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Hippy Chick - My Favourite Music

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The Music that defined a generation.

I was fortunate enough to experience growing up mostly in London though that strange and magical decade from the mid sixties to the mid seventies - the Hippy Era. The resulting influence on my music tastes and my life direction has been profound.

If you look at the Rolling Stone 500 all time greatest records - more than half were from that period and recently I decided to have another go at replacing more of my vinal record collection with CDs.  I was pleasantly surprised to discover that a great many of the less well known classics have now become available - and better still are really cheap in the new and used sections of Amazon. 

But more amazing has been the discovery of a wealth of video clips, some very rare, of many of my favourite tracks from my favourite albums on YouTube. As far as possible I have tried to remain true to the era with all the video clips - though some are later recordings of music from that time. Some of the early recordings are also a bit iffy and others remind me of just how hard a time some people had accepting us "long haired hippies".

The problem with trying to define my favourite music is that this search has uncovered artists, records and tracks I had long forgotten, that have for some reason been lost from my collection.  What started as my top 10 has evolved into my top 10 Rock, Blues and Folk.  Some times I have been unable to find video footage from a favourite album but have discovered other stuff that strongly influenced me and was a joy to rediscover.  

So what I hope you will find here is an experience, is a journey back to a quite brief period on music, but one that changed and influenced a generation.  This is the primary Baby Boomer influence, that hippy generation from 1965 to 1975.

My favourite band is Pink Floyd but there is so much stuff on them that I have had to start a new lens just on Pink Floyd The Worlds Greatest Rock Band

If you also loved this era of Music - please do add a comment at the bottom - and don't forget to give the lens an appropriated rating.
 

Musical Memories of a Hippy Chick

or should I say dreams of a wanabee Hippy Chick

If you have read my bio you will have deduced that I am transgender. However I didn't transition and begin living as a woman until five years ago so unfortunately my hippy days in the late sixties early seventies were not spent as a hippy chick. (I wish)

Fortunately though, the clothes in that brief era were pretty unisex - the velvet loon pants, tye-died tshirts, high heeled boots, long hair, beads and shoulder bag were the quite normal for a guy then, so I managed to cope without giving away the fact that I really wished I were a hippy chick. (even in those enlightend times of the Gay Liberation movement that started in June 1969, transgenderism was not really OK)

Now, half a lifetime on, I am getting back to wearing the same clothes but this time as a somewhat aging hippy chick (but still looking good) and reconnecting with my musical roots.

My new PC has a huge amount of disc space - 250 Gb - so I have loaded my entire growing CD collection and the great thing about juke box software is that I can create play lists that reflect moods, or years.

When I arrived in London in September 1969 I discovered a very different world to the one I had experience in the rural west country (Wiltshire). Quickly influenced by psychedelic mind awakening substances, my previously very constrained music tastes blossomed as I experienced music seldom played on radio because many artists were just too radical for mainstream media and seldom released singles. This was the era of the Album.

June 1970 found me at the first of many outdoor music events returning to near my home town for the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music I am somewhere in that crowd in the picture above. This was the great American Music Invasion - The biggest ever line up of American bands and the first big(250,000 people) UK event after Woodstock and before the Isle of Wight.

Some of the artists there are in my favourite albums, most are in my LP collection. All my favourite CDs are available on Amazon but I have also found on YouTube video footage from the time of most of the artists performing tracks from these albums you can listen to. Occasionally I have had to use later live recordings of music originally released in the hippy era and sometimes I have had to feature tracks not on my favourite albums.

Do add any comments - this lens is a hippy experience and I hope it encourages some comment.

My Last.fm Playlist

Click to listen to some of my favourite music

My Favourite Rock Bands

Artists who performed my favourite albums

Not everything performed by all these artists were my favourites but generally I found that I loved to listen to most of their stuff. The exception is Pink Floyd - I love pretty much everything they have ever done.
Pink Floyd
Sadly Sid Barrett passed away in July 2006 but the rest of the band are still around - and I have 50 CDs performed by one or more of Pink Floyd between 1967 and 2006. As this lens has grown I have built a new lens featuring lots of video footage of the band and have transfered information from here to the new Pink Floyd lens. My favourite Floyd Album is Atom Heart Mother which I saw performed live in Hyde Park in 1971 with a full orchestra and choir.
Barclay James Harvest
Not as famous as Pink Floyd but in the early seventies equalled them in musical talent. BJH's early albums were all performed with a full orchestra - one of few Rock bands (along with Pink Floyd) to successfully achieved this. Favourite album Once Again.
The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues were another very influencial band that set new boundaries in Rock music using instruments like the Mellotron and working with orchestras. The Moody Blues also pioneered concept albums where the entire album or part of it followed a theme.
David Bowie
I connected with David Bowie on the release of Man Who Sold the World - As a trans woman the album cover of David in a dress was enough to persuade me to buy it and it has become one of my favourite albums.
Yes
Yes are an English progressive rock band that formed in London in 1968. Their line up has changed from time to time but the band has endured. Founder Jon Anderson has also produced some classic albums with Vangelis.
Spooky Tooth
Spooky Tooth were an English progressive rock band from the late 1960s. The primary influence on my was the release of the album Last Puff and in particlular their cover of Lennon and McCartney classic I am a Walrus.

