Chapter 17 - USA, 1969

In 1969 the five most watched TV shows were: Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, Gomer Pyle MSMC, Bonanza, Mayberry RFD, and Family Affair. A half-gallon of milk cost 55¢, gas/gallon, 35¢, one pound of butter, 85¢, one loaf of white bread, 23¢. The minimum wage was $1.60.
Movies we watched in 1969 included: Sweet Charity, Funny Girl, Midnight Cowboy, True Grit, Take the Money and Run, Goodbye Columbus, Alice’s Restaurant, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Oh What a Lovely War, Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice, The Sterile Cuckoo, Goodbye Mr. Chips, and They Shoot Horses Don’t They.
Slaughterhouse Five, The Love Machine, The French Lieutenant’s Woman, and Portnoy’s Complaint were all on the New York Times Bestseller’s Lists.
Everywhere everyday life reflected the split between the “counter culture” and the “mainstream” culture. At least it did to me. Even the news seemed split between the two camps.
The “counter culture” news went like this. The Two Virgins album released by John and Yoko was banned from stores as pornographic. Early in the year Heard it Through the Grapevine by Marvin Gaye was the #1 hit. The Beatles made their last ever appearance as a group performing on the roof of Apple Studios. The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was cancelled for political reasons when they had Joan Baez as a guest. Jim Morrison of the Doors was arrested for allegedly exposing himself during a show. Biafra threatened to become “one of the great catastrophes of modern times.” The Chicago 8 were indicted after disturbances and demonstrations at the Democratic National Convention. Paul McCartney married Linda Eastman. In April Aquarius (Let the Sun Shine In) by the 5th Dimension was the #1 single, followed by Get Back by the Beatles. The #1 album was Blood, Sweat and Tears. Police removed a group from People’s Park near the Berkeley Campus causing one death. Dr. Timothy Leary was convicted and sentenced to 5-30 years for bringing marijuana from Mexico to Texas and failing to pay taxes on it. John and Yoko held a Bed Love-In in Toronto for world peace, harmony and love throughout the world.
In May the #1 album was Hair. Rolling Stone guitarist Brian Jones was found dead from accidental drowning with high blood levels of alcohol and barbiturates. In August Charles Manson and his followers committed bloody murder. The Woodstock Nation convened. In the fall the #1 single was Honky Tonk Woman by the Rolling Stones and the #1 album was Blind Faith by Blind Faith. Bob Dylan changes his sound and is backed by the Band. Monty Python’s Flying Circus airs in the US for the first time.
October 15th is Moratorium on War Day with huge marches in major cities. Rumors say that “Paul is Dead.” The #1 single is I Can’t Get Close to You by the Temptations and after that Green River by Creadance Clearwater Revival. Jim Morrison is arrested for public drunkenness on a flight although the charges are dropped. The #1 album by November is Abbey Road by the Beatles. There is a huge Washington War Protest on November 16th. On December 6th the Rolling Stones are at Altamont Speedway. They allow the Hell’s Angels to act as bodyguards. One fan is killed when he rushes the stage, others are injured. 89 Native Americans occupy Alcatraz. They want funding for cultural centers among other things. A Gallup poll in December results in the statement that 22% of college students have tried marijuana. Tiny Tim and Alice are married on the Johnnie Carson Show.
The more “mainstream” events of 1969 also reflect an era of deep change. In January, THE FTC PROPOSES TO BAN CIGARETTE ADS ON TV AND RADIO STATING THAT CIGARETTE SMOKING POSES A SERIOUS DANGER TO PUBLIC HEALTH. Lyndon B. Johnson bids farewell to Congress. Jack Griffith at Cal Tech first photographs the DNA double helix through an electron microscope. The trial of accused assassin of Robert Kennedy, Sirhan Sirhan, begins in LA. Throughout the year planes are hijacked to Cuba. Richard Nixon is inaugurated. The #1 single is Crimson and Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells. James Earl Ray pleads guilty to the assassination of Martin Luther King and is sentenced to 99 years in prison. At the Grammies, Best Record goes to Mrs. Robinson, while best album goes to By the Time I Get to Phoenix. In late spring Sirhan Sirhan is convicted to death in the gas chamber.
In May one of the bloodiest battles in Vietnam occurs, the “Battle of Hamburger Hill.” The FBI discloses that it authorized wiretaps of Martin Luther King right up to the time of his death. In June a rubella vaccine becomes available. Charles Evers is elected the first ever Black major of a biracial city. The #1 song is In the Year 2525 by Zager and Evans. Ted Kennedy drives off a bridge in Martha’s Vineyard at Chappaquiddick Island with Mary Jo Kopechne. She dies and he fails to report the incident for ten hours. On July 30th Neil Armstrong is the first man to walk on the moon. He utters the famous words, “The Eagle has Landed.” Jackie Onasis celebrates her 40th birthday. Hurricane Camille hits the Gulf Coast leaving 320 dead. MacDonald’s introduces the Big Mac. Ho Chi Minh dies at 79.
The first stage reduction of troops in Vietnam is completed in August. The #1 song is Sugar, Sugar by the Archies. Marcus Welby, MD and The Brady Bunch premiere on TV. A report is released which states that violence on TV leads to real life violence. 140,000 GE workers go on strike. The #1 song is October is Suspicious Minds by Elvis Presley. A Supreme Court decision says segregation in schools must end at once. Maxi skirts are shown. The President announces complete withdrawal of all troops but does not disclose a schedule for withdrawal. Sesame Street premieres.
In the fall the #1 song is Wedding Bell Blues by the 5th Dimension, the #1 album is Abbey Road by the Beatles. In November Wendy’s opens. By December 60,000 more troops have been pulled out of Vietnam.

