Cover Of The Rolling Stone Part 3, King Biscuit Boy and Crowbar

November 1970 issue of Rolling Stone with the full page ad, right, of the Official Music Album featuring King Biscuit Boy and Crowbar both that played Bracebridge High School

"ROLLING STONE" REMINDS US BABY BOOMERS WHERE THE HELL WE WERE IN 1960'S AND 70'S - STIRRING US TO SOCIAL/ POLITICAL CAUSES

BUT IT REALLY WAS ABOUT THE MUSIC, RIGHT? - MAYBE YOU EVEN HAD A GURU OF CHOICE

     I love most of the (legal) chances I'm afforded these days, to re-visit the past, as you probably know. I wear history on my sleeve. I'm good with that! Maybe I dwell there too much for my own good. I just know what I like, and I don't have to smoke anything, to get that wonderful ethereal feeling, of being pleasantly adrift in time and space; especially when, for example, I start reading back issues of papers, and connect with articles which rekindle the remarkably still-keen spirit of discovery, I thought was long since retired; or even deceased. I have always felt a little cheated, that life has passed much faster than it should have (in my opinion anyway), and my bucket-list would reveal, (if you yanked it out) that most of the pencilled-in entries, of projects yet to do, are ones that I should have taken care of, back in the 60's and 70's. I was too busy with financing, and then getting an education; working constantly to pay tuition and residential fees. Too much so, methinks in retrospect, to stray far off course. Suzanne was brought up the same, and she began working at the family business in Windermere, in her early teens. We didn't get to Woodstock because of previous commitments you might say. Both our parental units, wanted us to be successful at university, and reap the rewards, higher education would prevail upon us as graduates. We didn't get a lot of time off, back in those years, to, for example, travel, attend music festivals, join communes, or perform, in community theatre productions of "Godspell", "Barefoot in the Park", "Hair," or "Jesus Christ Superstar". The period was kind of a blur, and although our respective parents weren't doing anything wrong, pushing us toward higher education, it did imprint upon us, that we couldn't afford to fall behind. Ever! Our futures depended on it! They weren't wrong, let's be clear about this! But it did make us a little more conservative than we might have been, if, for example, our parents had subscribed to the philosophies of Indian gurus, like the great Maharishi Yogi, and I'm not referring to the Jellystone Park bear, who had a partner named Boo-boo! And liked to swipe campers' picnic baskets.
    A sort of mild high for historians, is to come upon a pile of old newspapers, by happenstance, to rekindle the magical days of our youth. I don't know. Maybe you feel the same. I have been enjoying the opportunity of looking through these amazing back issues of the "Rolling Stone," magazines, from the late 1960's to the 1970's, that son Andrew bought as a collection several weeks ago.
     "SAN FRANCISCO -  Janis Joplin's friends said goodbye to her in the only way they knew how; with a rocking good party at the Lion's Share, a small club in suburban San Anselmo, about a month after her death," notes a small article on page 20, beside larger editorial pieces, such as "Pink Floyd - the Interstellar Band," and "Fifty Arrests at Grand Funk Show". This can be found in the November 1970 issue of the "Rolling Stone".
     "The drinks are on Pearl,' said the invitations to the Lion's Share, a favorite spot for Big Brother and the Holding Company. Pearl was the nickname by which Janis' closest friends know her. In her will she left $2,500 'so my friends can have a ball after I'm gone.' They did; it was Janis' kind of party. It began around 8:30 p.m., and continued past sunrise the next morning, with Big Brother playing their asses off, joined by members of the other San Francisco bands that, with Janis, sparked the whole scene here."
      On page eight, the headline, on a small bottom right corner articles, reads, "Dink Stover Meets BB King." "NEW YORK - The Lawrenceville School, in New Jersey, best known as a setting for Dink Stover's escapades in Owen Johnson's 'Tennessee Shad,' and 'The Varmint,' is now acting host to the Robert Thiele Center for Popular American Music," notes the article in "Rolling Stone." "According to Thiele, an ex-Lawrenceville alumnus, now head of Flying Dutchman Productions, whose artists include Ornette Coleman, Joe Turner, and Leon Thomas, in the Center's 'initial impact, will be in the rock and jazz area,' although Thiele and the Center's sponsors hope to fill the need for a 'comprehensive repository and research archive,' for all forms of popular American music."
     The article continues, "Thiele conceives of the Center as a 'living library,' containing books, records, tapes, scores, composers notes, and memorabilia relating to American composers and performers. He, personally, has already contributed his entire record collection, of close to 5,000 LP's, and an equal number of 78's, including complete early sets of Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington, and early blues. Major record companies and private collectors have promised records and tapes as well. The Center will be officially inaugurated on November 20th, with a benefit concert given by B.B. King, at Lawrenceville's Kirby Arts Center." Of course, you will probably know, that B.B. King died this month, May, 2015.
     Rolling Stone writer, Vince Aletti, was responsible for the page 12 article, "Jackson Five: The Biggest Thing Since The Stones," which reads, "NEW YORK - At one point during the Jackson 5 concert at Madison Square Garden, October 19th, a ten, or eleven year old girl, standing on the seat in front of us, turned to one of her equally young friends, and grasping the other girl's hand, in excitement, said, 'Feel my heart!" That's what it was all about: Heart Throbs. I hadn't heard such ecstatic, passionate, 'I can't stand it' screaming, since the Rolling Stones played New York's Academy of Music in 1965. Police fortified the stage, people clogged frantically, screeching, over seats to get closer, no one downstairs was standing, still much less sitting down. It's one of those Phenomenons again folks, and a fan letter is more appropriate than a critical review."
