Rhinestone Cowboys & Vietnam

is joining me here and we would like to invite anyone else who might be interested in writing about the 1960's and 1970's We both loved the late, great Glen Campbell and his music, so that was the inspiration - losing him this past week.

This will be us giving each other prompts to write about and hopefully we will have fun creating here, like always!

We might use Glen Campbell's songs and anything else that occurs to us. Like Barnes and Noble, we have a little something for everyone. We will just write a couple of sentences sometimes, sometimes maybe a poem, whatever memories we are inspired to share. Sometimes, it could just be a few words.

We make the rules and we keep it flexible!

If you are at a loss for what to write about, pick a year in the 1970's or 1960's and write about those memories.

This also evolved to be about our own personal Vietnam Era memories as we grew up in the shadow of that war. So, there will be a lot of focus on the 1960's and 1970's, which was a very turbulent time in this country.

If you want to write about what you remember about the 60's and/or 70s, shoot me an email. I will not moo or nag at anyone to join, but all are welcome to the past with us!

You can write whatever you want in response to these lyrics from my favorite Glen Campbell song:

(Megan, it can be just a few words or whatever you want, no rules. Just write what you feel and either just let that be the prompt back to me, or give me one if you want to.)

"Galveston oh Galveston
I am so afraid of dying
Before I dry the tears she's crying
Before I watch your seabirds flying in the sun"

I love this song and I cried when I played it after Glen died. This is my favorite Glen Campbell song of all. My father was in Viet Nam three times and I worried if he was coming back and he did. I am so glad. Some kids lost their fathers to Viet Nam. For some reason when I heard this song, I was thinking of the civil war. I guess because I was living in Nashville, Tennessee at the time. I was a country girl at heart and longed for Indiana. Now, I wish I could travel more.

COUNTRY BOY, YOU GOT YOUR FEET IN L.A.
BUT YOUR MIND'S ON TENNESSE. NOW AND THEN,
MY HEART KEEPS GOING HOME.

I think his songs are timeless.

I like when in Rhinestone Cowboy, he sings:

"Well, I really don't mind the rain
And a smile can hide the pain..."

I never remember him as political, yet you and I associate him with Vietnam (your Dad and my brother). His passing brought a lot of things into focus. I saw him perform on an awards show after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and he always had that smile, even as he struggled with the words

If you want to. write something about smiling through the rain and 1969. Or whatever you want to write.

1969. I loved listening to Glen Campbell and watching Dark Shadows. It got me through Junior High. My Great Grandfather died and my parents and I came home to Indiana for the funeral. It was sad .Great Grandma was having a hard time with things. We tried to cheer each other up. We went back to Tennessee where Dad was stationed and two weeks later, they told him he was going back to Viet Nam. It was Christmas time then. Merry Christmas! Mom and I were going back to stay with my grandparents and I would start a new year in school in Indiana.

There was this one boy in my school in Indiana who always said things that weren't nice because Dad was in the Air Force. He would make me so mad. I think of this:

JUST TRY A LITTLE KINDNESS. JUST SHOW A LITTLE KINDNESS. JUST SHINE YOUR LIGHT FOR EVERYONE TO SEE. IF YOU TRY A LITTLE KINDNESS, YOU'LL OVERLOOK THE BLINDNESS OF NARROW MINDED PEOPLE.

1969

Try a little kindness was a great message.

That was the year Nixon became President. My niece was born while my brother was in Vietnam. He had to come home during his deployment to marry the mother as she was pregnant when he left. My father pulled strings to have him sent home for a few weeks. My niece was born in Rochester NY where her mother was living with her mother. We all drove up to Rochester to see the baby. My brother came home from Vietnam in August and then was at Ft. Knox, KY. They had another baby (a boy) the following May, almost a year to the day after the 1st one. The boy had a subdural hematoma and was in the hospital for months. So, that summer, I stayed with Tracy most of the time. She was one year old and real cute. My nephew survived and is a teacher and football coach and he has triplets and another daughter, so he has 4 kids of his own. Times change, don't they?

I remember The Smothers Brothers being on TV on Sundays. Then they criticized the war and their show was kicked off. Didn't Glen Campbell replace them? I remember him being on their show and then replacing them shortly after that with his show. I think CBS had him do it because they thought he was more wholesome and wouldn't say political stuff.

Well, he sort of said it quietly through the songs he sang.

"By the time I get to Phoenix, she'll be risin'"

Write about the first time you heard "By The Time I get to Phoenix" if you want to or anything you want to write.

I loved The Smothers Brothers and I didn't know the show was taken off because they criticized the war. So did Bob Dylan, Abby Hoffman and there were a lot of protest songs. Go figure. Glen Campbell did replace them. You are right about that.

By The Time I Get To Phoenix. I love this song. I didn't at first. I was in Tennessee with my parents and I struggling with what they called New Math in seventh grade. I had started a new school and wanted to go back to Indiana. I made new friends and things were better in a few weeks. I heard Wichita Lineman and loved this song and bought Glen's album By Then Time I Get To Phoenix {I had bought Wichita Lineman} and I thought Glen was the best singer ever. I lived in Tucson, Arizona but never went to Phoenix. My husband and I travel to Michigan every two years and I start singing By The Time I Get To Michigan to the tune of By The Time I Get To Phoenix. My husband laughs.

Write about this song. THE WITCHIA LINEMAN IS STILL ON THE LINE. I NEED YOU MORE THEN WANT YOU. I HEAR YOU SINGING THROUGH THE WIRE.

I had totally forgotten that song. He had a lot of songs about cool places. I have never been to Witchita, but I have been to Phoenix and Galveston.

I had his albums and I loved his singing. When they took Smothers Brothers off, I was glad it was him that replaced them because he had been on their show not too long before. So, I imagined he would invite them on his show, but I don't think that happened because they were banned from CBS. It was an Easter Bunny skit that got them banned.

I remember him singing a duet with Cher once. I don't remember if it was on the Sonny and Cher show or his show.

I thought he and Cher sounded really good together.

Then, later I saw him in that movie with John Wayne and Kim Darby - True Grit. It got bad reviews, but they did a remake of it not too long ago. I think the reviewers, at that time, hated anything John Wayne did.

He had a whole LOT of songs, didn't he?

Do you remember his duet with Cher? I am going to look for it. I think it might have been Witchita Lineman. That is a great, haunting song.

He is still on the line singing that song in heaven. Well, he was a brave soul, he proved that. I think that Jim Webb guy wrote most of his songs.

What do you remember about the Summer of 69? They sing about that in modern songs, but I remember that whole Manson Family thing that happened just about this time, that year. Glen Campbell's music takes me back to remember all that Helter Skelter stuff too.

