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texanwitch

(18,705 posts)
Sat Jul 14, 2012, 01:20 PM Jul 2012

I was teen in both the mid to late 60's and early 70's.

It both a great time and terrible time for rock music.

I turned 13 in late 1966 so I became a teen with the Monkee's.

Just a little to young for the Beatles when they first came to America.

Way to young for Elvis, never really a fan of his.

I was child of the hippe age, and the Vietnam War on tv every night.

It was a interesting time to grow up.

A teenager in the neighborhood kid was asking me about what it was like in the old days.

Before computers and cellphones.

I told her we had a great life and more freedom as children then she can imagine.


When I was finished she told me she wished she was born then, it sounded great.

I told her it wasn't always great, not everyone.

But it was a very interesting time to be growing and becoming a young adult.

Thanks for reading this.


18 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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I was teen in both the mid to late 60's and early 70's. (Original Post) texanwitch Jul 2012 OP
you're about my parents' age fizzgig Jul 2012 #1
I am glad I am not a kid today. texanwitch Jul 2012 #2
My dad was kind of a drifter "free spirit" in the 70s. Odin2005 Jul 2012 #18
You're just a couple of years older than I am. nolabear Jul 2012 #3
It was easier , I didn't have to think about the draft. texanwitch Jul 2012 #4
I'm not much younger then you but... Kaleva Jul 2012 #5
Turned 13 in '71. Yes, that period had both great and shitty music... bluesbassman Jul 2012 #6
I was a teenager from 1973 - 1979... Archae Jul 2012 #7
Saturday Night Live was great, never missed. texanwitch Jul 2012 #8
Midnight Special MissV Jul 2012 #9
Youtube might have it. texanwitch Jul 2012 #10
Don Kirschner's Rock Concert? yewberry Jul 2012 #14
I'm about 10 years ahead of you. trof Jul 2012 #11
Yes, we were allowed to be kids. texanwitch Jul 2012 #13
I'm a year older than you... pipi_k Jul 2012 #12
I was 13 in '69,,,, benld74 Jul 2012 #15
Yup. I turned 13 in December 1968. pink-o Jul 2012 #16
You are my parents age. Odin2005 Jul 2012 #17

fizzgig

(24,146 posts)
1. you're about my parents' age
Sat Jul 14, 2012, 02:02 PM
Jul 2012

they both hitchhiked across the country when they were young, something i never would have considered doing.

i was a teen in the 90s. i remember watching gulf war I every night during dinner, watching the oj verdict live in civics class and getting change back from my $20 when i filled my gas tank. the economy was good and i didn't worry about my financial future.

i think it would be tough to be a teen or young adult right now.

texanwitch

(18,705 posts)
2. I am glad I am not a kid today.
Sat Jul 14, 2012, 04:34 PM
Jul 2012

This kid I was talking to is just feaking out about our she is going to pay for college.

She is a great kid, smart and should have a good future.

I hope she does.


She is living with her Grandparents.

She is the kind of kid you would want for your own.

I have known her since she was 8 years old.

I hope thing turn around for all of us.

Odin2005

(53,521 posts)
18. My dad was kind of a drifter "free spirit" in the 70s.
Sun Jul 15, 2012, 01:59 AM
Jul 2012

He took up odd jobs after he graduated school, then became a trucker. He settled down when I was born in 1986, but he's still a free spirit at heart, and he's a solid Big Labor Democrat.

nolabear

(41,915 posts)
3. You're just a couple of years older than I am.
Sat Jul 14, 2012, 04:54 PM
Jul 2012

I may have been precocious but I LOVED the Beatles and Doors and Stones. I also had a strong R&B, blues and jazz connection because I was so near New Orleans and the Delta.

In some ways it was far easier to be a kid, but I was Caucasian. It wasn't easier to be a girl, especially one who was ambitious.

I did hitchhike across country with my then husband. We were idiots. We damn near got killed by a trucker who hauled us out into the desert and threatened to shoot us.

I do miss some things, but the world is the world and we adapt.

texanwitch

(18,705 posts)
4. It was easier , I didn't have to think about the draft.
Sat Jul 14, 2012, 05:05 PM
Jul 2012

I did hitchhike twice, nothing happened.

We were lucky, there were crazy people back then.

bluesbassman

(19,309 posts)
6. Turned 13 in '71. Yes, that period had both great and shitty music...
Sat Jul 14, 2012, 05:24 PM
Jul 2012

But you can really say that about all periods IMO.

The thing about some of the music from the 60's and 70's is there was a lot of timeless music produced. Check out the comments on songs from Joplin, CSN&Y, Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, etc. on Youtube and you'll see a lot of kids making positive comments. Better still, go to a concert for one of the classic rock bands and you'll see a ton of kids there along with the "seasoned" folk.

Will stuff from the 80's, 90's and beyond have as much staying power? Maybe, there are some great tunes from later decades. For shear numbers though, I don't think the 60's and 70's will ever be equaled.

It was an interesting time, lots of social and cultural changes going on. You're right in that generally we had more "freedom". My kids certainly didn't get to do a lot of the stuff I did growing up in essentially the same area.

Nice post, decade mate.

