Book(s) About the Late 60s, Hippies and How it Ended

Wow - that seems really cool! I'm definitely going to read it. Thanks!

 

Off Topic, but you should read "Vanishing New York (How A Great City Lost Its Soul)" by Jeremiah Moss for the full history of how this mess came to be.

 

I don't mind this getting off topic. I kind of see this thread as a natural evolution of ideas and opinions I've gotten so many good suggestions already and I'm hoping it's helping others who are interested in the topic as well.

 

A lot of artists wouldn’t go to the dark side of heroin. But had no problem with cocaine.

Coke is also a me-drug that was also socially acceptable. Heroin addicts disappeared before long. Coke addicts were in positions of power, financially and artistically.

Heroin is a more devastating personal drug.

Cocaine had a bigger impact on the changing dynamics and interpersonal relationships as the 70s unfolded.

 

Very true. You mix drugs with money / power and you have yourself a recipe for disaster. These people weren't just sitting at home getting high. They were actually influencing the way things ran. Scary. And obviously with cocaine came crack.

 

Another one-word explanation for the lack of creativity into the 80s and beyond is:

AIDS.

A good part of a whole generation (or three) of creative people died (gay/bi-sexuals, I-V drug-users, and the unlucky) - who were or were on track to devote their existence to the arts - boom - gone. An arts apocalypse.

 

I ordered it the next day too! I bet we weren't the only ones.

 

As a New Yorker, I'm sure he has his opinions about Mr Trump.
I think he's right. But it's a long way from the days of rent control
and The Peace Eye bookstore. If there hadn't been rent control,
The Fugs never would have happened.

 

True but irrelevant regarding surviving Trump I think.

 

Any book(s) would have to deal with these elements:

Viet Nam War and deaths, wounded soldiers and drug habits returning home.

Political Assassinations of Martin Luther King , Robert Kennedy, etc. and the chilling effects it had.

The reactionary Law and Order (hard hats) Movement and Silent Majority

Co-opting of “hippie” style by commerce and advertising media to sell cars and soda pop. (See last couple episodes of Mad Men)

Internal conflicts amongst political and rock and roll heroes - especially when it involved the spotlight and sharing the stage.

( See Who’s Pete Townsend and anti- war leader Abbie Hoffman info below).


The Who - Abbie Hoffman incident - Woodstock 1969 (pummeling of a hippie
YouTube ^ | August 12, 2008 | easyrider1991
Posted on 7/20/2018, 7:30:52 PM by DoodleBob

In the seconds immediately after The Who concluded "Pinball Wizard", from Tommy, Hoffman, who had ingested LSD after working the past few hours at the medical tent, abruptly walked onto the stage and began addressing the crowd from Pete Townshend's microphone. He shouted, "I think this is a pile of sh**! ... While John Sinclair rots in prison ..." Alerted to the disturbance, Townshend (who apparently had been too distracted to notice Hoffman ambling onto the platform), snarled at Hoffman, "F*** off! F*** off my f***ing stage!" He then struck Hoffman with his guitar (which you can hear in the sound clip), sending the interloper tumbling. As the crowd let out an approving roar, Townshend returned to his microphone to add a sarcastic "I can dig it!"

Following the conclusion of the next song, the short "Do You Think It's Alright?" (on which the guitar is horribly out of tune, presumably due to it being used to beat Hoffman), Townshend issued a stern warning to those in attendance: "The next f***ing person that walks across this stage is gonna get f***ing killed, alright? You can laugh, [but] I mean it!"

Townshend later said he actually agreed with Hoffman on Sinclair's imprisonment, though he insisted he would have knocked Hoffman off stage regardless of his message. The incident can be heard in its entirety on unedited Woodstock tapes and bootleg CDs of The Who's performance. Additionally, an edited fifteen-second sound bite of the incident can be heard on The Who compilation set Thirty Years of Maximum R&B (Disc 2). The Woodstock documentary also depicts this event.

 

Agree with you on rampant stupidity but would substitute pervasive mediocrity for the others.
We're still a young country. It will get better in your lifetime.

 

Probably not. I'm an old man now.

 

Joe Boyd's book "White Bicycles" covers the period, and is superb perhaps more on the music itself, from a guy who was there when Dylan went electric at Newport, with Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf in England, producing the the Incredible String Band, Woodstock, the very early days of Pink Floyd and so on.

 

Get the book
The Rolling Stone History of the Sixties

 

Yeah, at the end of the day I wanted this read (or reads) to be focused on the music more than anything. It's easy to get lost in the politics of the times and obviously it's a huge part of the music, but the music is why I'm here. And it's why I posted this question on this forum.

 

His novel DOG SOLDIERS might be up your alley, too



https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0060198168/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_0060198168

 

Small town talk is about how the Woodstock scene got started. Pretty interesting.

My brother Jeff's book got a revolution about the Jefferson airplane not only talks about them but is a good snapshot of the era.

 

This one seems to be coming up a lot in this thread. I think it might be in the lead, haha. Thanks for the recommendation!

 

When it comes to abuse there are not “we” drugs. All drugs of abuse are about “me.” Even marijuana and alcohol. Full disclosure, I enjoy a social beer myself. However, no one should kid themselves into thinking abusing drugs (even marijuana or LSD) is the best or quickest way to find connections to other humans.

 

An interesting read: Gary Lachman 'Turn Off Your Mind'. Lachman is a former Blondie member, so he knows about rock 'n' roll. Plus, he's an expert in occult. If your're into Manson, Kenneth Anger, the Stones, Led Zep, Tim Leary, Altamont, acid rock and all that stuff, this is a must read.
https://www.amazon.com/Turn-Off-You...?keywords=gary+lachman&qid=1579026816&sr=8-10

 

Great movie. Recommended.

 

I agree. The hippies had to grow up and get jobs so they sold out their own idealism. Getting them to admit it is a challenge.

 

Highly recommend this picture set in 1969, focuses more on evolution of relationships between men and woman and the onset of Woodstock - but outstanding movie on its own terms.

Thick with the 60’s vibe, must see.


A WalkOn the Moon

 

But will our planet and species survive? That is the question.

 

The chapter on Sly Stone in Greil Marcus' Mystery Train is one of my favourite pieces of music writing and gets into how someone can go from something like Stand! to something like There's a Riot Goin' On in such a short space of time. It gets into a hell of a lot more too, as you might expect from him.