Why 1969 ?
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Thursday, March 11, 2010 - 15:26
Why 1969 ?
I see a lot of tweets saying why does Adam want to go back to 1969
Here is an except from a book I wrote about that time. Maybe that will help you understand why Adam would want to be there. Trust me, he would have fit right in.
Flashes of Sunlight
~Chapter One~
It was a magical time – a peaceful respite in a world gone mad. The war in Vietnam continued to spill out it’s body count on the evening news while a groundswell of ragtag youth went about showing the world that loving each other was the way to end all the dying. We crusaded for peace with all the passion that only the young have the time for. Music conveyed the message to all the world and it was everywhere – in the streets – in the parks – in the clubs. Sunset Strip was no longer for the posh, it was alive with the rhythms of the people. The soon to be famous played their hearts out in the clubs while the underage crowded by the doors to dance in the streets to the sounds that escaped those hallowed halls and drifted out across the gentle breeze of the California night.
The summer of ’68 promised to be the best of my young life. Anticipation ran high as the school year slowed to an end. On the weekends I worked in a nightclub – the biggest, loudest, grandest of them all. It was I who got coffee for the band or ran their errands while they rehearsed their music for the night. I answered the never silent phones. They’d ask who was playing that night as if it mattered – they would come anyway, along with the hundreds without money who would crowd into the empty parking lot. Empty, of course, because they had no cars. A swirling mass of humanity that made the established order stop and stare. Flowing hair, vibrant colors, and unrestrained sexuality. We were all equal there – all colors- all sizes- all ages. So much diversity singing in one clear, united voice.
Long hair, bare feet, flowing robes ~ the very image of Jesus~ and we feared that we too might die at the hands of the people that we were trying to save. With the specter of war and final destruction shadowing our days, we lived our lives like quick flashes of sunlight because we truly believed that we could never be old. It was a tiny wave of protest in a raging storm and there was precious little time to change the world as we awaited our own personal crucifixions.
~
@Morgan Rowan
Replies for this Forum Topic
So true - the experimentation extended to extremes - unfortunately the need to fill an album also led to a proliferation of mediocre 'filler' tunes - to find an album that is great from beginning to end is a rare thing in this day and age - so many classic albums stem from the 60's and 70's.
another thing about the late sixties which i presume adam did not explicitly have in mind, but which is reflected in (and prob resulted in) the new kinds of music offerings of the mid to late 60's -- was that the ALBUM became the thing. we are all aware of how the business of developing talent, becoming a successful artist in the age of digital downloads, with the re-birth of the market for the "single" song (like 45's of old) -- the ability to cherry pick songs off an album etc. - has altered, i think, the kind of music that is produced and the kinds of artists that r most successful (at least according to billboard). going back to that late 60's period also infers a kind of sensibility about the artistry of the album -- whose long format gave musicians an opportunity to experiment with new sounds, concepts (imagine, even, songs that lasted 7 min or more, etc.).
Continuing on the theme of Adam wanting to return to 1969 may I offer the following http://www,nashtheslash.com/history/00_artists.html (courtesy of Nash the Slash - thank you) to illustrate what was going on around me, living in Toronto, from 1967-1969. Lots of great info. Everyone knows you can't go back, but you could possibly bring 1969 forward to 2010 - Adam leads the way? (Sorry - having trouble with the link - will try again)
Let's try this one http://www/nashtheslash.com/history/24_torontopop/html
Sorry - not coming through - such a shame - delete
Addendum - why is it that this link works just fine on twitter but won't come through on AO? Anyone know?
I liked this thread - have to bump just once.
Fascinating...even before Adam Lambert I have this interest and curiosity abiut that age and it feels kinda weird because that's mORE like my parents' teenage years. I guess its coz the ones i get clsoe to ( of my same age or genration) are mostly showing characteristics of that generation. I guess I have taken some things from that age ...dunno howI got it. Actually. my mom is kinda different from what you would expect being a teenager from those years. she is more prim.... I guess there are just some beautiful things from that era that are inspiring.
InnerLIght....I like that very much.....Right on!!!!!!
carly.nyc thanks for the info about Joan Baez , I knew they were an item, but I stopped following her in the 70's.
