The 1960’s were a time of good music in America. Early on, Bob
Dylan started the movement, and was quickly followed by the Beatles, Peter,
Paul, and Mary, the Rolling Stones, Simon and Garfunkel, Crosby, Stills, Nash
and Young, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin,
Jimmy Hendrix, Carlos Santana ,the Doors, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, and many
others.
The culmination of the decade, of course, was Woodstock, which
occurred in August of 1969. Most of the people that I mentioned above performed
there, and the music from at least one of the groups eventually became part of
a sound track for a movie.
One of those groups was named The Band, and its lead performer
was a guy named Levon Helm, who died on April 19. 2012, exactly 9 years ago
today. In addition to his musical talents, Helm was also an accomplished actor,
appearing in Coal Miner’s Daughter, The Right Stuff, Shooter, and The Electric
Mist. Ultimately, he won 3 Grammy awards for his music, in 2008, 2009, and
2011.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levon_Helm
The movie, “Easy Rider”, was released on July 14, 1969.
Produced for a budget of $360,000, it was a box office hit, and made Peter
Fonda and Dennis Hopper very rich men. Box office receipts for the movie exceeded
$60,000,000.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easy_Rider
A large part of the appeal of the movie was the music.
Although you can easily listen to the soundtrack for the entire movie, the song
that really stands out is “The Weight”, which featured the drumming of Levon
Helm.
Levon continued to play this song long after the movie was
released, and he always seemed to have a lot of fun while performing it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodstock
Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison both passed 8 years after the
end of Woodstock, at the age of 27. In addition, both Peter Fonda and Dennis
Hopper managed to survive their wild lifestyles, and lived to be 79 and 74,
respectively.
Take a moment to reflect on the passing of a great musician –
and take o load off your mind.
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