"The Summer of Love" . One of the songs I remember was "The Rain, the Park and and Other Things" by the Cowsills (1967). But I always liked it. It was a creature of its time and, but it had an undeniable charm. Part of that charm was the backstory of the Cowsill Family Band and the realization that the oldest one of them was probably 17 when they made it.
The year the song came out was a funny one. Opposition to the Vietnam War was growing by leaps and bounds. For White America, it was "The Summer of Love"; a fairyland of great music, weed that would blow the top of your head off, and sex...lots of sex. But for Black America it was :"The Summer of Rage", the year the Civil rights movement turned spectacularly violent.
As I recall, there were some 150 riots that summer, but the worst ones were in Detroit and Newark. White kids smoked dope, made love, and listened to some really good music, (1967 was a very good year. "Light My Fire", "Nights in White Satin", and "A Whiter Shade of Pale" all charted. But while White kids were groovin', Black kids were burning down the house. They drank malt liquor and rye whiskey and generally demanded to be heard. They too, had their music, but it was different music. Aretha Franklin demanded "Respect" Marvvin Gaye and Tammi Terell told us that there was "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", and the peerless Sam and Dave sang about the plight of the "Soul Man" . But a lot of folks listened to the Cowsills.
They didn't want rampant hedonism of entitled White kids, not the explosive anger of the Black ones. They wanted the Flower Girl, for she made them happy
No comments:
Post a Comment