I have followed Dylan since I was 13 years old. He touched me in the same way Adam has touched me.. When I watch the Zodiac performance of "A Change is Gonna Come" I feel the passion of both artists in the same way. It becomes almost a spiritual thing for me.
I do understand what you are saying about Adam's voice, his passion touches like no other....in their voices they are worlds apart.
Dylan's poetry touches the soul....Adam's voice touches the soul like poetry.
.
Adam is an Indigo, as one, he can't help but relate to all that older Indigos set into motion. He may have been one himself and was reborn into who he is now to help bring in the Aquarius Age energy that those original 'flower children' introduced.
Many of us were there in 1969, moving and shaking and time has lured us into forgetfulness. That is, until we saw ADAM and we went, "woa, man, right on !!! "
Thank you Adam, for snapping us back .
dylangirl yes, the song (diamonds and rust) was definitely about bob dylan. when the album came out (about 1976 i think), she explicitly said so in a meeting held to discuss its marketing at the label, A&M (hubby then boyfriend was at that meeting). dylan and baez were an item for quite a while. i know they were when they performed together at the newport jazz (or folk) festival in the mid sixties.
as for reconciling AL and BD, i agree with all u said: something about both of them encapsulating the issues of their times in their music and beings -- yet also being one step ahead of the times simultaneously.
i still have trouble reconciling a love for both, despite an ability to list their similarities. for me, i did not FEEL dylan until i was much older -- and then, still, through the words more than the tone of his voice. there is something about adam's voice that conveys feeling tone like no other. but of course while dylan did write passionate songs (make u feel my love comes to mind, just like a woman; when u get to things like tangled up in blue the words r there for me but not the feeling . . . ) i still think of him as more of an ideas/intellectualized writer and performer. adam, not at all.
so i'll keep mulling this one!
1969 was the beginning of the belief that we could change the world. It was the beginning (at least that era) of the women's movement, gay rights movement...all following on the heals of the civil rights movement. Music had meaning (well at least a lot of it). It was a time of confrontation. Friends were dying in a war overseas. But we were filled with dreams of possibilities. I can see how when Adam is frustrated he would dream of being in that year. We were beginning to fly back then. Maybe it could happen again....
@donslittlesister thank you for that video....another voice of the 60's...loved her voice,she sang many Dylan songs. I truly believe this song is about Dylan .....I believe she was in love with him. Adam does bring memories of this time. His free spirit is a vision of this time.
This thread has triggered so many wonderful moments: Some of the artists I held dear were not everyones favorites. I would listen to this album and wish I was her, playing the guitar along with her (not as good for certain) but dreamin....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGMHSbcd_qI
(This is a new version of her singing this but still haunting/beautiful)
@carly.nyc...yes it would be interesting to reconcile Adam Lambert with Bob Dylan ....I've been working that out in my head for a long time now. So far, for me personally, it's the deep felt emotion of both artists.
Dylan said "The point is not to understand what I write but feeling it." We as fans don't need to understand Adam ,we just need to feel what he puts out there and all of us true fans are doing that quite well.
You could say Adam is the right artist for the right time , just as Dylan was. Dylan also said , "We have to be able to hear that voice. I'm through listening to other people tell me how to live my life....I'm just doing now what I feel is right for me, for my own self." Amen !!! isn't that how Adam has made us feel?
Adam says what he feels.... Dylan said "Hey life is kind of short anyway. You might as well say the way you feel."
Dylan's words were inspirational... Adam is a truly inspirational artist who connects.... his voice is his poetry, it touches our souls.
Just as a personal note, I wrote to Adam about this and gave him the letter and a necklace at one of the Idol shows, I later saw him wearing the necklace several times. That made my Dylan and Adam connection complete for me.
dylangirl i too just stopped back here for a sec, the thread is so interesting, full of everyone's vignettes --
just wanted to say that bob dylan is the one artist that i have grown to love more and more as time passes. i didn't quite get him i think when i was younger -- the voice perhaps too rough. about ten years ago (or more), before i entered ipod shuffle heaven, i spent a summer listening to blood on the tracks day in and day out. i don't know how this happened (i think at the time i was a pearl jam freak) -- but that solidified it for me. the "if u could take only one artist/album on a desert island" answer shifted from the rolling stones to dylan, which was deep for me! -- as music has always been central to my life. i love this man; i love all of his stylings at this point; and obviously he is a genius, a complicated man, a poet, a prophet and truly THE quiet force behind the music of a generation.
how interesting to try to reconcile AL with BD . . . not now tho, gotta go.
