Quote Originally Posted by Fab4
... Today, as you might guess from my handle, the Beatles loom large in my musical identity, and I always gravitate to music that exudes strong melody, wide variety and a sense of joy.
You sum it up quite eloquently, Fab4 :

Dallas, Texas, November 22, 1963.

JFK is assassinated.

The world joins the USA in mourning.

Embroiled in an increasingly costly conflict in VietNam, a poker game with the USSR, and with a century of both obvious and covert racial and religious tensions coming to a head, a nation that had pinned so much hope on the shoulders of the USA's youngest President ever, is suddenly thrust into further uncertainty and what soon becomes a state of psychological depression.

Young Americans...not that fresh-faced hootenanny group you recall, marketing a salve of plastic sunshine and lollipop ideology...but kids like me, street, kite, and all the rest of us emerging adolescent baby-boomers and our siblings...are...

Scared.

Fire Drills become Air Raid drills that interrupt the school day and parents and towns build bomb shelters in basements, stocking them with canned goods. Evacuation plans are distributed in the local newspaper and are topics on the 3 National TV networks.

What if the Russkies drop the bomb?

December, 1963.

This hits that nation's airwaves...



...followed by a stream of fresh music that exudes strong melody, wide variety and a sense of joy from these guys.

The kids sing along: "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!"

Life may not be much different, but it sure feels better.

So that frenzily anticipated Ed Sullivan broadcast of Feb. 9, 1964, less than 3 months after JFK was taken, was a virtual collective adrenaline rush for an entire generation.

That's why geezers like me recall 'The 60's' so fondly and forlornly.

History has a way of repeating itself.

I've been waiting patiently for the cycle to complete, for the sake of my grandchildren.

Sorry for that, folks, and if that waxed too political for the Mods', or anyone here's tastes, then by all means, you can delete the post.