The sixties were a long, long time ago. The sixties are currently a dot in our temporal rear view mirrors. The fashion, the politics, the music. The fashions come back around every time someone throws a ironic party and people dig into the bottoms of their closets for their bell bottoms or fur vests. The politics come back around every time a politician does something “Nixonian” (which seems to be every other day lately.)
The music? The music somehow remains vital and relevant. I hear songs on the radio that were created in 1967 and they still sound as good as they did when I heard them blast out of Billy’s 60 Chevy.
But the people that made them? Where are they? Today I spent a little time thinking about all the musicians we lost from that era. I decided that was too depressing. So I started thinking how many of them are still here… on the right side of the grass!!
All the Stones are still here. I mean, Brian Jones died a long time ago but that wasn’t due to aging out. He was probably just too stoned to swim.
Most of the Mamas and the Papas are gone but the pretty one is still here. I don’t think she ever actually sang but admit it…we all bought the albums just to look at her on the covers, right?
Two Beatles are gone. Yes. But we still, amazingly enough, have two perfectly serviceable Beatles left. Beatles!! The guys on the Ed Sullivan Show. Still here. Makes you want to give up meat.
One of the great bands of that era, Traffic? 99% Steve Winwood. And he’s still here! He still sings in the original keys!! He still looks twenty!
We lost two out of three Cream but if you have to have just one left, you gotta admit, you would vote for it to be Clapton.
Here’s an amazing one. The Beach Boys. Show of hands… who would have ever thought that the last Wilson standing would be Brian? I’m not sure he’s aware that he’s standing but he is still breathing and sitting smack dab in the middle of a band playing “Help Me Rhonda” every night. Rhonda is probably dead but Brian is still here. (Yes, I know…Al Jardine sang “Help Me Rhonda.” I should have said “Good Vibrations,” but “Help Me Rhonda” is a funnier title.)
Who else? Still got one Everly. Still got one Righteous Brother. (They weren’t actually brothers so it’s not genetic.)
Still got Mavis Staples. Still got Robbie Robertson and Garth Hudson. Still got Barry Gibb. Hell, we still got all the letters of CSN &Y!! (I haven’t checked lately on Crosby so don’t hold me to it)
How about, instead of being sad about the ones we’ve lost, we stop and marvel at the ones that remain. They were blowing our minds 50 years ago and we might still see them crossing against the light on Melrose.
We were warned that just about everything we were doing in the sixties was going to kill us. The people that warned us are gone.
Sly Stone is still here.
Hah.