Love this thread...just stopping by to read all the great posts.......can not leave without mentioning the other singer in my life, besides Adam, that I have been totally devoted to .....Bob Dylan........his "The Times They Are A Changing"........spoke of the times....along with so many of his songs sung by himself and so many artists still to this day...... A poet for the times.......however he did not always liked being called a poet....... He spoke for a generation.
Another song that had great insight into the culture of the time http://bit.ly/vEYAb (hope this works - woke up with it in my head this morning)
do you all who lived then remember that the music oftentimes was born out of pain? like "Change is Gonna come" is not just a nice song to sing, it had a lot of meat and pain to it and what it meant. thats why when someone sings it kareoke now, it does not compute with me. Adam did sing that song with that kind of feeling that should go with that song, well he prolly actually felt it himself .. which is why that song rang true with Adam. some of the other songs were borne out of us wanting the world to change, like the songs the Momma and Poppas sang.. and remember California Dreamin? We wanted to be in California so bad after hearing that, we truly felt it was the wonderful place in that song. so much of what was happening in society created the music and the meaning of it. Remember "War" ... listen to the words - "War, what is it good for - absolutely nuthin" etc etc. many other groups too numerous to name. thats what comes to mind right off the bat for me.
Sharon Tate was murdered August 9, 1969 and Woodstock was the weekend of August 15 - 18, 1969. Some people believe the Manson murders were the end of the hippie era and that the murders made people fear the power of the hippies and that it had to be stopped. (Helter Skelter was written in blood at the crime scene (it was the title of a Beatles song). I sometimes wonder what would have happened if Manson had not done what he did and been who he was. The result of the ending of the hippie era was the emerging corporatization of culture and the cleansing of all cultural expression and a redirection of cultural expression solely for the benefit of corporations. hmmm.... American Idol as cultural hegemony....
Well, this thread caught my interest because I graduated from High school in 1969. THIS is my history which I thank Adam for actually making me rethink, relive where I have been and what it was all about. I lived 50 minutes from San Francisco, my grandparents lived there and I met my future husband in 1970 who was a native San Franciscan. I was basically a "square" who wanted to be a hippie, but it "looked" dangerous. Being a radical was putting yourself in jeopardy. I walked a fine line between being a "good girl" and smokin' flower child. It was the beginning of a rapidly changing time. So much started changing after the 70's and 80's because of media and technology. Music and entertainment have always reflected the times and I remember the end of the 60's as a time of awakening, of questioning, of demanding, of experimentation, yet trying to be yourself and not what your parents or society wanted you to be. So, yeah, no wonder Adam would like that.
Morgan i loved your post, i loved the links and the stories people posted in response, tho i barely got through this page.
i assume somewhere at the very beginning ppl agreed that 1969 was meant to signify the 60's era and spirit for adam (as in peace and love; sex, drugs and rock n roll). am i wrong?
my association like zel's to 1969, coming from a thread topic on this site, was the stonewall riots. and i thought, how ironic. while i am fairly certain this was not what adam had in mind, it was emblematic of the polarization that characterized the 60's. on the one hand, the abuse and hence the riots. on the other, one could argue this WAS the beginning of the gay rights movement. (on the one hand the hippies, the flower children, long flowing hair and acid rock bands; on the other the war, the assassinations, the protests,etc.)
i hit the link with mick doing angie. wow, how did i not know that the man wore eyeliner! i loved the stones and saw them live many times -- but somehow must never have noticed. the sprit of the times? anyway, he looked beautiful.