Favourite Hippy Chick Tracks

Track Artist Album  
After the Day Barclay James Harvest Mocking Bird - The Best of Barclay James Harvest
White Bird It's a Beautiful Day It's a Beautiful Day
I Am the Walrus Spooky Tooth The Best of Spooky Tooth - That Was Only Yesterday
Yours Is No Disgrace Yes The Yes Album (Remastered)
The Man Who Sold the World David Bowie The Man Who Sold the World (Remastered)
The Actor The Moody Blues In Search of the Lost Chord (Remastered)
The Court of the Crimson King King Crimson Children of Men (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

My Top 10 Rock Albums from the late sixties early seventies

My tastes in rock music straddled Blues and Psychedelic Rock

I arrived in London in 1969 and suddenly my life changed - more than anything it was the music of the next two or three years that impacted me, that and the wonderful hippy culture in London.
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My Top 10 Rock Albums from the late sixties early seventies

My tastes in rock music featured mostly Progressive and Psychedelic Rock

I arrived in London in 1969 and suddenly my life changed - more than anything it was the music of the next two or three years that impacted me, that and the wonderful hippy culture in London.
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Rock Videos from the Sixties and Seventies

A great mix of my favourite artists

Not always my best choice of tracks, but I have been amazed at what I can find on YouTube. I hope you enjoy these as much as I enjoyed finding them.
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My Top 10 Blues Albums from the Late sixties early seventies

These were the albums that most influenced me

More than any other music genre, Blues influenced the Hippy culture with artists like Eric Clapton, Van Morrison and Peter Green - but when I listen to early Elvis songs I can see how Blues had been constanly influencing my music tastes.
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My Top 10 Blues Albums from the Late sixties early seventies

These were the albums that most influenced me

More than any other music genre, Blues influenced the Hippy culture with artists from the UK like Eric Clapton, Van Morrison and Peter Green - but when I listen to early Elvis songs I can see how Blues had been constanly influencing my music tastes.
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A track from each of 9 of my Favourite Blues Albums

An amazing journey back in time

I found videos of tracks from 9 of my favourite Bluses albums - there is a Spooky Tooth track in the Rock Mix earlier but not from Last Puff - But do enjoy this collection.
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My Top 10 Folk Albums from the late sixties and early seventies

These were the folk albums that most influenced me

My early influences were not all rock - I loved the folk music of that time - One of my favourite of all concerts was the Lincoln Folk Festival in 1970 - with a huge line up of artists including Tom Paxton and James Taylor.
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My Top 10 Folk Albums from the late sixties and early seventies

These were the folk albums that most influenced me

My early influences were not all rock - I loved the folk music of that time - One of my favourite of all concerts was the Lincoln Folk Festival in 1970 - with a huge line up of artists including Tom Paxton and James Taylor.
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Barclay James Harvest

Everything you need to know about this great band

I loved Barcley James Harvest from the first time they appeared in

Despite not being at the height of popularity for most of the past few decades three incarnations of the original band are still performing and recording. Regretably drummer Mel Pritchard who played with Les Holroyd died in 2004.
Barclay James Harvest Home Page
Barclay James Harvest - the BJH Home Page, with news, biographies, worldwide discographies, concert listings, photos and more - everything you ever wanted to know about Barclay James Harvest!
Once Again - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Once Again From Wikipedia

Still my favourite Album - here is a litell more informatino on it
John Lees Barclay James Harvest
Here you will find comprehensive information about the current activities of Barclay James Harvest founder members John Lees and Woolly Wolstenholme and their band. Check the site for details of the current tour.

Go to this site and click on the MySpace link to hear some of the band's current tracks.
Wolley Wolstenholme and MÆSTOSO
This was the thirs break away band although Wooley Wolsenstone who was responsible for the haunting melotron sounds in the original band still plays with John Lees BJH.

Go to this site scroll down a little and click on the MySpace link to hear the band.
Barclay James Harvest featuring Les Holroyd
Barclay James Harvest featuring Les Holroyd - main site with links to European tour dates and tracks you can listen to.
BJH featuring Les Holroyd - Myspace - Click and Listen
MySpace Profile - Barclay James Harvest featuring Les Holroyd

This is one of three incarnations of the band now performing led by Les Holroyd - The myspace site automatically plays a current track.

David Bowie

Strong influence who helpme to stat accepting myself as trans

David Bowie was a huge influence in my life in the early seventies from the release oof man Who sold the world and then though to Ziggy Stardust - I was at the Rainbow Theatre for one of the very last Ziggy Concerts - when you could see Bowie in a theatre instead of a stadium.
The Man Who Sold the World
The Man Who Sold the World From Wikipedia

I had just had my entire record collectin stolen and popped into my local shop where the manager recommended this newly released almum - I became a David Bowie fan immediately.
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
When I went to see the almost last Ziggy Stardust Concert at the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park in 1971 - Roxy Music were the backing band. This was far more than a Rock Concert. Bowie was very much into mime at the time and had a scafolding structure with multi level platforms on stage with mime artists on each and amazine lighting - a truely theatrical production.

Are you a fan of Music from this era?

Tell us your favourites from the time.

Please feel free to add your comments about music from the late sixties early seventies.

  • ellagis Jun 11, 2011 @ 12:08 pm | delete
    I like most of your suggestions.... one on all: David Bowie. Such a magnetic person!
  • thesuccess Sep 20, 2010 @ 2:55 pm | delete
    The Yes Album was one of my favories
  • Mad Jester Jan 25, 2009 @ 1:13 pm | delete
    Learnt to play guitar listening to the classic Tom Paxton album Rambling Boy. Saw Christine Perfect with Chicken Shack at Wolverhampton Polytech Summer Ball 1969. Favourite MoodyBlues album "Threshold of a Dream." Man they were good music days.
  • Brad Apr 17, 2007 @ 12:48 pm | delete
    There's some great albums listed. In the folk section,
    I might suggest Tea For The Tillerman by Cat Stevens
  • BigJim Mar 8, 2007 @ 8:43 pm | delete
    Great Lens. Thanks for being a part of the Classic Rock
    Group    .
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Rikki

I was born in Malta but lived for most of my childhood in a pub in a small village in the west country of England, isolated from the main stream of British... more »

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