Page: http://www.ameriblues.com/

CHICAGO: Reflections on the 4

Posted on 7/03/2009 by Monica Yasher



Two hundred and thirty three years ago our country was founded by a bunch of rebels. Each signatory to the declaration knew by affixing their names to that document they could be hung, yet they did it.



August of 1969 found another rebel in the news, His name was Jimi Hendrix. He hit the Woodstock Festival stage Monday morning. He was one of the last performers of that fest. He played probably one of the most controversial versions of the Star spangled banner ever, except for maybe Rosanne Barr’s.



Jimi must have known that he would be cheered and booed. A look at history of that date has to be reviewed in order to understand the previous statement.





The City of Chicago was filled with demonstrators just a couple of months before Woodstock. It was the 1968 Democratic Convention. I had just become a teenager and was very aware of what was happening it the streets of Chicago. The word spread like wild fire through the teen grapevine to stay out of the city for a couple of weeks. I did not participate I stayed away.





Just a month prior to Woodstock Neil Armstrong steeped foot on the moon. At that time the Moon landing was the greatest technological achievement of all time. During that landing they used less digital computing power then your desk top calculator.





Five hundred and forty three thousand troops were deployed in Vietnam and 33,000 were killed up to that date. Walter Cronkite gave the daily body count on the evening news. The Vietnam War was the first war that had nightly news reports broadcast on television. I truly believe the war ended because of those reports and they provided fuel for the anti-war movement.





The infamous Hamburger Hill battle added more fuel.





Nixon authorized the bombing of Cambodia. More fuel for the Anti-war movement.





Dr. Martin Luther King was murdered. He was one of the greatest peacekeepers and racial barrier breakers and truly a great man. His murderer was a white man and this fanned the flames of the equal rights movement.





John Lennon married Yoko Ono and staged a bed-in for peace.





Last episode of Star Trek aired.





USSR was detonating atomic bombs.





In a nutshell the atmosphere in the states and for that matter the world was very volati

le.



Jimi Hendrix was a patriot. A little know fact was Jimi was also a veteran who served in the 101st airborne division.





Dick Cavet interviewed Jimi and asked him about the controversy and he replied what controversy.



Gatorman




American Blues News Staff

What makes American Blues News unique is our coverage across America. Here is our lineup:

Mon: Memphis Correspondent - Robert "Nighthawk" Tooms
Nighthawk is our resident globetrotter and man behind the scenes, as he tours with the Reba Russell Band.

Tues: New York Correspondent - J. Blake
Blake is the American Blues News review and interview guru. You may catch him out and about in NY playing the blues.

Wed: National Correspondent - Monica Yasher
Monica is our executive director and artist interview specialist. You can catch Monica singing the blues around Pittsburgh or working on some country music songs in Nashville.

Thurs: Washington, DC Correspondent - Virginiabluesman
Geraldo offers inteviews and reviews. You may have seen him at an Ana Popovic concert or conversed with him on her websites, as he offers administrative support with her music.

Fri: Northeast Photographer - Nelson Onofre
Nelson offers a Friday column of blues photography and pictorial support for the interviews covered by the team.

Jim Stick in Colorado
Jim will be focusing on the Blues Festivals in the beautiful state of Colorado, and the artists that live and visit there.

Maureen Elizabeth, our resident art correspondent, will be focusing on blues art as she explores the creation of CD covers, or speaking with artists who also have a love of creating pictorial art in addition to their music! She may also feature some of her good friends in the Pittsburgh area. In her love of art, you may find Maureen's photography accompanying writer's articles on our pages. Maureen is also our marketing director.

Pittsburgh correspondent and photographer, CR Bennett, will share the Pittsburgh scene with all of you. You may also see CR's pictures accompanying other writer's articles.

We head to the big state of Texas! Abby Owen, our Texas correspondent.

Another big area to cover, the West Coast with Casey Reagan, Casey will feature many artists and events on this ocean's shores.

Lastly, we have our roving blues entertainment writer,
Chef Jimi.

And of course, we will surprise you sometimes!

 
Internet Marketingdata recovery