If you feel like it, write about the summer time - August of 1969.

I remember the Charles Manson thing and when his people killed Sharon Tate and her friends. She was beautiful and great. I have a book about her with pictures of her as a beauty queen, her wedding and she had promises of being a great actress. God forgive me but I can't deal with Charles Manson and his gang. I can't love them. They gave hippies a bad name. I liked hippies.

I don't remember what Glen sang with Cher. I always loved her. I have a Cher movie doll and some of her CDS.

Summer of 69. I fell for a guy Julian who came from a polish, Catholic family and this was a summer romance. He is still a friend and he never married. I was going to enter my Freshman year and the other guy Stanley who lived in a town near by, wrote me letters all summer and he found out about Julian and me, he told Julian's sister he didn't want to write me letters anymore or see me anymore at the baseball games I went to. I was taking Drivers ED and saw Stanley but after Julian and I became an item, Stanley was mad and he told me he wasn't interested in me as a girlfriend. Okay. What ever. Dad was in Viet Nam.

My grandparents' calico pet friend Fluffy slept with me. She was one on my favorite cats in life.

I started to listen to Rock and Roll because I was listening to country music in Nashville, Tennessee where we lived. I always loved Glen's music and that never changed.

I love the movie True Grit with John Wayne and Glen Campbell. I REFUSE to watch the remake. Not gonna happen. My husband and I are going to watch True Grit, the original this weekend. He liked Glen, too.

Let's talk about 1970 and 1971. What were you doing?

1970, my nephew was born. The doctor who delivered him injured his head with forceps. So he was in Children's Hospital for months that summer, so I babysat my niece. I was still a kid so no dating going on yet, but I imagined things. I had a big poster of Dustin Hoffman in my room and my parents (I think that year, but I'm not sure) took me and some of my little friends to see Dustin Hoffman in a play in Baltimore.

My three friends and I gave him a standing ovation, which was weird. He looked at us like we were nuts. lol

I still had a collie dog then. He was part collie, part St. Bernard, so he was a big dog.

Later on in the early 70's I saw Sonny and Cher in person. They were happy and young then. My friend and I saw them in a hotel restaurant. I don't know what we were doing there, actually. Cannot recall why we were there.

I don't remember how long Glen Campbell's series lasted, but it was good. I really liked him.
I associate him with that Manson stuff so he must have been famous right around the time that happened.

1970 was really a changing time. The Beatles were already over with and music was changing so much.

Write about what you remember about 1970 if you want to.

1970. I dated a guy Ron and he didn't tell me he had invited another girl to the Prom. I broke him with him. This girl was my husband's cousin and I still won't talk to her. My husband was mad at her over something years ago. Life. I started talking to Julian again. He had tore up a note I wrote him because his sister found it and teased him about it. He kept my picture but we didn't talk for awhile. I found out Dad was coming home from Viet Nam and we, including Mom were moving to Arkansas. I wasn't happy. My friend Diane had caused problems with me and my friends and any guy I wanted to go out with especially Julian until he finally told her to back off. I got out in trouble for smoking. I didn't smoke very often. Just 1 or 2 cigarettes a week and my mother caught me smoking in the bath tub. Nice.

My grandparents took me to the Smokey Mountains. I had a good time. They wanted to spend time with me before they took me to Arkansas to live with my parents.

I liked the song: "It's Only Make Believe" and barely liked the song "Dream Baby", both by Glen Campbell. My friend Tina would say my boyfriend Glen is singing to you on the radio. I was happy.

I was growing up. I was going to be 15 in a few months.

What was your life at 15?

At 15, I was hoping and waiting to drive and get a job.

My friend, Jean, and I would play records and dream about the future. We ended up both working our first jobs at a department store in a mall.

I remember that we would play that song, American Woman, by the Guess Who a lot. As an adult, Mr. Hooves is friends with the drummer of The Guess Who. That was freaky when I found out the guy with the big SUV was in a group I listened to as a kid.

My parents took my Iowa cousin, Mary, and I on a trip out west. We went to Reno and Mary and I snuck under a tent in a casino to a lounge to see Little Anthony and the Imperials. We also got arrested on the street in Reno (put in a jail wagon where you had to pay to get out) to raise money for charity. That was weird. On the same trip, my Dad dared us to ask Liberace for his autograph. He was eating in a restaurant in Lake Tahoe. We did it and he was very nice to us.

My hair was bleached blonde with Clairol and Sun-In that summer. We went to Salt Lake City and my cousin and I mistakenly walked in wet cement. We were goofballs!

After you turned 15, what happened?

Sorry you got arrested but glad you got to meet Liberace. 15. I dated Ron. I was hoping to make A's in my Freshman Year but I was 2.8 and sometimes 3.0. My Grandma took my grandpa and Mom to see Buck Owens, Dolly Parton, Ralph Emery, Mac Davis, Mary of Peter, Paul and Mary appeared with Mac. Hank Williams JR, Jack Greene, Waylon Jennings, Marty Robbins and Merle Haggard. I got their autographs. Glen Campbell never gave a concert close by. I wish he would have.

Larry Flint of Hustler Magazine lived down the road. I never met him.

I helped my cousin feed her pigs and was sad when they were taken to the fair. We know what happens to 4h pigs when they are sold.

We moved to Arkansas from Indiana.

What happened in 1972 and 1973 with you?

There are two things that stick out about 1972.

One is the movie, The Godfather and the fact that I saw it on vacation in Florida. Everything about it was special and different.

The other is the song, American Pie. And I think that that was the year that all ground troops came out of Vietnam, if I remember correctly, so that was a good thing.

I have to think about 1973, but 1972 was a big year for music and movies with those two classics!

What about you, what do you associate with 1972?

1972. I loved Won't Get Fooled Again By The Who and Bad Finger's songs. I was in love with David Cassidy. I always wished he would ask me out. He never came to Arkansas. I liked watching Mary Tyler Moore. I liked that she was a journalist but she was past 30 and not married and I didn't want to wait that long.

My Italian friend Debbie I hung out was a Pom Pom Girl and I was jealous. I tried to join The Pep Club The Spiritettes and they got to be at the Pep Rallies and wave their Pom Poms around but I wasn't chosen. I was in Girls Choir.

Debbie's family gave me a Birthday Party. I turned 16. Her parents, her brother, her, my parents and grandparents came to visit from Indiana and bought Fluffy, their cat who was like my cat. My cake had a cat on it. I got money, perfume, calendar, make up bib, stuffed animals and a record holder that looked like a giant bug and a make up mirror.

I had a crush on a guy named Kenny and we met when his collie dog came over to see me. I love dogs. I loved Debbie's collie dog Tutti. Kenny already had a girlfriend. He was Debbie's ex-boyfriend.

