I wish people could spell properly and use punctuation, e.g., "Lightfoot got banded on American radio." "i know a private investigator that arrested 30 people in a race riot for rape arson looting attemted murder"...etc.
Why can't You Tube have Spell Check for these comments?
@RyanBurnett22 OK Guys...What Canadian city is south of Buffalo? What Canadian city is south of Green Bay? The same one that's south of San Diego (none).
there's a lot of talk about how it is strange that a Canadian could wright such a poignant song about the Detroit riot's. Detroit is across the lake from Windsor, you could see the fires burning. also this is the late 60's people crossed the border all the time, it was much more open the it is now, and musicians from Canada spent a lot of time in the U.S. Neal young, the band are the 2 best known, ronnie hawkins spent a lot of time in canada. its not so strange.
AND THERE'S GUNFIRE FROM THE ROOFTOPS. QUITE STARTLING WHEN PERCUSSIOIST ACCENTS JUST AFTER WITH A SHORT BURST OF REPETITIVE STRIKES THAT ALMOST SIMULATE IT. WONDER HOW MANY WHO HEAR THE SONG HAVE CAUGHT THAT?
This song was banned from airplay in the us because i was released shortly after Martin Luther King was killed and deemed to controversial at the time.
Note Michigan Governor Gearge Romney (father of Mitt) @ 3:47. Romney was a leading contender for the 1968 Republican presidential nomination until he made his infamous remark about how he had been "brainwashed" about the Vietnam war
IT IS SLIGTLY DISTURBING BUT I NOTICED WHEN THE GUNFIRE FROM THE ROM THE ROOFTOP THE PERCUSIOIST HITS THE TIMPANY AT JUST THE RIGHT TO AND ALMOST SIMULATES SOUND. ANYONE CATCH THAT?
seeing whats going on London these last few days brought this song back to me, as well as the lines of a Phil Ochs song: "so wrong so wrong, but we've been down so long, and we had to make somebody listen"
Brilliant. I remember it all well. Grew up at 8 Mile-Gratiot; in the early '50s, still farmland. Fortunate enough to be a teen in the '60s with Motown and Robin Seymour. Will always be proud to be a Detroiter, no matter what comes. And a Michigander, too.
Lightfoot is peerless as a song writer, imo.....but it should be noted that LBJs 'great society' programs caused the unrest......social programs breed criminals...and criminals breed poverty......the decline of free market capitalism is the tap root of all of America's social ills...every one of them....
If you go to CNC,You will find A interview with Lightfoot about this song,also a little Known fact Bill Lee played bass for Lightfoot on many of his songs,Bill being Spike Lee's father.Lightfoot got banded on American radio because of this song and also caught some crap here in the U.S. for having Bill Lee for a band member.The us did not want the wifes and mothers hearing anything on their morning radio that might make them THINK!!!! Mike at loooniesforlightfoot@hotmail.com
@buddhahoodlum1 also, most canadians know more things about the US polticis than americans know about our government here. and what is even more sad, is that there are many canadians that know more about the US government then about their own
@forzacatainapalermo You're bang on. I too fall into that last category, I'm afraid. I don't know if it's because US politics are so full of intrigue, subterfuge, deceipt, and war, or if it's because there is so much more non-mainstream info available on America as opposed to Canada. Or maybe because the US is often at the heart of what's going on in the world, and often not for the better. Anyway, this song is awesome. In Gord we trust..
@buddhahoodlum1 I too fall into that category. you are right; i think its a combination of the fact that US politics is full of intrigue and all that and including all those conspiracies (ex. the John F Kennedy case; you just dont see these kinds of conspiracies in our country). And i think it also has to do with US being a power house country (who think they are the best lol) and that canadian politics is rather boring.
@forzacatainapalermo I was in detroit actually not too long ago to watch the red wings play the sharks, i hope that city recovers. the people there have been through what i call "the dark ages of detroit". tough times. an detroit hasnt been the way it was in such a long time.
the pictures in this video of detroit and this event are absoltely atsonishing and complement the song really well
Well done! This song was banned from most commercial radio stations in the U.S.A. at the time of its release, so it remains one of Lightfoot's least-known hits.
@johnmavritsakis1 Not really. Canada doesn't have the same underlying racial tension that incited the Detroit riots; the only place I could see something similar happening is in Montreal, where it's a matter of Francophones vs. Anglophones. But even there the longtime animosity is dying out.
in some ways i think this is gordons best song. it is just as powerful today as then. reading the comments about canada vs america it is sad that this has not changed. i have been in both countries and they remind me of the differences between scotland and england. both countries are modern, have given great things to the world and in some ways still finding their feet. need to get along guys.