morgan i think it was u who mentioned living in laurel canyon in '69. i lived there in the mid seventies. much was the same, but there was also a sinister aspect to the scene as i viewed it (young, having just moved from nyc, living with a boy who was a rising star in the music business -- not an artist, but the business, which seemed to run the town). i spent nearly every nite at a concert -- my favorite place was the roxy -- all that was cool. but there was something oddly perverse about watching grown men (well, to me 40 was ancient then) who were president's and chairmen of record companies running to the bathroom at mr. chow's to do coke. when our house was robbed (every house i lived in in LA was robbed!) they took only our stereo equipment and our record collection. the first time, they took half the collection. when we left town again the next week, they came back for the rest of the vinyl, touched nothing else! anyway, so the 60's flowed to the 70's; music remained king, but things were not quite as free. (tho i am fairly certain there was plenty of promotional payola in the late 60's as it was rampant in 70's -- but again, this was the business side of the music . . .)
we also lived in a house near the manson murders in benedict canyon. i bring this up because first, i believe these occurred in 1969 (i may be wrong). it haunted me living so close, as i would pass the street on my way up and down the hill. again, there was an eerie side to this scene IMO -- and as some do mention -- which still felt palpable a few years later.
but the music of the period, mid 60's to mid 70's should we say? -- just unbeatable.
cause ppl did'nt care about stupid s***zz then, it was free, music, love times were easier, pll just enjoyed being people back then with all of their faults and it wasn't that deep like things are now...it was peaceful times....but ppl made the best of hard times then too without recourse...plus it was disco/pysco music which adam loves...
@Ladyjen - sounds like they probably were.....(good one!)
"Those were the days when radio played your music simply because it was good."
Yep, and boy was it GOOOOOOOOD!!! I often wonder what amazing music we're NOT getting to hear these days.
KatieJ
I met some people once who told me they were pretty sure they were at Woodstock.
Why? "It's not that deep!" When you're horny & lonely, 69 is a number that brings back happy thoughts.
There was much predjudice against men with long hair and anyone labeled ' hippie ' ( psst . . . still is. . .believe me ) but Adam still would have been happy there with the proliferation of music and talent all around him. Those were the days when radio played your music simply because it was good. The possibilities of talent to work with was endless and the club dates were all of the type you just saw him do in NYC with the audience literally at his feet.
There was no prejudice against gays in the family of man in Hollywood. Just as Adam says now he lived in a world in Hollywood where he didn't really see those things it was that way then also. No one actually wore the label ' gay ' anyway because it was a culture that experimented openly with pleasure. It was nothing to see two men together and if you did that didn't mean they were anything but together for the night. Tomorrow they might be with a girl ( or two or four ) so why label them anything. You simply didn't notice which they preferred or much cared. It was a very open society.
I'd give anything to go back and I can't imagine anything more fun than taking him with me !
~~
Glamma219
I live in a small community on the OR coast . Our sheriff was infamous. There were write-ups about him in many major publications, also a book.
.
Hitchikers sporting long hair passed through our town daily heading to/from Frisco. As many as could be were rounded up and treated to a night in our jail. The first order was to shave their heads and many were beaten. This did not come to a hault until Sheriff B, messed with the wrong guy. His father was a big shot lawyer, the resulting law suit bankrupted this town.
More great movies of the time:
Paint Your Wagon (fabulous musical with Clint Eastwood, Lee Marvin - and yes, they both sang)
The Sting
2001 A Space Odyssey
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
@zel @KatieJ Sorry!... it took me so long to get my thoughts together on the first post I missed you latest ones. I remember that story about the Gays. I also remember that a hippie could be beaten or worse in some parts of the country because he had long hair...names called, etc. There were many negative things back then, but the excitement in the air was the feeling of change and the budding power to make it happen. I truly feel that same thing in the air just beginning now, and Adam will be a part of it. He won't have to wish he was back in 69.