Debbie set me up with her friend Mike to go out on a date and she got mad at her boyfriend Jeff and went out with Mike! Nice. She had a pearl ring from one guy and a promise ring from Jeff plus Mike offered her his class ring. I had a date with a guy Robert who looked liked Ron Grady from My Three Sons but I caught him hugging another girl! The boyfriend GI Joe I had went back to Texas and got engaged to his old girlfriend and came back to Arkansas to break up with me.

The Mexican Puerto Rican guy George I crushed on had a girlfriend but flirted with me. Another one of Debbie's old boyfriends.

Dad was going back to Viet Nam and Mom and I were moving back to Indiana. Best thing that could have happened to me!

Glen Campbell didn't have any hit songs for awhile.

What Glen Campbell song was out when you turned 17?

I am not sure about that....

But, my favorite all time Glen Campbell song is one that he wrote in the very early 1960's.

It is called: Turn Around Look At Me

What is your favorite Glen Campbell song and why? And, how do you relate the music to the Vietnam War?

🌕 HuntersMoon

Glen Campbell was a studio musician when I was 17

. He didn't really become "big" until I was in Vietnam in 1967 and - needless to say - I really didn't know who he was or hear his music until I returned in 1968.

My favorite? "Rhinestone Cowboy," a song about survival and making it, particularly when the chips are down. By then (circa 1975) I had already survived two tours in Vietnam and was well on my way to a successful career as an Army Helicopter Pilot. I mention survival only because 250 pilots graduated with me on February 14th, 1967, 130 died during that first tour. We dubbed our class "The St. Valentine's Massacre." (

Yes, it's a bit of gallows humor but we were young, stupid, and indestructible.)

The music of the Vietnam War

- I was a big fan of Cream (Sunshine of Your Love), The Stones, The Zombies {She's Not There), and Jefferson Airplane. For a more gentle side, anything by the Mamas and Papas (greatest harmonies of all times!).

I was happy when the 70's rolled around. Vietnam ended a few years after my 2nd tour in Vietnam and while I was on orders for my 3rd tour. I was diverted to Germany where I spent 3 1/2 years.

What, other than not having to wear diapers any longer

, made you happy about the 70's?

Well, there was Watergate in the 70's. That summer of '73, I think I watched all of the hearings on TV. I was very happy when Richard Nixon (who I thought was Satan) finally resigned (August of 74) and Gerald Ford pulled the rest of the troops out of Vietnam in 75.

I do remember the Mamas and the Papas and California Dreamin' and Monday, Monday.

And Rod Stewart singing Maggie Mae.

And Elton John's Tiny Dancer.

I also remember that song about what happened at Kent State when the National Guard opened fire on college students, who were protesting the war. Crosby Stills & Nash, I believe, sang it at Woodstock sometime in that era.

I felt like Nixon would have found another reason to keep the draft and escalate the war and enough people I knew had gone off to war then. Turbulent times.

What made you smile and feel happy in the 1970's?

I like going to high school dances in the 70's. I liked smiley pillows, mood rings, 70's Barbies. lava lamps, love is items {remember the3 nakes kids, boy and girl?}, funky alarm clocks, incense, black lights and as for who was President, I didn't like any president. I always wanted to take part in protest movements but I didn't want to get arrested.

I liked the 70's music, clothing styles and I wear snake shaded vests, shoes, jewelry and I hate snakes! I wore leather skirts and knee high boots. I wore hot pants. I wore Peace sign necklaces and beads. I dressed like a hippie but didn't behave like one until after college. Another story.

I had my hair long and I loved platform shoes and purses. I wore a lot of make up. I changed over to jeans later on.

I lived with out a cell phone and computer in the 70's. I had pen pals and liked snail mail letters.

Glen Campbell had the songs: Make Believe and Dream Baby. I didn't like Dream Baby that much but it was Glen Campbell so I would sing it. I loved Alice Cooper. I liked that song My Baby Loves Lovin' By The White Plains,, David Cassidy and Bobby Sherman. I loved Here Come The Brides Show. I wouldn't miss the Glen Campbell Good time Hour or The Partridge Family.

Did you pay attention to 70's news events or did you just focus on everything else and say forget the world events? Dad was in Viet Nam and still alive and that was all I cared about except ending the war. It did end and my father was never the same but that is another story.

The 70's followed college, the Navy (2 tours in Nam) and then my first real job in a large data center. I have to admit that after scraping thru college financially and the Navy not paying too much I was celebrating having money, having survived the two tours in Nam and looking at a rosy future. So world news was not in the forefront of my thoughts. The one thing I vowed not to do was be one of those that I saw a lot of who gave soldiers a hard time, spit on them and blamed them for what politicians did.

Glenn Campbell was very popular with me and my Navy friends as weirdly so were Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. We probably understood how phony the war was more than most seeing it first hand. One of my Navy buddies was a fantastic guitar player and had a super voice and sang Glenn's songs a lot. My ship was anchored at Alameda Naval Air station so we went to San Francisco a lot to a bar called the Sea Witch in Ghirardelli Square where a lot of singers came and did impromptu gigs with the great piano player. I saw Johnny Mathis, Glenn Campbell and others there.

All that being said, I probably paid more attention to work and what bar we were going to after work...I figured I had earned the right to make those my priorities. I was very lucky and did not come out of the war scarred as many did but it took me a long time to get any interest in news again... and now I've lost it again.

1970s

I remember being immediately taken with Saturday Night Live.

That was the original cast, back then, with Dan Akroyd, John Belushi, Gilda Radner and Chevy Chase. They had guest hosts like Steve Martin and Andy Kaufman. Steve Martin was a wild and crazy guy, back then, along with Akroyd.

Belushi dressed as a Bumble Bee and a Samurai and a short order cook.

Around here, we still say, "Cheeburger, cheeburger, chips chips"

We didn't have any way of taping things back then, (couldn't afford a VCR or they weren't invented yet?) so people watched it live and then talked about it about school or work, or wherever.

It was so cool and different from any other show on TV, I'd ever seen before.

Went to see Steve Martin in concert a few times - he was hilarious!

What were you entertained by in the 60s and/or 70s?

🌕 HuntersMoon

Great question. Between kids in 67 and 68 (I had two - my wife got pregnant two weeks before I left for Vietnam and two weeks after I got home. We nicknamed them "Goodbye" and "Hello"

) and my military career, there was little time so we spent it watching TV. Some great shows were being produced - All in the Family, Maude, SNL. We moved to Germany in 1973 and did a lot of traveling throughout Europe. When you're in the military overseas, most of your entertainment centers of military-related activities.

