Poll

Musical topics not directly related to steel guitar

Moderator: Dave Mudgett

Which of these songs do you most associate with Vietnam War years?

We Gotta Get Out of This Place (The Animals)
3
6%
For What It's Worth (Buffalo Springfield)
19
40%
All Along The Watchtower (Jimi Hendrix)
2
4%
Fortunate Son (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
8
17%
Cloud 9 (The Temptations)
0
No votes
Okie From Muskogee (Merle Haggard)
16
33%
 
Total votes: 48
User avatar
Charlie McDonald
Posts: 11066
Joined: 17 Feb 2005 1:01 am
Location: out of the blue
State/Province: -
Country: United States

Post by Charlie McDonald »

Dave Mudgett wrote:I think "For What It's Worth" spoke more to me because it doesn't take political sides as overtly, but is more of an observational thing.
That's my take--Stills as a guy standing in the background, taking clues about what's going on--while Creedence is the protagonist at the microphone, making it clear what's happening here.

Too hard to choose.

Meanwhile, 'White Rabbit' seemed to be about the antedote for the dilemma created by both of the above.... :eek:
Those that say don't know; those that know don't say.--Buddy Emmons
Top
User avatar
Bo Borland
Posts: 4015
Joined: 20 Dec 1999 1:01 am
Location: South Jersey -
State/Province: -
Country: United States

Post by Bo Borland »

I must have read the google info wrong.. but Buffy St Marie did write the tune. The first guy I heard do it was in a coffee hiouse in Philly.. I think he killed himself a few years back..
Bo Borland
Rittenberry SD10 , Derby D-10, Rittenberry Prestige, 76 Emmons Bolt . Quilter TT12, Peavey Session 400 w/ JBL, NV112, Fender Blues Jr. , 1974 Dobro 60N squareneck, Rickenbacher NS lapsteel, 1973 Telecaster Thinline, 1979 blonde/black Frankenstrat
Currently picking with
Mason Dixon Band masondixonband.net
Top
User avatar
Tony Prior
Posts: 14712
Joined: 17 Oct 2001 12:01 am
Location: Charlotte NC
State/Province: -
Country: United States

Post by Tony Prior »

well, according to Stephen Stills, For What it's Worth was not really a Vietnam protest song, it just became one. In an interview he said when they wrote it , the theme was more about young people vs older people.
Top
Ray Minich
Posts: 6431
Joined: 22 Jul 2003 12:01 am
Location: Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra
State/Province: -
Country: United States

Post by Ray Minich »

A friend of mine, Lloyd Claire, galvanized "Are you going to San Francisco.." as a war era tune to me when he told me a story about Saigon.

Country Joe and The Fish, "next stop is Vietnam".
Pretty direct callout.

"For What it's Worth" is sometimes shown playing behind the newsreel clips of the Kent State shootings. (Singin' songs, and a carryin' signs, mostly say, hooray for our side...)
Top
User avatar
Mike Winter
Posts: 871
Joined: 17 Jul 2003 12:01 am
Location: Portland, OR
State/Province: Oregon
Country: United States

Post by Mike Winter »

It seems I remembered "For What It's Worth" having something to do with the riots on Sunset Strip...cops and hippies. I did a search and found the following:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunset_Strip

"In the mid-1960s and the 1970s, it became a major gathering-place for the counterculture — and the scene of the Sunset Strip curfew riots in the summer of 1966, involving police and crowds of hippies, that inspired the Buffalo Springfield song "For What It's Worth".
Top

Return to “Music”