Born To Be Wild

The Ecuador Chronicles - 2010-29

Karaoke Night Brings Back Old Momories;

Younger Way Back Then, But Still Much the Same ;

How Many of Us Were Born To Be Wild?

by Ray Almand

Dalynda and I took the kids out to eat last weekend. Three of them (Natalie, Jonathan, Jessica) were about to be off to college and we wanted a last night out. We went for Mexican, and it turned out to be Karaoke night. Jess is an incredible singer (and fiddle player) and I play guitar and sing a bit myself (we are working toward producing a CD of our own music - but that is another story). Jess did an wonderful rendition of songs by Loretta Lynn and Alison Krauss. I did a fairly credible job with Margaretaville in the people's key of D. Jess wanted me to do another, and after a couple of beers I was game. I was looking through the Karaoke book and suddenly there was a song title, and - as Kenny Chesney says, It Took Me Back.....

.......It Took Me Back..... to the Miami Pop Festival, December 1968 between Christmas and New Years. Doug and Keith and I packed the family tent and camping equipment into somebody's old car and headed south to Miami - from Atlanta - to go to the Pop Festival. I don't recall any car trouble, except we had to use our precious money to fill it up every few hundred miles - and it seems like we had to put in a quart of oil every time we filled up. We had some extra time ahead of the Festival and we drove all the way down to Key West. I suppose if we had had a clue to look, Buffett might have been hanging out there playing folk music in his pre-famous days.

Poster for the Miami Pop Festival

Jose Feliciano, Procol Harum, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Country Joe & The Fish, Three Dog Night, Chuck Berry, The Infinite McCoys, Booker T. & The MGs, Fleetwood Mac, Pacific Gas & Electric, Blues Image, Steppenwolf, Marvin Gaye, Grateful Dead, Hugh Masekela, Flatt & Scruggs, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Joni Mitchell, James Cotton Blues Band, Richie Havens, The Box Tops, Iron Butterfly, The Turtles, Canned Heat, The Grass Roots, Junior Walker & The All-Stars, Ian & Sylvia, Charles Lloyd Quartet, The Sweet Inspirations, Sweetwater, & The Joe Tex Revue

As you can see from the list, everyone was there - except Hendrix (in my mind he was, but he is not on the list; must have been some other time). We saw as many as we could. I certainly remember Richie Havens' incredible rhythm and the hole in the sound board of his guitar. And Buffy Sainte-Marie - I wonder where she is now. And Canned Heat, The Grateful Dead and Joni Mitchell....But what I remember most from that time 42 years ago is Steppenwolf performing "Born To Be Wild" - which brings us back to 2010.

Get your motor runnin'
Head out on the highway
Lookin' for adventure
And whatever comes our way
Yeah Darlin' go make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into space

I like smoke and lightning
Heavy metal thunder
Racin' with the wind
And the feelin' that I'm under
Yeah Darlin' go make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into space

Like a true nature's child
We were born, born to be wild
We can climb so high
I never wanna die

Born to be wild
Born to be wild

So, why does that song appeal to me and so many of my generation (and younger generations) even to this day? I am no Easy Rider - I don't even ride motorcycles (although I suspect some of our LWE readers do). Probably many of us have been riding Altimas, Impalas and Camrys as a part of our daily lives (back and forth to the cubicle). But there is something about that song, Music and Lyrics, that resonates with many of us. I think many of us are Born To Be Wild in our own way. I will hazard a guess right here that if you are a regular reader of The Ecuador Chronicles there is plenty of Wild inside of you. You are looking at alternatives, thinking about different ways of looking at life, of living your life. Yes, you take care of business, you take care of your family and you are in control (barely) of your life. Your kids might not believe some of the things you have done - some of your thoughts; probably better to leave it that way.

Anyway, back at Karaoke night I gave Born To Be Wild a try, including Air Gurtar, Air Bass and Air Keyboard. I'm definitely no John Kay, but the song got a huge round of applause from a crowd of all ages - it really does resonate with people.

Yes - This is About Ecuador

I find Ecuador to be a good place to explore my Wild side - and you might too. You can do amazing things - see amazing sights. Like these: