"Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival was particularly loved by Navy and Army personnel assigned to the Mobile Riverine Force, tasked with deploying troops in the waterways and canals of the Mekong Delta. There were at least three Riverine craft that were painted with "Proud Mary" as their name, as we were "Rollin' On the River", as the song says.
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“Sky Pilot”
About the Army Chaplin Corps....at least that is who i thought of back then.
2
And don't forget "Sergeant Pepper" who broadcast on Armed Forces Network Vietnam Sunday nights at 8 PM, I think. At least in '69-'70. All "Head" music as we used to say. The joke was that the whole country (meaning us lower ranks) lit up at 7:45pm. But probably not that much of a joke. My first link to the music of '68 to '70 when cultural changes emphasized political attitudes. "Have you heard of Woodstock" I was asked in the winter of "69"? Not front page news in the army newspaper. Our platoon was a third smokers, a third drinkers, and a third lost.
If you would just stop telling me how anti-war you were or how lucky you were with the draft, or your minor medical condition, you might learn something. But you have to ask. You being anti-war is like being an expert on sex by reading about it.
Nice. This brings back memories of that period, some of them good, others not so much. I'm not a Vietnam Vet, but am Vietnam-era (USAF, '71-'72). I was also a proud GI resister. And, yes, the music moved me, too.
In a similar vein, I remember "Cisco Kid" blaring from a speaker at Wounded Knee, where I did fight in 1973. Whenever I hear that song today, it immediately takes me back there in a flash. I see the bunker I served in, the house the music was blasting out of and the long distance without cover from one to the other. It seemed even longer during a firefight, even at night. I feel the cold wind hitting my face, see the snow... It's all there. This is a universal experience, I suspect. Thank you for sharing this.
Another special song, it brought crews together, regardless of rank, and that number was Yellow River-----the theme song of the helicopter crews ferrying the grunts around the back 40-----the singing group, Jeff Christie or the Tremeloes, it hardly mattered because the lyrics rang too true. And, on those days, when a a Huey never returned or a crew member died, the chorus rocked the walls of those dirty little huts. And, at the finish, somebody said a few words, glasses raised, and more respectful drinking ensued, the time and the emotion defies context, never to be duplicated or understood by any other those involved.
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"We Gotta Get Out of This Place" was indeed our national anthem. For that reason only am I seeing Eric Burdon and The Animals in a few months. And my favorites Filipino band was THE FLICKERS, whose name in upper case was emblazoned on the bass drum, with the 'L' and the 'I' just a bit too close together.
On a visit to Viet Nam a few years ago, I stayed at a four-star hotel in Ha Noi and was delighted to see a Filipino cover band playing in the lobby during happy hour.
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Wonderful column. As a Navy brat coming from a family with a military tradition going back literally hundreds of years, I would have gone to Nam (mine was the last number called in the first draft lottery year). I flunked my draft physical at the LA induction center, though (bad eyes), but the process was remarkably similar to its depiction in the films “Big Wednesday” and “Alice’s Restaurant”. I have never gotten over a sense of guilt and shame that I did not serve e, even though having studied the history and politics of the region for years, I believed the war was morally, politically, strategically and militarily wrong.
So I protested, as my favorite uncle was serving as a Navy pilot (staff by then) in his third war (the others wrere WW2 and Korea), a cousin was a helicopter pilot in the Marines, and a number of high school classmates either served or got out as CO’s or otherwise (our star quarterback went to Canada, only returning after the amnesty).
But we were all united by the Music. It is still central to me, even more because I lost nearly all of my hearing 16 years ago, and because we have no confluence of an event or events and shared music to unite us today, or even give us common ground to share, albeit with different interpretations and reactions.
I think today’s generation and those after Gen X have lost something the country could really use for lack of a common musical-political-sociological heritage.
On R&R in Taiwan I met a crew chief on a First Car medivac chopper(who I would see in Nam at a later date under trying circumstance) who, knowing I was a Grunt,asked me to listen more closely to James Taylor's "Fire and Rain".It became my anthem .
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/109564203405164869/
The above link is to picture of Hendrix playing guitar in uniform while at 101st AB in Fort Campbell. Although discharged due to unsuitability for military duty, he did complete the number of jumps to receive his para wings. I believe he had poor marksman scores also. That his last public performance occurred at club in London with Eric Burden and his new band War is quite ironic. Did the author interview Eric Burden about Jimi's feeling about the War or about what Eric thinks about his song became arguably the most iconic song of the War?