Morgan what beautiful words! I have started to write this three times now and have come to the conclusion that I still to this day have no words for that time. I only have the lingering emotions of freedom, pain, joy, sorrow, rebellion against conformity and the "plastic people" and yet going to a girl's school majoring in fashion design. I must have been a real mess.. perhaps I still am. I feel like we were all caught between times like a pressure cooker ready to explode. The music kept us sane. The freedom for self expression blossomed and the riots were intense....the silent majority...apathy..no more. Woman's place is in the home...no more. Children are to be seen not heard...no more! We as women were heard...we as children were heard! Martin Luther King was heard. Down with conformity! And the music said it all. Only a few years earlier there was JFK, Bobby, Martin ...The Good They all Die Young. The summer of 69 my friend from high school sent home from the navy..scarred physically and mentally from capture behind enemy lines. And I marched for peace! Make Love Not War!
While I'm writing this I realize that I didn't have the access to the music as directly as some. My memories are not as romantic but I was in tune to the struggle and the fight so that we could have Woodstock and I am so proud of that time because of all that it was and all good that was created. Yes, it was a time of dichotomy and I was in the middle of the two worlds.
As for movie to watch...if this has been mentioned I'm sorry...Across the Universe!---it really tells it all and set to Beatles music!
What a great post, Zel!! You brought a new facet to the discussion that is fascinating. I never heard that story before. Will Google it for sure. I didn't think about what his life as a gay man would have been back then. Thanks for bringing that to our attention. It kinda made my eyes pop out to think about those days from that perspective.
KatieJ
Zel- you reminded me of something, that is true about life for the gay people pre-1969 Stonewall. the gay person had to go to dark hideaway clubs before that time, and could even be arrested for some sexual acts that are now ok, but back then it was dangerous police-wise.
i think gay bars were totally underground and very dark and very hush hush. well, for sure, the gay neighborhood here in chicago has much improved. Now the area called "Boystown" is expensive, trendy and many families are now wanting to move into this cute area. back then, it was seedy, people hanging out, and not the kind you want to meet after dark, this was not just gay people but all kinds of drunks hanging out, there were some bookstores that were totally seedy.. women would not want to walk there even in day light just about. this is what i remember about that area.
ahhhh, but Adam if you were transported back to 1969 there would be no you. We would not have the privlage of admiring a handsome american gay man, comfortable in his own skin on the concert stage. The roots for your journey were just to begin. On June 28, 1969 the unheard of happened at Stonewall (a gay club in NY) The US was in shock whoever imagined f**s would stick up for themselves.
.
In cities all across America any bar or club that gay people were thought to hang was raided monthly. Many were beaten and more were hauled off to jail just for being there. The mafia owned the known gay clubs. They preyed on their customers charging exorbitant prices for watered down drinks. In return they limited but did not exclude the raids by using mob payola.
.
So Rock on Adam in 2010 and please enjoy the spirit of 69. Sex drugs and rock & roll did not always meet a happy ending as many here have related. Take care Adam the tour life can distroy you and that has yet to began.
with luv Zel
hi - if you want to see a 60's movie and get the feel of it ,and the fashions,, watch Rosemary's Baby. it was on the other day and it brought back some memories. i cant think of any other movies, but you might remember a few.
also the "Chicago Seed",,, heres a link - it was the most popular underground newspaper, check out the artwork and lets see if we can see some articles and you can see what was goin on back then - (again, I wasn't in the drug culture, so my 60's experience was a good one, very groovy.
http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/6355.html
http://www.areachicago.org/p/issues/6808/chicago-seed/
For the nostalgia-ridden of 1969 and the contemporary 'Alice in Wonderland' fans, may I offer the following:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WANNqr-vcxO
@donslittlesister:
Ed Sullivan signed my ice skates on the subway on my way to Central Park when I was about 10 years old. But it rubbed off. LOL. He was very sweet to me and my sister.
KatieJ
Why the 60s?
I am watching Ed Sullivan on WMHT on cable ch. 11 in NY northeast. I am wowed by the oldies here. Rolling Stones, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Hermins Hermits, Jim Morrison in Light My Fire (with wild drug implications), Turtles "Happy Together," Beach Boys, Doors, Monkees, Diana Ross, Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger..
