Being a longtime devotee of Rocky & Bullwinkle I am quite familiar with the learned Mr. Peabody and his young ward, Sherman, so I know that a wayback machine really exists. I mean, how could you not believe a cartoon dog who wears horn rimmed glasses and a bow tie?
I really became convinced that it's possible to travel back in time shortly after I began listening to the new Time-Life box set, Summer Of Love: The Hits Of 1967.
Hippies, Hash and Haight-Ashbury
A couple of lines into side one, track one -- "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" -- and I don't even have to close my eyes and click my heels to be transported back to the summer of '67.
I have just turned 16 and am spending as many hours as I can working at my new dream job: disc jockey at the local, small town radio station.
Following in quick succession are "Happy Together," "Windy" and my favorite Mamas & Papas song, "Creeque Alley."
Not only do I vividly remember playing those same songs on the radio that summer, I even remember playing those same songs in the same order!
Apparently I'm not the only one whose memories of the Summer of Love involve music on the radio. Disc One of this set is under the banner of AM, Disc Two (you guessed it) is FM.
On the AM side, songs like the aforementioned, along with the likes of The Box Tops, The Grass Roots, The Lovin' Spoonful, and The Spencer Davis Group are grouped in intuitive order.
The FM disc is what the progressive stations were playing: Cream, Jefferson Airplane, Electric Prunes, Traffic, Country Joe and the Fish, Big Brother & the Holding Company.
Way Back We Go
The DVD is a 1995 documentary, My Generation: The History of Rock 'n' Roll which runs a timeline from the Human Be-In in the summer of '67 (where you were supposed to be sure to wear some flowers in your hair) through Woodstock in '69 and the Isle of Wight festival in 1970, where the crowd tore down fences and screamed at artists who they felt weren't being true to the principles of flower power and the philosophy that everything in life (sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll at the top of the list) should be free.
The centerpiece of the set is the DVD. Footage and interviews -- some from 67-70 and some done when the film was produced in 1995 -- take away any need for wayback machines or even personal memories.
If you can remember the Summer of 1967 (and, you know, they say that if you can remember the 60s, you weren't really there) the music and visuals will take you back instantly. If you're too young to have memories going back 40 years, Summer Of Love: The Hits Of 1967 will serve as your own personal wayback machine.
Some "viewer discretion" may be in order with the DVD. The documentary contains some four-letter words (including Pete Townshend's repeated use of the one starting with "F") and some brief flashes of (mostly female and mostly at Woodstock) nudity.
There isn't a whole lot of either, and it isn't gratuitous, but I just don't want you to learn too late that some of the content "may not be suitable for all ages."
Bottom Line
Summer Of Love: The Hits Of 1967 is available in stores for a little under $40. It's well worth the money for us ex-hippies with fond memories. If you want to pass on it yourself, you might want to consider it for any ex-hippies on your gift-buying list.
Oh, and don't forget those flowers.
