Where Have All The Flowers Gone? (1961) Written by Pete Seeger in the 1950's, inspired by Russian folk music, The Kingston Trio first recorded it.
Blowin' In The Wind (1962) - Considered the ultimate statement on social justice at the time, the anthemic song kindled justice and righteous indignation.
The Reverend Mr. Black (1963) - My favorite version is by The Kingston Trio, but Johnny Cash retells the story of sin and redemption like no other.
Desert Pete (1963) - The Kingston Trio tell a story of altruism: "you've got to give of yourself 'fore you're worthy to receive." The song also helped seed the nascent environmental movement inspired in 1962 by by Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring."
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How far have we come in 50 years? Listen to the updated exhortation:
And so I hope that out of this crisis we all begin to reflect - Democrat and Republican - on not only our individual responsibilities to ourselves and our families, but to our mutual responsibilities to our fellow Americans.
I used to view Obama's statement as a sly inversion of JFK's message; a sort of "ask not what you can do for your country—ask what your country can do for you." Sadly, I think that inversion is much more widely and deeply spread; and it's the result of 50 years of cynicism.
18 comments:
I heard "Blowing in the Wind" the other day on the radio and the lyrics just pissed me off. Has a generation ever been so damned self-righteous and arrogant?
There you are. You are still living off Mom and Dad. You never saw anything but prosperity, and have not accomplished a damned thing in your life, and you are mocking and preaching to the people who lived through the Great depression and saved the entire world from the most powerful and evil forces in history.
A simple "thank you" would be something you could still be proud of today.
PP&M, the Kingston Trio and Joan Baez were the public face of the Great Folk Music Scare in the JFK era. In the 2-3 years just following, Ian and Sylvia had their brief moment in the sun; they are now pretty much forgotten. I absolutely loved them then, and still do.
I got my tonsils out when I was about 6. I still have a vivid memory of going under the ether. The doctor ask me to count backward from 100. I remember thinking: "Really, a test right now? I got to 96 and the room started spinning and went black, but I could hear them talking for a while even though I was out. Funny that I can remember going unconscious so well. It's one of my most vivid memories.
I have a lot of those unconscious memories from childhood like dreams, or being under the gas in the dentist's chair and being completely aware of every sound as he pulled out a tooth. I think my mind may work better when I'm unconscious.
Well, I do remember. I was 13. I won't bore you will the details of that moment.
The folk songs I do recall as well, since living in California and being immersed in the Bay Area scene, I played them on my guitar quite often. They were easy to play. Basic 3 chord arrangements. Very popular.
However the music of that era that I was really interested in listening to was something else entirely.
Leslie Gore, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and of course all those surfing tunes. And THIS one was a big deal in my rural neighborhood and school which was very heavily populated with Japanese.
To give you an idea of how tame the music scene was back then, JFK was assassinated before the Beatles came on the scene.
I was 13, also, in Mrs. Menzies geography class when the principal made the announcement.
Folk music sucks. Thank goodness the English invasion was just around the corner and from '63 to about '68 music got a lot better.
Kennedy, Kennedy, blah blah blah.
How about some music from when McKinley was assassinated?
Maybe that music is the reason there was never a band called "The Dead McKinleys".
I was five. I don't recall hearing the news, but recall watching the mourners pass by the casket. Maybe the only reason I remember is because a bride and groom went by in their wedding garb. The woman briefly knelt, or semi-genuflected, and kissed the coffin.
To give you an idea of how tame the music scene was back then, JFK was assassinated before the Beatles came on the scene.
Au contraire. Before the Beatles the music scene was wide open. The types of music genres that we were able to listen to on the radio were diverse and anything but tame. The "black" music scene before the Beatles was rocking and growing by leaps and bounds. For the first time black music, rock and blues were becoming mainstream instead of being hidden in obscure AM stations.
After the Beatles much of PoP music was so homogenous and actually boring. I really hated the Beatles for killing the innovation that was before them. Even though they credit many American black artists and other R&B artists for their inspiration. The Beatles came onto the scene and with the aid of the sycophantic moronic teenagers, they did a giant Godzilla stomp on American music growth. Until the mid to late 60's when rock, acid rock, east bay sound and the "new" british sounds began to emerge.
Here is a JFK recording that sadly does not get enough play...
The Beatles came onto the scene and with the aid of the sycophantic moronic teenagers, they did a giant Godzilla stomp on American music growth.
Well put, and I agree.
There was an interesting dynamic between the Beach Boys and the Beatles. Ideas kept bouncing back and forth, and those two bands would battle to be the most popular for several years running.
Brian Wilson was a musical genius who could write circles around Lennon and McCartney. Sadly he also went crazy, so the Beatles won by default. Then they crashed and burned.
Then there was that one night when it seemed as if the '60s were over.
Folk was as big as rock 'n'n roll at the time.
Mumpsimus said...
PP&M, the Kingston Trio and Joan Baez were the public face of the Great Folk Music Scare in the JFK era
That line, "the Great Folk Music Scare", was the Lefties' being mad that Americans had appropriated something they thought was theirs. They wanted to use it for protest songs.
PS As disparate voice as the Chad Mitchell Trio, the Christy Minstrels, Gordon Lightfoot, and (dare I say?) Bobby Dylan are were hot at the time.
And folk made its comeback in the Eisenhower Administration, where it merged somewhat with calypso.
As I was 15 when Kennedy was shot, I remember it well.
Then there was that one night when it seemed as if the '60s were over.
Was that the night you and Carol_Herman did brown acid together at Woodstock?
El Pollo Raylan wrote...
"Then there was that one night when it seemed as if the '60s were over.
Was that the night you and Carol_Herman did brown acid together at Woodstock?"
No, it was the night of December 31, 1969.
December 31, 1969 is one of the few dates in history when I know where I wanted to be instead.
The Fillmore East Theater
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