Thanks George. We did talk to Eric about Hendrix and about his song which became the Vietnam Vets National anthem. His responses are in our book!
Woody Guthrie was the father of the political song that opened the door to this music. The reason WWII songs were upbeat was that the war was a clear good-vs-evil undertaking that unified the country. Woody felt he contributed to the war effort by writing anti-fascist songs, not anti-war.
In order to avoid public ridicule soldiers with an honorable discharge during the war were issued a lapel pin indicating they had served. Most of us coming home from Vietnam grew our hair long to hide our connection to the military.
A great song is "Annie" by Bill Danoff about a conflicted draft dodger. Writing to "Annie" back in the states he wonders if "Prison would be better than to spend another lonely night." But he resolves it as a moral issue, not a personal one saying that "There is only war if war's inside of you."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpuWAKdodMA
Another brilliant song that is often overlooked is Steely Dan's 1972 "Change of the Guard. "If you live in this world you're feelin' the change of the guard." And later, "Take your guns off if you're willin', you know we're on your side."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRpWQFQmxFc
And how could you miss Richard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" that played in the movie "Apocalypse Now" as the helicopters fly into battle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP-mwk00MgM
Of course, the whole movie was ironic so it was hardly pro-war music, but it was powerful in its mockery.
Why was there not more written about Sgt. Adrian Kronauer (sic)? and the music and gist of "Good Morning, Vietnam!"
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Not enough room (smile). He's in our book and was a piviotal AFVN DJ! Thanks.
Apocalypse Now, the soundtrack....
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couple more for the mix; "Sky Pilot", "Galveston", "The Green, Green Grass of Home" and "Homeward Bound"
4
In the fall of 1969 I was out on a week long patrol. After 5 days we were getting up in the morning from ambush positions, drying out our pancho liners when we got word that we would be picked up early. Someone had a portable radio and the song that came on was, "Oh Happy Day". It has been one of my favorite Gospel songs ever since.
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So glad you made it back. Welcome home!
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Thank you. Just thank you. Our generation is passing from the stage, if not yet from life, and that time of sound and fury, once a time of ferocious challenge and doubt, now seems almost quaint and distant to many. We muddled through the Big Muddy....and now what? Must there always be more of them? And must our reaction to our failures of helping the world do what we thought it ought to.... be this nihilistic, narcisstic turn to gutless whining bragadoccio "led" by a president who has to have the number of his presidency embroidered on his cuff to remind him how wonderful he is. Colonel Bone Spurs.
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Some time after the Vietnam War ended, some veterans opened a private museum of the war in San Antonio. It was filled with artifacts of the era, mostly "in-country" items, that allowed veterans to relive the experience (as if they needed any help) and others, like myself, who never went to Nam when it was a "hot place" to visit, to vicariously capture some of the experience. What struck me most when I visited it, more than the weapons, tents, etc., on display, was the music constantly being played--that music that captured the era whether you lived it in Nam or back home.
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Music was a primary escape in my infantry company, most of it moody, some of it Rock, yes, some Motown, some Country & Western, some folk.
I was fortunate to be from Seattle, home to Jimi Hendrix, whose work "Purple Haze" was a sure bet to be heard when we were in Fire Support Bases between recon patrols. Guys got tapes from family and friends and they were played and treasured.
Always there was Creedence, there was Led Zepplin, there was Stevie Wonder, there was Aretha, and others.
Music was like opening a vein.
One of the first evenings I was in the field, in early April 1969, we listened to Glen Campbell's "Galveston" and Peter Paul and Mary's "Leaving on a Jet Plane."
A personal favorite then, and still, is "Whiter Shade of Pale." I find it transfixing and freeing, a song full of images that are bizarre, like life was in the war.
There were songs that were held in common, like a hit from the '50s that played infrequently on Armed Forces Radio Vietnam, "Stand by Me."
When I came home in June 1970, and dove into the party circle, I one night isolated myself in a corner when Santana was played. I was a White boy from a small farm in a corner of the country still mostly in post WWII time. Nothing quite like Santana-Santana had yet been conceived of in the garage and basement bands making the weekend rounds I'd been exposed to.
And for reasons beyond my ability to explain, the Zombie's "Time of the Season" remains one of my Vietnam War triggers. Go figure.
