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Learyfan
It's the psychedelic movement!



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Today in counterculture history (01/03) 2
#13724098 - 01/03/11 10:04 AM (13 years, 28 days ago) |
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- 1945: Stephen Stills is born
Quote:
Stephen Arthur Stills (born January 3, 1945; Dallas, Texas) is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young). He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time. Stills was ranked #28 in Rolling Stone Magazine's 2003 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
Buffalo Springfield & CSNY
Stills, Furay, and Young reunited in Los Angeles and formed the core of Buffalo Springfield. Legend has it that Stills and Furay recognized Young's converted hearse on the streets of LA and flagged him down, a meeting described in the recent solo track "Round the Bend". The band would release three albums (Buffalo Springfield, Buffalo Springfield Again, and Last Time Around) and one hit single (Stills' "For What It's Worth") before disbanding.
Stills' guitar playing continually evolved. Early on, it displayed sources in generic rock and roll, blues, and country music, as well as the chordings familiar in the acoustic-folk music scene. Soon Stills' playing showed the influence of his friend Jimi Hendrix and also sometimes the rhythms and riffs of various kinds of Latin music. Stills is notorious for experimenting with the guitar itself. This includes such things as soaking strings in barbecue sauce or flipping pickups to mimic Hendrix playing a right-handed guitar left-handed. He is also known for using unconventional tunings, particularly when performing acoustically. He is also adept at piano, organ and bass and plays some drums. "Stephen had a vision", [Graham] Nash says. "David [Crosby] and I let him run with it". Stills played nearly every instrument on Crosby, Stills and Nash, earning the nickname Captain Manyhands from Rolling Stone.
During the disintegration of Buffalo Springfield, Stills joined up with ex-Byrd David Crosby and ex-Hollie Graham Nash to form the supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash. Cass Elliot invited Graham Nash over to meet Stills and David Crosby at the home of well known folk musician and painter Joni Mitchell, who painted several artworks of the three. Mitchell also contributed the artwork seen on the cover of the CSNY collection album So Far, released in 1974. The cover photo pictured on the trio's first (self-titled) album in 1969 was taken on the back porch of a house in West Hollywood which was torn down the next day. Stills overdubbed much of the musical backing himself for the first Crosby, Stills, and Nash album with only Dallas Taylor's drums and some rhythm guitar from Crosby and Nash. Neil Young was added for their second album, and the group became Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Despite several breakups and reformations, CSN (and sometimes CSNY) still record and tour to this day.
Having played at the Monterey Pop Festival with Buffalo Springfield, and both Woodstock and Altamont with CSNY, Stills performed at all three of the iconic U.S. rock festivals of the 1960s.
Solo years
In the wake of CSNY's success, all four members recorded solo albums. In 1970, Stills released his eponymous album debut which featured guests Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, "Mama" Cass Elliot, Booker T Jones and Ringo Starr (credited only as "Richie") as well as contributions from various members of the CSNY band. It provided Stills with the hit single "Love The One You're With". Stills followed this with Stephen Stills 2, which featured "Change Partners." Even though the song was written before CSN formed, Nash saw it as a metaphor for the many relationships in CSNY, while Stills viewed the band as something much less bland and repetitive.
The next year, Stills teamed up with ex-Byrd Chris Hillman and several CSNY sidemen to form the band Manassas. With Manassas Stills recorded the self-titled double album Manassas. The album was a mixture of blues, folk and Latin music divided into different sections.