Just gotta say, neon56.......Brilliant!!!!! If you did the video editing, you are a natural. This is one of the best videos I've ever seen. None of this, "Don't show a single image for more than 2 seconds", formula. The panning of the photos, Zooming and timing with the music is perfect. The images shown are perfect. Nice job. If I owned the rights to the song, I would pay big bucks to rent the rights to use this as the official video. Cheers. Try another song.
Absolutely awesome video. Thanks for your intestinal fortitude to keep this public. Never should we forget the way Americans have held the world populace hostage within the realm of their sick brainwashed conformity.
@tyme4mike Sorry to all Good Americans regarding this comment. I meant to say "American Presidents" and I guess I can include their puppetmasters and political ideologies.
@garycalgary And Lyndon Johnson went apeshit. The American stations were forced to ban the playing of the song. He hit the nail on the head because he made the racist fucks who caused the bullshit behind this riot responsible through a mere song. It all started when some racist cops tried to shut down an after hours get-together for two black men who had returned from Vietnam alive. American presidents are lying fucking whores, and that includes NWObama.
Second: The American / Canadian difference is simple: a line in the sand. Different areas with different leaders - owned by the same corporate keepers.
On the 43 anniversary of this terrible time in Detroit - 23 July '67. It's a very vivid memory for a 19 year old who lived in Toronto and watched the nightly news reports. Listening to this song brings back the memories so clearly. It was a hot summer and this just seemed to be the culmination of racial trouble that had been simmering for a long time. So, thank you for posting this song by one of Canada's greatest singer/songwriters capturing a period that will hopefully never be repeated!
Well done ... I'm a native Detroiter and something of a student of the riot (it happened when I was three), so it was cool to see quite a few images I'd never seen before.
I did some research of this song and the riots and I learned that the song was banned from American airwaves after Martin Luther King was killed. It would be interesting to know how long it was banned.
I just had to blow off some steam, I know there are great people in all countries. I have never had an anti-Canadian thought in all my years until lately, and I am actually concerned for any Canadian who has to tolerate America -bashing just to get along with his/her community. Yes there are things about the US which are bad, very true, but when it is eating you alive, my dear people, it's time to get down to brass tacks and reign in the emotions for your own sanity. PEACE.
The comment by buffsrrngfld is demonstrative of how Canadians denigrate America even subconsciously, I bet buffy didn't even realize he [or, most assuredly, she] was making an insult. In the big picture yes America has done alot of wrong but there is a segment of my country which is against that, and America has also done alot of right, so don't generalize along the lines of national identity, if you would. Be specific when addressing bad behavior don't just group all of us together.
I'd have loved to comment on the other posts you sent, but they were removed. So, I will be brief. The US is a country, not a company, so issues of trade are irrelevant in this discussion. You're other post is jibber-jabber and if-and-buts. I have always been pround to be one of two nations along the world's longest undefended border; instead of crapping on your neighbor, perhaps you can think of that.
@Elricck - I'd have loved to comment on the other posts you sent, but they were removed. So, I will be brief. The US is a country, not a company, so issues of trade are irrelevant in this discussion. You're other post is jibber-jabber and if-and-buts. I have always been pround to be one of two nations along the world's longest undefended border; instead of crapping on your neighbor, perhaps you can think of that.
@Elricck Here's your post: "We also save Canada alot more than that, imagine if Canada was near Bosnia, or Cambodia, etc., what do you think would happen without the US insulating Canada from the world? Hopefully we should just be good neighbors and help and respect each other but I have just recently found out, now, about the national psychosis Canada has about the US, as in always comparing themselves to us, and saying "I'm not American", good for you, you're not American."
@sabrefreak Imagine if? I won't waste time on fairy tale worlds where Canada has been shunted into the Balkans, because that's not reality. What is a reality is that in that statement you have judged every Canadian based on a few, which is no different than these same Canucks doing it to Americans.
@sabrefreak Fairytale? I doubt it, more like a nightmare that Canada is in denial about. Canada would *never* be what it is without it's geographic good fortune. This isn't even debatable and you should know it, you are Canadian are you not? I suggest taking some Cultural Anthroplogy, International Relations, and some Human Geography courses, once you're done with that you'll see much better. ;)
@Elricck Well, until you come across the border and personally interview every Canuck, east to west, north to south, you'll never get the answer. And you will have to trust me that there are a great many Canadian's who do not crap on American's, just as I am sure the reverse is true.
@sabrefreak I certainly do know for a fact this is an insult. "it took a Canadian" Oh really did it now? It took a Canadian, now isn't that so nice, and polite, just like Canada. It took a Canadian, only a Canadian can do stuff like that, the lowly Americans are just fat rednecks and know-nothings, did I get it right buffsprnfld??
@Elricck again, I think (and it is my opinion) that it's just a comment, whereas you seem to be spouting a lot of negative steretypes about American's.
