1970

In 1970, I was a 15 year-old freshman in high school with the world in front of me. From the sidelines, I watched the hippies lined up by the 101 to hitch-hike, the Vietnam war live on TV and listened to all the wonderful music. We took the music for granted at the time, as the industrial revolution was beginning to crumble, rock 'n roll was our biggest cultural industry. American music (with a little help from the Brits) did more for democracy than Nixon's flag pin would ever do. As James Taylor sang four years later,



Cause tennis shoes, and rhythm and blues
Are second generation
All across the nation, now,
And mama knows,
Papa too rock 'n roll is music,
Rock 'n roll is music, now.

Music wise, the 70's were going to build off the 60's and it was all going to start with the break-up of the best band of all-time, The Beatles. 1970, among many things, was the year of the solo album and again the Beatles would lead the pack in that department too. All four Beatles had solo albums plus movies, soundtrack credits and yes of course, Let It Be.

I started this blog after seeing this Wikipedia article called, 1970 in music. You have to go to this link now because it sets up my YouTube Playlist for this week. The events (including Janis Joplin's and Jimi Hendrix's deaths) and albums created by such gifted people are simply astounding. For me, I clearly remember two conflicting thoughts. One, I wished that I was 18, ("To be on your own, with no direction home"), to be free of my parent's world. And two, I was just lucky enough to be too young to be drafted for the war. I actually lived the Wonder Years, a tail-end boomer just old enough to take it all in. I was an outside spectator who wanted in. Enjoy my mix (link w/release dates & notes), (I keep adding more by the hour) released from January-December, 1970.