Pre-1964 attitudes

I'm not prepared to say that any of that was some
sort of "Establishment" plot to squash the revolution
that was rock and roll. Two of them chose their own
downfalls. Many others were drafted besides Elvis,
and he could have chosen a better manager than
Colonel Tom Parker. Little Richard returned to
preaching as the Holy Spirit moved him, so far
as I know. And I doubt the CIA sabotaged the plane
carrying the 3 surviving stars. They might still
be alive if Buddy Holly had been content to
stay on that bus with the Crickets, no matter
how cold it was.

So the period 1958 to 1963 is often considered
a barren time for rock and roll, though there
was a fair amount of fun pop.

Still, it was music for teenagers, and nobody else
paid much attention to it.

As far the way people lived in 1964, it was
amazingly different in many ways than now.
And I have mixed feelings about it.

I don't consider myself a prude, but in 1964
the vast majority of people did not have babies
unless they were married. And exceptions were
shamed.

Although Diana Ross and the Supremes singing,
"Love Child" was a calculated way of being
"relevant" and "socially conscious" -- it
reflected a real and dominant feeling. Society
DID look down upon "love children." That is,
those "born out of wedlock." What a quaint
phrase that is to type on a computer.

And it may amaze some of you, but that was nearly
as true among blacks as whites.

Of course, people of all races did screw
around, but there was always the danger and risk
of pregnancy. It WAS a shameful thing for unmarried
girls to get pregnant. If they did, the boys were
supposed to marry them.

All that's now considered old-fashioned and mean,
but now we've got tons of children who have no idea
of even who their fathers are.

It was a time when married couples in situation
comedies on TV slept in twin beds.

Yet, I don't consider myself a moralist. So I
better stop this track of thinking.

Let's just say that society as a whole, prior to
1964, was a lot more "uptight" than it is now.


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