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Wow. Wonderful memories and connections. Glad you made it back. Welcome home brother!
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Doug Bradley
You, too, Doug. One of my former company commanders lives in Madison. I carried radio for him, and 2 other COs, as well as several sergeants, a Lt, and once for the battalion commander. I was often the target, and never hit. If I'd taken that luck to Vegas I'd be living in Provence on the proceeds, and the rest in a Swiss bank account. The guy in Madison retired as a Lt. Col, did a 180 in life, and became an actor who works for the Repertory Theater there on occasion. We talk frequently, as I do with one of my other COs, who lives in Boise, retired as a colonel. The third CO died several years ago, a retired Major who became a County Treasurer in Kentucky. Good man. The Bn commander retired as a 3 star and basses out of Hollywood, Florida, from where he does world wide charitable work. Interesting story, his.
1
Not many on the other side could say that. You Americans are highly commendable.
Deep, deep thanks to the obvious group of you here who served. As a mid 60s baby, I’m certain that your efforts made a huge positive difference for the world we now live in.
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I get the sentiment, but isn't it time to dispel with this myth that the war had any positive impact? I support the soldiers, many of whom fought involuntarily, but the war itself was a debacle. The fall of Vietnam was inevitable from day one and would have happened with or without our involvement in the region.
It's fine to say you appreciate the horrors witnessed and time given by these men, but to say their efforts "made a huge positive difference for the world we live in now" seems disingenuous and incorrect.
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For Americans Vietnam was never the most serious thing. It was a passing committment at best. An opportunity to try out military tactics, to play political games, to (in this case) have fun singing songs. For the anti-war protesters, a chance to test their moral rectitude about a faraway country. The Vietnamese never had these luxuries. For them Vietnam was 3000 years of history and the danger of losing Vietnam's unity forever to suit America's passing whim and the interests of America's new friend Red China (how Nixon and Kissinger came to ADORE Mao !) For the Vietnamese who cared about their country it was now or never for national unity and they had to fight no matter how inconvenient the Americans found it.
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Too bad there's no song about how I'd love to serve, without a weapon, but my bone spurs are killing me. VD was my Vietnam.
32
'Sympathy for the Devil'-About does it, no?
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Dad went there in 1966, his third war, my brother went there in 1971, in 1970 I was called to the principal's office to register when I turned 18, several other kinfolk did multiple tours in Viet Nam. All had their favorite tunes from that war, including dad. Anyhow The History Channel issued a 2 CD set, Viet Nam, Songs From The Divided House. I recommend it.
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Your principal monitored your draft registration?
Talk about patriarchy, even against the sons of men.
And we wonder why vets still have not healed, from any war...
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It's good to be reminded of how different Vietnam was for those who served and those who protested for their safe return. Music was the key element of the experiences many of us had. Often it was how we related.
I knew many guys who went and then returned, a few did not return. The shared experience was those I knew came back changed. Music was a way in.
Music meant protest and fear of not making it back.
This article reminds us how bonds to home and our culture play a role in healing and integrating back after the drama and trauma of war.
I'm proud of my days of protest. I honored the men and women who did their duty and never diss'd them. We all did what we felt was best. And music was the background to all of it.
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Welcome home brother!
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I seldom hear these sentiments expressed, then or now. I, too, felt we all did what we had to. I respected the men (only boys, really) who went, although I was against the war, and I respected those who left for Canada or Sweden because it's not easy to leave home and country on the strength of convictions. If only we could say "Never again."
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I went to college with quite a few Vietnam vets in mid-70s. Their comments about the overwhelming importance of listening to music during their tours stuck with me. This article resonates with that memory and those friendships.
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Good article on the Viet Nam war soundtrack.
There are some memories that just burn in to your skull, and one for me is from my first month in the Delta, November 1969. I was co-pilot of a Dustoff (medical evacuation) Huey doing a pickup in a hot LZ. The sun was bright but we descended through light raindrops to and then within bright yellow smoke amid a sea of green rice paddies. "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" played on AFVN over my earphones while I talked on two radios, with gunship escorts and with the guy on the ground. The Beatles song seemed synchronized with the beat of the blades and sporadic light gunfire. And I realized I had a full year yet to go.
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When they talk about "the music that defined a generation"...
Thanks, brother.
