[Vision2020] A tribute to...

Sat Dec 6 20:27:24 PST 2014

Oh, I personally am fine with however you want to interpret McLean's poetry,
and I tend to agree with you about the particular verse in question.  The
whole infamous Altamont concert really was a huge deal back then, and I have
no reason to think the impact escaped McLean, who was certainly a part of
the music scene.  As with so much art, the meaning is in the eye of the
beholder.  At one point when I was a teen (I spent a whole lot of time going
to concerts - ah, the Bay Area was a great place for music lovers to be back
then!), my group of friends sat around analyzing American Pie to identify
the events for each stanza.  Some things we all agreed about, but others?
Not so much.  But, IIRC, we unanimously agreed that that particular stanza
was a reference to Altamont  :)  But, who knows?

However, you really should allow your elders to educate you about trivia  :)
At the time, Altamont was widely recognized as "The Day the 60s Died."  When
I was Googling it a couple of minutes ago to provide links, I see that the
phrase has since apparently been co-opted for several other notable things,
but if you ever win a trivia contest with the correct answer, please
remember me kindly.

You wrote:

"The reason for posting it under the subject heading of 'A tribute to...' is
to maintain the general format of Mr. Hansen's numerous similar postings of
song lineups to this forum."

Ahh - thanks for the clarification.  Sometimes I'm more than a little slow
on the uptake, and this was one of those times.  <shaking my head>  I
appreciate the tribute to Murdock (Meredith Hunter), which gave me an
opportunity to go back down memory lane to something I'd not thought about
in a couple of years.

Saundra

Moscow, ID

Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as
it is to the caterpillar.

~ Bradley Miller

From: Scott Dredge [mailto:scooterd408 at hotmail.com] 
Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2014 7:00 PM
To: Saundra Lund; vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] A tribute to...

I stand corrected on point one - Alameda County.

On strike two, it's quite obvious (to me anyway)  that there is more than
one 'day the music died' for Don Mclean.  This is why the follow on lyrics
flow with my commentary as:

Verse 2: "I knew I was out of the luck, the day the music died [when my
girlfriend spurned me for another guy].  I was singing bye, bye..."
Verse 3: "We sang dirges in the dark, the day the music died [when we were
in national mourning].  We were singing bye, bye..."
Verse 4: "Do your recall was what revealed?  The day the music died [in Don
McLean's opinion].  They were singing bye, bye..."
Verse 5: "I saw Satan laughing with the delight, the day the music died [at
the Altamont Free Concert].  [Satan] was singing bye, bye..."
Verse 6: "The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost caught the last train for the
coast, the day the music died [when Don McLean realized God had abandoned
him].  [The Holy Trinity] were singing bye, bye..."

Otherwise it's disjointed.  I knew I was out of luck the day Buddy Holly
died.  We sang dirges in the dark the day Buddy Holly died.  Do you recall
recall what was revealed the day Buddy Holly died?  I saw Satan laughing
with delight the day Buddy Holly died.  The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
caught the last train for the coast, the day Buddy Holly died.  It doesn't
work.  The reality is there are many days that the music died.  For me, the
killing of John Lennon was a day that the music died.  The death of George
Harrison was a day that the music died.  Not uncoincidently, I went to Paul
McCartney's  Out There concert in San Diego in September.   Anyone's mileage
may vary.  And as revisionist history goes, the commercial success of
American Pie resulted in Buddy Holly's death being acknowledged as a
national tragedy more than a decade after it occurred.  And with Buddy
Holly's death being the first one in the song, I concede that it's generally
referred to as the Grand Daddy of them all, 'The Day the Music Died'. 

Anywho, the purpose of my tribute was to mark the 45th anniversary of the
passing of Meredith Hunter and to note one of the days that the music died
(my interpretation) as commemorated in American Pie.  If I misinterpreted
McLean's poetry, then so be it.  He's not going to give up the goods in
terms of explaining himself so proof is left up to the reader.  The reason
for posting it under the subject heading of 'A tribute to...' is to maintain
the general format of Mr. Hansen's numerous similar postings of song lineups
to this forum.

Thanks for the corrections and video link to unclaimed decedents.

  _____  

From: v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm <mailto:v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm> 
To: vision2020 at moscow.com <mailto:vision2020 at moscow.com> 
Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2014 17:58:19 -0800
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] A tribute to...