Just out of curiosity - did you have any "aha" moments in the 60's and/or 70's? I remember the assassination of JFK and the feeling that our innocence was over and lived in L.A. during the Watts riots. It was a time of upheaval in our society. Based on what's going on today, I'm reminded of the famous quote, "Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it." George Santayana

My memories of the Vietnam Era are not significant except for an event that occurred in 1967. Before that year I didn't watch the news much, but sometimes I tuned in and watched Walter Cronkite. The clips he showed on the Vietnam War were few and the images that flickered on my T.V. screen didn't interest me. As a high school sophomore, my thoughts were on boys, cars, and my girlfriends.

Small town living created a cocoon surrounding me in a world that spun to the events in our town. The Vietnam War seemed far away.

All that changed in March of 1967. My day began with the normal routine, my class of 17 entered our English room. During the class period,
I saw a military man pass by our door. Twenty feet down the hall, he entered the Superintendent's Office and asked to see one of our
Senior girls. A few minutes later we heard her scream and then the sobs began. The second floor of our small school filled with the sound and we knew something horrible had happened. Engaged to be married the young girl discovered that her fiancée had been killed in action.
He died one week before his 20th birthday.

His death impacted our small community taking our thoughts beyond our small world. Later, I realized that Vietnam was closer than I thought.

I graduated from Shawnee High School in 1966, at the age of 19. Sometime after graduation, my family moved from Shawnee, Oklahoma, to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Then, before I turned 21, I moved from Oklahoma City, to Blackwell, Oklahoma, to live with my grandparents. My time line is a little fuzzy because the 1960s and 1970s were a turbulent and somewhat unhappy time for me.

What I remember most about those two decades are the songs, news reports, George, and the feeling of not being in control of my life. It was a tradition in our home, ever since my grandfather purchased his first black and white television set, to watch the evening news. It didn't matter what station we watched, as long as we watched the local and national news. So I saw news reports about all the protest marches, and other events that caught national attention.

My personal connection with Vietnam was George, who was a Vietnam veteran. He fitted somewhere in my life between the time my grandparents died and I moved, by Gray Hound bus, to Las Vegas, Nevada, where my family had moved after they left Oklahoma City. George drink too much (which I think was a result of serving in Vietnam), and never talked much about his experience in Vietnam.

It wasn't until after I moved to Las Vegas and accepted the Baha'i Faith that I begin to experience happiness. There were moments of enjoyment in the turbulent decades (1960s and 1970s), but I was never really happy. The things I liked best about those two decades were the music. Music always took me out of my depression and made me smile.

My favorite Glen Campbell songs are (1) Wichita Lineman, (2) Dreams of the Everyday Housewife, and (3) Try a Little Kindness.

1968

1968 was the most memorable year of my childhood. In my own family, that was the year my brother went to Vietnam. He had really bad vision and would not have been drafted. He broke up with his girlfriend and enlisted at the beginning of the year. Once he did that, he had to go. Then, while he was stationed in Jackson Mississippi, he met another girl and then he went to Bien Hoa (sp?) airbase in Vietnam in August of 68'. He was with the 101st Airborne Division. My Dad (who worked in the Executive Office of the President) arranged for my brother to get a month's leave to come home and marry the girl in question. Their baby girl was born in May of 1969 while my brother was still deployed over there.

So, it was a volatile year there.

The previous spring of 1968, in April, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. There were riots all over the country, including downtown D.C. where my Dad worked. That was a scary time to have Dad go to work in the morning. He worked across the street from the White House in The New Executive Office Building. I was sad about Dr. King's death, but the riots were so scary because people were getting burned out of businesses in the black communities. I wanted them to honor Dr. King's memory and riots didn't seem like the way to go.

That year, I held onto the hope that if only Robert Kennedy could get elected President, he would end the war in Vietnam (as he was promising to do) and bring my brother home early. In June, in Los Angeles, he too was assassinated by a Palestinian monster. I cried at school over Robert Kennedy's death and had to be sent to the school counselor and he and I both sat there crying that day in June.

So, Nixon, who I thought was Satan, ended up getting elected in November, promising Law and Order and delivering many more years of war.

My grandpa in Iowa died of cancer at the end of the year, which meant no more fun trips to the farm in the summers. The times, they were a-changin', as Bob Dylan so eloquently wrote.

What year in the 60's or 70's stands out in your memory as you look back?

1973. I was in Drama Club, Plays, Drama Orientation, Choir and entered The Miss Indiana Teen-Ager Pageant and I was a finalist and got a plaque, a tiaria and that was good enough for me.

I went to the Prom with a guy I knew in Arkansas and had a great time.

Dad was in Viet Nam again and the war had finally ended. Dad didn't get to come home for awhile. I think Gerald Ford was President or was it Nixon still? I do remember the Watergate scandal thing. What a mess. I was disappointed in Nixon. I remember a gas shortage but we didn't need rationing stamps. I remember Gerald Ford always falling down. Poor guy. Was it his medicine or maybe he couldn't walk and chew gum at the same time?

I remember the song "Eve Of Destruction" By: Barry McGuire. Another protest war song. I love this song but it mentions Red China and hints about nuclear destruction and that could apply to today.

Dad came home and he and Mom moved back to Arkansas. I stayed with my grandparents. I entered The Junior Miss Contest and got a boyfriend I didn't want. I can't remember what was going in the world.

If you lived in the 60's or 70's, would you want to go back and live it again? If you didn't, would you have wanted to grow up in that time?

The 60's were my high and college school years and were all good memories. I had two older sisters and two younger ones and that kept me on my toes because it was their life's work to blame anything that went wrong on me. My Mom and Dad caught on to that real quick so they gave it up. My high school was fantastic with great teachers, great sports teams and a very active social life so I really had no complaints.

Music in the 60's was dance music and then it was protest songs. When I was in the Navy and we would go into San Francisco and there were always a lot of protestors and I learned very quickly that most of them did not have a clue about what they were protesting about - it was just a go along party for them. We would go up to the girls with the "Make love, not war" signs and just say "OK."

Glen Campbell was someone that you knew early on was going to be an icon because you just kept humming his songs. I still do and I'm 73...damn, I'm getting old, but don't tell my wife.

Did the 60's or 70'splay a major part in shaping your life?

🐕GeminiGem🎁

I was born in 1963, the year J.F. Kennedy was assassinated.

The '70's were basically my entire schooling, with a bit in the late '60's and a bit in the early '80's. I remember well hearing Glen Campbell on the radio.