Mekong: 68-69
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Back at ya. Welcome home
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The TV show "China Beach" starring Dana Delany, and several other wonderful cast members, has it's own "Soundtrack" of the Vietnam War and includes many of the songs noted in this article................
Plus many more.
The release of the Complete DVD set was held up for years because of copyright issues for so many songs that were performed in the 60+ episodes.
Many times as I have read every installment of Vietnam '67 it brings back visuals, and audio, from "China Beach.
Vietnam War; First TV war, first Rock War.
May Richard Nixon rot in hell.
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He'll have lots of company ... 'moguls' -- and politicians (democrats as well as republicans).
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Great article for a terrible time. Country Joe McDonald will live in infamy for his lyrics (and kazoo): "So put down your books and pick up a gun, Gonna have a whole lotta fun. And it's one, two, three, What are we fighting for? Don't ask me, I don't give a damn, Next stop is Vietnam; And it's five, six, seven, Open up the pearly gates, Well there ain't no time to wonder why, Whoopee! we're all gonna die." I miss Robin Williams and his disc jockey character in "Good Morning, Vietnam."
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Of course by 1980 I was hearing Country Joe (without lyrics) over Muzak.
Then I knew that anyone/anything/any music could be co-opted.
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Politicians come and go, fads come and go, administrations come and go... Music is permanent. Do you listen to old Nixon and Carter speeches? Of course not. Classic rock from the 60s and 70s is everywhere. In 2018! Music matters.
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I'll jump in to add that Hendrix served in the Army, briefly, although was apparently kicked out.
But I'd also like to respectfully(!) disagree with Joe McDonald, here,that the songs would be similar in any war, and suggest a reason. For instance, the songs of WWII---only 20 years in the past during Vietnam!--- were very different for the most part: "I'll be seeing you", "Lili Marlene", and many others had a much more pronounced elegiac character, while others went the opposite direction, i.e. "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", of lighthearted fun. Vietnam's songtrack was far more bitter, ironic (or taken ironically), and caustic in many cases. I think this reflects the nature of the 2 wars well, hellish though they both were. I wonder what the Vietnamese, north and south, songtrack(s) would be? This entire topic would ,make a fine book.
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Doug Bradley, if you're writing a book about the soundtrack of the Vietnam War prominently featuring Country Joe, you should know that he plagiarized his famous song from the New Orleans jazz legend Kid Ory. The case went to trial and Country Joe won, but only because of the silly statute of limitations. He's admitted that the song wasn't really his even if he won his day in court. Never made any financial restitution to the Ory family.
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Thanks for bringing back powerful memories.
A couple of vignettes: two Navy lieutenants on R & R in Taipei, going down the strip putting NT dollars into every juke box so that eventually the whole street, door to door, was blaring "War! What is it GOOD for? Absolutely Nuthin'. Play it again!"
And showing "Woodstock" in the wardroom to a couple of Vietnamese Navy officers we were training. As luck would have it, the Captain walked in just as Jimi Hendrix started his amazing version of the Star Spangled Banner. The CO knocked over the projector, ordered me to his stateroom, and threatened me wth a court marshall for unpatriotic behavior. Home of the brave indeed.
Laura's husband Bob: Great article. "We Can Fly" by the Cowsills was the song that immediately played in my mind whenever I was in a Slick helicopter in Vietnam - as a passenger, not a pilot. I arrived in Nam in late August of 1968, not that long after the song came out. Like "We Gotta Get Out of This Place", "We Can Fly" had absolutely nothing to do with soldiers or Vietnam. Google the lyrics and you'll readily see. A line like "Isn't it groovy in a daydream" and images of "fluffy clouds" and "morning mist" doesn't fit the nightmare that combat can be. But the euphoria of low level flying and the upbeat melody had me singing (not out loud) the uplifting lyric "when you're beside me we can fly".
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See "treetop flyer" released by Steven Stills in 1991.
Instead of making me fatalistic about falling into the line that led so many of my contemporaries, as young men, to conscription (and almost certainly canon fodder for the War Machine) during the late sixties and early seventies, Rock and Soul music instead, helped radicalize me and open my eyes to the illogic of simply waiting for my number to be called.
So no, on the contrary, instead of lulling me into complacency and rationalizing the madness I saw engulfing my generation and my country during that time, Rock Music probably saved my life. And yes, you could even say Rock may have deprived those Masters of War of one more name to put on their cold black stone memorial. And the tune, following its first listen, that started it all for me and instantly put things into perspective : 'Break on Through' the Doors.
