Without doubt, the social changes that took place in the United States in the 1960's were, in an historical context, earthshaking. Before the 60's, many things we take for granted today - divorce, abortion, birth control, alternative lifestyle of any kind - just weren't available without the heavy penalty of social ostracization. Segregation by race, class, religion, and ethnicity was accepted as something natural and correct. Remember Bob Dole in last year's presidential election campaign talking about the "good old days?" You remember, back when you could call a black man "boy" and get away with it.
Were the events outlined in this book, and 1960's youth culture in general, symptomatic or causative of the changes that took place? In the forward, James Henke states that the book's purpose is to examine the significant social, political and cultural changes of that era. It fails at all these goals, providing merely a description of some ofthe cultural events occurring at that time. The text switches chapters back between Charles Perry (on San Francisco) and Barry Miles (on London) without regard for the actual chronological order of events. Any pretext at narrative consistency is lost, as events in the UK are often reported before events that had alreay occured in the USA. But it is interesting to see how the scene developed in both countries. Bottom up in the US, top down in the UK (The Beatles were first dosed by their dentist in February 1965). Barry Miles (inadvertently) provides an illuminating example of his own elitism when he sneers at working class hero John Lennon for mispronouncing "Nietzsche." By this time, you'd think old John would have attained some type of status for being one of the Twentieth Century's leading cultural figures! Sometimes the message got a little garbled in the translation. Hipsters in the US scrounge thrift stores for funky clothing; pricey boutiques open up in London selling ready made glad rags for the Pop elite. Grace Slick provides an amusing anecdote in this regard on Donovan's first appearance at the Fillmore, arriving in San Francisco with flowers in his hair. The book is laid out in an incredibly ugly, welcome to the 1990's, short attention span format. Comments from some of the main characters of the era are set off separately from the main text, and are much more interesting than Perry and Miles' comments. Gary Duncan's observations are particularly good, and very relevant. In another highlight, Joe McDonald reveals the source of the "Banana Peel" myth; a myth that percolated all the way back to me as a kid in the suburbs of Providence, Rhode Island. On the other hand, lots of people desperately grasp for any kind of credit in the creation of this short little pop culture renaissance - "It was the first shop to have a car bursting out of its front window." "... we were the third artists to use phasing... " Rather pathetic, really; makes you wonder what they've made of their lives over the last thirty years. Since the bulk of the text is written by participants in those long time gone events, and there's more self-aggrandizement than self-criticism, the book is not particularly useful as an historical source. There are much better books available. Buy it instead (US$ 25) for the gorgeous photographs, most in color, that provide the only opportunity for those of us who weren't there to get a glimpse of that brief interval between Hip and Hype - the Hippie Renaissance. At the end of the book, Jon Savage presents a list of his top 100 psychedelic songs (50 each from the U.S. and the U.K.). Of course, it's a silly exercise, except perhaps as a means for the critic to see how many multi-syllabic words he can use to describe these ultra-ephemeral pop-culture artifacts. Lots of howlers in this list, and some, like including Otis Redding's "Dock of the Bay", have got to be intentional. Savage describes Hendrix's version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" as representing Jimi's "blackest, most American" phase; does that make his earlier recordings white and British?