During a Manassas tour in France, Stills met and married French singer-songwriter Veronique Sanson. Then he switched to Columbia Records, where he recorded two albums: Stills in 1975 and Illegal Stills, a pun on his name, in 1976. The former record found Stills in an uncharacteristically joyful mood; his marriage was going well, his son Chris had just been born, and he was happy living in Colorado. "To Mama From Christopher and the Old Man" was an exceptionally optimistic view of his new family.
In 1976, Stills attempted a reunion with Neil Young. At one point, Long May You Run was slated to be a CSNY record, but when Crosby and Nash left to fulfill recording and touring obligations, according to both David and Graham[2] the other pair wiped their vocals from the recordings, as Stills and Young decided to go on without their erstwhile partners as The Stills-Young Band. However, Young would leave midway through the resulting tour due to an apparent throat infection. Stills was contractually bound to finish the tour, which he did, but upon returning home, his wife announced she wanted a divorce and wished to move back to France. Stills reunited with Crosby and Nash shortly afterwards, thanks to the efforts of Nash's future wife Susan, who got Nash to forgive Stills for wiping the Crosby and Nash vocals from Long May You Run. This led to the semi-permanent CSN reunion of 1977, which has persisted even though all three have released solo records since then.
In 1979 he travelled to Havana, Cuba, to participate in the Havana Jam festival that took place between March 2–4, alongside Weather Report, the CBS Jazz All-Stars, the Trio of Doom, Fania All-Stars, Billy Swan, Bonnie Bramlett, Mike Finnegan, Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge and Billy Joel, plus an array of Cuban artists such as Irakere, with whom he toured the US after the Havana concerts. His performance is captured on Ernesto Juan Castellanos's documentary Havana Jam '79.
Although Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young had difficulties with their differing individual goals, egos, and musical styles, in the early 1983 Daylight Again DVD from the 1982 CSN tour, Stills introduced the song, "Wasted on the Way", commenting that there were "three buddies who didn't know how to talk to one another for years"... finally 'making friends' getting rich, and it being good". According to Crosby's biography, it was his lowest point in his crack cocaine addiction which left him nearly bankrupt, in prison without funds for a time.
In 1997, Stills became the first person to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice in the same night for his work with CSN and the Buffalo Springfield. Fender guitars crafted a custom guitar and presented it to Stills to commemorate the occasion, this Fender Telecaster style guitar bears an inscription on the neck plate.
2005 saw Stills release Man Alive!, his first solo offering in 14 years. Man Alive! was released on the small English independent folk rock label Talking Elephant, and was not widely reviewed. The record did not chart on either side of the Atlantic, and was received lukewarmly by the few critics who did review it.
Throughout 2006 and 2007, Stills toured regularly as a solo artist with "The Quartet", which consisted of drummer Joe Vitale, either Mike Finnegan or Todd Caldwell on keyboards, and either Kevin McCormick or Kenny Pasarelli on bass. Often a long acoustic solo section of the show would feature songs rarely played and showcase agile fingerstyle playing in standard and altered tunings. Stills toured Europe as a solo artist for the first time during October 2008.
Political activities
Nearly from their union as sometime musical partners, all four members of CSN&Y have long been involved in liberal causes and politics. In 2000, Stills served as a member of the Democratic credentials committee from Florida during the Democratic National Convention, and was an actual delegate in previous years. Jackson Browne, who has worked closely with CSN and CSNY, often requested their talents either in benefit concerts, or other charitable causes.
Miscellaneous
Stills was a songwriter before becoming a performer; his composition "Sit Down, I Think I Love You" was a minor hit for The Mojo Men before it was recorded by Buffalo Springfield.