The memory I'd like to share today was circa '69 or '70. My parents participated in a racial equality march, and didn't leave the kids behind. Yep, I was a big girl of nine or ten, and I was participating in something like this. There was a big group of people, and we walked along the road from one town to the next (this is in Wisconsin). Someone in my family drove the family's vintage VW bus (it wasn't vintage then!) along with the group marching, so if anyone needed a break they could hop in and ride.

While I'm at it, I'll mention that my dad was an English professor at one of the University of Wisconsin extensions. In the late sixties he lost his position as head of the department because he insisted on inviting all of his students, no matter what their race, to his end of the year picnic that he liked to host.

On September 17, 1964 my best friend attended the Beatles show at the Municipal Stadium in Kansas City. Her step-dad bought her ticket and I was jealous wishing I could go. I felt somewhat famous because I knew a girl who attended the show. That date in September was to be a day off for the singing group. The Kansas City Athletics baseball owner, Charles Finley(whose daughter was a fan) paid $150,000 for the Beatles to skip their day off. The show lasted 30 minutes and the group earned a record pay of $4,838.00 per minute. The total for what they earned came from an old newspaper article. Even though it calculates to $5,000.00 they used the above amount.

When I was younger, I dreamed of being an everyday housewife. Unfortunately or fortunately, I never because an everyday housewife because I spent most of my life caring for elderly family members. When I moved back to Blackwell, I took care of my grandparents. I'm not complaining or, at least, I don't think I'm complaining because I'm not sure I'd like being an everyday housewife.

After my grandparents died, I stayed in Blackwell for a while. I met a Vietnam veteran, and I got pregnant. I moved to Las Vegas, where I gave my daughter up for adoption. I think that was the best decision I ever made. In Las Vegas, I ended up taking care of my mother because I was the only single person in the family. I took care of my grandparents in the late 60s and early 70s and half way through the 70s I moved to Las Vegas.

In my Senior Year, 1973 and 1974, my parents lived in Arkansas and I stayed with my grandparents. I just wanted to graduate and attend a small college the following year. I was thinking of becoming a Secretary. I can't remember any political events.

My grandparents took me to see my parents in Arkansas and we spent Christmas with them. I met a guy named Greg who wanted me to stay with my parents and go out with me but I had too much going on back in Indiana at the school I wanted to gradurate from. I did see my friends Dorinda and Belinda that I was friends with in my Sophmore year. We had fun together.

I was thinking of my future and I hoped to be a secretary but I changed my mind.

What plans did you have for the future after you were done with high school?

From high school I went straight to college and four years later when college (1966-7) was done the next step in my future was pretty much decided for me. It was either enlist of be drafted. I chose the Navy because they had an option that I liked. Instead of going to Officers Candidate School and having a four year enlistment, I could go in enlisted, start as an E3 in rank and only have a three year enlistment.

That turned out to be one of the smartest or luckiest things I'd ever done. After boot camp, I got my choice of next duty and chose the Navy's computer school. As motivation to do well, the Navy had a program that if you finished first in your class they would give you your choice of duty. Duh! My choice of duty was another computer school and since the Navy had yet to development their own classes, these were civilian schools. I did this for 13 months, all the while taking the tests to advance in rank and rank was given in increments depending upon your test score. I always got the first increment so I was an E5 in a year. While I was on temporary duty at Treasure Island (San Francisco) a Senior Chief personnel office called me in and told me that I had had more schools than most people with 30 years in the Navy had and I wasn't going to another one and that he was going to find me the toughest duty he could find for me. Well by then, I had such a rating with all my schools that the worst he could find me was being assigned to Fleet Works Study Group aboard a ship that was about to leave for Viet Nam. It was interesting, fun, and I got to go to Hawaii, the Philippines, Japan, and Hong Kong...tough , eh? I even took leave while we were in Japan and went to Australia. The Navy took me almost to the 70"s and I'll tell more about this next time. A hint, it pays to have that good Irish luck.

After high school, there was work for a while, then college.

I remember the 60s being mostly about The Beatles and the British Invasion in music. Things like Yardley white lipstick and gogo boots and mini skirts.

Troll dolls was a big collectors item for a while.

We listened to music on the radio and our record players and mom and dad's hifi set.

The Warren Commission said one guy killed JFK, but no one believed that really. We did all trust Walter Cronkite with the news. There is no one like him since, no trustworthy news source.

What fads and news reporters do you recall fondly from the 60's?

🐕GeminiGem🎁

I remember watching the draft on TV. I had an older brother who was turning 18, or perhaps he had already turned. We all sat together in the living room, in front of our only television. They would show a calendar month, with certain dated marked. If you had been born on those marked dates, BAM, you were drafted, just like that. David was one of the lucky ones, but another older brother, Tim, was not. He went over to Viet Nam in the army. Tim came back from 'Nam, but he never spoke of his time there, at least not in front of his little sister.

Even though things were changing for young women in the 60's I had been raised to believe that being married, having children and keeping the home was the most important thing I could do. Following graduation I worked for three months then married in September and became a mother the following September. Some days I didn't even get the local news and the days of sunbathing, listening to the radio were over. I wanted to excel at being a wife and a mother. After marriage one of my single girlfriends wanted me to go out on a Friday night and I told her, "No, I'm married now." Though still a teenager I experienced quite a change in personality and realized I was taking on a huge responsibility. I had another child when I was 22. We didn't have a lot of money but I was fortunate enough to stay at home with my children. For me it was the right choice. I got to experience something that most young women cannot do now, it takes so much money and the majority of young women are working. It amazes me how efficient some are at juggling all the demands placed upon them.

When I saw the topic of this forum I thought about whether I should join, because in 1970 I was sterilizing baby bottles, washing cloth diapers, and trying to stretch grocery dollars.

I enjoy reading the posts as they jog my memory and I recall something that I haven't thought of in years. On dances and music does anyone remember the dance, "The Bunny Hop?" I'm thinking that this might have been popular somewhere besides my small town. I might have a memory that no one else does: At our high school dances the boys never wanted to dance, our superintendent would tell the girls to take off one shoe, throw them in a pile and the boys were told to pick out a shoe, find the girl and dance. I couldn't help but think of Cinderella and the boys became more fashion oriented as they noticed our shoes before the dance started.

I have to admit there are certain things about the 60s and 70s that I miss. I don't miss everything, mind you, but certain things. I miss my grandparents, and going to the Lake (still can't remember if it had another name or not) with them. I miss hearing Grandpa's stories about the cat fish that was big enough to eat an adult human. I miss his stories about the pranks he and his friends pulled when they were teenagers; apparently, my Granddad was a bit wild. Not irresponsible because he always made sure his chores were done before he pulled any of the pranks.

