It’s occurred to me recently that the year 1967 was pivotal. It had the “Summer of Love,” and also several race riots. It was the year that Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted into the Army and the year that the Beatles released. As listeners to this podcast know, one of my recurring themes is an attempt to unravel the “sixties” , to figure out what aspects of the so-called counter-culture were the contributions to consciousness I felt they were as a teenager, and which were and counter-productive.
It had the “Summer of Love,” and also several race riots. It was the year that Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted into the Army and the year that the Beatles released Sargent Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club and All You Need Is Love. It was the year of the first albums by Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, The Velvet Underground and The Grateful Dead . It was the last full year of Martin Luther King’s life and the first full year when LSD was illegal in most of the United States. I cold not think of anyone better to ponder the significance and insignificance of that year than my friend and Mindrolling icon David Silver who in 1967 was hosting the counter-culture PBS TV show in Boston called What’s Happening Mr. Silver.