Great Article!
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I turned 18 the year the draft ended and thankfully missed the Vietnam experience unlike two of my cousins one of which came "home in a box". All these tunes resonated with me then and still do. I remember clearly the controversy when Country Joe and the Fish were booked to play my HS auditorium but were cancelled at the last minute due to "vulgar" lyrics.
`I still applaud dissent in any form.
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Too bad we couldn't cancel the war, to spare us the vulgarity.
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Where’s ‘What’s Goin’ On?”
Marvin Gaye's release in January '71, long after the war should have ended, touched me despite myself. That is, by then, protest seemed so futile, why bother. But I felt a sincerity in Gaye's voice, and could not turn him off:
Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some loving here today - Ya
Crying out to Mother: Yes, what many young men cried in their last breath; and a thump in the heart that at least one mother felt at abut the same moment her son was killed in yet another hopeless war ...
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Couldn’t agree more. We give a lot of space in our book to Marvin and that song!!
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Speaking of boxes, read Zinky Boys by Svetlana Alexievich. The Soviet soldiers came back form Afghanistan in zinc boxes the families were forbidden to open lest they reveal the carnage going on there.
Old men talking, young men dying. It never stops.
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And we had the delicious irony listening to The Doors as Jim Morrison's father led the naval forces during the Gulf of Tonkin incident.
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Just to be clear, the Doors achieved prominence several years after the Gulf of Tonkin incident.
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I was lucky to have an inside non-combat job during my year at HQ 7th Air Force, and doubly lucky that my shop allowed us to set up our tape decks and stereos in our work stations if we used headphones. My work day started after I picked up the new reconnaissance film from the day before, threaded it into my light table, got a cuppa, a cig, and put Van Morrison's Moon Dance on the reel to reel.
1
My Dad was in theater in '68-'69. Nothing melodic and ready for radio in the late '60s could capture his experiences, so our vote is hands down the Stooges (1969 and '70 respectively):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0mRfECsHrc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qannFs974gg
Thanks for this article. I take one big exception to the references of the tape decks and playing devices. Some of us spent 24/7 365 in the boobies and never had the opportunity to but, nor the location to store and listen to those tape decks. Our only players were the small ubiquitous cassette recorders that were generally operated with beaugarded batteries from Starlight Scopes which while slightly higher in voltage, were the only things we could scavenge most of the time. A PX? What was that? If it wasn't sent from home or included in the periodic bags we received (they had a name, SP Packs?) we never got spares.
The music was our salvation. When we were on patrol in our M113A's we had a player stashed inside for when we set up or stopped for a break. When we went on an overnight foot patrol there may have been one nearby for the few minutes prior to setting up for the night. Not playing loudly, but playing nonetheless.
And let us not forget John Lennon's "So This is Christmas" that I believe came out for Christmas of 1969, the one I had the pleasure of being in country for.
Rock On!
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Actually the song was released on December 1, 1971.
Great article and great writing. Thank you. Btw I'm listening to the Doors right now :)
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What was the invasion of Vietnam by the U.S. other than the type of illegal invasion condemned by the Nuremberg Tribunal? How can soldiers heal without facing the truth? So how can saying, "Thank you for your service" to soldiers who engaged in an illegal invasion help these soldiers heal and deter the U.S. from continuing war after war?
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Whoa dude, kinda hard. Ever hear of the draft?
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Yes that is a harsh assessment.
Our country is very large. It is difficult if not impossible to analyze another's moral compass when one soldier comes from a country farm in the Midwest and another soldier comes from a well-informed major city or College town like Ann Arbor or Madison, and also which year in the 60s they had to make their youthful decision.
Our generation was put in a vice at a young age ...there was no winning.
2
Good stuff about good tunes and bad times. Keep on keepin' on...
USN 1967 - 71
Viet Nam 1968
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"Be the first one on your block to have your boy come home in a box." Reminded me, for some reason, of the poem, now a 100 years old, Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen. http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/owen1.html
4
In a bar the other night and the Bee Gees, "Massachusetts", came on the sound system. A fellow about my age (70's) was sitting at the end of the bar. I looked at him and he looked up and nodded. Bought each other a cuervo without a word being said. If you were there, you don't words, just listen to the music.
