stereos. Looking at, and memorizing specs, finding the perfect turntable. Kudos to you for your reel to reel tape player. That was the ultimate! I just had a lame cassette tape deck.
    Life goes on, who knows what we’ll have in ten years.

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    1. DrillerAA

      Yes sir, that reel to reel deck was the crown jewel of my system and yes again we used to have parties featuring a single artist. I can remember when we had a party and played nothing but James Taylor, Carole King, and Carly Simon albums.

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  14. greyzoned/angelsbark

    Hi Driller! It’s so good to be coming back to the 4M group and what a greeting here! My favorite genre is classic rock so I loved every one of your song choices. And seeing Peter Fonda in the Easy Rider clip was a real treat. What was that movie a few years back that Peter Fonda made a cameo appearance in at the end which was a real surprise? I saw it but I can’t remember the name. The directors swore the crew to secrecy so that his appearance was a shock to the audiences. It was cool. Also cool was when I saw Steppenwolf in DC back in the 80s when they were doing a reunion tour-type thing. It was fabulous.
    Janis Joplin is very popular here in Austin as this is where she began, singing in bars around here. One of the places she frequented was called Threadgills and they used to do a Janis Joplin Birthday Party every year, inviting in Janis impersonators to perform. That was fun and I wish they were still around to do it. So much in Austin has changed over the last few decades. Sad really. Proof positive that we can’t stop time…

    Every time I hear Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit I think of that book and the subsequent movie “Go Ask Alice”. Early or mid-70s I think that was.

    Great set here. No matter how many times I hear each of these songs, they never get old.

    Michele at Angels Bark

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  15. Mary B

    Fabulous tunes this week! Loved every one of them. They definitely helped me find the inspiration to keep going today instead of just hanging out in a corner and being quiet.

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