In examining the Stephen Stills confronts a heckler, then his friends love him out of it clip from the Big Sur movie (full clip after the jump) that I think has cleared up a very foggy memory I had of watching this event on the tv the my wood-paneled basement in my childhood home, I kept coming back to the look on this guy’s face:
The poor guy looks like he’s witnessing the complete collapse of the Love Generation. We know that Stills had his friends to love him out of it, but did this guy? Rock Town Hall, I ask you to provide the love this guys needs. Our Concerned Hippie needs you to love him out of it.
The most loving words for our shattered friend will be rewarded with a most-appropriate prize!
If you need some context/a refresher, here’s the full clip.
I may not be able to provide the words, but I can at least offer commiseration:
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/uploads/image/spicoli.jpg
Wasn’t (among the young, happening generation, man) everybody lovin’ everybody (apart from The Hell’s Angels, of course), back in those days? I think Stills & the prat above could have used a little of the lovin’ Pete Townshend showed Abbie Hoffman when he jumped onstage during The Who’s set at Woodstock to rant about John Sinclair. WHALLOP! KERRANG! BANG! See ya later, hippy!
I’m sure the poor guy sought, & most likely found solace in the arms of some other drug addled, poncho-clad chick or man, man.
eh, a picture’s worth a thousand words! Excellent!
Bobbyb, a likely assumption about Concerned Hippie’s fate, but not the love he was looking for from you.
Moddy, What can I say. It just ain’t gonna happen.
On play at The Bittman Mansion as of this writing, “Any Day”!
Oh, how I love this clip. It’s like a perfect distillation of the hubris and idiocy of the whole nonsensical hippie “movement.”
It’s all there: drugged-out lunatic being taken overly seriously, pompous rock star coming down from the cosmos to “relate” to him, drugged out lunatic acting non-surprisingly assholish, rock God revealing his self-preservational true self by engaging in awkward ass-kickery, and then — and THEN — the convoluted explanation of what transpired, tortuously not laying blame for the altercation on anybody’s feet.
I’m glad I can laugh at these things.
I’m glad you, of all Townsmen, have checked in on this clip. Now how ’bout you love our Concerned Hippie out of the shocking scene he’s witnessing? I know you’re a man of compassion.
If you’re looking for MORE hubris & idiocy, take another look at “The Decline of Western Civilization”, Pts. I & II. No “youth movement” is immune to being ridiculous in hind-sight. It goes along with taking part in a “youth movement”. Also, it’s a part of what you can find absurd & funny, if you’re lucky enough to get to an age where you’re no longer a “youth”.
This guys face reminds me of the shots of onlookers in the Gimme Shelter film, pleading for somebody to save them from themselves. So I would say to this guy “Relax, bud, this isn’t so bad. Just don’t go to that upcoming Rolling Stones free concert people are talking about.” (Big Sur was in September 69, and Altamont was the following December.)
What kills me abut the whole incident here is that it’s Stills that goes over and tried to deal with the burnout guy by using hippie love, but Stills himself is so not really a hippie. It’s touching then and a bit sad that he tries to live by the code of Mandom, as hvb’s brother translated from the Japanese commercial:
“And what is love…
What is courage…
What is gentleness?”
But I would add, what is kicking some ass, if that doesn’t work?
“Hey man, you freaked but you didn’t lose IT, man”
BTW – Awesome segue into the acoustic number.
It takes a wise, unflappable man to be a hostage negotiator. Stephen Stills will never be a hostage negotiator.
Hey, man, three quarters of the band are still good hippies, right?
Nice to see Stills spring into action in that clip. It reaffirms my take on the important aspects he was bringing to CSN(Y) and my belief that Stills is the Moe Howard of Rock, with Nash as the Larry Fine, David Crosby as the Curly Howard and, I guess, Neil as the Shemp.
As such, I would recommend snapping the disillusioned guy in the screengrab above out of his funk by treating him to the great equalizer: a pie in the face.