@sabrefreak well, there's alot of jerks and fat ppl in America, one thing I don't do is lie. We have alot of problems here, and it's taking longer than we thought to straighten it all out, give us another 90 years or so. ;)
July 23 1967 when the race riot started at the corner of 12th Street and Clairmount 43 dead, over 400 injured, 7200 plus arrested and over 2000 buildings brunt all in 5 days
. Where exactly were these pic's taken, I presume they were taken somewhere in deep south cause they weren't taken in LA, I was there in the summer of '68 and everything seemed okey. I even rode by nearby Watts a black suburb of LA and everybody was shopping like normal. The slide show opens up my eyes to pix I have never seen before. Unrest in the deep south, yes, but bloodshed...no! The song on the otherhand isn't a fast waltz or jive!
I remember asking my history teacher, as a Canadian who had moved down, with protest/activist parents and a LP collection to match, about this 'Black Day' in July. I was told that no riots involving armed troops in Detriot had ever occurred much less tanks. Then told this was classic Canadian and commie exaggeration (oh, love those 80's).
neao56: What a great choice of pictures to accompany the song. As a Canadian, I remember this song being banned on the airwaves of the USA along with the Guess Who's American Woman.
Hi Buff, I have heard this song a couple of times on 104.1 The Dock over the last few weeks, must be due to Lightfoot's upcoming concert at Casino Rama.
The lyrics caught my attention, I just finished reading about it, I am shocked, this happened 5 & 1/2 years before I was born, that must have been scarey, what kind of coverage did this get on Canadian TV and radio (the riots, not the song)?
it was tragic , History repeats it self The only thing we can say is we are becoming more humain every decade . the hollicost was the worst of them all or was it in the Roman days . anyhow its far better a continues now! Amen I say .Peace
If the song was banned by whom the US Federal radio communications regulators and if so when did they LIFT the ban? Did the ban itself generate substantive controversy? What were the views of the ACLU on this ban at the time?
The riot was not justified. A lot of times I am angry, am not treated fairly, am discriminated, against but that does not give me the right to loot, injure and burn out innocent people.
Sometimes one has to strike a blow against the Empire. It is easy to refrain from action when the indignities are visited occasionally upon oneself. But systematic oppression causes dissent that erupts. Without it, we would still belong to Britain.
Song was supposed to be released as a single in the US but was banned from radio play due to subject matter. Soars and reminds like Neil Young's 'Ohio' Fantastic Video! Peace:-)
Both Canadian. Both emerged around the same time. Both folk artists(though Young is much more of a rock artist than Lightfoot) Both amazing both musically and in concert. Both able to write superb provocative protest songs.
The riot was started when white police offiers raided a "blind pig" a.k.a. an after hours drinking club. A crowd began to gather and there was the belief that blacks were being "picked upon." That was the spark that started the riots.
I grew up in the Detroit area and was 17 years old when the riots of 1967 occurred. I still remember it as if it was just yesterday. This is such a great song for so many reasons! Everyone was worried when the summer of 1968 started but the Detroit Tigers pulled the city together as they went on to win the World Series and give us all of us Detroiters something the really cheer about!
It's incredible that you were able match each image with each statement made. 18 yrs ago I was in Detroit, there still was some physical evidence. The memories of Kent university and the assignation of Martin Luther King is associated with that era, Let us remember, that it was through the human sacrifices that the changes were made. Radicalism and rebellions are needed for social change, unfortunately any time the status quo is challenged, violence follows
@DFaustus1 nice try, doc.......true and effectual rebellion takes place at the ballot box, not through the burning and looting of cities.....nor by chucking rocks and bottles at national guard troops on campus......malcontents like you are mere weights around the neck of societal progress......time to grow up, sonny....
@DFaustus1 there is a differance between protesting and destroying i know a private investigator that arrested 30 people in a race riot for rape arson looting attemted murder
@spacepatrolman Opportunist exists everywhere including protests, there are some that do use the spirit of a protest to advance themselves, whatever advance is, rape, has no political merit. as far as arson, looting, well, it's the hands of the have nots trying to equalize the playing field. Black day in July focused on Detroit, but during that era there was other political issues operating, How do you account for the Kent state Massacre, in both cases it was social and political awareness.
i wasn't born until '83, and i used to listen to gordon lightfoot with my father when i was younger. I was just curious as to what caused the riots that summer??
There is no one cause to the riots, throughout America there was unrest, Vietnam, racial discrimination etc..Detroit was no different, then the rest of America, what was accentuated in Detroit was the inequality between whites and blacks, Poor housing, unemployment, poverty access to education and many other reasons. The black Americans were forced to live in conditions below human standards, It all came to head when the Black community "Self Actualized" .
