The only decent thing that Tricky Dicky accomplished was creating the EPA to try to stem the runaway pollution that was starting to blanket those purple mountains majesties and amber plains. Really—it was pretty disgusting way back then. Earth was in trouble . My god, when the Cuyahoga River was burning—you gotta know sh*t's f*&ked up! The first celebration of the earth took place on March 21, 1970 (Spring Equinox in Northern Hem). It was started by John McConnell at a 1969 UNESCO Conference in San Francisco. Later, Secretary General U Thant and McConnell made it official at the United Nations. Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson proposed our own Earth Day, to be held on April 22 . Gaylord had been a champion of the environment for years, and was later awarded the Presidential Medal Of Freedom for his work. Rock artist Ron Cobb even came up with a logo . The first Earth Day celebrations were held in thousands of towns, schools, universities, everywhere, but notably New York, where Mayor Lindsey closed 5th Avenue for a giant parade and opened up Central Park. Crowds were estimated at 100K here and 20 million across the country. Awareness was hightened and things finally started to change. In recent years, Earth Day has been assisted by social media to spread worldwide. Of course, us hippies had to go and stir that pot up, too. You're welcome. We sang about our love (and concerns) for the only place we have to live . There is nothing else near us. This is it . One world-wide environmental organization that got its start in 1970 was Greenpeace. They got off to a start with a benefit concert in Vancouver, which featured Phil Ochs, James Taylor, and Joni Mitchell. What was it like ?? |
After The Gold Rush | Neil Young | 9/70 |
Apeman | The Kinks | 12/70 |
Big Yellow Taxi | Joni Mitchell | 4/70 |
Burn On [Cuyahoga River] | Randy Newman | 5/72 |
Don't Go Near The Water | The Beach Boys | 8/71 |
Earth And Water Song | Humble Pie | 8/70 |
Earth Anthem | The Turtles | 11/68 |
Earth Blues | Jimi Hendrix [& The Ronettes] | 10/71 |
Earthfriend | The Mandrake Memorial | 3/70 |
Earth Mother | Paul Kantner & Grace Slick | 11/71 |
Ecological Blues | Blue Cheer | 4/71 |
Ecology Song | Stephen Stills | 6/71 |
Fresh Air | Quicksilver Messenger Service | 8/70 |
The Garden Of Earthly Delights | The United States Of America | 3/68 |
Garden Of Earthly Delights | Arzachel | ?/70 |
Hungry Planet | The Byrds | 9/70 |
Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) | Marvin Gaye | 5/71 |
Mother Earth | Mother Earth | 11/68 |
Mother Nature [45] | The Raves | 3/67 |
Mother Nature—Father Earth | The Music Machine | 2/69 |
Mother Nature Land | The Rascals | 5/71 |
Mother Nature's Son | The Beatles | 11/68 |
Harry Nilsson | 7/69 | |
Natural Harmony | The Byrds | 1/68 |
Nature Boy | The Great Society | 9/68 |
Nature's Disappearing | John Mayall | 10/70 |
Nature's Way | Spirit | 12/70 |
Nine Types Of Industrial Pollution | The Mothers Of Invention | 4/69 |
9-5 Pollution Blues [UK] | The World [Bonzo Dog Band] | 9/70 |
Paradise | John Prine | 10/71 |
Pollution | Bo Diddley | 3/71 |
Puff Of Smoke | Roy Head | 5/71 |
No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature | The Guess Who | 1/70 |
Save The Land | Grand Funk Railroad | 10/71 |
Save The Planet | Edgar Winter's White Trash | 4/71 |
What Have They Done To The Rain? | Malvina Reynolds | 3/67 |
Where Do The Children Play? | Cat Stevens | 11/70 |
Let's not forget these two masterpieces: |
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Poisoning Pigeons In The Park and Pollution | Tom Lehrer | '59/'65 |
Lest you think we quit after the 70s, here are just a few more "modern" songs: | ||
New Riders Of The Purple Sage | Cement, Clay And Glass | 1973 |
Thin Lizzy | Mama Nature Said | 1973 |
Sparks | Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth | 1974 |
Speedy Keen | The Profit On Ecology | 1975 |
Duran Duran | Planet Earth | 1981 |
Dead Kennedys | Cesspool in Eden | 1986 |
Talking Heads | (Nothing But) Flowers | 1988 |
Neil Young & Crazy Horse | Mother Earth (Natural Anthem) | 1990 |
Joe Walsh | Song For A Dying Planet | 1992 |
Michael Jackson | Earth Song | 1995 |
Steve Forbert | Good Planets Are Hard to Find | 1996 |
Dan Fogelberg | Earth Anthem | 2003 |
Simon & Garfunkel | Citizen Of The Planet | 2004 |
Neko Case | Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth | 2009 |
Dar Williams | This Earth | 2012 |
Sarah Slean | The Day We Saved The World (Youtube link) | 2013 |
And here are couple of "official" Earth Day songs: | ||
Tom Paxton | Whose Garden Was This? | 1970 |
Tokyo Rose | Save Planet Earth [Official 2012 Earth Day Song] | 2012 |
Note: Altho Whose Garden Was This? was written for the first Earth Day, it probably wasn't actually "official." It is to me.
