Any Hippies here?

[loppylugs 8,427]

I was just reading a magazine article about the Hippy movement in San Francisco in 1967.

 

By then I was sitting in my van at lunchtimes hearing about hippies putting flowers in their hair, peace and love and all that.  I had no time for it.  I'd been married two years and busy paying a mortgage.  I never identified with any particular group, Mods, Rockers, Hippies etc.. I don't really remember a hippy scene in Nottingham, but I wondered if some here did.

[TBI 2,351]

Yes loppy, 1967 certainly was a great time. I was actually just becoming a Mod then but I also leant towards the Hippy thing...so a bit of a Moppy I suppose.

[FLY2 10,108]

I was a bit hippyish in 67, mainly because of the new music on the scene. I had been a mod up until then, as I also liked the freshness of The Who, Small Faces etc.

[Bubblewrap 3,815]

It's not so much being a "hippy" but enjoying the music

 

[MargieH 7,599]

I never put 'flowers in my hair' - I was too busy washing baby sick out of it!   Pity really as I liked the music and clothes, although couldn't afford to buy any at that time!  I think I was born too soon...

[Cliff Ton 10,457]

I definitely remember the hippy thing in Nottingham in 67. I wasn't old enough to be part of it but I was old enough to be aware of it.

 

One aspect of it which I specifically remember was the Goose Fair of that year. All the stalls were selling "hippy bells" and everyone of a certain age at the fair came back ringing all over the place.

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

I wasn't 10 until the end of 1967 but remember my sister and Su Pollard wearing hippyish clothes and that Indian jewellery that jingled when they moved. The pair of them used to make their own clothes but Su's dresses were so short, my father dubbed them pelmets! She also cut off her long, blonde hair and usually tied a psychedelic scarf round her head.

 

My sister's legs were too thin to get away with short skirts! Dad's usual comments were: "You couldn't stop a pig in an entry with those legs!"  and: "You're not going out dressed like that, are you? You must be doing it for a bet!" 

[annswabey 599]

I was 10 in 1967 and remember those bells being sold at Goose Fair.  Had to have one!

[TBI 2,351]

Seems the bells were a must-have. My missus, who would have been 11, remembers when she and all the girls at her school were wearing them.

 

Anyone have an Afghan coat? My mate got one and yes, it did stink pretty bad. I was glad to stick with me parka.

[LizzieM 9,507]

Definitely not, I couldn't abide the Hippy Movement, too scruffy!  Hated lads with long hair too.  I was a Mod from aged 15 in 1965 til about 1968 then I grew up .......but wore skirts nearly up to my bum or hot pants plus the white plaggy boots of course! 

[Gem 1,430]

Lizzie, you brought back a memory of going out skirt nearly  up to my bum,  dad saying if you drop anything bend your knees  to pick it up, don't bend over.

[NewBasfordlad 3,599]

I was in Ireland for 7 months in 67 and in Buxton for the rest of the year so remember nothing of Nottingham at that time. I love good folk music amongst other things so enjoyed a lot of the hippy music.

[FLY2 10,108]

As I've said, I liked the music, some of the clothing, but non of the hippy ideals of vegetarianism, outdoor living, love thy brother, and all that twaddle. I liked my steaks, cars, wine and spirits, Sunday dinners and most of all, my warm comfy bed.

[DJ360 6,721]

Bit of an odd mix here.  I was a biker for a bit, but never a full on ' Greaser' type.  I was never a Mod, but I did wear some Mod influenced clothes and absolutely loved all the Soul, Motown and more obscure R&B music that went with the Mod scene. 

 

In 1967 itself, I certainly bought into the idea of Peace and Love.  Let's be honest.. not the most achievable ambition.. but a better one than War and Hate.  Didn't totally go for Kaftans and bells though.  That was for the 'weekend hippies'.  Even when I was DJ ing on the 'proto Northern Soul scene' from '68 to 71 ish.. I was listening to all the other music too. from Folk to Rock and Blues.. plus Classical and some Jazz. My musical tastes were too eclectic for me to attach myself to one 'tribe'.

Spent quite a few weekends in '67 hitch hiking to assorted clubs such as the Mojo Sheffield and the Twisted Wheel Manchester.

Also spent two weeks hitching into France and along the  south coast that year.  we were 'On The Road'.... Man....  ' 

 

I had long hair, and my clothes settled down to a sort of style which , if anything, was known as 'Beat'.  I suppose 'Beat' was close to the sort of kit worn by the likes of Jansch and Renbourn, pre 1967. Jeans, various shirts, neckerchiefs or 'chokers' etc. Mostly muted colours with leather and suede.

 

  When feeling a bit more adventurous my favourite outfit was denims, red suede desert wellies with electric blue laces, a crimson shirt bought for me by an ex.. sometimes with a bow tie for a laugh.. especially when I wore my tatty old Harrod's maroon velvet smoking jacket.  Bloke I bought it off for 2 quid told me it had been worn in a play at the Theatre Royal.  Dunno if that's true.  Other times it was a Wrangler or Levi cord jacket. 

I thought I was cool.  Who knows what others thought. 

 

Mrs Col still has a pure white Afghan type coat she bought about 1971.  I doesn't smell.