I will always love Detroit, but lets face it, it's a big shit hole. People that think they can bring back the old Detroit are dreaming. I actually kinda like how Detroit is, it makes it more interesting than most other cities in America. I guess I've learned to accept Detroit for what it is and I also enjoy when it makes little new improvements. When an old friend dies we must keep on living. By the way I grew up near McGraw/Livernois and so did most of my family.
Politics aside Hugh McCracken s' guitar is great !
MrSluggo666 2 days ago
im 15 and i know more about american politics than most americans
MrPiemaster123 1 week ago 2
This has been flagged as spam show
I wish people could spell properly and use punctuation, e.g., "Lightfoot got banded on American radio." "i know a private investigator that arrested 30 people in a race riot for rape arson looting attemted murder"...etc.
Why can't You Tube have Spell Check for these comments?
CanadianQuebecois 2 weeks ago
for people with a social conscience geography doesn't really matter. Besides, its an awesome tune by an awesome artist.
joelerb21112 3 weeks ago
Lightfoot also went to school in California so it's not like he was some unknowing observer.
skydome29 1 month ago
@tedmont1696 what about all the cities in Alaska?
thebakers1234 2 months ago
Detroit is the only American city that is North of a Canadian City. At least the only one that won't take a week to drive between.
tdemont1696 2 months ago
@tdemont1696 What about Buffalo?
LaughDaddy 2 months ago
@tdemont1696 and Green Bay
RyanBurnett22 2 months ago
@RyanBurnett22 OK Guys...What Canadian city is south of Buffalo? What Canadian city is south of Green Bay? The same one that's south of San Diego (none).
tdemont1696 2 months ago
@tdemont1696 please check the map ppl, Detroit is indeed north of Windsor
JoeMaamaa 1 week ago
@tdemont1696 You know, Detroit is not north of ANY Canadian city, right?
ragnarthesemigreen 1 month ago
@ragnarthesemigreen Windsor Ontario is as American as any Canadian city, but it is still in Canada, oh and it is directly south of Detroit.
tdemont1696 1 month ago
One of Gords Best written songs that spoke the truth of the Civil Of un rest in Detroit in 1967.
mbrand19971 2 months ago
there's a lot of talk about how it is strange that a Canadian could wright such a poignant song about the Detroit riot's. Detroit is across the lake from Windsor, you could see the fires burning. also this is the late 60's people crossed the border all the time, it was much more open the it is now, and musicians from Canada spent a lot of time in the U.S. Neal young, the band are the 2 best known, ronnie hawkins spent a lot of time in canada. its not so strange.
bengdc 3 months ago 4
This has been flagged as spam show
MasterKyleson said: "ron paul no more riots"
No blacks, no riots...no crime either, at least not in numbers as has been the 'norm.'
Veritas699 3 months ago
Three Fox News personalities rated this video
MasterKyleson 4 months ago 2
@MasterKyleson ron paul no more riots
cullinane8888 4 months ago
AND THERE'S GUNFIRE FROM THE ROOFTOPS. QUITE STARTLING WHEN PERCUSSIOIST ACCENTS JUST AFTER WITH A SHORT BURST OF REPETITIVE STRIKES THAT ALMOST SIMULATE IT. WONDER HOW MANY WHO HEAR THE SONG HAVE CAUGHT THAT?
luvtotruck 4 months ago
Detroit never recovered from this to this day.
krankensteinrocks 5 months ago
This song was banned from airplay in the us because i was released shortly after Martin Luther King was killed and deemed to controversial at the time.
krankensteinrocks 5 months ago
Thank you Gordon Lightfoot for getting it right!
Want more? Read Zug Island:A Detroit Riot Novel for the bigger picture. this event was decades in the making.
gregoryafournier 5 months ago
Gordy Lightfoot, Canadian scholar and poet, tells it like it was south of the border back in a hot, July summer of '67 in the Motor City.
skeena59 6 months ago 3
Note Michigan Governor Gearge Romney (father of Mitt) @ 3:47. Romney was a leading contender for the 1968 Republican presidential nomination until he made his infamous remark about how he had been "brainwashed" about the Vietnam war
causing his candidacy to sink like an anvil.
Grand74Master 6 months ago
@Grand74Master
Carson quipped about the "brainwashing" remark, "Most political observers agree that a slight rinse would do." That was it for George Romney.
gregoryafournier 5 months ago
IT IS SLIGTLY DISTURBING BUT I NOTICED WHEN THE GUNFIRE FROM THE ROM THE ROOFTOP THE PERCUSIOIST HITS THE TIMPANY AT JUST THE RIGHT TO AND ALMOST SIMULATES SOUND. ANYONE CATCH THAT?
luvtotruck 6 months ago
Man this one gives me chills! The more things change..................
MrBluesFool 6 months ago
all of themback in 1967 are my age know in there 60's well was it worth it look around you the burrt out building. the closed stores,
thenegas2011 6 months ago
seeing whats going on London these last few days brought this song back to me, as well as the lines of a Phil Ochs song: "so wrong so wrong, but we've been down so long, and we had to make somebody listen"
ziegenhagenm 6 months ago
I'm old enough to remember those riots. Great tune.