Closer to home, our beautiful Hudson River was a cesspool . | ||
Thanks, primarily to local-boy-made-good, Pete Seeger, we can now enjoy crusin' down the river (and the fish are much happier). Pete formed The Clearwater organization, which fights a continuing battle to keep the Hudson clean(er). They even put on a giant music-filled festival every year to raise funds (plus, you can sail with them on their ships). Here some songs about The Mighty Hudson. |
Pete Seeger | My Dirty Stream (The Hudson River Song) | 1966 |
Pete Seeger | Sailing Down My Golden River | 1971 |
Pete Seeger | The River That Flows Both Ways | 1992 |
Dar Williams | The Hudson | 2005 |
Sounds Of Summer: "Pete Seeger And The Hudson River Sloop" 9/7/69, PBS Pete with a two-hour show on his Hudson River. May have been shown on different dates on other PBS stations. |
Note: Here's an interesting CD—Annea Lockwood: A Sound Map Of The Hudson River .
It's sounds recorded along the Hudson, from the head to the ocean.
Note: If you'd like to find out more about Pete, The Hudson, and The Clearwater, check these links:
Pete Seeger's Greatest Legacy? Saving New York's Hudson River
Clearwater.org
Keep up-to-date with the Riverkeeper
Hudson River Sloop Clearwater @ wiki
This rare Capitol promo album was released to help radio stations celebrate and promote the first Earth Day in 1970. |
Listen In Good Health: Songs Of Celebration And Decay | |
Capitol SPRO-5003/4 | |
4/70 [UK: N/R] | |
Side One | ||
David Axelrod | Warnings | 2:48 |
The Beatles | Here Comes The Sun | 3:04 |
The Sons | Why Do People Run From The Rain? | 3:28 |
Quicksilver Messenger Service | Shady Grove | 2:58 |
Fred Neil | The Dolphins | 3:51 |
Roy Harper | Davey | 1:28 |
Side Two | ||
The Steve Miller Band | Brave New World | 3:27 |
John Stewart | Armstrong(non-LP 45) | 2:38 |
The Band | Look Out Cleveland | 3:07 |
B[uddy] Miles | We Gotta Live Together | 5:51 |
Pink Floyd | Several Species Of Small Fury Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict | 4:47 |
After helping his friend out with sound recording for a film, Irv Teibel was bored. He needed something to relax to, so he took his recording equipment to the beach and recorded the ocean as it played with the land and rocks. He listened to it, liked it, but felt it needed some help. He turned to his friend at Bell Labs and together they re-shaped the waves to their liking. The result was so calming to the soul that Irv found a new calling. He decided that we all could use some relaxing sounds and decided to market the ocean. He needed a B-side, so he travelled to the Bronx Zoo and recorded the birds in the avairy. Syntonic Research, Inc provided the tapes and Atlantic Records the distribution. environments 1 sold like hot cakes. Irv continued his project until 1979, releasing 11 records in total. environments 3 featured sounds of the Easter 1969 Be-In in Central Park. Included are David Peel chanting to legalize marijuana and towards the end, everybody chanting OM. See the Wiki link for a complete list or environments records. |
environments (Totally New Concepts In Sound - Disc 1) | |
SR Records 1/10XEP | |
8/69 | |
Side One | ||
The Psychologically Ultimate Seashore | - | 30:00 |
Side Two | ||
Optimum Aviary | - | 30:00 |
Note: Times shown are for playback at 33⅓ RPM. You could also play it at 45 RPM (22:30), or at 16⅔ for a full hour