Archae

(46,260 posts)
7. I was a teenager from 1973 - 1979...
Sat Jul 14, 2012, 05:29 PM
Jul 2012

"Do a little dance, make a little love, get down tonight!"

I could put $5 worth of gas in my car and it would last a couple days.

The Sexual Revolution was in full gear and none of us could ever get laid.

Movies? Activist movies, disaster movies, STAR WARS...

TV? Crap and more crap until..."Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

texanwitch

(18,705 posts)
8. Saturday Night Live was great, never missed.
Sat Jul 14, 2012, 05:39 PM
Jul 2012

There was another show, can't think what it was called.

It came on at midnight, all the great bands played on it.

texanwitch

(18,705 posts)
10. Youtube might have it.
Sat Jul 14, 2012, 06:23 PM
Jul 2012

Maybe Netflix.

When we could still stay awake that long.

I would have to DVR it now.

yewberry

(6,530 posts)
14. Don Kirschner's Rock Concert?
Sat Jul 14, 2012, 07:11 PM
Jul 2012

Something like that, I think. I used to watch that back in the early 80's when my friends & I had sleepovers.

trof

(54,255 posts)
11. I'm about 10 years ahead of you.
Sat Jul 14, 2012, 06:56 PM
Jul 2012

No rock 'n roll until my mid to late teens.
We had R&B, but mostly ballads and 'slow dancing'.
Yes, we had incredible freedom, especially once we became 'mobile'.
BIKES!

We'd leave the neighborhood after breakfast on a Saturday and not be back until dusk.
(That was as soon as I was allowed to ride my bike off our block. )

Usually we'd stop at the Merita Bread bakery/factory and each buy a loaf of 'day old' bread for a dime AND EAT THE WHOLE DAMN LOAF!

Then on to the L&N rail yard in downtown Birmingham and hang out in the yard.
Engineers on the shuttle engines would give us rides, and sometimes share their lunch with us.
Or we'd hook a ride on our own.
Amazingly no one ever was run over or injured.


We'd go 'sledding' on a piece of cardboard down a grassy hill.
Over and over until the lady came out and ran us out of her front yard.
Childhood was a magical time back then.


texanwitch

(18,705 posts)
13. Yes, we were allowed to be kids.
Sat Jul 14, 2012, 07:07 PM
Jul 2012

We played in a railroad yard also, no one ever got hurt..

We had woods and a creek to play in.

The woods had a sandy clearing for a fire.

Someone before us packed in concrete blocks and a grill.

We would built a fire and have hot dogs, or open up a can of beans to heat up.

A few times we had hamburgers.

Play all day and go home tired.

Freedom.

pipi_k

(21,020 posts)
12. I'm a year older than you...
Sat Jul 14, 2012, 07:06 PM
Jul 2012

and for me, those days were great, although I didn't realize at the time how great they were.

It's only in retrospect I can appreciate them. Figures, huh...

I was innocent. I was young and cute and my body didn't betray me with pain and disability.

I remember Elvis. I remember the Beatles. I watched "American Bandstand" and tried to copy all the dances.

I had just turned 11...the same age my oldest grandchild is now...when the Cuban Missile Crisis happened. I truly believed we would all die.

I I remember Nikita Kruschev banging his shoe and declaring, "We will bury you!!!"

And I remember seeing JFK's funeral on TV.

Some things are very sad, but there was still a lot of happy, fun stuff. Aside from my father being an alcoholic, I mean, and even then he could be lots of fun when he was sober.

benld74

(9,888 posts)
15. I was 13 in '69,,,,
Sat Jul 14, 2012, 07:31 PM
Jul 2012

those were GREAT years, even though I can recall being B-O-R-E-D outta my skull most of the time. I can recall having $5 on a Saturday nite, enough for food, drink and admission to either a dance club or a movie!
25 cent a gallon gas helped.
Man the sh*t we would get away with back then would get my kids in an overnight cell today!!!!!

pink-o

(4,056 posts)
16. Yup. I turned 13 in December 1968.
Sat Jul 14, 2012, 08:21 PM
Jul 2012

On a social level, this is why we boomers are a unique generation: The depression era parents who raised us wanted us to have better lives. They dedicated their time to our schooling, our nutrition, our physical activity, or reading material, et al. Their sole agenda was bettering their kids. So what happens when a whole bunch of kids have been encouraged to become critical thinkers? We try to tear down the status quo, of course! The powers that be were NOT ready for our rebellion, so it took em a few years to quell it. They dangled shiny stock shares in front of our eyes, made us crave yuppie lifestyles in the 80s, made sure our own kids stayed on The Matrix. There is no cool counterculture anymore: the coolest thing in Pop Culture is Apple Products, brought to you by a corporation.

That is the biggest dif between Then and Now. Only the free inter webs and social networking come close to the underground chatter I remember in the 70s. In many ways it's more effective, but it isolates us rather than bringing us together. Better than nothing, though! Those in power thought they could control us with Hate Radio and Faux. Access to the cyber world just blows that out of the water!

Odin2005

(53,521 posts)
17. You are my parents age.
Sun Jul 15, 2012, 01:55 AM
Jul 2012

My dad was born in '53, my mom in '58.

Damn Boomers!!!

Signed, an '86 Millennial.

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