I have the pleasure of hosting Susan Carlton today. She was born in San Francisco, but wasn't of age until the hippie era had ended. Lobsterland was her first book and Love and Haight is her second book, which is about hippies, San Francisco, music, and much more. She has also written for magazines, including Self, Elle, and Mademoiselle, She now lives in Massachusetts with her husband. She is talking about the influence that music had with Love & Haight. I hope you enjoy!
I loved cuing up the
turntable while writing Love & Haight, which
is set in 1971. Yep, still have my turntable. My playlist was heavy on the San
Francisco sound—bands that came of age along with drugs and peace and love. It
was an epic time in San Francisco…Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, Moby
Grape and, of course, the Dead.
One of my favorite
scenes in the novel takes place in the giant old Tower Records, which used to
be on Bay and Columbus in San Francisco. Chloe, my main character, and Teddy,
her ex, go into a listening booth, like a payphone except with less glass and
less air.
These
are songs to write to, dance to, make out to. - Power to
the People—John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
- Lookin'
Out My Back Door—Creedence Clearwater Revival
- Sunshine
of Your Love—Cream
- The
Joker—Steve Miller Band
- Somebody
to Love—Jefferson Airplane
- The
Weight—The Band
- For What
It's Worth—Buffalo Springfield
- Evil
Ways—Santana
- Piece of
My Heart—Big Brother and the Holding Company
- Loan Me a
Dime—Boz Scaggs
- Friend of
the Devil—Grateful Dead
- Get
Together—The Youngbloods
