On this day in history, 1967 a gathering of the tribes occurred in San Francisco. In a sense this was the opening salvo in the Summer of Love. All of San Francisco's rock bands were there, not just Santana and Steve Miller Band as mentioned on the poster but also the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Big Brother & the Holding Company. Timothy Leary was there making his turn on (to the scene), tune in (to what is happening) and drop out (of high school, grad school, junior executive, senior executive) and follow me, the hard way speech.
The Berkeley Barb announced:
When the Berkeley political activists and the love generation of the Haight Ashbury and thousands of young men and women from every state in the nation embrace at the gathering of the tribes for a Human Be-in at the Polo Field in Golden Gate Park the spiritual revolution will be manifest and proven. In unity we shall shower the country with waves of ecstacy and purification. Fear will be washed away; ignorance will be exposed to sunlight; profits and empire will lie drying on deserted beaches; violence will be submerged and transmuted in rhythm and dancing; racism will be purified by the salt of forgiveness.
And so it came to pass. After that everything was ok, I expect.
So what was thenewcornpoppy listening to in 1967? There was only one record in the house that summer, brought back from Italy, Isabella Iannetti and Corriamo. Listen here. You'll love it. This is the sound of the summer of love.