Chapter 18

My 1969

My boss decided to leave the Head Start grant project. He appointed me his heir apparent so I was expecting a promotion and a substantial raise. On the strength of these expectations I bought a new car, a sports car, an Austin Healey Sprite. It looked cute but was really a cheap piece of shit (yes, my language was evolving). It crumpled like a tin can if anything so much as touch it. The front end was dented almost as soon as I registered it. Jonnie was driving and did not notice that the car in front had stopped. I shrugged it off, but did not report it to my insurance. It wasn’t too bad. Rich boy Jonnie did not offer to pay.

My promotion never materialized. The federal government decide not to renew four of the university grants. Our grant was one of the four. Apparently our praise/blame study did not wow them. Not only was I not promoted: I was once again unemployed. With a brand new car (which only someone raised in poverty would have purchased in the first place)! Ineligible for unemployment payment, federal grants being year-to-year contracts! Quel panic! I just did not know what to do. Without work I was free to smoke cigarettes all day, ashtrays full of butts, cigarettes barely within my budget as I had some savings. Looking for a job was definitely in order, but the job search was not going as well this time. I typed an updated resume and hauled out the old teacher clothes, but my new curly afro-style hair was not impressing employers. And I probably smelled like patchouli. Annie, since she worked retail, was often home days. She worked crazy retail hours. She wanted to go, to do, to hang out. In July we went to Newport to the jazz festival. This festival usually concentrated on classic jazz, but in 1969 they invited people like James Brown and Led Zeppelin, The town had no idea what they were in for. Annie had a black Malibu convertible that she loved. We set off one sunny July day. In Massachusetts we picked up two young hitchhikers who ended up being from the same street we lived on. This is the way things went in the 60’s.

We had no tickets to any of the events, and could not devise a way to get inside the fences. Sometimes we hung out near the fences to listen and watch through the links, but usually we wandered around town, or along the sea wall by the Newport “summer homes” (mansions), or at the beach.

So many people came that the town was overrun. Gas station owners parked cars in front of the rest rooms so that no one could get in. Restaurants put up signs, “no shirt, no shoes, no service” or “you cannot use the rest rooms unless you are a patron.” We, fortunately, met some people who let us use their motel bathroom for a small fee, but physically we were slightly dirtier and a lot less comfortable than usual.

The group we really wanted to see was Led Zeppelin. Late Sunday it was rumored that they were not coming. The rumor spread like wildfire. Someone told Annie that this was not true. They actually were coming. Everyone started to leave but Annie would not go. We inherited some tickets from people who were convinced the group would not appear. We entered the concert grounds for the first time and saw Paul Winter Group and B.B King. Around midnight, when the crowd had gotten pretty sparse, Led Zeppelin arrived. It was electric. We all stood on our chairs and rocked out. We left for home about 3 am. Annie was vindicated. I would never be allowed to forget this.

In August we went to Woodstock. We packed up the Austin Healey, clothing, food, borrowed tents, sleeping bags, and headed down the New York State Thruway to Yasgur’s farm with about 250,000 other people, another quarter of a million having already arrived there.

We weren’t allowed to get anywhere near the farm, had to park the Austin Healey along the side of a country road with cars lining the verges as far as the eye could see. You had to walk from there. We left everything locked in the car except my cigarettes and joined the freak parade. Oh, it was wonderful! All around us a whole hippie nation, young, in “high” spirits, each one more hip than the last, music pouring from speakers rigged to telephone poles, a sunny summer day. Part of something so huge, so much to see, gorgeous long-haired guys, no shirts, dirty blue jeans, sandals. Long-haired women all rigged out in long flowy dresses and beads and sandals, jeans and Mexican wedding shirts-headbands, arm in arm. Joints were passed, jugs of wine were shared, tabs of acid were dropped. It was better than any New York City Easter Parade, better than the Ascot races, a parade of a new world set to a rock beat. Jimi Hendrix’s version of “The Star Spangled Banner.” Bad things were rumored, but we did not see anything scary. We were peaking. The whole world was peaking.

We had walked for about an hour when cars started to come through again. Apparently the flood overcame the ability of the police to control it. We ended up riding on the roof of a station wagon, full inside, with more people on the tailgate. The sun went down on our new age caravan and eventually we climbed down and spent the night at a campsite in the woods with friendly strangers. A slice of bread handed to us by a compassionate soul was all we had to eat.

When we woke up it was raining. Started out as showers, soon a downpour settled in for the long haul. We had no umbrellas, were water soaked, our hair draggled around our faces, as was everyone’s. People still trying to be playful, but with slippery clay mud everywhere it go messy. Lit a cigarette, it turned soggy and broke apart after a few puffs. The road was the only place you could actually walk without sliding so we set out to walk back to the car far away down the country road. Annie had to go to work on Monday. The rain stopped, we dried out, but it remained overcast. Now two lanes of people, those walking out and those still walking in. Still a grand and interesting passage with everyone eyeballing everyone else and the music again from the speakers. Finally, the car, a quick snack and home, back to my unemployed reality.