Song about the 1967 riots

[rutlev]

Joni Mitchell and Chuck Mitchell and Gordon used to sing at
the Living End and a coffee house on Livernois, near U of D
Checker something or other I think.

[Honky Tonk]

Joni Mitchell and Chuck Mitchell and Gordon used to sing at
the Living End and a coffee house on Livernois, near U of D
Checker something or other I think.

The Chessmate Coffee House. Joe Cocker did his folk schtick there too before becoming a rocker.

[Lowell]

How about "We Almost Lost Detroit" for a 1967 song title?

[Wheels]

How about "We Almost Lost Detroit" for a 1967 song title?

It's been done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh0WOhbGlvk

[RickBeall]

Nothing gets past you guys. That's a heck of a great song and video!

[Lowell]

It's been done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh0WOhbGlvk

That's the well known Gil Scott Heron song. I think you overlooked my pun with the strikethrough.

[Wheels]

That's the well known Gil Scott Heron song. I think you overlooked my pun with the strikethrough.

Here is the original. Although often mistaken for a song about the 67 riot it is actually a nuclear protest song about an accident at Fermi in Monroe in 66.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRey-3EUed4

[CassTechGrad]

Joni Mitchell and Chuck Mitchell and Gordon used to sing at
the Living End and a coffee house on Livernois, near U of D
Checker something or other I think.

.
http://www.hourdetroit.com/Hour-Detr...ticle=1#artanc
.
Joni and Chuck Mitchell strike a delib-erately stilted pose in a special bridal section published by the Detroit Free Press on Feb. 5, 1967. Chuck called it “obviously [[to my eye) a send-up of the typical bridal photo.” The two actually were married in 1965. The piece was written by Free Press fashion writer Marji Kunz, who was friendly with the Mitchells

[Ronjm23]

I'm sorry. July 23, 1967, was the day Detroit died. I have no desire to sing about it. Then or since.

In my opinion Detroit was dying many years before that incident. I grew up on the west side and remember my parents and I leaving in 1956 after a neighbor woman was mugged while going to a local bakery. We were part of the "White Flight" that preceded the riot. I left MI for a job in upstate NY in 1967 and visited frequently until 1973 when both my parents died. I visited last year and was dismayed at how bad Detroit had become. I doubt that it can ever return to be the great city it once was and that is too bad. I wish the people that live there well.

[marshamusic]

I [[and my family) experienced extraordinary reversals due to the Riots - my father's 12th Street business was destroyed and his lifelong career was ended in the fire and chaos of those days. But these years later, I can listen to Rick's song and it doesn't bother me. There were innumerable stories of that week and its aftermath; I love these stories. Some of them, like Rick's, are put to song - that stir the memories, but don't dredge up the all the pain.