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I remember lying in the woods in between the cow pastures at Max Yasger's farm in the summer of 1969 - at Woodstock - listening to Country Joe Macdonald singing his "Fixin' to Die Rag". A powerful moment, that, as so many of my peers (and my older brother) had been shipped off to fight a war we couldn't win.
I was a young nurse then, with a lot of life experience to learn, but that song, and that war shaped me and my generation.
Power to the music! Power to Joe Macdonald! And Power to this newsletter for reminding us of our own histories!!
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Australia's Vietnam anthem "I was only 19," released in 1983 by Redgum, changed public perceptions of Vietnam veterans and has been adopted by Australian vets as their reunion song, albeit it was written 20 years after the fact, not during the war.
And the Anzac legends didn't mention mud and blood and tears
And the stories that my father told me never seemed quite real
I caught some pieces in my back that I didn't even feel
God help me, I was only nineteen
4
As a Canadian young woman when the war, like a bad trip, was peaking, my experience was quite different, of course. Vietnam became a political flashpoint here s well, especially as we absorbed so many disillusioned Americans.
I was along for the musical ride. Many boys who served during the 60s -- although not necessarily in Vietnam -- ended up in recording studios. Jimi Hendrix, John Fogerty, Ray Manzarek of the Doors, Kris Kristofferson -- plus a lot of country stars.
I am definitely buying that book. Thank you.
2
I didn't go to Vietnam during the 1960's (I'm 72). Instead I opened a counter culture business called "The American Revolution". It was anti-war and yet I shared the sound track of my youth and those turbulent times with many Viet vets as mentioned in this article. You could exclude some tunes like The Ballad of the Green Berets.
Also, I did go to Vietnam in 1990 and 1991 with a friend who had been a combat vet and served 3 "tours" starting in 1967. He and I "visited" during the embargo, "touring" South Vietnam during peacetime...the first time for both of us. He spoke fluent Vietnamese, I didn't. Both of us from the "American War" generation. One of our spots was The Apocalypes Now bar in Ho Chi Min City (Saigon). It was a hole in the wall that played the sound track of that war. Quite an experience for both of us.
5
Summer of '67 I was at a base camp east of Khe Sanh. A member of our unit returned from R&R with a battery powered record player and a weird looking album saying you gotta hear this. After listening to it, I remember thinking what am I doing here.
8
But what was the album?
2
Sorry, Sgt Pepper
Music has always been a part of the "culture" but never in the USA had music impacted people in the way it did in the sixties and early 70's. Love the inclusion of the many songs you mention. I would add Tim Buckley's "Once I Was a Soldier" used so well in the film "Homecoming." Well well done - can't wait to read the book.
8
I have been reading John Powell's book "Why you love music - the emotional power of beautiful sounds". Music is Magic. The book teaches a lot about what we already know: that music can influence our moods, that memory of tunes is better than plain words (how about the alphabet song kids), that our brains like the familiar and like songs to be repeated, etc...Music can literally save lives, just ask any musician or "The Pianist".
My husband went to Vietnam and still pays the price. Eternally grateful for the sacrifices made by our soldiers. Without them there is no country, period.
3
Sorry, but what could you possibly mean by these two sentences?
"Eternally grateful for the sacrifices made by our soldiers. Without them there is no country, period."
If anything, there are at least 50,000 fewer people in your country, and a lot of "eternally" damaged ones who came home.
I am NOT AT ALL grateful for their service, and wish many more had left the US, refused to "serve." We need to be doing that for EVERY war, refuse to "serve."
3
I remember listening to these songs as a kid and wondering how they were received by the people fighting in that war, which I was lucky enough to be too young to get drafted into. This article is a fine explication of the answer and brings back memories of a time when Rock/Pop meant something. It was important. It mattered. Now, it seems it only amounts to one long commercial for soda, jeans, or an insurance company. For the Vietnam Generation, it was truly the best of times and the worst of times.
21
Fantastic article. My father served in the Navy. Growing up, I went through his crates of records including Motown, Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, and Simon and Garfunkel. I felt grateful that he shared his musical library with me. Music was always part of our lives. Reading this article, now I get the why - a sense of comfort, escape, and expression for him. But it also taught me the importance of music in anyone's life and a piece of history like literature, a primary source of the era.
22
Thank you!
