Philadelphia Freedom: August, 1976

My 21 year-old son Jay recently returned from what I guess you could call his version of my bi-centennial trip. Instead of America, he backpacked around Europe with his friend Tony. He enjoyed an amazing trip, and he has over 900 digital photos (plus a lot more taken by Tony) to prove it. Unfortunately, film seemed expensive when I Jay's age, and I didn't take nearly enough photos on my cheap Kodak Instamatic to capture my trip. Looking at the pitiful collection of badly faded photos I have to preserve what for me was also an amazing trip is kind of sad. Nonetheless, I carry the memory not only of many details but about the feel of my trip proudly. One of my favorite singers of that time was Elton John, and his talent has certainly proven to have staying power over the decades. His song, "Philadelphia Freedom," was still getting a lot of airplay when I arrived in Philadelphia, and although the words didn't exactly line up, it really expressed my feelings.



Philadelphia is a remarkably diverse city. You can catch glimpses of our country's founding days, soaking in the spirit of Benjamin Franklyn's genial genius. While I was there, Philadelphia lived up to the Greek translation as the City of Brotherly Love. Everyone was friendly, and there was palpable racial harmony, at least in the places where I went. Somehow, I ended up by a fountain where I met another guitar player. When I played Neil Young's "Needle and the Damage Done," he was favorably impressed and asked me to teach it to him, which I did. He was a quick study. He played Ten Years After's "I'd Love To Change the World," and I had to know how to play that. He showed me, and over the balance of my trip that was among the songs I practiced while riding on the bus.




I also took in a little culture. I took a photo of a giant closepin that impressed me as bizarre and out of place. While taking an art history class at Golden West College a few months before this trip, I found in an assigned trip to the Norton Simon Museum that I really liked the work of sculptor Auguste Rodin. I don't think I knew there was a Rodin museum in Philadelphia until I arrived there, but I ended up making this the biggest art stop of my trip.




At that time, young Mike Schmidt and the Philadelphia Phillies were burning up the league, and I found there was a train heading to Veteran's Stadium, so I joined the crowd on a trip out to the old ball game, where the Phillies were upset by the San Francisco Giants. While the Phillies went on to finish in first place, they lost to the Big Red Machine led by Joe Morgan, Pete Rose, Johnny Bench...heck, it goes on and on, because they were like an all star team....in the playoffs. If nothing else, the Cincinatti Reds also went on to beat the Yankees in the World Series.




Because music was very important to me at that time, I found my way to the Sigma Sound Studio, associated with Philadelphia Soul, including Gamble and Huff's Philadelphia International Records. It's also where David Bowie recorded his album "Young Americans" in 1975.


It was a few months later that "Rocky,"my favorite movie of that year, was released, or I probably would have ran up the steps like the Stallone icon as countless tourists have since. I remember being so impressed with that movie upon seeing it a few months later that I insisted my mom come to see it with me. This photo of my mom and me in her back yard from almost that exact time includes a rare glimpse of my parrot, Hoy, perched on my shoulder, as he did every morning when I fed him and changed his water. One day, I think I need to get another parrot. They're very cool.