It was a fleeting moment in the pantheons of time, a mere granule in the hourglass. It was the rolling hills of Northern California with "Hippiedom" at it's apex of popularity and the nomadic flower children of America in search of their personal identity. From the grassy knolls of Golden Gate Park to the Monterey bay, we were the clandestine generation utilizing cultural acceptance and the “San Francisco Sound” defining us as the universal solvent for peace. From the abyss of political dissention, equal rights and Vietnam, John Phillips and Lou Adler had an idea of given magnitude that would resonate across the globe and verify that it is conceivable that hordes of people from various ethnic and religious backgrounds could unite for a few days under the Monterey sun and bask in the realization that the ideology of the counter culture movement was not the abysmal depiction so often written about in the magazines and newspapers of the day. We were the bare feet, flaxen haired mavens of Haight-Ashbury, the musicians, opiate mixologists and iconic heroes we most often emulated. Our ability to co-exist as a nation, even if just for flashing moments in June of 1967 made us mavericks of society. Forty years later, who would have known that all the members of Big Brother & The Holding Company less Janis, would still be with us, i.e., Sam Andrew,David Getz & Peter S. Albin. Or that three members of Moby Grape would finally re-unite and play again after all the litigation that has kept them in virtual obscurity for all these years.  David Freiberg & Gary Duncan from Quicksilver Messenger Service (John Cippolina would be so proud), Paul Kantner & Marty Balin from Jefferson Airplane along with Prairie Prince (The Tubes & Journey's original drummer), Tom Constanten from The Grateful< Dead and David LaFlamme of It's A Beautiful Day. So many others to ponder over, Pete Sears, Terry Haggerty, David Crosby, Steven Stills, Graham Nash, Neil Young. David Nelson, Nancy Nevins of Sweetwater, Barry Melton & Country Joe McDonald from The Fish, and Dan Hicks of The Charlatans among others. Some have left this planet due to the trappings of the genre and inclusive of Jerome John Garcia, Janis Lynn Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Spencer Dryden, Pigpen, Skip Spence, and others, yet, they live vicariously through all of us.The nascent sound of psychedelia rings loudly as we digress to a more careful existence and the wafts of multiple fragrances settled over this demographic area like a cloak of cool. On the 28th & 29th of July, I.E. Artists will rekindle that flame that burned ever so briefly during the most tumultuous, decadent and violent epoch of time known to man and Thank You, because it's about time. These are the survivors of the day, members of the elite bands of The Golden Age in rock n' roll, 1967-1977. The ghosts of Bill Graham, Chet Helms and John Phillips will stroll the hallowed grounds of yesteryear much as we will because when all has been said and done, all we have is each other and the memories that endure for a lifetime.

 

See ya in Monterey,

 

Cheers Don Aters – 2007

60’s Historian & Photographer