Stills was a close friend of Jimi Hendrix, who appears on Stills' eponymous first solo album. Reputedly, when Hendrix was forming his trio The Jimi Hendrix Experience, his manager contacted Stills' manager to invite Stills to become the group's bass player. Concerned that Stills' friendship with Hendrix and admiration for Hendrix' genius might prompt Stills to take the job rather than continue with the Buffalo Springfield, Stills' manager elected not to pass the message on to Stills. Noel Redding was then offered and took the job as bassist with the Experience. They continued to socialize and jam together informally until Hendrix's death in 1970.
Several of Stills' songs, including "Bluebird", "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes", "You Don't Have To Cry" and "Bluebird Revisited" were inspired by his on-again-off-again relationship with singer Judy Collins. In a 1971 interview in Rolling Stone Magazine the interviewer noted, "So many of your songs seem to be about Judy Collins". Stills replied, "Well, there are three things men can do with women: love them, suffer for them, or turn them into literature. I've had my share of success and failure at all three."
Stills' son, Justin Stills, was critically injured at age 26 snowboarding on Mt Charleston Just outside Las Vegas in 1997. An episode of Discovery Health's documentary series Trauma: Life in the ER featured his treatment and recovery. Another son, Henry, has been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, and is profiled in the 2007 documentary Autism: The Musical. His son Chris and daughter Jennifer are both recording artists. His youngest son, Oliver Ragland, was born in 2004 and named in honor of Neil Young, whose maternal family name is Ragland.
On May 28, 2007, Stills sang the National Anthem for Game 1 of the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals between Anaheim and Ottawa in Anaheim, California.
On December 17, 2007, Graham Nash revealed on Larry King Live that Stills had been diagnosed with early stage prostate cancer and that his operation would take place on January 3, 2008, which is Stills' birthday. Stills said later in January 2008 that he had come through the operation with "flying colors."
The comic book series Scott Pilgrim (now a major motion picture) features a character by the name of Stephen Stills and is referred to as "The Talent" of the band he's in with the titular character. The character also plays an acoustic guitar and sings while playing in honor of the artist. He is often seen wearing western shirts, a possible reference to Texas, where the musician is from.
(https://en.wikipedia.org)
- 1970: Syd Barrett releases his debut solo album Madcap Laughs
Quote:
The Madcap Laughs is an album by Syd Barrett, released on 3 January 1970. It was his first solo album after being replaced in the band Pink Floyd by his old school friend David Gilmour.
History
After leaving the group, Barrett began recording sessions with former Pink Floyd-turned-Syd Barrett manager Peter Jenner in May 1968. Although the sessions were brief, the project was abandoned for almost a year while Barrett spent much of the year as a recluse. In April 1969, Malcolm Jones took over the project and Barrett began working on newer material, while reworking the 1968 recordings. Session musicians, namely, members of The Soft Machine, as well as Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley were also called in to augment Barrett's songs. It is still a mystery why Jones abandoned production responsibilities, at the end of May, so soon after having assumed them. Jones' recollections of the sessions are that he and Barrett got on well together and had in fact completed half of the album before the new producers took over. Roger Waters and David Gilmour were in the process of completing Pink Floyd's Ummagumma album when they got involved with The Madcap Laughs that July and helped Barrett finish his album, "in a two-day sprint" according to Rick Sanders, author of Pink Floyd (Futura Publications, 1976).
[Sessions] were pretty tortuous and very rushed. We had very little time, particularly with The Madcap Laughs. Syd was very difficult, we got that very frustrated feeling: Look, its your fucking career, mate. Why don't you get your finger out and do something? The guy was in trouble, and was a close friend for many years before then, so it really was the least one could do." — David Gilmour,
