Music in the Air . . . with Mark ‘Fenny’ Fenichel: Music can take you back in time, so step back to the influential summer of ’69
Published in the August 24 – September 6, 2016 issue of Gilroy Life
By Mark Fenichel
Mark “Fenny” Fenichel
It is hard to believe that 47 years have passed since I was a teen among 400,000 music fans at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. Known to many as an Aquarian Exposition, it was a magical summer weekend that August of 1969. My three-day ticket cost $18 which seemed like a pretty good deal since you could go to the Fillmore and see three top bands on the same bill for about $3.50. The same price as a shiny new Hohner Marine Band harmonica.
I had made up my mind that I was going camping with a few friends in Upstate (as we referred to the mountainous region north of New York City) and check out the music festival that the radio DJs were talking about for weeks.
I bought a sleeping bag at an outdoor store that week. The store also happened to be an outlet for concert tickets and it was at that moment that I purchased my three-day advanced ticket, a camping lantern and a backpack. As it turns out I used the sleeping bag only once because it was stolen out of our tent after the first night. It was a magic time in the world of music and it was a weekend that would change the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
The live music scene back then was thriving in New York City. Jimi Hendrix and his Experience and Eric Clapton and his band Cream were peaking as the top rock bands. Garage bands were thriving with dreams of getting that one song that would catch on and vault them to stardom. B.B. King was showing the young white audiences what the blues was all about. The Archies were leading the Top 40 bubble gum scene with “Sugar, Sugar.” It was cool to crank up Led Zeppelin and hear “A Whole Lotta Love” shift back and forth across the stereo speakers. Some of the greatest music ever created came flowing out of the car stereos and portable transistor radios that summer. It was a time like no other for live and pre-recorded music. Portable eight track players were still the rage and compact cassette tapes were pulling ahead offering better quality fidelity with the ability to record at the push of a button. It was easy to go down to the local clubs and sneak in to see bands like Mountain, Lee Michaels or The Vanilla Fudge.
The summer of 1969 was a musical time that influenced so many people and in turn created many more musicians and music fans. It’s wonderful how you can hear a song from that year like The Beatles “Get Back” or the great summer song “Hot Fun in the Summertime” and immediately think of a specific moment in your life, where you were and what you were doing. A song can remind you of someone, or a place you lived or visited, or just a special memory.
I’m always amazed how music can nostalgically put you in another place. Think back to some of your earliest concert experiences, songs from movies that remind you of specific times in your life, moments where music would just take you away.
Music is in the air, it is everywhere and I encourage you to go out and experience as much live music as you can every day, and think about how music has influenced you and changed your life. It certainly has changed mine.
• • •
On another note, The Fifth Street Live concert series ends Aug. 26 so grab you chairs and head down to Fifth Street for the last event. This week it’s blues and jazz diva Kaye Bohler. Flynn Creek Circus runs August 25-28 at the San Juan Soccer Field 2300 San Juan Hwy www.flynncreekcircus.com
The Cocktail Monkeys will be cranking up the classic rock at Fortino Winery Aug. 26. Visit www.fortinowinery.com for more information.
If you have a music tip send me an email at [email protected].