Doesn't matter what mailing address you found on the Internet:  the fact
remains that neither Altamont nor the concert were in Tracy (San Joaquin
County).  The last time I was at the Altamont Raceway was in 2006 - I've
still got my ticket stub that shows a Livermore address and a Livermore area
code & prefix for the phone number.  Certainly that was the case at the time
of the infamous concert as well, which still makes you wrong :)  As I
already pointed out, the ACSO conducted the investigations, and the trial
was held in Alameda County, and not because of some change of venue request.
The crimes took place in unincorporated Alameda County, not in Tracy (which
is in San Joaquin county):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont_Raceway_Park

"Altamont Raceway Park was a motorsports race track located in Alameda
County <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alameda_County%2c_California>  in
Northern California between the towns of Tracy and Livermore."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont,_California
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont%2c_California> 

Altamont (formerly The Summit and Alta Monte)[2]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont%2c_California#cite_note-CGN-2>  is an
unincorporated community <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unincorporated_area>
in Alameda County
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alameda_County%2c_California> , California
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California> . It is located 7.5 miles (12 km)
northeast of Livermore
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livermore%2c_California> ,[2]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont%2c_California#cite_note-CGN-2>  at an
elevation of 741 feet (226 m) in the Altamont Pass
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont_Pass> . It was in 1969 the site of
the Altamont Free Concert
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont_Free_Concert>  at the Altamont
Speedway <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont_Speedway> . Originally
called The Summit, the name was changed to Altamont when the Central Pacific
Railroad <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Pacific_Railroad>  arrived in
1869.[2]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont%2c_California#cite_note-CGN-2> 

A post office operated at Altamont from 1872 to 1955.[2]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont%2c_California#cite_note-CGN-2> 

And, actually, the meme at the time from the infamous concert was "The Day
the 60s Died," not "The Day the Music Died."  Two strikes.  I'll cut you
slack on your math error or you'd be out  :)

And, since you apparently live in the kind of privileged atmosphere where
you equate a headstone with being remembered or treasured or loved, I
suggest you spend a little more time out in the real world with the rest of
us.  There are lots & lots of reasons not all graves have markers, and not
being cared about or remembered by anyone is pretty low on the list of
reasons.   Pretty sad - and telling -- that's the spin you want to put on
it, though, and that's not the message I took away from the short doc when I
saw it several years back.  

I'm still not sure of the purpose of your "tribute" given your subsequent
p*ssing contest with Tom, but feel free to start working on tributes for the
"completely forgotten" 10,000 or unclaimed decedents in the US:

https://identifyus.org/en/home/how_it_works_video

Saundra

Moscow, ID

Injustice anywhere is a threat justice everywhere.

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

From: Scott Dredge [mailto:scooterd408 at hotmail.com] 
Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2014 3:26 PM
To: Saundra Lund; vision2020 at moscow.com <mailto:vision2020 at moscow.com> 
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] A tribute to...

I'm definitely geographically challenged which is why I rely heavily on GPS,
Apple Maps, and Google Maps.  I had actually looked up the address of the
Altamont Speedway which is listed as:

17001 Midway Rd, Tracy, CA 95391

Here's the reference:
https://plus.google.com/107608423591150962070/about?gl=us
<https://plus.google.com/107608423591150962070/about?gl=us&hl=en> &hl=en

My comment of 'completely forgotten' was a purposely written to emphasize
the main point of the video 'grave 63, lot c.' Hunter Meredith didn't have
so much as a headstone marking for nearly 30 years after his death.

-Scott

  _____  

From: v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm <mailto:v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm> 
To: vision2020 at moscow.com <mailto:vision2020 at moscow.com> 
Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2014 14:58:01 -0800
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] A tribute to...

Geographically challenged much, Scott?  Altamont is not - and never has been
- part of Tracy, CA, which is in San Joaquin County.  The infamous Altamont
Free Concert took place in Alameda County, which is why the Alameda County
Sherriff's Office investigated all four of the deaths - including Meredith
Hunter's murder - and why Passaro's murder trial was in Alameda County
rather than San Joaquin County.

As for your claim that Meredith Hunter has been "completely forgotten" . . .
well, that claim is as wrong as your geographical knowledge.  I've certainly
never forgotten him or the infamous concert that took place just a few miles
from my home in Alameda County just shy of a month before we moved there
right after my ninth birthday.  Too, I know for a fact that Hunter's murder
was reinvestigated in recent years (even though Passaro was long dead)
because I remember my brother telling me about it - he works for the ACSO -
and there are still a few old timers around the department who've never
forgotten, either.

You wrote to Tom:

"I'd encourage you to 'maybe dig a little deeper instead of constantly
shooting from the hip', but there would be an echo in here."

What's that saying about stones and people who live in glass houses???

Saundra

Moscow, ID

It's a matter of taking the side if the weak against the strong, something
the best people have always done.

~ Harriet Beecher Stowe

From:  <mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com> vision2020-bounces at moscow.com
[ <mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com>
mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Scott Dredge
Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2014 11:25 AM
To:  <mailto:vision2020 at moscow.com> vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] A tribute to...

Meredith Hunter.  Completely forgotten, he was the sacrificial lamb on the
day that the music died December 6, 1969 - 45 years ago today - at the
infamous Altamont Free Concert in Tracy California.  He would now be 63
years old.  RIP.

"Oh, and as I watched him on the stage,
My hands were clenched in fists of rage.
No Angel born in Hell,
Could break that Satan's spell."

"And as the flames climbed high into the night,
To light that sacrificial rite.
I saw Satan laughing with delight.
The day the music died.
He was singing 'Bye, bye Miss American pie...'"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxnVY37b0ME

Them Good 'Ol Boys singing 'This will be the day that I die'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVGM86XIilw

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