Sherpa Music Vol 9. New York 1967

1967 was the year I graduated from high school.

It was a year that my music-obsessed friends and I tirelessly pounded the streets from Stuy Town to the Village, just to be out in the midst of something that we knew was changing. We hit the streets on freezing days, pavement slick with slush, shoes soaked through and hot as the devil nights with steam pouring out of manhole covers. 

We walked and talked a mile a minute, making weekly stops at Dayton Records on 8th Street, to rummage through the bins for the latest releases. We waited in line at the Cafe Au Go Go, full of anticipation, and crept down those funky dark stairs to be blasted away.

It was the year of Sgt. Pepper, Are You Experienced, After Bathing At Baxter’s, Between The Buttons, Buffalo Springfield Again, Dear Mr. Fantasy. Motown was still on the radio mixing it up with the Stones, Hendrix, and the Beatles. The Rascals, The Blues Project, Richie Havens, the Youngbloods, and the Spoonful were our hometown bands. Jimi was back from England playing at Salvation. 

When we weren’t walking the streets we were gathered around record players and stereos heads deep in the music, soaking up every sound of the magic pouring out of the speakers.

This playlist hits some of the gems of  ’67, the year our aural world shifted. It’s dedicated to the memory of mighty Iguanas, Chuck Fitzgerald, and Josh Lipton. Rock on brothers. I’m sure you’re playing in that angel band. 

Be well, be safe. Listen in. Turn it up.

Jim