Sunday, August 7, 2011
Adventures in Garage-land (Part 3)
My Very First Rock Concert In the Year 1968
It went from the Summer of Love in 1967, to hell on earth in 1968. There were assassinations, war, riots, and bubble gum music. Hippies portrayed in movies, television, and cartoons by Al Capp were maleficent, somnolent, and slovenly. Hippies were easy targets for right wing critics because they were pacifistic. Al Capp never made a caricature of an African-American because of Civil Rights’ militancy. It was quite a year for the world.
1968 was the year I got arrested for malicious mischief and vandalism. My gang had challenged another gang to a fight. It was to take place at a schoolyard, but when we arrived, there was no one else in sight. So, we spray-painted our gang’s logo on the school wall. What we didn’t know, however, was that the other gang had been hiding inside the building, waiting for us and, BAM! We got AMBUSHED! We didn’t know how they’d gotten inside the building, but the door busted wide open and out popped 10 guys with baseball bats and chains! My gang was just a group of five scrawny kids, so we ran like hell! We got to the fence and scaled it in record time! Then, we jumped on our bikes and sped away! Thank God, nobody got hurt! It was very stupid thing to incite a gang fight and it one of the many regrets I have in my life.
Somebody ratted on me. One day at school, I was called into the vice principal’s office and there was a detective waiting for me. He read me my Miranda Rights. Like a fool, I waived my rights! Consequently, nothing happened to me. It was my first offense and, thankfully, my mother never told my father. She was cool sometimes.
On March 31, my 14th birthday, I had a cold, so there was no party or gifts. Both of my grandmothers sent me cards with cash inside. That was all I needed. My dad watched President LBJ on T.V. make the announcement that he would not be running for re-election. I didn’t care; I was apolitical at the time.
The best thing that happened to me that year was attending my first rock concert. The number one radio station, Boss Radio 93 KHJ, was presenting a concert at the Hollywood Bowl featuring The Young Rascals, Tommy James & The Shondells, with Eric Burdon & The Animals! There was also an unlisted band—an L.A garage band, The Yellow Pages. It was to be on August 16, a Friday night. I’d never been to a rock concert before and I was surprised my parents let me go! (They didn’t let me go to see Jimi Hendrix at the Hollywood Bowl in ’67!) The Hobbs family, who lived behind us on Fuller Street, invited me to go; they had an extra ticket. So it was as if they were my chaperones. Perhaps that was why my parents let me go. Anyway, Mickey Hobbs, the neighborhood hood, was driving us to the gig. `I mean, the guy was stuck in the 50’s! He had a ducktail haircut and wore a black leather jacket. His sister, Linda, came along, as did his little brother Jack. Mickey drove us to the concert with his girlfriend wrapped tight inside his right arm, while he steered the wheel with his left. The dude had a lot of girlfriends! He drove a 1959 Bel Aire, which he kept in cherry condition. He was a chain smoker and I was in the back, inhaling the heavy smoke. It turned out he knew some people and had gotten the tickets for free. I didn’t really care how he’d got them--I didn’t have to pay a red cent!
We got to the Bowl at 8 p.m. Mickey had found a parking space in the neighborhood adjacent to the Bowl--we parked for free! It was a Hollywood summer night. The day’s heat was dissipating into a cool, clear evening. You could smell the fragrant yucca weed growing on the hillsides. When we got closer to the concert site, I sensed a new aroma. It was the first time I would smell the sweet aroma of Marijuana, and the beginning of countless times I would do so at concerts and anti-war rallies.
Most of the concertgoers were wearing clothes that were a combination of Carnaby Street fashion and San Francisco hippie garb. Others were wearing clothes their parents had bought them at J.C. Penneys or Sears. Me? I wore a powder blue turtleneck shirt, white bell-bottom trousers, and pointy Italian shoes that were way too big for me. My hair was thick, but not long.
We sat in the cheap seats but, surprisingly, the performers were quite visible! Hey, beggars can’t be choosy! I was glad to be out that night. Usually, on Friday nights, I’d stay home and watch the Dodgers play the San Francisco Giants, or I watched a show called “The Time Tunnel” on our black & white Zenith.
While people were finding their seats, the opening band, The Yellow Pages, was doing their set. They had a garage song called, Crowd Pleaser. Believe me, they were NOT crowd pleasers! The audience was heckling them like most opening acts are heckled. I liked them! They were raw, obnoxious, and loud! Two weeks later, I bought their album. This audience wanted to hear the pop tunes of the Rascals and the Shondels, which, of course, we did. I liked them--they were smooth and you could dance to their music. The Rascals wanted to be a blue-eyed soul band. The Shondells, on the other hand, was a teenage band that wanted to join the psychedelic crowd. They kind of pulled it off. The act that blew my 14-year-old mind, though, was Eric Burdon & The Animals---or should I say the “new” Animals!? By then, most of the original band had left. Eric Burdon was my new hero! There was a light show projected above the band and there were also film clips! When they performed “San Franciscan Nights,” there was a clip of Eric Burdon, strolling the streets of Frisco at night. It was a nice touch. They also showed a clip were Eric Burdon was being “crucified” on a cross! He then made the Roman Soldiers laugh, so they took him off the cross and smoked hash with him! I guess there was some type of statement he was making here, but I remember that it went over my head at the time. A few days later, I bought their double album, “Love is…” It was my introduction to Psychedelic rock. I would go to many concerts after this, but I never forgot my first one!
What was your first rock concert? ``````
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