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Were you at Woodstock? No, Vietnam maybe? Anywho, Joni Mitchell wrote and sang it at.....Big Sur actually but anyway couldn't let this monumantal "Human Be In" (thats hippie talk goesh will explain) go by without proper recognition and stuff.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=...6F&FORM=VIVR6#
Earlier this night I heard a recording on the radio of what I think was the opening act for Woodstock. The guy was singing some anti-war song and trying to get the audience to sing along. He seemed truly frustrated at how weak their singing was, pointing out that 300,000 people should be able to do a lot better. I was laughing as I listened to the recording, thinking to myself, "Of course they can't manage to do any better. They're all stoned! What do you expect from a bunch of dope-smoking, acid-dropping hippies?"
What a great plan. Form a counter-culture around drugs... and then get frustrated when the folks can't get the simplest of tasks done right. Brilliant. What the heck was that guy smoking? Oh wait, nevermind.
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Originally Posted by Schmedlap
It was Country Joe and The Fish....Song is Feel Like I'm Fixin to Die:wry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBdeCxJmcAo
has a Wiki, Country Joe and the Fish; but, of more interest, his webpage, Country Joe's Place (not exactly Bob's World ;) ).
We learn that "Country Joe" was an ancient nickname for Joe Stalin, and the "Fish" came from Mao. From his bio by Bill Belmont, we learn he and siblings were "red diaper babies" (e.g., his parents were CPUSA members or closely linked). He is quite open about his FBI file (all 2 pages, mostly redacted); and his service in the Navy (Honorable Discharge and clean DD-214).
Curently, his interests seem to run more to the history of Florence Nightingale and military nursing, Vietnam Vets and AA. An interesting guy, all in all.
Having said all that, I (sadly :) ) did not attend Woodstock, being engaged otherwise at the time. So, I had to be content with the re-runs. As to which, my reaction was the same as Schmedlap's. Which might be asserted as proof that the generations have not changed. But, in truth, probably reflects the fact that some people are 39 at 19 - and remain 39 for the rest of their lives (one of my mom's pearls of wisdom). :D So, Schmedlap welcome to the Perpetual 39 Club. :)
My wife and I were discussing this subject just the other day. I think we had just seen a commercial advertising highlights from Woodstock or something. The "profound" nature of this event is lost on us. OK, it was a big concert, I got it. So are OzzFest and Lollapallooza. So what? We just don't get it. But then neither of us buys into the myth that it was the hippies ended the war in Vietnam, or really accomplished anything else worth noting. Maybe it is our combined cynicism but we tend to believe that it was when John and Jane Middle America got tired of the Vietnam war that it ended rather than anything a few dirty, stoned hippies managed to accomplish during their few moments of lucidity.
SFC W
Welcome another (a couple indeed) to the Perpetual 39 Club. :)
My take: John and Jane Middle America grew tired of a war that had no acceptable outcome for them. The adults then of John and Jane Middle America had grown up in WWII (when Victory was the motto), but had seen Korea and the resultant stalemate.
Added to that (in 1968-1972) was the sea change in World politics, and in SE Asia as a region, which alllowed withdrawal from Vietnam without incurring the effects of the Absolute Domino theory (if one goes Com, all go Com).
By 1972, what was left in effect was the 1954 JCS assessment of Vietnam (attached; a snip from Dave Petraeus' thesis) in terms of US interests.
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Originally Posted by Uboat509
The times were truly different then. For one the size of the concert was really a big deal back then, not so much today. What was so unusual was that the media had continually hyped how all the stoned crazy hippies would kill or corrupt anything or anybody who had contact with them. When that turned out to be a lot of media propaganda the concert began to take on a supernatural status, which was nothing but propoganda in the other direction.