The album featured a rather unorthodox recording process, in which Syd would provide a backing track of his own singing accompanied by acoustic guitar, over which the session musicians would overdub the rest of the arrangement. However, Syd's playing and singing were highly erratic and unpredictable—he skipped or added beats and bars seemingly at random, or otherwise he would strum on a single chord for a long time before unexpectedly reverting back to the main portion of the song. This was all much to the frustration of the session musicians; a close listen to several tracks [in particular "No Good Trying" and "Love You"] will reveal the backing band hovering uncertainly here, or being caught off-guard by a chord change there (during an interview, Robert Wyatt recounted that musicians would ask "What key is that in, Syd?" and Barrett would reply "Yeah", or "That's funny"). Syd would not allow the musicians to rehearse or re-record their overdubs, insisting that they sounded fine. After several months of intermittent recording, the album was finally deemed complete.
... I liked what came out, only it was released far too long after it was done. I wanted it to be a whole thing that people would listen to all the way through with everything related and balanced, the tempos and moods offsetting each other, and I hope that's what it sounds like, I've got it at home, but I don't listen to it much now. —Syd Barrett,
The cover shows Syd Barrett in his living room. The title of the album comes from a line in the song Octopus.
"Octopus" was released as a single in November 1969 and the album itself followed in January 1970. It reached #40 in the UK at the time and was fairly well-reviewed.
The album was reissued in the early 1970s as record one of a double album, record two being "Barrett" his second album,as part of the Harvest Heritage series of reissues.
Track listing
All songs by Syd Barrett, except where noted.
Side one
1. "Terrapin" – 5:04
Take 1, recorded 11 April 1969, overdubs added 4 May Produced by Malcolm Jones
2. "No Good Trying" – 3:26
Take 3, recorded 11 April 1969, overdubs added 3/4 May Produced by Malcolm Jones
3. "Love You" – 2:30
Take 4, recorded 11 April 1969, overdubs added 3 May Produced by Malcolm Jones
4. "No Man's Land" – 3:03
Take 5, recorded 17 April 1969, overdubs added 4 May Produced by Malcolm Jones
5. "Dark Globe" – 2:02
Take 1, recorded 5 August 1969 Produced by David Gilmour and Roger Waters
6. "Here I Go" – 3:11
Take 5, recorded 17 April 1969 Produced by Malcolm Jones
Side two
1. "Octopus" – 3:47
Take 11, recorded 12 June 1969, overdubs added 13 June Produced by Syd Barrett and David Gilmour
2. "Golden Hair" – 1:59 (Barrett, Joyce)
Take 11, recorded 12 June 1969 Produced by Syd Barrett and David Gilmour
3. "Long Gone" – 2:50
Take 1, recorded 26 July 1969 Produced by David Gilmour and Roger Waters
4. "She Took a Long Cold Look" – 1:55
Take 5, recorded 26 July 1969 Produced by David Gilmour and Roger Waters
5. "Feel" – 2:17
Take 1, recorded 26 July 1969 Produced by David Gilmour and Roger Waters
6. "If It's in You" – 2:26
Take 5, recorded 26 April 1969 Produced by Malcolm Jones
7. "Late Night" – 3:10
Take 2, recorded 28 May 1968, overdubs added 11 April 1969 Produced by Pete Jenner, Malcolm Jones (overdubs)
* In 1993, The Madcap Laughs was reissued with several bonus tracks of alternate takes. See Crazy Diamond for track details.
Personnel
* Syd Barrett - Guitar, vocals * David Gilmour - Bass, 12-string acoustic guitar, drums (on "Octopus"), production * Roger Waters - Bass, production * Jerry Shirley - drums * John Wilson - Drums * Vic Saywell - Horn * Robert Wyatt - Drums on 2 and 3 (from Soft Machine) * Hugh Hopper - Bass on 2 and 3 (from Soft Machine) * Mike Ratledge - Keyboards on 2 and 3 (from Soft Machine)
Miscellanea
* The nude woman appearing on the inside record sleeve was an acquaintance of Syd Barrett's known as "Iggy the Eskimo". "When I arrived for 'The Madcap Laughs' photo session, Syd was still in his underpants... His lady friend of two weeks, 'Iggy the Eskimo' was naked in the kitchen..."
* Joe Boyd (producer of "Arnold Layne") had been looking for a follow up to the Purple Gang's "Granny Takes a Trip" single and asked Syd for a tape of his songs - "Boom Tune" (aka "Here I Go") was one on it the group were going to do, but unfortunately it never happened and the tape was lost (White Bicycles, Joe Boyd)
(https://en.wikipedia.org)
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Edited by Learyfan (01/01/21 01:45 PM)
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Learyfan
It's the psychedelic movement!