 

 

Col

[loppylugs 8,427]

I bet we'll be hearing from Ben.  He'd have been the right age for all this.  Good responses btw.  More than I expected.

 

I remember the short skirts,. What red blooded yoof wouldn't?  . Had a buddy whose favorite saying was,. "if that skirt were any shorter it would be a belt."  Although I remember quite a lot of the hippy gals wore long granny type dresses.  Most of my experience of the movement was second hand.  Like tv documentaries about Woodstock etc.. They tended to show the worst of it.

 

Interesting times.

[DJ360 6,721]

Interesting article about Woodstock here:

 

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/woodstockhow-to-feed-400000-hungry-hippies-65740098/

 

Col

[loppylugs 8,427]

All I can say to that Col is.  Glad I wasn't there.

[Oztalgian 3,271]

Loppy, What a great thread! so many memories, it's now 50 years ago, bl**dy hell where did the time go seems like it was only yesterday.

Looking back through my record and CD collections I came up with these from the "Summer of Love"

 

Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Harum

San Francisco - Scott McKenzie

San Franciscan Nights - Eric Burdon and The Animals

Flowers in the Rain - The Move

Hole in My Shoe - Traffic

Itchycoo Park - The Faces

Let's go to San Francisco - The Flowerpot Men

Mellow Yellow - Donovan

Penny Lane / Strawberry Fields Forever - The Beatles

Groovin' - The Young Rascals

The album of the year was of course Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

[DJ360 6,721]

  Wish I'd been there.  Experience of a lifetime.

 

Joni.. as usual..  had the words....

 

 

 

Yes.. it all turned to ashes.. but it was a moment when many people were of one very peaceful and cooperative mind.

 

Col

 

[Oztalgian 3,271]

DJ360, They say if you can remember the 60's you weren't really there! (I'll admit to a few blank spaces)

 

The more "commercial" version by Matthews Southern Comfort 

 

 

 

 

 

[loppylugs 8,427]

Wonder if a lot of it was a reaction to the Vietnam war.  We were sheltered from that in the UK but for many here it was probably a pretty big reaction to the feeling that it was their turn to get shipped out there next.

[plantfit 7,580]

That terrible war caused a lot of young people to look for an alternative in life,it changed the way a lot of people thought of their country's role on the world stage,must have been really bad for the young folk of America and not forgetting Australia's involvement

 

Rog

[benjamin1945 16,139]

Never into the Hippy bit.....no long hair or flowery clothes......always suit and Tie.......did go out for short time with a Hippy girl from Birmingham.....just couldn't get used to seeing her feet and sandals can't even remember her name now........had my Uncle paint the living room Orange for her......LOL.

[DJ360 6,721]

9 hours ago, loppylugs said:

Wonder if a lot of it was a reaction to the Vietnam war.  We were sheltered from that in the UK but for many here it was probably a pretty big reaction to the feeling that it was their turn to get shipped out there next.

 

I think it's pretty certain that 'Nam' had a lot to do with it.  I believe there were more than a few hundred US 'Combat Deaths' in 'Nam' in the early 1960s before the US Govt. even admitted to any involvement.

 

But also, I think the Hippy thing was a high point of the slowly building rejection by many of the stifling 'conventionality' of US life after WWII.  Maybe in itself 'God, Country, Mom and Apple Pie', was a harmless enough meme, but I suppose there were too many people in the US to whom that ideal didn't apply and too many who were excluded from it.

 

There were many strands I think.  Jack Kerouac wrote about the early 'Beat Generation' in 'On the Road'.  The 'Folk Revivalists' including Dylan, Baez, Caroline Hester and Pete Seeger and inspired by earlier commentators.. especially Woody Guthrie, were presenting an alternative view of things 5 years or more before Woodstock. 

On the wider musical scene, Rock and Roll had grown up.  People were starting to blend folk, rock, blues, jazz and even classical music into new forms.. Throw in a bit of Eastern Mysticism, not to mention LSD, Marijuana, Mescaline etc., and you have Psychedelia.

 

The Civil Rights movement  was demanding change and doing so largely through peaceful means.  Black music and musicians were breaking through into the mainstream, so that it was no longer just the 'approved few' such as Nat Cole, Louis Armstrong et.al who represented Black America.

 

If you like.. it was something of a 'perfect storm' of influences and pressures.  Something had to give.

 

Even here in the UK, there was a slightly more muted but similar push for change.  It's easy to forget that before the re-organisation of BBC Radio from the 'Home Service', 'Light Programme' amd 'Third Programme', to R1, 2, 3 and 4 popular music was barely played and certainly wasn't valued.  Those attitudes were forced to change when the 'Pirate' radio movement took hold.  But it's interesting to see how those attitudes persisted with some.  All those performances on Top of the Pops for e.g., that were casually wiped later.  Decades of social/cultural history gone.

 

Interesting times. 

 

Col

[PeverilPeril 3,279]

Good summary there Col.

I liked the music but at 29 with two kids I was out of that scene. The 50's were my time - a decade when even more changes were taking place. As daft as it sounds we were too poor to have hippies in the 50's. In the 60's, youth and their parents started to have disposable cash, which gave them choice. 50's youth had to work  for a living. Dropping out was not an option because society and parents did not have the wherewithal to carry, what was then seen as baggage. Think I may have been a hippy had I been born 15 years later 

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