Danny Goldberg returns to the Mindrolling podcast to talk about his new book “In Search of the Lost Chord: 1967 and the Hippie Idea.”
Show Notes
The Summer of Love (Opening) – Danny talks about why he chose 1967 as the representative moment of that era. He and Raghu discuss what that year was like for them and the impact that psychedelics had on everything.
“I think what was interesting about that moment, and why I wanted to write the book about 1967 and not about later when anger and protest were so much more a proportion of whatever the counterculture was, is that 1967 was a balance between the inner and outer. Between an inner quest, which for a lot of people started with psychedelics, and the outer of recognizing this war going on that a lot of us felt was immoral.” – Danny Goldberg
Houseboat Summit (14:50) – Raghu shares his favorite section of “In Search of the Lost Chord” which recounts the “Houseboat Summit of 1967.” Danny discusses this legendary meeting of minds between Alan Watts, Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder and Allen Cohen at the height of the Haight-Ashbury movement in San Francisco.
“There was this sense of enormous energy going towards Haight-Ashbury; like a wave about to crash on the shore. The media was already coining it ‘The Summer of Love.’ In fact ‘The Summer of Love’ is what killed Haight-Ashbury. Too many people came, there was not enough infrastructure, and the media rewarded a lot of people for masquerading as hippies.” – Danny Goldberg
Our Tribe (24:00) – During the Houseboat Summit, a very important question was asked which stumped the dais, “Don’t tribes learn to mistrust each other?’ Danny discusses the importance of this question both then and now.
Dr. King (37:20) – Danny talks about the role that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. played in disseminating the same message of love and peace that became synonymous with the hippie movement.
“I am sick and tired of violence, I’m tired war and conflict in the world, I’m tired of shooting, I’m tired of selfishness, I’m tired of evil, I’m not going to use violence no matter who says it.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“Hippie Idealism” (48:30) – It is easy for people to dismiss the beliefs that were so alive during 1967 as “hippie idealism.” Raghu and Danny discuss the real problems that existed in that movement and, more importantly, what lessons the next generations of the counter-culture have to learn from that time.
“The truth is that it was never rational to expect the entire world to become perfect in one lifetime when that has not been the story of the human race. The story of the human race though, to me, is to shine light where you can and honor that.” – Danny Goldberg
If you are not already subscribed, check out Danny’s podcast Rock & Roles on the Be Here Now Network.
Amazon Recommendations
Photo via Everett Collection