The Establishment
Come on, people -- Stop Fightin', Start Lovin'
The first 45rpm single in Frank's Vinyl Museum is brought to us by Starday-King Records in Nashville (a city that seems to have been quite adept at producing this kind of thrift-store quality record). I was drawn to this disc by its title -- The Establishment. What a name for a band! What were these guys thinking? That they'd be the "alternative" rock band for sensible folks who didn't identify with the counterculture? Or did they once hear some hippies talking about "the establishment" and mistake it for a cool buzzword?
I didn't care much for the "A" side of this single (In My Heart I Am A Free Man), but the "B" side is a classic -- Stop Fightin' Start Lovin'. The 60's and 70's produced a lot of antiwar songs, of course, but you'd have to look far and wide to find one as powerful and eloquent as this one:
Now everyone I know is joinin' in the show
They're shoutin' out what must be done
Some say to fight for peace, while others holler "cease"
Oh, nothing's won
Too much talk and not enough doin'
Can only lead to wreck and to ruin
Come on people -- stop fightin' start lovin!
John Lennon might be best remembered for telling the world to "Give Peace A Chance", but I wouldn't be suprised if it was The Establishment that finally drove Nixon to close the door on Vietnam. Power to the People!