     What was neat for me, was the full page advertisement, for Paramount Music (pictured on Currie's Antiques Facebook page today), featuring some new releases, for that news making November of 1970. It boasts that "We've heard 101 reasons why you'll dig the new album by King Biscuit Boy and Crowbar."  Gosh, I saw both bands back around this time, playing in the auditorium of Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes Secondary School. Add to this, the time I drank with some of the Crowbar members, while they were at Milford Bay's "Inn on the Bay," tavern. My reporting colleague, for The Herald-Gazette, introduced me to several bandsmen, when they sat down at our large table. Brant Scott had got to know them, when they played BMLSS in the past, and I'm pretty sure he did some sort of promotion, via his Herald-Gazette high school themed column, a "Wee Biscuit," back around this time. When he and I schmoozed with Crowbar, gads, it was the 1980's, when both of us were running the contemporary, upbeat version of the community weekly, The Herald-Gazette. The next time I ran into Crowbar, was when they played at Peter's Players, (entertainment venue), here in Gravenhurst, a couple of winters back, and I got a chance to chat with them here at our studio before the show. Get this, I talked with a band member about winter tires, and the crappy driving conditions on Highway 11; when I should have been asking them music related questions for my blog. The full page ad kind of blows me away, because its in the "Rolling Stone," so it pretty much tells you how big these Canadian lads were, back at the time of Janis Joplin's death, Nixon's crackdown on the broadcasting industry, regarding the propagation of the drug culture via the music and bands they provide air time, and the break-out of the heart throb "Jackson Five". The album release was for the Crowbar / King Biscuit Boy combination album, "Official Music," from Paramount, having the motto then, "Keep on truckin'." I sat for a half hour this afternoon just thinking about how these two bands, who played small town high schools throughout the country, were in Rolling Stone magazine, at a time when there was a revolution in sound going on, and they were part of it! I can honestly say, "I saw them when......" Now the kids dance to the music of disc jockeys at their dances. We had live bands, and some incredible ones, that yes, had even made the pages of the Rolling Stone.
     There is a huge article written by Pete Townsend, of "The Who," in this same edition, starting on page 24, entitled "In Love With Meher Baba." Townsend opens, "I first heard about Meher Baba from Mike McInnerney in Autumn 1967. Mike later became very involved in the development of my own work on 'Tommy,' and it was in the knowledge that he was a Baba lover, and able to grasp the needs of the evolving album, that I asked him to do the art work, connected."
     Townsend writes, "I was at his house with my lady (now my wife), and he and his partner were finishing the proofs for a shop window decoration for a Kings Road tea shop called The Dragon. I was ranting and raving about, talking too much, and finding in Mike someone who talked just as much as I did (although he'll never admit it). I was heavily into flying saucers, believing them to hold a key somehow to the future of humanity. At the time I sincerely believed I had seen several in the Florida area; today I don't really care. It seemed that between freaks at the discovery of my first John Fahey record, and someone who could out-rap me. I was getting stabs of infuriating condescension from Mike. Every time I came up with a world wise theory that had taken me years of thought to get clear, he would say, 'That's such a coincidence man, this guy Meher Baba, said something similar to that in his book, 'The Good Man.' After I had heard my very last precious revelation hit the dust, at the sound of Mike's voice declaring that Baba had already said it, I just had to look at the book. What I saw apart from a photo in the front cover of a strange and elderly man, was shattering. Sure enough, each theory that I had expounded, many to do with reincarnation and its inevitability when considered in the light of law of averages, were summed up on one sentence. (I know it will irritate most people when I say I've forgotten the sentence.)"
     "What was so sneaky about the whole affair was the way Baba crept into my life. At first his words were encouraging, his state of consciousness and his claims to be the Christ, exciting and daring, later they became scary. I began to read his words, read of his astoundingly simple relationship with his disciples (Mandali) and of his silence for 40 years. It became clear that the party was over. If I read any more lines like 'What I want from my Lovers is real unadulterated love, and from my genuine workers, I expect real work done.' I would have to decide once and for all whether the whole thing was really me or not. As is normal with coming to Baba, I didn't have to make any decision. No sooner had the thought entered my head than it left. It's just not that cut and dried. Baba has to be adjusted to, over a few months, or maybe some older Baba lovers would say a few lines, and it is never apparent at any given moment, how real or genuine your own affections are. One thing can be taken for granted; no matter how hard you try, you will never love him as he should be loved. Baba only asked people for their love, not their possessions or even their lives. Just their love. Maybe I should try to talk about how Baba effects my life, and how his presence helps or changes things in my work. The thing Itell people that ask me this question, is that nothing ostensibly changes when an individual hears about Baba, and starts to devote time to thinking about him and his work. Not all-prevailing joy creeps into life, no formula for solving difficult problems. In some cases, it seems to bring problems to a head. At least they are over with that way."
     Townsend writes, "The facts are that any focused attempts to get more out of life, more results, from events and emotional chapters, whether it be by following Baba or doing what comes naturally, will start to bring visible results in life. When you are getting things done, you can't help but enjoy life more. When you begin to realize that your own suffering has a purpose, you can bear it with dignity and poise, admit defeat, or that your were wrong, without feeling that your life is worthless. Just as human suffering can be borne without too much trouble, so can human ecstasy. Both are fundamentals of illusion, of the world we live in. They are not part of reality. Balance, as always, is the key."
     The next paragraph, In Townsend's article, is headed, "MY LAST DOPE-SMOKING DAYS."
     More on the collection of Rolling Stone magazines, for us baby boomers currently without a guru, in tomorrow's blog. Please, don't tune-out. Tune in, and turn on. Timothy Leary I presume.