Put two big hits into my Christmas mainline yesterday. Both of them from, and associated with, New York's World Fair which set up there in 1964.
The first was "The Real Jamaica" a ska compilation sold at the live ska festival held within the confines of the Fair. I have some old ska in my collection, there are times its unique rhythm is the only thing that will do. I found a cd re-mastering of the original album. Brilliant shit that when soon mixed with large quantities of ganja and rebellion gave us reggae.
Find yourself some old ska, motherfuckers. And dance.
The second was the "Magic Trip" documentary about Ken Kesey and the Merry Prankster's bus trip to the '64 Fair that year. I always had a lot of time for the Pranksters and read a lot about them but this is a case of the movie being better than the books. Motorhead punkrocker me especially had a lot of time for Neal Cassady, the driver of the bus. Modeled my life after the crazy motherfucker in many ways but I had the good sense to take my foot off the gas so I would not die much younger than I ought to like he did.
Where the Pranksters fucked up when they got to New York was wasting their time with Leary. They ought to have shared some acid, and the recipe, with the ska crowd. Fuck knows what may have come of a meeting of those two sub-cultures.
I was still skating on the horizon to horizon hockey rink of the Canadian Prairies in '64. Still believing it was fucking Santa who brought me a new hockey stick, some books and flannel pyjamas at Christmas. It was a magic motherfucking year, was 1964.
2 comments:
Just got my number #1 niece tickets for Christmas, to the Mad Caddies and Aggrolites playing in Victoria next month. A bit of new Ska. #2 niece is in Kathmandu now, told her to go to Durban Square and send me a recent pic. I wonder if any of that magic trip crowd made it there as well? I needed to be born about 10 years earlier I think. Merry Christmas Mr. Beer.
Ten years sounds about right. My Magic Trip was on one of the new government buses from Sliverville to Dope City where the 1960s were still underway.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good drink or two.
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