Class of '65: Rock On

By Gary W. Griffiths

Class of 65: Rock On is a magical trip back to a time when life seemed less complicated and more carefree. The sixties were so magical that we dared to believe the impossible dream that tomorrow would be better than today. We even dreamed about building a more perfect society. We were on a quest to fulfill the nations birthright and we were nave enough to believe that we could overcome any obstacles in our path. Even after President Kennedys death, we were unable to let the dream die.

My story is a fictional account of a group of kids from a small town in Wisconsin completing their senior year of high school in 1965. They were coming of age during a decade of turmoil and unrest. President Kennedys assassination, the civil rights movement, and the growing war in Vietnam were the events changing the nation. They lived in a place that was isolated from the headlines which were gripping the attention of the nation. They realized the world was changing; however, they were committed to making their final year of high school something they would remember for the rest of their lives.

The spirit of the sixties they embraced was found in the music they listened to, the products they bought, and the movies they watched. Their focus was a love affair with being young. They were the generation with a new explanation. They were convinced that time was on their side and that it was endless. They needed a lot of time to complete their bold experiment to change the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 31, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483639918

Gary W. Griffiths

I am a former educator and public school administrator. For more than thirty years I worked for the Hawaii Department of Education. I finished my career as a complex area superintendent. After retiring from the Department of Education, I spent three years coordinating the Secondary School Renewal Project at the College of Education, University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Book preview

Class Of ’65:

Rock On

Gary W. Griffiths

Copyright © 2013 by Gary W. Griffiths.

ISBN: Softcover 978-1-4836-3990-1

Ebook 978-1-4836-3991-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 05/24/2013

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Setting The Stage

Chapter 2

Fall 1964

Chapter 3

Winter 1964-65

Chapter 4

Spring 1965

Chapter 5

New York City

Chapter 6

Long Road Home

Chapter 7

Graduation And Beyond

CHAPTER 1

Setting the Stage

San Francisco

If you’re going to San Francisco

Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair

If you’re going to San Francisco

You’re gonna meet some gentle people there…

There’s a whole generation with a new explanation…

John Phillips

There are major events and minor occurrences that makes every year interesting and memorable and 1964-65 was no exception. It was a tipping point year in American history with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution on August 10, 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

By late summer of 1964, events in Southeast Asia were reeling out of control. President Johnson firmly believed Vietnam was the latest front on the global war against communism. He failed to understand that the North Vietnamese weren’t interested in the geopolitical conflict between capitalism and communism. They viewed their fight with the Japanese, the French, and finally the Americans as a fight for independence.

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution allowed the buildup in Vietnam to expand without any interference from Congress. The United States was at war without a formal decoration of war. All this was possible because three North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked the USS Maddox. Because of that attack, Johnson had the political capital to ask Congress for extraordinary discretion in using the military to advance America’s political objectives worldwide. What makes 1964 a tipping point year was, once this war-making power was granted to the President; Congress removed itself from being involved in the worldwide use of the military.

Before long, there were 200,000 American military personal in Vietnam. Widespread demonstrations against America’s involvement in Vietnam were yet to occur. Soon, we’d be hearing slogans, such as hell no, we won’t go. It won’t be long before the nightly news would be reporting on draft card burnings and demonstrations engulfing college campuses across the nation. Even today, the scars of that conflict still remain on the American psyche.

As if the war weren’t enough, we received our daily dose of domestic unrest as well. In 1961, violence halted the first bus full of freedom riders traveling through the South focused on integrating interstate bus station facilities. In 1963, there were widespread sit-ins throughout the city of Birmingham, Alabama. One of the most important events of the civil rights movement was the March on Washington in which 200,000 people filled the National Mall to hear Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech I Have a Dream in support of the Civil Rights Act sitting before Congress.

In 1964, three civil rights workers were killed in Mississippi. There were civil rights marches and demonstrations throughout the United States. It seemed to white Middle America that the world was coming apart.

There were two societies in America during the 1960s that were separate and unequal. These two societies had little or no contact with each other and the nation would have to experience a new rebirth. That rebirth would be painful and often violent.

