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The mammoth project, “… Next Stop Is Vietnam – The War On Record 1961-2008″ has Familiy Bear Records, the highly respected specialist in complex researched and presented CD-boxes, even surpassed. An era of hatred and its reflection in popular music are documented with enormous attention to detail harrowing intense.

The fact that Vietnam was the first rock’n'roll war is long since commonplace. Rarely was this more apparent than in the recordings of famous artists assembled here, but also many unknown soldiers. Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash, John Lennon, the Beach Boys and many other stars of rock, folk and pop music have castigated America’s war in Southeast Asia.

The songs of the enemy is dedicated for its artistic and moral quality as well as much of the CD box. Vietnam veterans responded with their own songs – not always postwar critical – on the gruesome events they had experienced first hand. In addition come the U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon to speak pure propaganda of the “Masters of War” (Dylan).

Almost every soldier in Vietnam had “his” song, it is one of the essays in the hardback book of the anthology. The U.S. “tunnel rat” in the hunt for hidden Viet Cong fighters stood on “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix, and the patrol GI from Kentucky favorite Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made For Walkin”, the color navy “Say It Loud (I’m Black And I’m Proud)” by James Brown. And everyone really listened 1964-1975 soldier stationed in Vietnam ‘We Gotta Get Out Of This Place’ by the Animals. So far most widespread was the feeling of having no place in this strange, hostile land anything.

“You will laugh. You will cry. But after learning about this magnificent box you will not be the same as before”, wrote the legendary Woodstock musician Country Joe McDonald in his foreword. Certainly this is true for American audiences and readers for more than German, which have not experienced the Vietnam war only from a distance or as a later generation. Deeply touching the documentation works well in this country the issue is just universal.

Some of the sillier songs and lyrics you will not necessarily hear all too often, many jewels more often, “Simple Song Of Freedom” by Tim Hardin, for example, “Unknown Soldier” by The Doors, protest-soul like “War” by Edwin Starr, or “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye. The fact that the war of the 60s and 70s for contemporary American musician played a role, show contributions of the folk-rock band 10,000 Maniacs, Steve Earle and REM Their singer Michael Stipe in 1988 themed song “Orange Crush” the unscrupulous use defoliation gifts of the Agent Orange by U.S. troops in Vietnam.

It all started with “Elvis the Pelvis”. Why do you think all the girls started fainting all over this country when they heard Elvis’ voice for the first time? It was because nobody had ever heard a man sing something like “All Shook Up” and it shook them to the core. Being sexy like that just came naturally for Elvis and the girls picked up on it immediately like some kind of sexual email was being sent directly into their brains! Other rock and roll stars followed in Elvis’ steps very quickly. Jerry Lee Lewis knew what to do and he got himself into a great big ball of fire with his underage lover. Chuck Berry was another natural, and he also created some serious trouble simply because he was black and the white girls went for him big time. I think that may have been the first time that the pathetic and hung up white male population had to deal with the racial sex issue at this level.

Then The Beatles exploded. It was the Elvis phenomenon again except that all The Beatles really did was sing like gods, shake their mop top heads around and look adorable, and thousands of girls got wet panties at the very same time. The effect was enhanced by their memorable simple love songs because those young girls who were coming of age and dreaming about falling in love connected on the emotional level too. At first all they needed to write was “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Please Please Me” and millions of girls wanted to please them and hold something of theirs. The sexual message in their music was often very subtle but Ringo’s driving beat made them want to get up and shake it all around.

Mick Jagger was another natural, just like Elvis. Right from the beginning, “The Lips” knew how to give and get Satisfaction and he followed that up with a long series of balls to the wall hits with strong sexual messages like “Play with Fire, “Live With Me” and the all time classic musical expression of sex, “Going Home”. Strangely enough, it wasn’t Mick who actually got all the girls into bed, it was Bill Wyman, the Stones’ bass player. In his autobiographical book Bill told all, and his groupies totaled in the thousands. He never made it clear in his book exactly why that happened to him and not the same way to Mick who must have gotten and still be getting whoever he really wants to have. But it did happen and all Bill ever did was stand there completely still and play his bass guitar looking sort of sad and forlorn. There simply has to be a logical explanation for Bill’s success, and I think I know what it is. (Don’t ask, I won’t tell).

Not much needs to be said about that most powerful sexual dynamo, Jim Morrison, who told all the girls to “Come on Baby Light My Fire” and before fainting dead away, they did whatever he wanted them to do. I’m not sure how many net surfers understand what “Back Door Man” is all about but the song itself says “the men don’t know but little girls understand”. Enough said on that one.

And then came Jimi Hendrix. The pun is intended. Jimi had to have been the sexiest black musician of all time and few girls didn’t want to be his “Foxy Lady”. They actually used to line up outside his dressing room backstage and Jimi would come out and choose one or more at a time. He was another one who simply couldn’t help himself, although he did understand exactly what he was doing and why. Later on in his career he stopped his sexy performance on purpose because he was a serious musician who wanted people to appreciate his playing and his songwriting for being as creative as it was. He felt that his sex show was getting in the way of that kind of appreciation so after the Experience broke up, he pretty much stood still playing with his eyes shut because he didn’t even want to see the girls out there anymore.

I believe the best example of sexual energy expressed in sound is Led Zeppelin. Whenever they played live Jimmy Page seemed to stagger around the stage as if he was drunk, but he wasn’t drunk. It was just that the hurricane of sexual force that blew out of his amp was too much for even Jimmy to withstand. Now I’m sure that most people are aware that rhythmically beating drums awaken the sexual forces. Africans were despised and envied by white people because of the sexual way they danced to their own drum music. John Bonham, who was unquestionably the best rock and roll drummer who ever walked the face of this planet, pounded his drums with such power that Led Zep’s sexual energy increased dramatically. Irresistible sexual energy in their music is only one of the many good reasons why I say that Zeppelin is the #1 Rock and Roll Band of All Time.