Fourth Grade completed, woohoo and I am 10 and living in a foreign country, Germany. A lot happens this year in the world. I remember watching the moon landing and staying up late. I got a 10 speed bike for Christmas. Some friends and I on the way to the rec (recreation) center in the daytime hear of a wild boar stalking the woods. We are living on base at Landstuhl Germany, 3rd floor. Me and my peeps are going to go out hunting the boar (luckily we never find it, but it has been taken care of). One night on the way to the rec center, which was down a small hill there was a patch where the water ran that had frozen over. We would surf –like slide down here, and have been doing it for a couple of weeks, but this night one of us falls and breaks his arm. The summer was good for the most part. Ricky Gordon, my bud (who still lived on the economy) and I formed a “band”, lol. He had a guitar and I had tin cans for a drum set. We did this after our Beatles summer on post having watched, Hard Days Night and Help! Which we rolly-pollied out in the field pretending we were the Beatles (lol). My parents went on a vacation and I stayed with Bill and Marie (she was French) Lombardi and His Family a friend of Dads, he had two daughters and a son. I remember Francois and Luigi but not the littlest ones name. The first night at their dinner table, naive as I was, someone had farted and Bill asked who cut the cheese, I said I see no cheese (like I said, naive). The kids giggled at me until Bill explained. They lived in France and we were playing one day, running in the wheat fields, and I was blinded (found out later I had allergies, and my eyes had swollen shut).
My grandfather, Poppop dies later in the year, and my parents have to fly back stateside, they think I am to young for funerals. Someone was supposed to stay with me after school on the third day, but no one was there, and didn’t know where to go or get a hold of anyone and I was locked out. Ended going to the MP's (Military Police), don’t remember exactly what happened but I know that someone came and got me late that night.
I started fifth Grade here, but would finish someplace else. We move early next year.
MUSIC:
Busy year in rock n roll. Songs to come out this year are Get Back and Come Together/Something (The Beatles), Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head (BJ Thomas), Spinning Wheel (Blood, Seat & Tears), Proud Mary (CCR), Touch Me (The Doors), Suspicious Minds and In the Ghetto (Elvis Presley), Aquarius (The Fifth Dimension), Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town (Kenny Rogers), Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin), Leavi9ng on a Jet Plane (Peter, Paul and Mary), My Cherie Amour (Stevie Wonder), Love Child (Supremes), Sugar Sugar (The Archie’s), Crimson and Clover (Tommy James and the Shondells p good love song), Pinball Wizard (The Who) and In the Year 2525 (Zager and Evans).
Some of the mega albums and bands to come out: Alice’s Restaurant (Arlo Guthrie – had to be stoned to watch the movie), The Band (The Band), Abbey Road and Yellow Submarine (yeehaw) (the Beatles), Blind Faith (Blind Faith), Blood, Sweat and Tears (Blood, Sweat and Tears), Willy and the Poor Boys (CCR), Grand Funk (Grand Funk Railroad), In the Court of the Crimson King (King Crimson), Led Zeppelin and Led Zeppelin II (Led Zeppelin of course) and Ummagumma (Pink Floyd).
And the events, wow, this was the year: Beatles last Public Performance on top of Apple Studios, John and Oko Bed In for Peace, Rumors of Paul’s death, Altamont Freeway (what the heck were the Stones thinking?) and last but not least……WOODSTOCK!!!!!!!!!
MOVIES:
Notable Movies of the year are Alice’s Restaurant (Arlo Guthrie), Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (Natalie Wood), A Boy Named Charlie Brown (poor Chuck), The Brain (David Niven), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Paul Newman and Robert Redford), Cactus Flower (Walter Matthau and Goldie Hawn wow sock it to me! Baby), Dragnet (Jack Webb) Easy Rider (Peter Fonda), Good Bye, Mr. Chips (Peter O’Toole), Hello, Dolly (Barbara Streisand), Krakatoa, East of Java (Maximillian Schnell – good ads, but movie, well ehh), Marooned (Gregory Peck), Puss n Boots (boy did mom love Disney, we saw this one also), Support Your Local Gunfighter (James Garner- always plays good funny cowboy gambler), True Grit (John Wayne) and the Wrecking Crew (Dean Martin – cuz).
EVENTS:
One ton meteorite hits Chihuahua Mexico, The Chicago 8 are indicted, First eye transplant, Queen Elizabeth II’ Maiden Voyage, Apollo 11 lands on the moon (One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind, I remember this late night), Edward (Ted) Kennedy pleads guilty to leaving the scene of an accident (one week later) and Mary Jo Kopechne dies in the car underwater, the Mansion Family kills Sharon Tate, Abigail Foldger and Jay Sebring, Supreme Court order immediate desegregation of all schools, Wendy’s Hamburgers opens up, SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) begin in Switzerland, Alcatraz is seized by Native Americans, Draft is instated (first time since WWII), John Lennon offered the part of Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar and the USAF closes project blue book (yeah, right lol).
CARTOONS:
New cartoons are The Pink Panther (so cool, now he sells insulation – childhood actors, lol), Hot Wheels (did you have some, I did), Dastardly and Muttley (they have their own show), The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, H. R. Pufnstuf (Jimmy, where is Witchiepoo and the Golden Flute?) and everybody’s favorite, this year our favorite dog (besides snoopy) and his snacks debut Scooby Doo? Where are You? Can you say Scooby Snack? (I wonder what was in those things?!).
TV Shows: Last Episode of Star Trek (can farther than they have gone before), last Smothers Brothers, Hee Haw debuts along with Love American Style, Monty Pythons Flying Circus (God is it really that old?), The Courtship of Eddies Father and Room 222.