MsWeedLady 7 months ago
Detroit city~
cindy85123 7 months ago
Brilliant. I remember it all well. Grew up at 8 Mile-Gratiot; in the early '50s, still farmland. Fortunate enough to be a teen in the '60s with Motown and Robin Seymour. Will always be proud to be a Detroiter, no matter what comes. And a Michigander, too.
grindlbebe 8 months ago
@OldestManInCanada so true
itunes65 8 months ago
Lightfoot is peerless as a song writer, imo.....but it should be noted that LBJs 'great society' programs caused the unrest......social programs breed criminals...and criminals breed poverty......the decline of free market capitalism is the tap root of all of America's social ills...every one of them....
gorillaonrye 9 months ago
@porn1978 hahah
dillonhillier 9 months ago
If you go to CNC,You will find A interview with Lightfoot about this song,also a little Known fact Bill Lee played bass for Lightfoot on many of his songs,Bill being Spike Lee's father.Lightfoot got banded on American radio because of this song and also caught some crap here in the U.S. for having Bill Lee for a band member.The us did not want the wifes and mothers hearing anything on their morning radio that might make them THINK!!!! Mike at loooniesforlightfoot@hotmail.com
looniesforlightfoot 10 months ago
not bad for a canadian on u.s. politics
TheJackbour 11 months ago 18
@TheJackbour Sorry to say but most Canadians know more about U.S. politics than most Americans.
buddhahoodlum1 4 months ago 31
@buddhahoodlum1 also, most canadians know more things about the US polticis than americans know about our government here. and what is even more sad, is that there are many canadians that know more about the US government then about their own
forzacatainapalermo 1 day ago
@forzacatainapalermo You're bang on. I too fall into that last category, I'm afraid. I don't know if it's because US politics are so full of intrigue, subterfuge, deceipt, and war, or if it's because there is so much more non-mainstream info available on America as opposed to Canada. Or maybe because the US is often at the heart of what's going on in the world, and often not for the better. Anyway, this song is awesome. In Gord we trust..
buddhahoodlum1 1 day ago
@buddhahoodlum1 I too fall into that category. you are right; i think its a combination of the fact that US politics is full of intrigue and all that and including all those conspiracies (ex. the John F Kennedy case; you just dont see these kinds of conspiracies in our country). And i think it also has to do with US being a power house country (who think they are the best lol) and that canadian politics is rather boring.
this is song is amazing;
forzacatainapalermo 1 day ago
@forzacatainapalermo I was in detroit actually not too long ago to watch the red wings play the sharks, i hope that city recovers. the people there have been through what i call "the dark ages of detroit". tough times. an detroit hasnt been the way it was in such a long time.
the pictures in this video of detroit and this event are absoltely atsonishing and complement the song really well
forzacatainapalermo 1 day ago
Gosh, that depressed the hell out of me but I'm glad that I watched & listened.
fannycraddock99 11 months ago
Well done! This song was banned from most commercial radio stations in the U.S.A. at the time of its release, so it remains one of Lightfoot's least-known hits.
paganmaestro 1 year ago
i was told that this was made for the the geat depression
mrquackadoodlemoo 1 year ago
great song/great visuals!
athanasius58 1 year ago
amazing video, and amazing song
82ndarmy 1 year ago
this is not canada versus the u.s. this canm happen in canada just as easily.
johnmavritsakis1 1 year ago
@johnmavritsakis1 Not really. Canada doesn't have the same underlying racial tension that incited the Detroit riots; the only place I could see something similar happening is in Montreal, where it's a matter of Francophones vs. Anglophones. But even there the longtime animosity is dying out.
jacketman22 1 year ago
Comment removed
ThegooddocD 1 year ago
in some ways i think this is gordons best song. it is just as powerful today as then. reading the comments about canada vs america it is sad that this has not changed. i have been in both countries and they remind me of the differences between scotland and england. both countries are modern, have given great things to the world and in some ways still finding their feet. need to get along guys.
ffchatter 1 year ago
What a great video! Nicely done, subtle yet profound
silverhq22 1 year ago
Just gotta say, neon56.......Brilliant!!!!! If you did the video editing, you are a natural. This is one of the best videos I've ever seen. None of this, "Don't show a single image for more than 2 seconds", formula. The panning of the photos, Zooming and timing with the music is perfect. The images shown are perfect. Nice job. If I owned the rights to the song, I would pay big bucks to rent the rights to use this as the official video. Cheers. Try another song.