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Re: Today in counterculture history (01/03) [Re: Learyfan]
#13725231 - 01/03/11 02:53 PM (13 years, 28 days ago) |
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Happy 66th Birthday Stephen!
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Edited by Learyfan (01/03/12 05:39 AM)
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Learyfan
It's the psychedelic movement!



Registered: 04/20/01
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Re: Today in counterculture history (01/03) [Re: Learyfan]
#13725390 - 01/03/11 03:27 PM (13 years, 27 days ago) |
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Here's by far the best song from Syd's Madcap Laughs album. It's called "Terrapin". It should have been the single.
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Edited by Learyfan (01/03/14 05:50 AM)
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Taco Chef
I found dead John Cheever



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Re: Today in counterculture history (01/03) [Re: Learyfan]
#13725425 - 01/03/11 03:35 PM (13 years, 27 days ago) |
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Learyfan
It's the psychedelic movement!



Registered: 04/20/01
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Re: Today in counterculture history (01/03) [Re: Taco Chef]
#15608985 - 01/03/12 05:42 AM (12 years, 28 days ago) |
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Annual bump.
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Edited by Learyfan (01/03/19 05:55 AM)
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Learyfan
It's the psychedelic movement!



Registered: 04/20/01
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Re: Today in counterculture history (01/03) [Re: Learyfan]
#17490122 - 01/03/13 05:16 AM (11 years, 27 days ago) |
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Annual bump.
Edited by Learyfan (01/03/19 05:55 AM)
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Learyfan
It's the psychedelic movement!



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Re: Today in counterculture history (01/03) [Re: Learyfan] 2
#19362172 - 01/03/14 05:57 AM (10 years, 27 days ago) |
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Here's another Stephen Stills song, performed by Crosby, Stills and Nash called "Southern Cross".
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Learyfan
It's the psychedelic movement!



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Re: Today in counterculture history (01/03) [Re: Learyfan]
#21060382 - 01/03/15 11:28 AM (9 years, 27 days ago) |
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^ There's the full Syd Barrett Madcap Laughs LP on its 45th birthday today. But I would also like to wish Stephen Stills a big Happy 70th Birthday today!

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The Doobie Dude


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Re: Today in counterculture history (01/03) [Re: Learyfan] 1
#21060581 - 01/03/15 12:02 PM (9 years, 27 days ago) |
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R.I.P. Syd Barrett
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"There are a million reasons to drink and one just popped into my head. If a man can't drink when he's living how the Hell can he drink when he's dead?" - Irish Limerick I PLURed once because it was PLUR or die. - D.M.T.
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Learyfan
It's the psychedelic movement!



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Annual bump.
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Learyfan
It's the psychedelic movement!



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Re: Today in counterculture history (01/03) [Re: Learyfan]
#23978040 - 01/03/17 06:18 AM (7 years, 26 days ago) |
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Annual bump.
-------------------- -------------------------------- Mp3 of the month: The Apple-Glass Cyndrome - Someday
Edited by Learyfan (01/03/18 09:12 PM)
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Learyfan
It's the psychedelic movement!



Registered: 04/20/01
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Re: Today in counterculture history (01/03) [Re: Learyfan]
#24886741 - 01/03/18 05:49 AM (6 years, 26 days ago) |
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Annual bump.
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Learyfan
It's the psychedelic movement!



Registered: 04/20/01
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Re: Today in counterculture history (01/03) [Re: Learyfan]
#25720376 - 01/03/19 05:56 AM (5 years, 26 days ago) |
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Annual bump.
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Edited by Learyfan (01/03/20 05:42 AM)
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Learyfan
It's the psychedelic movement!



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Re: Today in counterculture history (01/03) [Re: Learyfan]
#26413676 - 01/03/20 05:43 AM (4 years, 26 days ago) |
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50th anniversary of Syd Barrett's Madcap Laughs album today. It's also Stephen Stills' 75th birthday!

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Learyfan
It's the psychedelic movement!



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Re: Today in counterculture history (01/03) [Re: Learyfan]
#27123451 - 01/03/21 09:12 AM (3 years, 25 days ago) |
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Annual bump.
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Learyfan
It's the psychedelic movement!



Registered: 04/20/01
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Re: Today in counterculture history (01/03) [Re: Learyfan]
#27604836 - 01/03/22 08:58 AM (2 years, 25 days ago) |
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Annual bump.
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Learyfan
It's the psychedelic movement!



Registered: 04/20/01
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Re: Today in counterculture history (01/03) [Re: Learyfan]
#28122093 - 01/03/23 02:22 AM (1 year, 25 days ago) |
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Annual bump.
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Learyfan
It's the psychedelic movement!



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Re: Today in counterculture history (01/03) [Re: Learyfan]
#28607993 - 01/03/24 05:04 AM (25 days, 10 hours ago) |
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Annual bump.
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