Tribute to the 60's and 70's

I find it interesting to look back in time at certain events and recall or imagine what the cultural climate was like, and then analyze what impact those events had on the mood of the music artists of that era. 

Of all the decades of the twentieth century, the music of the 60’s and the 70’s is most intriguing to me.  With the emotional conflict that swelled within the country surrounding racism and the struggle to obtain civil rights, I believe the passion that arose from that conflict eventually boiled over, as black people and white people simply got sick and tired of being emotionally imprisoned by their inability to diffuse this nonsensical, misguided line of thinking as to what makes people different from one another.  As that pot boiled over, it boiled for just the right amount of time, under just the right environmental conditions whereby it produced a distillate that crystallized into a priceless collection of what is now widely recognized as arguably the most innovative, emotionally-driven, and most “soulful” popular music of all time. So much turmoil had erupted from deep within the average man and woman that eventually something had to give.  Artists of every genre seemed to express themselves more passionately than ever before. But it was music, particularly from the younger generation, that spoke the loudest and the truest. The insanity of the continual racial divide had taken its toll on everybody.  Enough, already.

Forty-plus years later, here we are – all of us, still trying to get over it.  After having endured so much pain and heartache brought on by widespread riots, heart-wrenching assassinations, and let us not dare dismiss that other senseless horror of the day, the Vietnam War – who would have ever guessed that something so indescribably wonderful could have ever resulted from so much tragedy, mayhem, and sadness?

I love all music from all generations. I find it all to be incredibly fascinating.  But I don’t think there will ever be another era of music that will have the staying power or the emotional impact on people than the music that evolved during that particular crazy, mixed up time in our American history.  Remarkably, the music of the 60’s and the 70’s continues to routinely touch lives to this very day, with no signs of letting up.  I have a feeling that the last man on earth will know at least one song by either, Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, or The Temptations.  Perhaps, the fact that I experienced my youth during those days has left me with a bit of a baby-boomer bias. But somehow I just can’t see Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, or Lil’ Wayne being on that list.

G.