1965Davey 1 year ago
Absolutely awesome video. Thanks for your intestinal fortitude to keep this public. Never should we forget the way Americans have held the world populace hostage within the realm of their sick brainwashed conformity.
tyme4mike 1 year ago
@tyme4mike Sorry to all Good Americans regarding this comment. I meant to say "American Presidents" and I guess I can include their puppetmasters and political ideologies.
tyme4mike 1 year ago
Interesting a Canadian wrote a song about Detroit.
It sounded like a nasty 3 days
garycalgary 1 year ago
@garycalgary And Lyndon Johnson went apeshit. The American stations were forced to ban the playing of the song. He hit the nail on the head because he made the racist fucks who caused the bullshit behind this riot responsible through a mere song. It all started when some racist cops tried to shut down an after hours get-together for two black men who had returned from Vietnam alive. American presidents are lying fucking whores, and that includes NWObama.
tyme4mike 1 year ago 2
@garycalgary yes it was
cruxton31 7 months ago
Excellent video done for an incrediblly important song. You just made YouTube worthwhile.
trevorfarren 1 year ago
First off, Awesome work on this video.
Second: The American / Canadian difference is simple: a line in the sand. Different areas with different leaders - owned by the same corporate keepers.
kambadandyj 1 year ago
Don't ask, don't tell @ 2:35
ROBdeLIS 1 year ago
On the 43 anniversary of this terrible time in Detroit - 23 July '67. It's a very vivid memory for a 19 year old who lived in Toronto and watched the nightly news reports. Listening to this song brings back the memories so clearly. It was a hot summer and this just seemed to be the culmination of racial trouble that had been simmering for a long time. So, thank you for posting this song by one of Canada's greatest singer/songwriters capturing a period that will hopefully never be repeated!
Kingscrib 1 year ago
Well done ... I'm a native Detroiter and something of a student of the riot (it happened when I was three), so it was cool to see quite a few images I'd never seen before.
jerryg1964 1 year ago
I did some research of this song and the riots and I learned that the song was banned from American airwaves after Martin Luther King was killed. It would be interesting to know how long it was banned.
1stPlaceDirector 1 year ago
Leaves a big lump in my throat. Your images are devastating, and tell the story as well as the song. Together, they're just like a punch in the gut.
MegaCalabash 1 year ago
I just had to blow off some steam, I know there are great people in all countries. I have never had an anti-Canadian thought in all my years until lately, and I am actually concerned for any Canadian who has to tolerate America -bashing just to get along with his/her community. Yes there are things about the US which are bad, very true, but when it is eating you alive, my dear people, it's time to get down to brass tacks and reign in the emotions for your own sanity. PEACE.
Elricck 1 year ago
The comment by buffsrrngfld is demonstrative of how Canadians denigrate America even subconsciously, I bet buffy didn't even realize he [or, most assuredly, she] was making an insult. In the big picture yes America has done alot of wrong but there is a segment of my country which is against that, and America has also done alot of right, so don't generalize along the lines of national identity, if you would. Be specific when addressing bad behavior don't just group all of us together.
Elricck 1 year ago
@Elricck My country being the US of A mkay
Elricck 1 year ago
@Elricck
I'd have loved to comment on the other posts you sent, but they were removed. So, I will be brief. The US is a country, not a company, so issues of trade are irrelevant in this discussion. You're other post is jibber-jabber and if-and-buts. I have always been pround to be one of two nations along the world's longest undefended border; instead of crapping on your neighbor, perhaps you can think of that.
sabrefreak 1 year ago
@Elricck - I'd have loved to comment on the other posts you sent, but they were removed. So, I will be brief. The US is a country, not a company, so issues of trade are irrelevant in this discussion. You're other post is jibber-jabber and if-and-buts. I have always been pround to be one of two nations along the world's longest undefended border; instead of crapping on your neighbor, perhaps you can think of that.
sabrefreak 1 year ago
Comment removed
Elricck 1 year ago
@Elricck Here's your post: "We also save Canada alot more than that, imagine if Canada was near Bosnia, or Cambodia, etc., what do you think would happen without the US insulating Canada from the world? Hopefully we should just be good neighbors and help and respect each other but I have just recently found out, now, about the national psychosis Canada has about the US, as in always comparing themselves to us, and saying "I'm not American", good for you, you're not American."
sabrefreak 1 year ago
@sabrefreak Imagine if? I won't waste time on fairy tale worlds where Canada has been shunted into the Balkans, because that's not reality. What is a reality is that in that statement you have judged every Canadian based on a few, which is no different than these same Canucks doing it to Americans.
sabrefreak 1 year ago
@sabrefreak Fairytale? I doubt it, more like a nightmare that Canada is in denial about. Canada would *never* be what it is without it's geographic good fortune. This isn't even debatable and you should know it, you are Canadian are you not? I suggest taking some Cultural Anthroplogy, International Relations, and some Human Geography courses, once you're done with that you'll see much better. ;)
Elricck 1 year ago
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Elricck 1 year ago
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Elricck 1 year ago
@Elricck Well, until you come across the border and personally interview every Canuck, east to west, north to south, you'll never get the answer. And you will have to trust me that there are a great many Canadian's who do not crap on American's, just as I am sure the reverse is true.
sabrefreak 1 year ago
@Elricck oh and thanks for Justin Bieber, we really appreciate that. ;) We are now so very culturally enriched.
