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 | Blogs > tazzerman2000 > Live couragiously! > Sex, drugs and rock and roll. |
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tazzerman2000
8/5/2008 12:44 pmLast Read: |
Hey all, just another one of my rambling posts. I got to thinking earlier about the title of this post. Sex, drugs and rock and roll. It seems like those three things are forever linked to one another doesn't it? Lord knows in my life they have been, one way or the other. I used to be a fairly heavy drug user. Shoot, I'd love to hear from someone who grew up through the late 60's and early 70's who wasn't into drugs. (I know there are a few, but not many) Back in the day, drugs were everywhere, not that they're not now, but back then, it seemed like my town was awash in them. Weed, coke, pills of every color, shape and type, acid, mushrooms, peyote, mescaline, heroin you name it, all was available for a price. Along with that culture, there was also the ever present booze.. Beer was king but anything that contained alcohol was fare game. It flowed and flowed and flowed. I'm surprised that booze didn't make it into the title saying. It should REALLY read. Sex, booze, drugs and rock and roll because they ALL were there in abundance. All four items where consumed, most of the time in combination with each other... I had hair down almost to my ass as did almost all my friends. Hippie wannabes or come latelies were we... Parties that I used to attend where nothing but giant beer and pot feasts combined with every guy trying as hard as he could to get into any girls pants. If you were lucky enough to have a girlfriend, well, that just made it easier. If not, then you had to find one and quick, or your entire self-worth and 'manhood' was immediately brought into question. Gays were virtually non-existent. At least NOT outwardly. Being gay would have immediately been grounds for banishment or worse from most of the mainstream goings on. It was perfectly fine to do drugs, drink to excess, be misogynistic as hell, even to rape your date but heaven help you if you were gay. I never saw anything overt per se, but the whispers were deafening at times. It's interesting how times have changed in this regards. Of course, there is still quite a ways to go.. Getting back to the subject at hand: All of the people I knew back then were heavily into drugs. HEAVILY. We not only did drugs but quite a few of us,including myself, dealt drugs. Innocently to be sure. The main reason we did so was to be able to afford the drugs for ourselves. We certainly weren't looking at it from a business or profit stand point. It was fairly easy for me or one of my buds to score a 1/4 or 1/2 pound of top shelf pot. Break/bag it up and sell it and make enough to more than cover the cost. We typically would be able to hold back enough Weed to more than cover our own personal use and still be able to pay the 'man' back. It got to the point where we were getting fronted the 1/4 or 1/2 pounders so there was NO upfront cost to us. Sweet deal. I even had a friend of mine, who for one reason of the other, had ended up living in a kind of monastery in the neighborhood, who was dealing pot out of the window of his dorm room... Go figure huh? Pot, acid, mushrooms and pills. These were the drugs of choice. Me personally? I was never into pills... Quaalude etc just ended up putting me to sleep. Go figure. Pot/hash, acid, 'shrooms, peyote, mescaline all washed down with plenty of beer, tequila and wine. That was my childhood. All floating on a never ending stream of rock and roll... Those songs fill my memories and hearing anyone of a thousand or more can transport me, instantaneously, back to a younger, somewhat more innocent and definitely stoned time. Those tunes can bring back both good and bad memories. I'd like to think mostly good. As Stevie Wonder said, Songs in the key of life. Music is funny that way isn't it? It can evoke such strong feelings in me, flood my brain with memories, move me to the depths of my soul. There's times when I see my entire life as one long sound track. I can map the various milestones and events by the songs, the groups that were playing. I can hear songs from groups like the Stones, Who, Beatles, Led Zeppelin, the Doors and so many others that are ingrained in me as sure as the creases and wrinkles on my face. I remember that Fleetwood Mac was playing the night I lost my virginity.. I can still see Jerry Garcia, hunched over his guitar, the spotlight casting long shadows on the stage, playing for what seemed like hours with the audience, all buzzed on acid, dancing in the aisles.. I still have a pick that I caught during a Santana concert. Carlos was in the middle of Black Magic Woman and dropped his pick. I just happened to have been lucky enough to muscle my way to the front that night and his pick literally landed right on me. It's a memento that I cherish and always will. I was and still am a huge fan of the Doors. For us, politics and 'message' really weren't that important. The kids before us, those 60's flower children and hippies, they were the ones with the message. Us children of the 70's well, we were just more into getting high and enjoying a good riff or beat. We didn't have any really political understanding of what had come before or what was coming ahead. Sooo freaking innocent weren't we back then??? The list of bands during this period is endless. Classics almost every single one. Most are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I love sitting around some nights and with the marvel of modern cable technology, scanning my way through all the various music channels. I ALWAYS find my self stopping on the Classic Rock station or the 1970's station. I'll catch a small snippet of a song and know exactly what it is even after only hearing one or two notes. Hell, even the music I play on my guitar is mostly that which I grew up with. And then I'm transported back to a time BEFORE wingnuts and moonbats. Before iPods and 56" plasma TVs, hell even before PCs and cell phones when the only thing we had to worry about was Sex, drugs, Booze and Rock and Roll.. Cheers ! |
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8/5/2008 1:58 pm |
Remember when half-ounces were twenty bucks and ounces were thirty five? I could have written most of this post myself, just with an extra sprinkling of Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Melanie, Neil Young, and Dylan. Oh, and what about Pink Floyd? Who hasn't listened to Dark Side of the Moon over and over and over again in the fog?   Elevate me...
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 8/5/2008 2:49 pm |
I remember going to see The Song Remains the Same on acid. Later that night we were riding around and went to the lake. It was pouring ass rain and we went in the lake fully dressed..got out and changed into our swimsuits. For some reason known only to the acid we had been saying Hail Mary's all night. So we spot this huge fire from the interstate and go to check it out. It was a Catholic Church burning. There were orange and red and white flames roaring through thick black smoke. Just in front of the flames was a white marble statue of Mary. That white against those flame....WOW! I looked at my friend, pointed to the statue and said.."Hell! Mary!!". And of course that produced a series of those damn acid giggles that make you think you have been through a meat grinder!!
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8/6/2008 5:04 am |
Remember when half-ounces were twenty bucks and ounces were thirty five? I could have written most of this post myself, just with an extra sprinkling of Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Melanie, Neil Young, and Dylan. Oh, and what about Pink Floyd? Who hasn't listened to Dark Side of the Moon over and over and over again in the fog? -tm
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8/6/2008 5:34 am |
It is an era that fascinates me, it seemed so colourful and vibrant in many ways and would have loved to experience it if only for a short time 
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8/6/2008 7:08 am |
I still have a pick that I caught during a Santana concert. Carlos was in the middle of Black Magic Woman and dropped his pick. I just happened to have been lucky enough to muscle my way to the front that night and his pick literally landed right on me. It's a memento that I cherish and always will. Ok now I am just jealous. I was totally into the post until here! LOL I have seen Santana so many times. His music makes me want to dance and fuck. As to the Sex, Booze, Drugs and Rock and Roll. I smoked my first bowl at the drive in with my uncle and his buddies. We were in my Grandparents 76 conversion van...you know the kind. Bed in back...Anyway, we were watching Star Wars. 1978. That night, as stoned as I was, I don't think I will ever forget. I still trip down memory lane but usually only when I am on a beach in Mexico popping shrooms and drinking Jose. There is a difference between a good BJ and a bad BJ.
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