When President Johnson signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act and later the 1965 Voting Rights Act, he would effectively hand the South politically to the Republican Party. The party of Lincoln would become the dominant political party throughout Dixie. The Republicans denounced their progressive roots and took up the banner of anti-progressivism. They would now call themselves conservatives and in today’s Republican Party, progressives like Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt would not be welcomed as members. The Democrats would have no choice but to pick up the progressive banner after LBJ signed the landmark legislation into law.

In addition to the major political changes accruing nightly on our TV screens, America’s youth were discovering illegal drugs. Drug abuse, a growing problem since the 1920s was becoming more widespread. It was moving out of the inner cities to the white suburban areas.

The social changes taking place during the 1960s were also tipping points. The social impact of that era is still making its mark on modern America. There hasn’t been a time in American history since the Civil War, a hundred years earlier, that an era has had a greater impact than the sixties. The sixties changed the character of America forever. Music, cars, clothes styles, social attitudes, and events of the period are still shaping life for Americans at the beginning of the 21st century.

The three major car companies introduced Americans to slimmed-down cars with large engines. The result was called the muscle car. Chevrolet introduced the Nova, Camaro, and continued to build larger and more powerful cars throughout the decade. Chrysler introduced the Dodge Charger and Ford introduced the Mustang at the New York’s World Fair in April of ’64. The Mustang symbolized the decade best in terms of being uncontrolled and free spirited, and challenged the established boundaries. In some ways the car represented rebellion against the establishment. However, it was built by one of the oldest and most established companies in America. The Pepsi Cola Company best captured the spirit of a new era in America through their 1964 slogan, Come Alive! You’re in the Pepsi Generation.

Popular music of 1964-65 was a mixture of teenage love and the growing awareness of a changing world. Songs, such as Twist and Shout, Under the Boardwalk, I Saw Her Standing There, I’m Into Something Good were 1964 hits about young love, falling out of love, and cruising the main drag looking for girls. Unchained Melody, My Girl, I Got You Babe, California Girls, and Hang On Sloopy" were 1965 hits that continued the focus on young love, the excitement of being young, and following your heart.

In 1964, the music world got a lot smaller with the British Invasion of America. The Beatles and Beatlemania was just the start of British musical groups making their way to America. The United Kingdom’s influence on pop music would endure right up to the present time. It has been a receptacle and profitable arrangement on both sides of the Atlantic.

Popular music reinforced the idea that the sixties generation was different from any other previous generation. This generation was socially engaged and ready to make changes that would reverberate for decades to come. In 1965, Barry McGuire wrote Eve Of Destruction and it was a clear sign of things to come. The song would immediately become an anti-war anthem. For some, McGuire’s song has as much meaning today as it did in 1965.

Another interesting change in popular music was the growing popularity of girl groups. One of the most popular girl groups of the decade were the Ronettes. They were the ultimate sixties girl group. They were born and raised in New York City. By 1963, they were working with Phil Spector. His wall of sound production techniques turned them into rock and roll superstars. The 1963 smash hit Be My Baby is considered by many the best girl group song of all time, and it ranks as one of rock’s greatest achievements. Their song Walking In the Rain had tremendous sound effects and was an excellent example of young love and the optimism of being young during the decade of change and turmoil.

There were many other girl groups performing during the early and late sixties. The Shangri-Las, Crystals, Dixie Cups, Chiffons, and Shirelles were all breakthrough rock and roll groups. The most famous girl group was Diana Ross and the Supremes.

Perhaps the song that best captures the spirit of the decade was Scott McKenzie’s San Francisco. The song was written by John Phillips of the Mamas and Papas. There’s a key phrase from the song that best sums up the spirit of the sixties, There’s a whole generation with a new explanation. This lyric alone puts all other generations on notice that the sixties generation was different and their view of the world was a radical departure from past generations.

Right from the start, the sixties generation was coming alive without much encouragement from Pepsi or any other company. The prevailing attitude was that nothing was going to slow us down or stop us from making our mark because we were young and we loved being young.

When we made a commitment to an idea or cause, we saw it through to the end. There were times when we may have been misguided, but no one could question our sincerity. There was a real commitment to making the world a better place.

So, we were going to go to San Francisco with a new explanation and a burning desire to turn the world upside down.

