In
hindsight, it all seems insanity. Back in 1967, much of the Western World was
seized by an outbreak of foolishness and free expression that knew no bounds or
restraints. Seemingly overnight, every aspect of high and low culture was
affected - people wore brighter colors, spoke a new lingo, danced to a
different beat, thought stranger thoughts. It was an upheaval led by The Young,
but it spread everywhere and to everyone, forcing the citizenry to take sides
in a war of manners and morals. And it was all done in the name of love. In
those days, "love" was in the air, on posters and bumperstickers,
expressed by peace signs and symbolized by flowers, rediscovered and inpossibly
idealized. Love was mixed up with sex, brotherhood, freedom, self-discovery,
and craziness. For a brief time, love was a slogan that seemed to change the
world.
All of
these swirling currents of ecstatic madness came together in the Summer Of
Love, 1967. America became obsessed with the hippies and their long-haired,
free-living ways. The media was filled with exotic images brought back from
S.F.'s Haight-Ashbury, L.A.'s Sunset Strip, N.Y.'s Greenwich Village, and other
hotbeds of hipdom. Many joined the pilgrimage - an estimated 50,000 / 75,000
seekers went to San Francisco alone during summer '67. Others looked on aghast
- California Governor Ronald Reagan spoke for the Square Side when he described
a hippie as «someone who dresses like Tarzan, has hair like Jane, and smells
like Cheetah».
Revolution
was literally in the air during the Summer Of Love 1967. You could sniff it in
the breezes wafting through a love-in, scented with incense masking more
illicit aromas. And you could hear it in the music blaring forth from America's
AM radio dial, concealed in poetic code-lingo but still everpresent. Even the
most cube-shaped pop culture consumer couldn't help but notice that the
atmosphere was becoming permeated with unsettling implications and
transcendental temptations. The shock-waves were felt eveywhere, especially in
the Music Biz. Suddenly, even the usually innocuous pop hit single became laced
with subtly subversive messages. Mixed in with the usual romantic fare were
lyrics hinting at forbidden pleasures and exotic states of mind.
But even the most casual dabblers in the Psychedelic Rebellion could agree with the hard-core heads on one point: 1967 was a glorious year for pop music. Chalk it up to illicit chemistry, creative idealism, or commercial adaptation - whatever the motivation, record-makers took chances and broke barriers, expressing the cultural ferment in a kaleidoscopic array of sounds and styles. This Summer Of Love 1967 Anthology is more than a time capsule of period pieces - the music here is vividly, vibrantly alive even now. Peace may still be an elusive ideal and love may remain a rare commodity, but these songs have a magic undimmed by the years. Tune in and flash back...