There are, also, things about the 60s and 70s that I'd just as soon forget. I can't forget them because they are a part of the history of the world and America. Those events went into making me who I am today. Many of them caused me to question the wisdom and the sanity of my elders. Unfortunately, I see some of the hate and prejudiced reoccurring now that happened in those years. To some people the 60s and 70s were the "good old day", well I can tell you right now that they weren't as good as they are remembered. Indeed, many of those days were the "bad old days" that will destroy this country if they are relived.

We have to take the advice of Glen Campbell in "Try a Little Kindness" because that's the only way this country will survive the present troubles that is tearing it apart. I was born in December of 1946, I remember my parents and grandparents talking about World War II. I was a young woman in the Vietnam era, and remember how that war caused disunity in this country. I am a member of the generation that fought in that war and protested that war. I saw what that war did to the guys coming back, and the families that lost kin in that war. I can tell you right now that what the people of this country needs to learn is to "make love and not war".

I have two nieces, from my brother, one was born in 1969. She died 6 years ago.

The other was born in the 1970s. My Niece's and nephews were some of the greatest blessings of my life, all born in the 60s and 70s.

She lives in Houston and, following the advice of their mayor, did not evacuate. She and her husband have two small children, both named after my parents.

Right now, she and the rest of her family and my husband's family are all I am focused on. Please pray for all those who are suffering in Texas right now.

Texas is such a mess. We didn't have so many hurricanes in the 60's and 70's. I remember Buffalo, New York having flooding one time. I remember a crazy person shooting nine nurses in a Chicago hospital in the 70's. I hate talking about unpleasantness. I remember Dad being stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base and some planes crashed on the base and my Dad was flying that night. We waited 2 hours and luckily, Dad came home. Mom and I were so relieved. This was 1972.

I remember in the summer time, being at my grandparents house in the country, seeing lightning bugs at night and hearing whipperwills. I would play 70's hit records in my room and grandpa said I should have been a dis jockey.

Life has sure changed. I am an everyday housewife and I think of Glen a lot. I watched a few minutes of Mash last night and the Korean War was before Viet Nam. The world is 2000 years old { I am going by after Jesus} and the world has 200 years of peace. The rest of time, we have been at war. Not a very friendly world.

I am off to watch Green Acres and think about everyone in Texas.

I was raised in Houston and lived there from the time I was four until I was 21 and finished with undergraduate and had to join the Navy or be drafted. I remember many hurricanes over the years and the flooding was always the worst thing for Houston. The wind would do damage but not nearly as much as the flooding. Being in a hurricane and around after one is a truly unique experience.

When I was younger my friends and I would go outside during the "eye of the hurricane" and play. It would be dead calm, cool and refreshing for a good while depending upon the size of the hurricane. When the wind started back after the eye had passed, our mothers made us come in immediately. The real danger from the wind was flying objects or trees falling. We were lucky and never had any bad damage from hurricanes.

When I was in high school a lot of us would volunteer with the Red Cross during hurricanes. I will never forget my first time into a heavily flooded area and as we approached the area the lead guy said "everyone put on the boots you were supplied." Someone asked him why because it looked like where we were going to set up was pretty dry. He had the driver stop the truck and said look to the left at that high patch of ground. We looked and almost jumped out of our skin as it was covered with snakes. We couldn't get our boots on fast enough. A little further on we saw drowned cattle piled up against a barbed wire fence. Like I said, unique! The one thing I'll never forget is how people helped each other with no regard for race, religion or social status. It appears they still do that.

Did you learn some lessons in that period or in your youth that have stuck with you?

I learned it is always better to find reasons to be happy and focus on doing for others, rather than focusing on oneself. Tough times and worrying are obstacles that pop up now and then.

Paying it forward comes from the movie, but it also comes from parents and loved ones who inspired all the way through those formative years. Moving forward and learning to forgive are ongoing lessons.

What lessons did you learn that have stayed with you?

🐕GeminiGem🎁

My older brother, Tom, gave my first rock album when I was a kid. This was about 1974, but the album had been around a bit longer than that, I'm pretty sure. It was Tea for the Tillerman by Cat Stevens. I have it on CD now and still listen to it now and again. Then another older brother (all my sibs are older brothers...I am an only girl and the youngest). Gave me a whole stack of his albums he didn't want any more. I ended up with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Peter, Paul and Mary, The Who...a whole slew of great music.

Fast forward to 1978. I am now 14 years old. I went on a two week canoe trip through the Boundary Waters in Canada with my parents and an 18 year-old guy who was visiting from Germany. The only thing we had in common was that we both had the same Peter, Paul and Mary album! We somehow discovered this early on in the trip, and the two of us would paddle our canoe and sing the songs from the album...much to the amusement of my parents.

I guess every generation thinks the music they listened to was the greatest, but I believe the 50's and 60's music was the best. The song "Alley Oop" came out in 1960. I didn't especially care for the song but I have a wonderful memory of using the lyrics in a strange and funny way. I lived in the west end of a neighboring town occupied by poor and lower middle class people. Crime was unheard of and my girlfriend and I could roam around as long as we stayed pretty close to home. One summer we pretended we were jungle girls and we wrapped towels around our waist. A neighbor man made us some spears, long sticks with pointed ends. The sticks were long enough that they towered above our heads. We would march around the neighborhood, barefoot singing "Alley Oop." The lyrics mentioned the jungle and swinging through the trees, so I guess that's why it became our theme song. I'm not sure but I think some days we didn't wear our blouses and covered our shorts with our towels. We would sing the song and beat the bottoms of our spears on the sidewalks. We must of been quite a site marching around the block. What I miss most about those days is how safe all of us felt, no worry about kidnapping, shootings, etc. Just young girls spending a wonderful summer in pretend land. Later this same friend and I graduated on to noticing the boys. In the neighborhood lived a boy who drove a convertible and we would stand on the corner and holler at him. Since he combed his hair while driving and he looked like Ed Byrnes (think that's the correct name) from the "Kookie" show, we hollered, "Kookie, Kookie, lend me your comb." I think we went from jungle girls to boy crazy teenagers. I didn't realize how special those days were and the magic of being a "jungle girl."
I may have the spelling or names wrong on the show. I didn't do a search on the internet before posting this memory.
You can imagine how I feel when I hear the song today. I don't hear it often but when I do it takes me back to a place of innocence.

I got a haircut today (September 4, 2017). This is the second time this year I have cut my hair. Getting my hair cut reminded me of the two decades (the 60s and 70s) that I didn't cut my hair. I think about the only thing I did to my hair during those two decades was trim the split ends, wash, and curl my hair. I'm not sure why I didn't cut my hair, maybe it had something to do with the hairstyles or the fact that most of the guys I knew didn't like their "women" to cut their hair.