To fully appreciate Gratiot, Wisconsin, you would need to learn more about us. There were fewer than three hundred people living in Gratiot. We had three grocery stories, five bars, two diners, two gas stations, one restaurant, a bank, a post office, a hardware store and a plumbing business, as well as a full service Chevrolet dealership for a short while. One of the grocery stores had a soda fountain in the front. There was a milk receiving plant run by the Carnation Company. The economic engine of the area was farming and there were more cows in the county than people. There were two major roads, one going east and west and the other going north and south.

We lived in a place socially isolated from the larger world. We couldn’t help seeing the world from our own personal experiences and those experiences didn’t allow us to fully appreciate the turmoil taking place around us.

We were most likely prejudiced based on ignorance, not because of any personal dislike of those looking different from ourselves. We were willing to accept stereotyping and beliefs based on hearsay and falsehoods. Movies, radio, and television shaped our view of the world. We didn’t have an opportunity to put our misguided beliefs to a test. No one of color lived in our small community.

If there were some who held a different belief from the majority of us, they were unwilling to express those views due to an overwhelming desire to fit in. No one dared to think outside the accepted norms. Our social life would be a wreck if we were on the outside looking in. Being accepted was the driving force behind most of our actions. More often than not, outside influences were rejected before they were even tried.

Local discrimination was based on social and economic status. There were kids and families not accepted as equals by the larger community because of their perceived socioeconomic status. Students socially or educationally different weren’t given assistance and in most cases they dropped out of school. Once they were out of sight, they were out of mind.

Growing up in a small town was a happy and safe experience for most of us. Everyone was like a member of your own family. This certainly was a drawback when you wanted to keep something from your parents. There was a better than even chance your parents would know what you did before you got home. If you did something wrong in school, you knew the news would get home before you did, and then there would be hell to pay. There was no escaping the simple fact that you couldn’t keep a secret in a small town.

We did things that were done in small towns across the country. Many of us had paper routes, Friday afternoons were dedicated to football games, matinee movies on Saturdays, and Sundays were dedicated to family time after church.

Holidays and community affairs were very special. I remember Santa arriving on the back of a fire truck, Labor Day picnics, and Fourth of July fireworks.

My family was typical of most families in the area. I had one older brother and sister and one younger sister. My older siblings had very little impact on my impressions of growing up during the sixties. They were living outside of the family home by 1964.

My memories of my older sister took me back to Scales Mound, Illinois when they owned and operated a small town convenience store selling food items and other household goods. I remember, on several occasions, working in the store for my brother-in-law. After spending the day working in the store, he would go across the street to a bar and buy us hamburgers and beer. That was my payment. My sister knew nothing about the beer and I operated on the principle that what you didn’t know wasn’t going to hurt you.

By 1964, my older brother was a teacher and coach working in Nora, Illinois. He taught science and coached basketball at a junior high school. He had very strong principles and there was one occasion that those principles were put to the test. During an away game, he felt the referees weren’t being fair. At half time, not telling anyone, he took his team home. Once he got back to his school, his principal met him at the gym. He was able to convince the principal that he acted appropriately.

On weekends, he worked for Dad at the milk plant. More times than I can remember, I would stop by the plant and hit him up for a few dollars and the keys to his ’57 Chevy. With wheels, my friends and I had a few hours of freedom and off to Darlington we would go.

My younger sister was almost six years my junior. Being so much younger, she described her sixties experiences as being nothing short of mental anguish. More than once I may have told her I’m going to cut off the Easter Bunny’s ears. She also convinced herself that Santa was in some type of mortal danger as well, probably with a little help from me.

Perhaps the most interesting ritual involving my sister was the doorbell departure. Before leaving for work, Dad had to leave through the backdoor and go around to the front door and ring the doorbell. She would slowly get up after the third or fourth ring and answer the door. Dad would have to kiss her goodbye and then, and only then, was he allowed to leave. The doorbell departure ritual went on for several years. After each episode, all I could do was to shake my head in disbelief.

Another interesting family ritual that took place every Monday morning was the washing machine wringer war. It was an epic battle Mother waged with the washing machine. The battle started slowly with a small bang and then built rapidly into a series of loud bangs. Shortly, the scrimmage would escalate into a full scale battle. The basement was soon filled with a series of bangs, some yelling, and a