Damn Hippies...

I've never been a fan of hippies, despite growing up listening to rock from the Sixties. I can admire the musical talent that went into "All you need is love" without believing in the silly philosophy it espouses. Ted Nugent was part of the music scene back then. Unlike many people, he was sober enough to remember what he calls the Summer of Drugs:

Forty years ago hordes of stoned, dirty, stinky hippies converged on San Francisco to "turn on, tune in, and drop out," which was the calling card of LSD proponent Timothy Leary. Turned off by the work ethic and productive American Dream values of their parents, hippies instead opted for a cowardly, irresponsible lifestyle of random sex, life-destroying drugs and mostly soulless rock music that flourished in San Francisco.

The Summer of Drugs climaxed with the Monterey Pop Festival which included some truly virtuoso musical talents such as Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, both of whom would be dead a couple of years later due to drug abuse. Other musical geniuses such as Jim Morrison and Mama Cass would also be dead due to drugs within a few short years. The bodies of chemical-infested, brain-dead liberal deniers continue to stack up like cordwood.

As a diehard musician, I terribly miss these very talented people who squandered God's gifts in favor of poison and the joke of hipness. I often wonder what musical peaks they could have climbed had they not gagged to death on their own vomit. Their choice of dope over quality of life, musical talent and meaningful relationships with loved ones can only be categorized as despicably selfish.

It's amazing that musicians manage to survive that decade. I wonder how much they really relied on the drugs for inspiration. What could Jimi Hendrix have done had he stayed sober? He had a talent with the electric guitar that was extraordinary. Think about the continuous use of drugs in the modern music scene. (Kurt Cocaine anyone?) How many good artists are going to bite the dust before this over? Say what you want, but I'm glad there are drugs which are illegal.

Clean and sober for 59 years, I am still rocking my brains out and approaching my 6,000th concert. Clean and sober is the real party.

Damn straight. Keep on rocking, Ted.