Anyway, I didn't cut my hair for two decades. My hair when it gets long is so thick that I have to use some sort of dryer to dry it. Another thing I remember about "no hair cut" period in my life, was had difficult it is to sleep in curlers. I hated sleeping in curlers, but since I wanted my hair to look good during the day I had to sleep in them. Another thing I didn't like was the hairspray. I didn't like the smell and I didn't like the way it made my hair feel. Every time I used hairspray my hair felt stiff when I touched it. If I touched it before the hairspray dried, then it felt sticky.

Hair styles. I wore my hair long and straight, the way it naturally is. With regard to the color, I put something on it and then went out in the sun and sprayed on Sun-in. First it was orangey then by the time I was a senior in high school, it was pretty much white blonde. Eventually, I grew older and wanted to have the hair look uniform so I went to Elizabeth Arden. There they dyed my stripped the color out and put it back in. One time, at Elizabeth Arden in D.C., it didn't work and my hair was a very weird shade of dark blonde. But, I added the Sun In and it was better.

Then, when I was 24, I dyed my hair back dark brown and kept it that way until recently, when it's turning gray. I'm just letting it because I am leery of the chemicals. Times change as I used to spray Sun-in on with no fear.

Three friends and I used to pretend we were The Beatles and play air guitars. I was always John. I will always love that British Invasion Music, Motown and the music of the 70's with groups like The Guess Who, and singers like Rod Stewart and Elton John and Linda Ronstadt and Glenn Campbell.

.

What did you do with your hair in the 60s and 70s? What music do you still like?

I wore my hair long to my waist almost from eighth grade {I tried to look like Sharon Tate and Peggy Lipton of "Mod Squad"} and in my Senior Year, I cut it! I regretted doing that. I was a blonde for 2 years and let it go back to my natural color. Dishwater blonde. More like brown. Mom says dying would damage my hair. I had a little blonde in it. I wore a short blonde wig once in awhile. I wore headbands and barrettes in it at times. I sometimes wore combs in it. Mom wouldn't let me the hippie headbands but I did once in awhile when I got to school. I snuck them in my purse.

After high school, I had my hair shoulder length and frosted it. I went back to blonde and I went red twenty years ago. I wear headbands but not hippie ones. The ones with flowers, bows, cat ears and decorated ones.

I still listen to 70's music and 80's. I like Celtic Thunder, Keith Urban, Reba Mcintire, Miranda Lambert, 60's and 70's country music, Johnny Cash, The Beatles, Prince, Glen Campbell and Celtic music. Native American, too at times. I like Kelly Clarkson, Katie Perry, some Adele, Celine Dion and I love Taylor Swift. I still listen to Alice Cooper and I liked the music from "The Twilight" CD's. I like a variety. I do enjoy old church hymns and some modern Christian music. I can't take Rap, Alternative or Bluegrass or Marilyn Manson! I do like Mozart and some opera like Andre Bercelli.

What TV Shows did you like from the 60's and 70's?

It seems strange, but I don't really remember TV shows that stood out for me in the 60's and 70's. I remember some, but my focus was more on other things like starting a career, having fun, and I did like music of all kinds. Irish music was always my favorite, but there was R&R. folk, and popular music. When it came to TV, I mostly watched sports events in those days.

The Irish music has stayed with me and the bride and I have been to Ireland a number of times and have a pretty big collection of Irish music. We like everyone from the Chieftain's, The Dubliners, Tommy Makem, the Clancy Brothers, Tommy Fleming, The Coors, Noel McLaughlin, and on and on. We must have well over 100 CD's with a bunch always in either car.

We have a habit of starting the CD player in the car when we start hearing the same old BS on the news with none of it being very honest on either side...sorry, but neither side impresses me much when it come right down to it.

Do you have a non traditional music that you like?

I like Broadway show tunes. Hello Dolly and Les Miz are favorites.

I listen to the soundtrack of Hello Dolly with Bette Midler and David Hyde Pierce a lot.

In the 60s I enjoyed Funny Girl with Barbra Streisand and Jesus Christ Superstar.

What non traditional music did you like? How did you wear your hair and has any of that changed?

🌕 HuntersMoon

Let's see ... I was in the Army so you can guess how I wore my hair. Short! I actually grew it out and had a ponytail last year but couldn't stand it. Now, it's short again

- but no balding! I still have a full head of hair.

What's "non-traditional?" I lived with my sister before I joined up and my brother-in-law was a classical lover so I listened to a lot of that. For some reason, his favorite was Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries." Wouldn't you know it, when they made Apocalypse Now what music did they play?

By the way, I never flew for the 1st Cav (shown in the clip). I was 5th Special Forces.

What's your favorite group (60's/70's) Pick one

and leave a YouTube clip.

My favorite music group was the Beatles. Looking back I think their long hair attracted me more than their music. Living in the Midwest I didn't see men with longer hair and I remember my dad complaining about the those (expletive) "hippies." This made them seem even more attractive. I thought they had a very exciting life and that mine was dull.
The music of my youth is still being played today and when I hear a song from my teenage days it takes me back to a time when my biggest concern was school, girlfriends, and boys.
Recently I did a search on the song "The House of New Orleans," by the "Animals." Some think it's a true story about a brothel. If I remember correctly the song dates back to the mid 1800's. I copied the lyrics down so I could sing and play it on my guitar. Now my expertise on a guitar is close to zero, but I have fun picking out the melody. When this song came out I liked it, but not as much as I do today. The last verse makes my emotions kick in - "I'm heading back to New Orleans, to wear that ball and chain." I think it's interesting that this song has jumped from my memory bank and hollered, "Take a look at me, listen again." All the great music of the 60's is within me, some I remember and some is swirling around in my subconscious mind. The exciting part is now that I'm in my 60's, I can hear the songs and remember my teenage days and then think, "what does this song mean to me, now?"
As a kid I was fascinated with how a jukebox worked, plunk the nickel in, punch B-6, watch the arm move to the 45, lift it on the spindle and the music played. Just think, 5 plays for a quarter.
For some reason my brain ran through my "record archives" and selected the song "The House of New Orleans." As soon as the needle lowered I heard a great intro and I was fascinated. Where did it come from, I don't know but I didn't need a nickel - just 50 years of living.
The music lives on!

It's September. One of the months that bring back fond memories of the 60s and 70s. I graduated from Shawnee High School in 1966, while many people have fond memories of their Junior High (now Middle School) and High School year, I don't. My fond memories of the 60s and 70s center around my grandparents, who love in Blackwell, Oklahoma. Grandma and Grandpa Newland, were my mother's parents, (I think I'm repeating myself), and the music. Grandma Darbe was my father's mother.