Elricck 1 year ago
@Elricck We can say likewise for American Idol; the only part of which worth watching is Simon, an Englishman
sabrefreak 1 year ago
@sabrefreak Ya got me there.
Elricck 1 year ago
@Elricck cont. - and throw some History and Sociology in there as well, ...it's a new dawn!
Elricck 1 year ago
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Elricck 1 year ago
@sabrefreak I'm not Canadian.
Elricck 1 year ago
@Elricck Who said you were?
sabrefreak 1 year ago
@sabrefreak I certainly do know for a fact this is an insult. "it took a Canadian" Oh really did it now? It took a Canadian, now isn't that so nice, and polite, just like Canada. It took a Canadian, only a Canadian can do stuff like that, the lowly Americans are just fat rednecks and know-nothings, did I get it right buffsprnfld??
Elricck 1 year ago
@Elricck again, I think (and it is my opinion) that it's just a comment, whereas you seem to be spouting a lot of negative steretypes about American's.
sabrefreak 1 year ago
@sabrefreak well, there's alot of jerks and fat ppl in America, one thing I don't do is lie. We have alot of problems here, and it's taking longer than we thought to straighten it all out, give us another 90 years or so. ;)
Elricck 1 year ago
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Elricck 1 year ago
@Elricck In other words don't make innuendo vs. our national character, and we will do the same for you.
Elricck 1 year ago
July 23 1967 when the race riot started at the corner of 12th Street and Clairmount 43 dead, over 400 injured, 7200 plus arrested and over 2000 buildings brunt all in 5 days
CrzWildOne 1 year ago
. Where exactly were these pic's taken, I presume they were taken somewhere in deep south cause they weren't taken in LA, I was there in the summer of '68 and everything seemed okey. I even rode by nearby Watts a black suburb of LA and everybody was shopping like normal. The slide show opens up my eyes to pix I have never seen before. Unrest in the deep south, yes, but bloodshed...no! The song on the otherhand isn't a fast waltz or jive!
Ezdduf4kuZ 1 year ago
@Ezdduf4kuZ - Detroit, Michigan, 1967, as the openning of the video shows and the song clearly states (Motor City = Detroit).
revol0102 1 year ago
I remember asking my history teacher, as a Canadian who had moved down, with protest/activist parents and a LP collection to match, about this 'Black Day' in July. I was told that no riots involving armed troops in Detriot had ever occurred much less tanks. Then told this was classic Canadian and commie exaggeration (oh, love those 80's).
mpshiel 1 year ago
neao56: What a great choice of pictures to accompany the song. As a Canadian, I remember this song being banned on the airwaves of the USA along with the Guess Who's American Woman.
a5a22406 1 year ago
sends up my spine
johnmavritsakis1 1 year ago
@neon56
Outstanding work!!!! Thank you!
tomtrh 1 year ago
Lived through those days remember it well, it took a Canadian to write about and sing it.
buffspringfield 1 year ago
Hi Buff, I have heard this song a couple of times on 104.1 The Dock over the last few weeks, must be due to Lightfoot's upcoming concert at Casino Rama.
The lyrics caught my attention, I just finished reading about it, I am shocked, this happened 5 & 1/2 years before I was born, that must have been scarey, what kind of coverage did this get on Canadian TV and radio (the riots, not the song)?
StGeorgesNL 1 year ago
Puss and dog they live together , whats wrong with you my brother !!
Evdiliotis 2 years ago
Interesting they triede to release this song in the States but it was banned by most stations.
MIKECNW 2 years ago 2
Very well done
sweetsiam 2 years ago
it was tragic , History repeats it self The only thing we can say is we are becoming more humain every decade . the hollicost was the worst of them all or was it in the Roman days . anyhow its far better a continues now! Amen I say .Peace
linktronics 2 years ago
Why can't we all be brothers, why can't we live in peace?
bobafettucini 2 years ago 4
Amazing isn't it? How easy it is to see yet it still does not happen :(
Why does this divide still exist?
StGeorgesNL 1 year ago
@bobafettucini We can't because of human nature. War is human nature, that's all.
