by Gary Anderson

1969 was a happening year for America. Astronauts made it to the moon and back! Half a million young people journeyed to a concert that became a culturally defining moment. A combat war was waged abroad, and a peace movement was engaged at home. Illegal drug use skyrocketed. Homosexuals rioted in New York City. Spiritual and political leaders were mourned. Vampires and werewolves were a monster smash on daytime TV, while a group of country bumpkins proved the critics wrong and became a primetime hit. A musical about young people and the times they lived in spread from the stage to the recording studio and radio airwaves. An X-rated movie would go on to win the Oscar for Best Picture, while an age-old love story would captivate the young. And the struggle for civil rights for minorities made progress towards equality for all -- including the (not always) silent majority. 

The 45 rpm 7-inch singles released in 1969 reflected what was happening from coast to coast. Record after record captured the events, trends and moods of America: its pride, its sensuality, its divisiveness, its goodness, its humor, its sadness, its loves, its fears, its triumphs, its courage, its losses, its daring, its dreams, its values, its failures, its joys, its promise, its changes. This book is about that time and those records.

Gary Anderson grew up in southern and western Maine in the '50s and '60s, weaned on AM radio. Thanks to Beatlemania and the resulting British Invasion, he began buying vinyl in 1964. Since then Anderson has amassed a large record collection, primarily rock and pop-oriented music. He currently resides in New York, working as a social worker and scrounging yard sales, flea markets and antique stores for singles and albums from the '60s and '70s. This book grew out of that passion for the music of his youth.