The rock n roll era was awesome! Ed Sullivan looked like this stuffed shirt guy.. but he brought Elvis, and so many more to the Television. We watch DVDs of music. But yesterday-- the 60s brought us so many beginnings... If you are part of this generation you might find yourself singing along-- even just in the mention of any of these classics "Wild Thing" The First Cut Is the Deepest" Hey Jude" "Yesterday" ... Before MTV, before the I-Pod world, we had it all! And the best part is Adam got his taste of this thanks to Rock n Roll parents like some of us! Take it or leave it-Rock N Roll was a time of Freedom, Expression, Love, Discovery, and Acceptance. There were wars that didn't make sense around us, there were prejudices everywhere.. and there was "A house of the rising sun," We can Work it Out" "You say Goodbye, I say Hello."
Why 60s it molded everyone here!!! --in some good way!
Thank you Morgan for starting this thread with the beautifully expressed excerpt from your book,and thank you to everyone who contirbuted stories . It's been a thought provoking read !
Peace and Love to all of you.....Peace and Love
yes, the aftermath of the years of drugs for so many. I corresponded with a member of the band Iron Butterfly whose music I experienced and who I had met in 1968 and he said he was one of the lucky ones to have survived. He said they thought they were living the great life of rock 'n roll but in reality they were so ripped they did not know where they were at any given time, and years later they looked back and it was all one big blur with no good memories to draw upon...quite sad really.....
Why 1969?
Just saw this tweet by breathless2 @adamlambert dreaming of 1969? don't listen to the static....listen to this instead http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPg7VeFMmu4 and I remember Jimmy Hendrix.
brokerem says: AH, I get it now! Can you imagine @adamlambert singing at WOODSTOCK in 1969! Up there with the other great Rock Gods of that era!
Who knows, but that is the year the EPIC Woodstock happened and Adam would have made a great addition to the line-up!
I too was just reading an interview with Adam from Australia and I have to keep reminding myself that Adam has other advantages over some of those who went too soon. First, he has been in and around this crazy business for a decade and learned a lot by seeing and watching it swirl around him. He has a really strong base of family and friends who keep it real with him. And most of the time he doesn't take it all too seriously. Obviously there are going to be those moments when he's overwhelmed, but heck, that happens to the rest of us sometimes too - just for different reasons.
I do sometimes worry a bit about his drinking, but for me the year I was 28 was my biggest partying year ever. More drinking, more experimenting with drugs, more experimenting with men and then I came through it, settled down, eventually met the RIGHT man and have been in a happy and stable life for a long time now. So I cut Adam a lot of slack there and hope that his music and the opportunities he is getting now will help keep him from taking the party boy too far.
@Morgan Rowan and all off you: tank you very much for sharing. At this moment I'm crying! Why not confess?
Woodstock is universal. Hair, the "Time of Aquarius", the "make love not war"! So many other eternal things.
In my country, at this time, was a dictatorial regime and a war in portuguese ultramar at same time of Vietnam. So music was an extraordinary importance and help so many demonstrations against the political regime. In 1968 the universitary made some peaceful strikes and, my parents told me, they song Joan Baez, Jimmy Hendrix, Janet Joplin and many others in front of universitary buildings, closed by the police. At same time police arrest many students but they continue singing "our" songs.....
In 1969 we had "free" elections... I supose you understand this "free"....
Again students and some young politcs use what they called "combat songs" and yes, was Woodstock moment here. The moment of freedom in a dictatorial and repressive country, the moment for "make love not war", colonial war by the way, and stoped the repression. People must fight for freedom and equality always.....
My parents were activits in those events. Mom knowed how to sing (more or less of course Joan Baez songs); she teaches me that the freedom is possible with the strength of the word and this word could be in a simple song. Father was a political prisioner who, even today, religious keep is vynil records. Well...... Today my vynil records!
So I think you understand the reason bc I'm crying.....
Adam nostalgy is mine nostalgy. Adam doesn't live in 1969. Neighter me (but a small distance, however). Adam is a fighter and he don't be affraid. He deserves all our support.
Sure not all was good at the Aquarius Era! Drugs always are a bed choice. I understand those of you who report that and I have same ideia.
Tanks for this amazing topic.