Elricck 1 year ago
If the song was banned by whom the US Federal radio communications regulators and if so when did they LIFT the ban? Did the ban itself generate substantive controversy? What were the views of the ACLU on this ban at the time?
hospitalship1 2 years ago
Outstanding job! Thanks.
sleekg8r 2 years ago
The riot was not justified. A lot of times I am angry, am not treated fairly, am discriminated, against but that does not give me the right to loot, injure and burn out innocent people.
thekenniewitch 2 years ago
Sometimes one has to strike a blow against the Empire. It is easy to refrain from action when the indignities are visited occasionally upon oneself. But systematic oppression causes dissent that erupts. Without it, we would still belong to Britain.
sleekg8r 2 years ago
tit for tat? When oppression is ignored to such a level is it not then tit for tat?
blackdogleg 2 years ago
Song was supposed to be released as a single in the US but was banned from radio play due to subject matter. Soars and reminds like Neil Young's 'Ohio' Fantastic Video! Peace:-)
JAGaleaffan 2 years ago
niel young , gordon lightfoot, what do they have in common?
blackdogleg 2 years ago
Made in Canada eh!
JAGaleaffan 2 years ago
Both Canadian. Both emerged around the same time. Both folk artists(though Young is much more of a rock artist than Lightfoot) Both amazing both musically and in concert. Both able to write superb provocative protest songs.
Ikki1604 2 years ago
@blackdogleg neither of them have ever been in my kitchen ?
Frankenpalin 2 years ago
The riot was started when white police offiers raided a "blind pig" a.k.a. an after hours drinking club. A crowd began to gather and there was the belief that blacks were being "picked upon." That was the spark that started the riots.
thekenniewitch 2 years ago
I grew up in the Detroit area and was 17 years old when the riots of 1967 occurred. I still remember it as if it was just yesterday. This is such a great song for so many reasons! Everyone was worried when the summer of 1968 started but the Detroit Tigers pulled the city together as they went on to win the World Series and give us all of us Detroiters something the really cheer about!
schwabpm 2 years ago
Thank you to everyone regarding your kind comments about my work. I appreciate your input!
DG
neon56 2 years ago 2
It's incredible that you were able match each image with each statement made. 18 yrs ago I was in Detroit, there still was some physical evidence. The memories of Kent university and the assignation of Martin Luther King is associated with that era, Let us remember, that it was through the human sacrifices that the changes were made. Radicalism and rebellions are needed for social change, unfortunately any time the status quo is challenged, violence follows
DFaustus1 2 years ago 15
@DFaustus1 nice try, doc.......true and effectual rebellion takes place at the ballot box, not through the burning and looting of cities.....nor by chucking rocks and bottles at national guard troops on campus......malcontents like you are mere weights around the neck of societal progress......time to grow up, sonny....
gorillaonrye 9 months ago
@DFaustus1 there is a differance between protesting and destroying i know a private investigator that arrested 30 people in a race riot for rape arson looting attemted murder
spacepatrolman 7 months ago
@spacepatrolman Opportunist exists everywhere including protests, there are some that do use the spirit of a protest to advance themselves, whatever advance is, rape, has no political merit. as far as arson, looting, well, it's the hands of the have nots trying to equalize the playing field. Black day in July focused on Detroit, but during that era there was other political issues operating, How do you account for the Kent state Massacre, in both cases it was social and political awareness.
DFaustus1 7 months ago
@DFaustus1 i dont see how killing 4 students walking to the library is social and political awareness
spacepatrolman 7 months ago
i wasn't born until '83, and i used to listen to gordon lightfoot with my father when i was younger. I was just curious as to what caused the riots that summer??
mcbjr83 2 years ago 2
There is no one cause to the riots, throughout America there was unrest, Vietnam, racial discrimination etc..Detroit was no different, then the rest of America, what was accentuated in Detroit was the inequality between whites and blacks, Poor housing, unemployment, poverty access to education and many other reasons. The black Americans were forced to live in conditions below human standards, It all came to head when the Black community "Self Actualized" .
DFaustus1 2 years ago 3
I will always love Detroit, but lets face it, it's a big shit hole. People that think they can bring back the old Detroit are dreaming. I actually kinda like how Detroit is, it makes it more interesting than most other cities in America. I guess I've learned to accept Detroit for what it is and I also enjoy when it makes little new improvements. When an old friend dies we must keep on living. By the way I grew up near McGraw/Livernois and so did most of my family.
motorcitystevo 2 years ago 8
I remember that summer.This video is an important piece of history.
vintagezigg 2 years ago
I was 18 when all this happened. To my dying day I will never forget this. It was a huge turning point in history. For all of us who saw it.
212729h 2 years ago
Good song indeed. I'm glad we have come some distance since 1967.
Trudeau790 2 years ago
5 Stars. love this song and great work with the editing.
asparrow 3 years ago 2
That was then now we have come a long way but still a long way to go. Congratulatios Obama.
golo5000 3 years ago
Good job.
motorcitystevo 3 years ago
Thank you from an expatriate Detroiter!
janeknisely 3 years ago