I don't have many memories of Grandma Belva Darbe. I think I only saw her one or two times after my parent divorced. The memories of Grandma Darbe are mainly aromas. Even in the middle years of the 1960s, she still used a wood burning iron kitchen stove. I don't remember seeing here chopping wood, but I do remember her baking breads and pies in that stove. It's really too bad that no one uses wood burning stoves any more because the scent of burning wood made the entire house smell good. Another thing that you don't see much of any more is kitchen aprons made out of flour sacks. Grandma Belva always made her kitchen aprons out of flour sacks.

Another thing I miss about those two decades is the music. Don't get me wrong, I like some of the modern music especially spiritual and gospel music. I also like some of the hip-hop artist, but the music I really enjoy listening to sand singing along with are the artist of the 60s and 70s, which is one reason I like to go grocery shipping. Some of the supermarkets play the classics, and this makes grocery shopping much more pleasant.

Music is definitely something I associate with childhood and growing up.

We began this campfire with the loss of Glen Campbell. Then today there is Tom Petty.

I am so fed up with the news media being so disrespectful of Tom Petty's last day. The networks would never have reported a bunch of rumors like that in the 70's when Tom Petty started.

Lot's of music in heaven.

Who would you pick in your top 20 to have performing when you arrive in the great beyond?

Oh, well. I want these people performing me in the Great Beyond. Here goes.
1. Janis Joplin
2. Johnny Cash
3. Glen Campbell
4. George Harrison
5. John Lennon
6. Prince
7. Tom Petty
8. Jim Morrison
9. Johnny Horton
10. Porter Wagner
11. David Bowie
12. Patsy Kline
13. Ritchie Valens
14. Jim Reeves
15. Marty Robbins
16. Merle Haggard
17.Waylon Jennings
18. Leslie Gore
19. Michael Jackson
20. Roger Miller

I really liked and loved these singers. Music was always a big part of my life. I would love to sing with Leslie Gore. Glen Campbell, George Harrison, Prince, Tom Petty and Johnny Cash! I favor them. I loved the 70's Music best!

My list will include both performers that are still alive and some that aren't. This is in no particular order and incomplete as I am more of a "favorite song" person rather than favorite singer. A singer might have one song that I love and not any others that I enjoy.
Anyway, here is my list.

1 .Tommy Makem
2. Willie Nelson
3. Tommy Flemming
4. Tracy Chapman
5. Joan Baez
6. Bob Dylan
7. Vince Gill
8. Glen Campbell
9. Buddy Holly
10. Guess Who

There are lots more, but I never remember the names, just the song.

My top ones are some living and some not also. This is who I would want to hear singing when I get wherever I am going, I guess.

1. Dusty Springfield
2. Linda Ronstadt
3. The Beatles
4. Tommy Makem
5. Liam Clancy
6. Billy Joel
7 Tom Petty
8. Glen Campbell
9. Frank Sinatra
10.Bette Midler
11.The Four Tops
12.The Four Seasons
13. Bob Dylan
14. Peter, Paul & Mary
15. Reba McIntyre
16. Dolly Parton
17. Elvis
18. Stevie Nicks
19. Cher
20. Michael Jackson

Who are your top 20 or more living or dead?

This is a very interesting question - Who would you pick in your top 20 to have performing when you arrive in the great beyond?

This is a great question for me because it helped me realize how my choice of music has changed over the years. As a teenager I would choose:
1. Elvis
2. The Beatles
3. The Supremes
4. The Animals (House of the Rising Sun)
There are more but I was guilty of listening to music without paying attention to the artist. Since I didn't have records or a record player I tuned in to the radio.

When I married my husband was a country music fan. He tuned the radio to the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday nights. Since this was almost 50 years ago the music was quite different (at times too corny for me) than country music today. I don't listen to country music anymore except when my husband tunes in the car radio. Some of my past favorites:
1. Don Williams
2. Vern Gosdin (spelling?)
3. Paul Overstreet
4. Tanya Tucker
5. Tammy Wynette
6. Johnny Cash
7. Emmy Lou Harris
Not really what I call country:
8. Tom Jones
9. John Denver

Now I look at Youtube and choose relaxation music, no vocals just instruments. I really don't pay attention to who composed the music.

I didn't quite get 20 artists listed but the question got me to thinking about how I have changed over the years and how my choice of music has changed.

When I got married in the 1980s, my husband opened my eyes to Celtic music and folk. Most of the concerts we've gone to starting with Tommy Makem in the 1980s have been Irish music. Plus Peter Paul and Mary and Joan Baez at Wolf Trap for folk.

I love it all and listen to the Coors Home CD in my car all the time. I still love The Beatles, Motown, Cat Stevens, Tom Petty, Glen Campbell, Prince and country, but mostly listen to Irish now.

How has your taste in music changed since the 60s and 70s?

I like all the old country music and rock music. I do enjoy most church hymns. I was glad when we sang a song at church I hadn't heard in awhile.

I have sirrus radio in my car and my stations are tuned to the old music stations. I don't even know what songs are new now unless I hear them on TV Shows. I will watch the CMA Awards in 2 or 3 weeks and I don't listen to new country music anymore but I do love the old stuff.

I enjoy Taylor Swift's music but I am not buying her new CD. She changed her music. I listen to the old songs of the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and songs up to 2015.

I do like Celtic music and Irish when I get a chance to listen to some. When I was working, a guy there played all the new Rock and Roll. Sorry, not for me. I do like Pink, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson and Bruno Mars. I guess I am an oldies songs person. I listen to Glen Campbell a lot and like listening to Taylor's music before she changed.

Do you find yourself singing to music in public on the radio or driving down the road? I just look at people and wave to them when they see me doing this. Maybe I am an old hippie. Music wise anyway.

My car has lots of Irish CD's of well known and some not so well known picked up on a number of trips to Ireland. We (wife & I) love the West coast of Ireland and always get to Galway, Clare, Donegal, Westport, and a bunch of other cities on various trips. Of course Dublin is an amazingly fun city, also. One thing we love is finding a good pub where the locals gather to play or there is a lesser know singer booked. We have discovered some fantastic singers in small pubs.

Once we were in Matt Malloy's (member of Chieftains) pub in Westport and three of the Chieftains were joining in with the locals. I still have a fondness for the old folk music and always have a few of those CD's in the car. We get to hear some of the current music from our grandsons who for 7 and 11 years old are really into music and know all the latest songs and dances.

Every once in a while I will be driving along listening to Irish music and pull up at a light and the car next to me has some rap or current song blaring to entertain anyone within 50 feet. I turn up the volume on my Irish music and they usually turn theirs down and try to figure out what I am playing...and yes, I do sing along.