~~
I tweeted Monte after Fantasy Springs
"Adam was channeling Morrison up there . . . please take good care of him. . . disillusionment can kill. "
So yes its crossed my mind too
But Mick Jagger is still with us and Bowie and geesh even Keith Richards is still standing although I'm not sure he's breathing - lol. Neil Young has beat the odds and believe me he was a crazy man. And many, many more. It's easy to remember the big stories of those that died young. Adam is a bit the same in his artistic temperament but he is not really like these people at all. He's not looking for escape from a harsh reality - he seems quite happy in his circle of friends and family and he has the ability to fully love and to feel fulfilled. He will be ok.
@Morgan R - Touche!
@AdamazingEyes - if Adam succumbs to a demon, from all I'm seeing and hearing, it will be alcohol - really, really, hope he curbs that a bit.
@AdamazingEyes:
I have had the same thoughts. But didn't express them here. I'm glad it was you and not me.
I keep telling myself Adam is too smart and grounded to allow himself to be destroyed by his appetites. But I am more sure of that at times than at other times. I do admit to having fear occasionally that someday I will come on here or turn on the TV and get some very bad news. Then I snap back to reality and remember that he always seems to be in complete control in interviews, performances, etc. and I feel better. But yeah, his romanticism of the past troubles me sometimes.
Heh, I expressed them anyway, didn't I?
KatieJ
~
Very good points Jeanette
but I can't help remembering the beauty. Maybe its where I was - in Hollywood, Laurel Canyon, the heart of the music. But yes the realities were ugly and the press was wicked. But in fairness they weren't privy to every tiny move a person made via Twitter either. The stars did have some breathing room and they were also EXPECTED to be a wild and crazy and not held up to some crazy American Idol magnifying glass of ' role model '. They were free to be whatever wild and crazy inspired artist they were.
The parallels and similarities that are often drawn between Adam and other iconic performers is one thing that sometimes scares me, or at very least gives me pause to offer up a prayer. We see him likened to Elvis, Michael Jackson, Freddy Mercury, Jim Morrison. There is a common thread connecting them all besides their musical genius - they all died far too soon, and the demons that took them - drugs and AIDS are demons that lurk in the reality of Adam's life as both a gay man and as a musician. That is one similarity that I pray NEVER becomes Adam's fate.
Adam has a touch of this playfulness
(esp about the 1:00 minute mark when you can see the make up and eye contact )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usEcJwrNHAg
With a great big helping of THIS !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PECk9A-07Pw
Such memories - so many viewpoints - please allow me to add mine. I was there in 1969 - and it was a contradiction. My experiences were centered mostly in Yorkville in T.O. (our version of Haight-Ashbury) and English Bay in Vancouver. I lived the life, the wife of a guitar player, surrounded by musicians, drugs, draft dodgers, and music - oh, so much music! The era had pros and cons, as only real life can. There were the highs of the 1st Canadian outdoor 3-day weekend concert at Varsity Stadium (2 months before Woodstock), lying in Hyde Park on a sunny Sunday afternoon listening to 'Groovin' by the Young Rascals, strolling through Stanley Park in Vancouver and coming upon a limousine and several very high members of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention hanging upside down from tree branches, being so high the whole world floated waist high in cloud.. But there were also the lows such as a friend's body being pulled from Lake Ontario several days after he sustained a vicious beating at the hands of the local goon squad because he was a hippie, or the 3 Viet Nam deserters hiding in Canada because they had murdered their C.O. who was shooting the black men in his unit during gun battles, or the 17 year old girl who got arrested every night for weeks just to give her a place to sleep because she was pregnant and on the street or the countless number of people who just 'disappeared' while hitckhiking across the country., Did someone say the press was not as vicious back then? Excuse me while I choke with astonishment. I can assure you, all our rock stars were ripped apart and misquoted on a regular basis (not to mention raided and busted. Back then, if you got busted with a nickel of pot you did 2 yrs. less a day in jail.). Anyone hear of an incident where all of the U.S. was smashing Beatles records and burning them in effigy because of a statement taken out of context - by the Press? It was a great, great time to be alive but it was not any easier to live through then today. There is no such thing as perfection. An era only becomes perfect after many years have passed. I was privileged to have witnessed and experienced the sixties, but I refuse to glamorize them. Adam would have thrived there - but he would have had the same kind of irritants that he has now. (Wish he had been there, though!).