Greetings from Laurel Canyon!
In this world, if you read the papers, darling, / You know everybody’s fighting with each other. / You got no one you can count on, dear, / Not even your own brother. / So if someone comes along, / He gonna give you love and affection
I’d say get it while you can, yeah, / Honey, get it while you can, yeah, / Honey, grab it while you can, / Don’t you turn your back on love, no, no, no.
It’s nice to celebrate “freedom.” As a boy, a weekly summer highlight was going to a drive-in movie theater for B-movie double headers. Courtesy of Roger Corman and childhood heroes like Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Billy Jack, I adopted my own concept of the word “free.” I never thought of those bikers as racists, just bad-ass hippies who didn’t want a “hassle from the man.”
As soon I was back in the city and old enough to go to the movies solo, I adopted Bruce Lee, Jim Kelly, John Shaft, and Ron O’Neal (aka Superfly). Long story short, I’m grateful I grew up in NYC in the ’70’s. Post the ’60s and post Vietnam, the city was a melting pot and I was “free” to roam.
Back to Juneteenth and its new found national observance following a hard “one-two” punch of quarantine and racial injustice. I’m not sure I feel so great this morning, but I do have a hunch as I make my way through the day, connect with friends, and spend time with family that I’ll gain hope and who knows, maybe Juneteenth will end up resembling a normal summer day where I can roam—even if it’s in a day dream.
I know this hour of ’60s and ’70s soul-powered cuts can only help.
Stay safe, connected and compassionate.
The Idelic Single of the Week: James Brown – Soul Power
Freedom rides the wind.
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