Sompopo's Revenge

Sixties & Seventies!

As requested by Rudy Giron over at Antigua Daily Photo

The late sixties, early seventies was a time of mixed emotions for me. As a young teenager I was trying like others my age to find myself. The war was still raging in Vietnam and the peace movement was in full swing. In the early stages I did not quite understand it all but that would soon change with time.
My first year in high school I began to gravitate toward some Hippie types (the ones my parents warned me about) because of their philosophy on free love and Peace as well as their anti establishment attitudes. They were so laid back and did not seen to have a care in the world.
My parents may not know it but they were somewhat responsible for my interest in the Hippie movement. Before I hit high school my parents would actually pile all of us kids in the car and drive to downtown Atlanta on 14th street to see the Hippies. In Atlanta Georgia this is where they hung out. In California it was the Height Asbury district. I was fascinated by the whole thing, drawn to it you might say. Within a month of my first year in high school I was introduced to Marijuana. I was scared to death of it because of all the horror stories my parents told me about it. Needless to say I was pressured by my new friends to try it so I did. I clearly remember not feeling any effects from my first encounter with it. The next day was a totally different story. At the end of the day we all hung around the tennis courts and smoked a joint. This time I was stoned as hell and paranoia had a tight grasp on me. I did not know if I was coming or going. As the high began to mellow out so did I and I just laid back against a tree noticing how very green all the foliage was around me. It sounds funny now but then I knew I wanted to feel like that forever.
After awhile my new friends introduced me to others and before I knew it I was part of the culture known as the Hippie movement. The music, politics and free love became a big part of my life from that moment on and NO I did not go to Woodstock.

I did go to the Atlanta Pop Festival on July 4th, 5th and 6th 1970 in Byron Georgia. We all went to the festival in a brightly colored bus. I cannot say I remember the entire three days but I do remember Jimi Hendrix playing the Star Spangled Banner at 12 midnight on the fourth. In the years after I was fortunate to see many of the great bands from that era including traffic, Johnny and Edger Winter, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Uriah Heep, Allman Brothers, Greatful Dead, Led Zepplin, Robin Trower, Jeff Beck. I could go on and on. As Dylan said, the times they were a changing. The political climate at the time fueled a lot of good music and Peace was all anybody wanted.
All in all it was some of the best times in my life and I will always cherish being able to be a part of it. Today I continue to listen to the same music and carry the same ideals I had then. I am sad that people today are so distant from each other and that trust and loyalty to ones fellow man is almost non-existent. For me the answer to all the worlds problems is simple “Peace” everybody get together and love one another.