Give Peace a second Chance: relive the ‘groovy’ 1960s

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This article was published 19/11/2001 (8903 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TRAVELLERS can take a nostalgic trip back to the “groovy” 1960s when peaceniks urged everyone to “make love, not war.”

For this “blast from the past,” the Provincial Museum of Alberta in Edmonton will feature what is called the largest presentation on the ’60s in North America.

As well, it’s possible to feel the “karma” of the swinging ’60s in Montreal in the Queen Elizabeth Hotel suite where John Lennon and wife Yoko Ono held a Bed-in for Peace.

And, in Detroit, sweet soul music still emanates from the small house-turned museum where Motown was born, with plans to create a huge shrine to the sound and its stars.

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Edmonton’s ’60s exhibit, from Nov. 17 to April 1, will be a mix of images, objects and sound exploring the decade.

There will be two world premiere exhibits — The Beatles: Backstage and Behind the Scenes, and Spirit of a Generation: Bob Dylan, the Band and Woodstock.

Making its first Canadian appearance will be Linda McCartney’s ’60s — Portrait of an Era photos.

Beatlemania swept North America in 1964, with the four “mop top” performers changing forever the music and styles of the day.

The exhibition will show newly discovered photos of the Fab Four taken during their first North American tour 37 years ago. The images were uncovered in the CBS photo archive of the Beatles backstage.

Linda McCartney, late wife of Beatle Paul, photographed famous luminaries of the ’60s rock music world, including the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison, the Grateful Dead and Frank Zappa.

The photographic retrospective captures the moods of those days and performers, with the show running until Jan. 13.

It will be followed through April 1 by Elliott Landy’s Spirit of a Generation photos, many of which appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone and Life magazines.

Landy provides his personal view of Dylan and the Band, along with images from the Woodstock music festival in New York state.

The trip through the ’60s has some 40 special features including the Beatnik Cafe and Alice’s Restaurant with special evenings of live music and poetry readings, said publicist Julie Calderbank.

There’ll be Trendy Tuesdays, a ’60s games’ night including dance lessons, and Psychedelic Saturdays, family events to view films, make beaded headbands and play games.

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Photos and gold records pay tribute to the late Beatle John Lennon and Yoko Ono in Suite 1742 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.

It was there in May 1969 where the couple staged a bed-in, attracting a deluge of fans, hippies and journalists.

Fans from around the world continue their pilgrimage to the hotel for a chance to see the room, said Caroline Des Rosiers, public relations director.

Lennon had all the furniture removed except for the mattress and held court to the world’s media to protest the war in Vietnam.

The highlight was the recording of Give Peace a Chance, involving some 50 people. Celebrities included Tommy Smothers, Timothy Leary, Petula Clark and fans from the Montreal chapter of the Hare Krishna temple.

Now the hotel offers a John Lennon Peace and Love Getaway package for a stay in the bedroom and parlour, with a souvenir photo of the event.

“This is a real treat for John Lennon’s fans to experience a special moment in this historic room,” Des Rosiers said.

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More than 100,000 visitors a year tour the little house where Berry Gordy Jr. turned his Detroit home into a recording studio.

Now the Motown Historical Museum or Hitsville USA, this is where the record label was founded in the early 1960s.

Visitors can enter Studio A where musical acts including Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Jackson Five, Temptations and the Supremes rocked the music world.

The house, including the Gordy living quarters, remains much as it did back then and includes photos, costumes, record albums and historical materials.

Plans were recently unveiled for the Motown Centre, a $28-million US music museum in Detroit’s theatre and entertainment district to complement the museum.

–Canadian Press