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I have never seen so many longhairs in one place. Attendance was estimated by the local paper here at 40,000, and I'd bet thousands of them were longhairs. We went with SteveNova, Ken (Urban Cowboy) and his partner Even, RickG, and three other friends. Ken has his camera and will surely be posting pictures!
We also surely got photographed by other people a hundred times or more. I saw people taking our pictures dozens of times. We were an awesome crowd with so many longhairs together. Most of us wore tiedye so we played the part.
The band lineup was awesome. Grace Slick and Jefferson Starship even showed up to do four numbers. It was one sixties-era band after another.
The concert was free, the weather was sunny and 70 degrees, and pot smoke filled the meadow up to the treetops. Definitely out of sight!
Bill in San Francisco
Hey Bill... You say Jefferson Starship performed. Would that happen to be Starship with lead singer Mickey Thomas? Just curious, as he's my cousin-in-law. =D
We were a very long way from the stage and did not hear much of the chatter between acts. Also, most of the bands have had personnel changes over the years. Yet, these may not have been reflected in who showed up. There was an endeavor to get back to the sixties as much as possible. Some acts showed up as "surprises" as they were not on the published program, and Starship was one of those. This was said to be because those bands had contracts that did not allow them to do paid or promoted performances, but they could just show up unannounced and play for free. This is common in San Francisco concerts in the Haight. The annual Haight Ashbury Street Fair often has such appearances. Except for a few obvious individuals like Country Joe and Wavy Gravy, it would be tough to name names at the distance at which we were. We were two blocks away from the stage, so it was not like we would recognize anybody visually. However, we heard a lot of very familiar music, and much of it sounded very original.
I will say that the Starship performance was a highlight. The crowd went wild then. This was also when a lot of people lit up their dope. The clouds of it got thickest then.
Bill
Very cool stuff, Bill. Thanks for the info! =)
-James
Did you know that Mickey Thomas is originally from Cairo, Georgia? But it's not pronounced like the one in Egypt; instead it sounds like kay (as in the woman's name) + row (as in row a boat). A nice little town just down the road from me. It used to be the home of the world-famous Roddenberry pickle and syrup factory, thus Karo Syrup.
I knew he's from Georgia, but I couldn't remember which town. He didn't talk much about it when I was hanging out with him this summer (I spent a day with him, my cousin, and the band while they were in Cheyenne for a performance). They're all really nice guys. =)
-James
Cairo, Illinois, at the state's southern tip, is pronounced Kay-Ro by people who live along the river. If you go more than twenty miles north of the river, they say it Care-o. But no one calls it Kye-Ro. Such pronunciations (strong anglicizations) are also common for place names in Midland American speech. Vienna, Illinois, and the sausages of that name, are called Vye-Anna. Versailles, Kentucky, is called Vurr-Sales. The town I grew up in, Eldorado, Illinois, was called EldoRAYdo - if you said EldoRODDo, that was a Cadillac. And the state's name is said Elinoy.
We always said Karo syrup like we said the town (Cair-o), but I have no idea whether people down along the river said it like we did, or like they said the name of the town (Kay-Ro).
Midland speech is that you hear in country music and a lot of people emulate on the CB radio. It is a distinctive accent from Northern or from Southern speech. People up North always thought we sounded Southern, and people down South thought we sounded Northern. Pioneers brought the Midland accent down the Ohio River in the early 1800s, and then spread it westward across the country's heartland from there.
As for the Summer of Love concert, I've now seen the media reports. The media all reported it from a yuppie viewpoint, as "boomers reliving their youth". They missed two major components of the crowd the concert attracted. First, many of the hippies of the sixties scattered up and down the coast in the seventies, and they came into San Francisco by the thousands. Bright colorful hippie vans like we seldom see in the city clogged the streets all around the area. And second, there were a lot of younger hippies there, guys in their twenties. No mention was made of these crowds at all.
Bill
Bill, Sounds like a good time was had by all! The band did indeed have several personnel as well as name changes starting out as the Great Society then The Jefferson Airplane (Grace Slick replacing Signe Anderson), Jefferson Starship and then just plain Starship featuring Mickey Thomas replacing Marty Balin. The music was quite different also with each group.
My favorite incarnation being the "Airplane" with "Gracie".
Hi to Larry,
peace, jonalbear
Hi Bill,
After Even & I got back to my truck, we drove to the beach near Cliff House to take some additional pics... it sure was a great day!!!!
I will be putting the pics into my computer's iphoto library today so I can send them on to you for sharing. It was certainly a fun day, and it was great to finally meet Steve NoVa, --- as well as a rare treat for Even to be off on a weekend, so he could join us (if it wasn't for that damn dog that bit him - lol)....
Talk to you later!
- Ken
Hi Ken. I for one will be looking forward to the pics you had taken at the concert just to see all you guys together.Sounds like a great meetup with the bonus of a cool outdoor concert.Also ah yes the Cliff House!Man has it been awhile since I been there but the veiw is outstanding!I remember being there around sunset just to see that awesome sky!Well if all goes well I'll be out there within a year or less.Mark
Hi Mark,
I just tried to upload a pic from yesterday's concert; but for some reason it wuldn't accept it... Bill will post a link to see them all soon, though, as I just e-mailed off the whole batch to him!
Take care, --- and I greatly look forward to meeting you when you're next out here in SF!!!
- Ken
A souvenir from the event!
Bill
Howdy Bill,
Fantatic pic man! Wish I had been there too. My sister and her partner live in Berzzzzzerk'ly! Haven't spoken with her in a few weeks but think I'll get in touch and see if she attended. And in the immortal words of John Lennon, "Give Peace A Chance!"
Bruce'ster
Hi Bill,
EVERYTHING is looking mighty fine there! Your hair, beard, and souvenir shirt all look superb, what an awesome time all of you must have had in that Summer of Love festival.
Keep everything growing,
David
Hey Bill sounds like the outdoor concert was awesome!I have to admit this pic of you is one of the best I've seen in awhile as it shows off your hair and beard very nicly.Also your facial expression is very pleasant as it would make a great avatar update.Don't get me wrong as I'm not saying your past pics were bad but this one just looks so good!Rock ON!!Mark
Lookin' good there, Bill!!!
- Ken
You look great, Bill! The beard is coming along fine, and your hair looks wonderful as usual. Thank you for this inspirational picture :-)
Bill, Cool shirt! Very cool model!!!
peace, jonalbear
Great pic of you Bill, I love the color contrast in the beard and the hair! That colorful shirt looks awesome on you. You definitely fit the image of the 60s :)
The mane and beard colors are all natural, of course! I have never changed the color of any of my hair. The top of the shirt says "Gathering of the Tribes" by the way (part of that is not visible behind my beard).
Thanks to all for your comments!
Bill
Wish I could have been there for that. Wish I had a business trip that week. But the newspaper account sure brought back a lot of band names and people from the past. Looking forward to the photos.
The most recent pic I saw of Grace Slick, was that she now has silver hair, which she still wears long. It's nice that she is yet another older woman who did not succumb to the lie that long hair is unflattering and aging past age 40 in womaen. She actually looked fabulous with her silver locks piled up high in a cascading ponytail. I'm assuming that Paul Kantner and Marty Balin were there, as they were the original Airplane lineup, and I can't imagine all 3 not being together for this event.
Carol