In the latter half of the 1960s, thanks to the then-new technology of powerful amplifiers, rock and roll witnessed the emergence of the power rock trio. Its blues based "hard rock" music would pave the way for heavy metal, progressive (prog) rock, and other later strains of heavier rock. Sans keyboards, rhythm guitar or other instrumentation, and simply utilizing the basic guitar, bass, and drums (plus feedback), the power rock trio formula was born. Cream (comprised of Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton, & Ginger Baker) and The Jimi Hendrix Experience were among the early pioneers & ambassadors of this highly influential form of rock, and their combined influence was far reaching. Below are these two trios and several other late 60's into early 70's power rock trios spanning the formative half-decade from 1968 to 1973.

Included are video clips of Cream doing their classic "Sunshine Of Your Love" from 1968 and The Jimi Hendrix Experience (with Noel Redding on bass & Mitch Mitchell on drums) doing "VooDoo Child (Slight Return)" live on the Lulu Show on BBC TV in 1969. From 1968 is renowned San Francisco band Blue Cheer with their classic interpretation of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" from a decade earlier. The band, who typically were on the more psychedelic hard rock end but are more hard blues rock leaning here, featured vocalist and bassist Dickie Peterson, guitarist Leigh Stephens and drummer Paul Whaley. "Summertime Blues" was recorded for their 1968 debut album Vincebus Eruptum.

This blog entry is about Skid Row. Joining me on the adventure were Aussie-Chinese film-producer Diana Ward and Colombian-American/Chinese-American designer/illustrator/downtown resident Wendy Chin -- both regular traveling companions to my Doctor.

Skid Row is a neighborhood in Los Angeles' Central City East District. It's known to locals as "The Nickel." It's neighbored by the Fashion District, Little Tokyo, The Toy District, The Flower District and The Downtown Industrial District. To vote for other Los Angeles neighborhoods to be covered on the blog, vote here. To vote for Los Angeles County communities, vote here. To vote for Orange County communities, vote here.

If you live in LA you've no doubt driven or walked past the city's thousands of homeless people, especially if you pass through the downtown area known as Skid Row, where an estimated 11,000 homeless men and women dwell. But unless you've stopped and taken time to talk to these unfortunate individuals who call the streets home, you may not be able to humanize these men and women and their stories. 

The Thomas Napper directed film Lost Angels, which premiered in June at the Los Angeles Film Festival, screens for free tomorrow evening as part of the Downtown Film Festival. The film can help give a better understanding of LA's homeless. With narration by Catherine Keener, Lost Angels puts a human face on these so readily dismissed individuals that inhabit the Skid Row area. The excellent documentary's subjects (as seen in the trailer above) include a former Olympic runner, a transgendered punk rocker, and an eccentric animal lover and her devoted companion. It respectfully tells their individual stories of what led them to this point in their lives.
 
Tomorrow's Downtown Film Festival free screening of this documentary, which takes place at Gladys Park on a big 50 foot outdoor screen, is special because it is being screened in the heart of Skid Row, where the film was shot and where many of its subjects live. Los Angeles community activist General Jeff, whose last name is Page and who I met recently at Amoeba Hollywood during the KRS-ONE lecture, is a key person behind this unique screening of Lost Angels. Being on the Board of Directors for the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council and a resident director with Central City East/ Skid Row, Jeff works closely with LA's homeless and has firsthand insights into their plight. I caught up with the man to ask him about Lost Angels and its importance.