Wading Through the 1969 Tunes

Summertime on the old valley farm meant swimming in the Willow Creek. It was a great way to beat the heat because there was no air conditioning in the farmhouse or barn and certainly not in the hay mow. If there wasn’t a chore to be done, I would tie up my swim trunks and make a dash to the creek. One sunny day, the draw string came undun and when I leapt to the muddy bank from the water, my shorts stayed under. I than flopped back in the murky stream in an attempt to find my clothing. When that failed, I had to streak back to the farmhouse and hope that I did not brush against a thistle or flash by any farm visitors that could unexpectedly get the naked truth. The urban legend is that someone saw a carp in the water near Twin Bluffs wearing plaid shorts. In the summer of 1969, I was my dad’s little man as I traveled nearly everywhere he went. Standing on the drawbar with a PTO shaft just inches away or clinging to a thin fender of a Farmall tractor while farm work was being done, there was never a thought of danger. We would take rides to the feed mill or the stores in Ithaca, Sextonville, or Twin Bluffs. The entire time I would stand on the bench seat of the truck (seat belts?) and play the AM radio. A few musical memories that I have from that summer are Hawaii Five Oh-the Ventures, Get Back-Beatles, Bad Moon Rising-Creedence Clearwater Revival, One-Three Dog Night, These Eyes-Guess Who, Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In-Fifth Dimension, and Gitarzan-Ray Stevens.

Though I was just a ‘wee-Nee’, I vividly remember the folks and neighbors watching the moon landing. Little Philip went out to the screen porch that Sunday night and looked up toward the moon to see if he could see the astronauts up there. The neighbors discussed the Manson murders in August of that year and how scary that was even in rural Wisconsin. My dad transformed from a simple sickle bar mower to a mower conditioner (a mower and a crimper together) that year as well. The brand new haybine would be a couple of seasons away for mowing the alfalfa.

This Saturday night during Those Were the Days, I will spin a few hot summer hits from 1969 and the vinyl from the fifties through the mid-nineties will come back again. Maybe I will even discuss vintage farm machinery. Music and old junk are my favorite topics. Tie your shorts on tight, and join the music and conversation between six and midnight Saturday night on WRCO, WRCO.com, and the Civic Media app.

Philip