Good selections all. I'm of that generation so of course I say musically they were the best of times. Yes, of course, there were clunkers in all those stacks of wax. Plenty of novelties and one-hit wonders, but too few to mention compared with all the great ones. Eventually, the "cream" rose to the top. And what an abundance of cream there was.
I'd like to add the soundtrack from the movie "Coming Home". Directed by Hal Ashby (who also did "Shampoo"), both these films soundtracks are a joy. They both captured the late Sixties soundscape to a tee.
DD
Manhattan
11
Thanks for this great article, I wasn't even born when the war took to an end but I love learning about our past history and I'm documenting myself about Vietnam war as we're talking about it in the English class I teach to middle schoolers here in France. Thanks for the musical references that will come in handy.
10
my late husband and i were at a beach bar a couple of years back and the band was playing this music of the 60's-70's. when a particular song came up, he said "i used to listen to that song on missions" evidently they could play it thru their headphones. he did 2 tours as an f-4 fighter pilot. "popping smoke" was what the troops on the ground did to mark their position when they called in the fighters
21
Thoughtful well written
? What is going to be the soundtrack of our present awful political era? Suggestions please
17
Dissonant sounds of destruction with lyrics about something trickling down from the billionaires. Tone deaf lead singer, why not let Trump have the honors? He'll say it's the greatest performance by a lead vocalist ever. Biggest crowds in history too. A song "Tired of Winning Yet" too. A SNL parody of all the administration folks Trump has fired singing "We Are the World."
Putin should have a guest appearance along with Duterte and Erdogan. The lyrics won't make sense but it's probably hilarious in Russian. Something about nyet golden showers?
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I think "Eve of Destruction" fits. Listen to the whole song again. It gave me chill bumps.
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Adam: For the soundtrack of the present era, you may wish to start with English singer-songwriter Richard Thompson, and his song "Fergus Laing:"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWPo2WGmGVs
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I also applaud your great article and appreciate the spotlight on Country Joe, whose Woodstock performance I was able to see at a Ft Hood movie theater, post Vietnam. When we heard those famous 4 letters, the entire theater went nuts.
One disappointment. You didn't mention "Up Against the Wall", a song played over and over at my base camp Dian, just north of Saigon.
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"Up Against The Wall" can be heard on YouTube. It was sung by David Peel and the Lower East Side on the "Have a Marijuana" album.
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Great piece -- got to read your book.
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You nailed it, brah. Long Binh '72...
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Welcome home brother.
Delta, 70-71
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Thanks brother. You too!!
Thanks. Welcome home
P
While many of my brothers suffer mentally from our tours in Vietnam the music helped us keep some sanity in a place and time that stripped our dignity and our caring for others away.
I still listen to the music that reminded me of the world and thank those artists that gave us the music, pro and anti war.
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John Fogerty, who wrote "Fortunate Son", was also a Veteran,
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Very interesting and enjoyable piece, thank you. In reference to Country Joe, it is worth noting that while he was indeed a veteran, he was not a veteran of Vietnam, having served before the buildup and escalation there. It should also be noted, for those who don't know the song, that it has a silly sound, with kazoo, as counterpoint to the horror and stupidity of the war people were being sent off to.
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Thank you for your service Mr. Bradley.
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Thanks for that Doug. I was in Qua Viet in 69 and Danang in 70. What I remember about the music, is how it melted away racial/ethnic discrimination. We were all brothers. When we came home that all went away. The music was still there though. My best mechanic (I was a Marine Corporal amtrac mechanic) was an African American kid from east Texas whose father owned an auto shop. That guy could fix anything. I sold my banjo to him, and he was a master. "We gotta get out of this place" we sang every night in the hooch.
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This article hits right on track. The shared and disparate experience of the era really surrounds, envelops and moves the music. Songs that were at the peace marches I was at, speak to my veteran friends too.
I really appreciate the comment about Country Joe, as I never knew he was a vet, but yet I knew that there was a real connection with the soldiers even without that knowledge.
I wish we had more of the shared experience around music today instead of the one playlist for you and another for me.
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The shared and disparate experience of the era indeed. The same month Mr. Bradley was drafted, I filed for CO status with my local draft board. Years later, I represented veterans in proceedings to upgrade their bad paper discharges. I still have a handful of original vinyl albums in totally beat covers, including the Country Joe album featured in this article and another, "Together." I tell my wife that when I'm old and demented, I may not remember her name but I probably will be able to recite "Alice's Restaurant" with few if any mistakes.
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