My partner & I had a head shop on 10th Ave. around the corner from the Merry Go Round. We called it Hip Job Co-Op. We noticed many folks who hitched to Atlanta & had nowhere to go & were being busted on the strip for loitering. So we offered a hot meal & a place to crash in our loft in exchange for working a few hours in our store. When the Twelfth Gate coffee house/head shop upstairs closed, we bought their inventory. Our “workers” made jewelry, candles, tie-dye shirts & also helped keep the storefront clean.

I also volunteered at the crisis center, just off the strip. I remember walking in & seeing their huge sign saying “If you are not part of the solution, then you’re part of the problem.” Beyond true.

On opening day, Mayor Sam Massell came down with a tv crew & I was interviewed about our shop & unique concept. He bought a black light poster from us for his son.

We also cooked beans & rice in Piedmont Park most weekends for whomever needed it & transported many overdosed folks to Grady Hospital. We never missed a weekend & were there when Duane introduced his baby brother Gregg, “he’s going to come out and play a little slide for us.” WOW

I appreciate this site & remember all of the bands mentioned. My partner worked with Eric Quincy Tate. Anyone remember them? Does anyone remember my ex, Mike Floyd, who sadly passed last year. An angel of a man with a beautiful soul.

I saw The Beatles in Atlanta in 1965. I was almost 17, “if you know what I mean,” & I was transformed. I lived in Savannah & rode the Nancy Hanks train to Atlanta for the show with a friend,

After that, nothing meant more to me than music. I moved to Atlanta in 1967. Not counting the year I went home for school, I lived there 13 years. I sold The Great Speckled Bird before our head shop opened. A guy called me over to his car. He was openly masturbating. I saw a police officer just across the street & waved him over. He arrested him.

I attended both of Atlanta’s pop festivals & hitched to many more around the country. Finally, I became a psychiatric nurse & worked off & on for 40 years. Music & mental health go together naturally, so I’m very happy with my career choice. I also moved to Nashville to pursue songwriting in 1981. I married a songwriter in 1989. I have stories to tell! 

Karen