So the other day, I was coming back from a ride and I had Pandora blasting away in my Jeep radio with…………The New Riders of the Purple Sage channel. Now the appreciation for the New Riders, the Flying Burrito Brothers and similar dirt bag hippie music groups from the 70s all started with Caflisch Hall at Allegheny College. I was an independent and living in Caflisch with all the hippies who chose not to be frat boys and I gained some serious appreciation for this music as it flowed freely down the halls and out the windows on sunny days- a rarity for Meadville, Pa. My wife would never appreciate this music so most of the time that I play it anymore, I am in my Jeep by myself. Janet always kids me and says I have a whole other life that she is not aware of- people she is not aware of, and many, many experiences that she is not aware of. A whole other added value life of Pat McCloskey. LOL!!! But those days at Allegheny seasoned my appreciation for music even to this day. How many people other than maybe ones my age would even know who the New Riders are or the Burrito Brothers for that matter. They might be familiar with the Byrds who infused some members into these groups and vice versa, but for the most part, when people ask me what I listen to in the car I say……………………The New Riders and they give me a strange look.

One year we had Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen up at Allegheny. Another raucous hippie band whose forlorn sounding hit that year had lyrics that rang out” and I am down to seeds and stems again too.” I was even asked to help at the door with my friend who was a big Commander fan and after the show, we were invited to their trailer to drink Iron City with the band. Old Bob Rose and I obliged and had a great time sitting with the Commander and his guys recounting their adventures on the road. Needless to say, I listen to the Commander in my Jeep too. He recently passed but his music lives on blasting away in my Jeep.

Listening to these songs today makes me daydream about the times hitchhiking back and forth to Allegheny College. One time I talked a guy’s ear off all the way home until he leaned over and asked me where I wanted to be dropped off. I found out he was deaf. I told him all my best stories for nothing. LOL!! Life in Caflisch is etched in my memory and whenever I play these old groups on Pandora, I am always reminded of some crazy times back in college. Most of those guys now are successful attorneys and brokers, but if you would have seen them then, shoulder length hair and listening to this music incessantly into the night, you would never think that they had much of a future. My old roommate even got some needed furniture from the post office in a beer infused clandestine operation that yielded “Early Post Office” decor for our dorm room. I think he celebrated with one of his Genesee Cream Ales that were stuffed into our refrigerator, and some late night music from the Burrito Brothers.

Life is speeding by these days and sometimes I think I have to apply the brakes pretty hard in order for it to be truly appreciated. But driving down the road, listening to the New Riders, gives me a little reverse gear. Janet would see another new side of me that she might not be aware of. Yet another nugget of the added value life of PJM. And we have been married 35 years. I repeat a lot of things, but she still doesn’t know the half of it. LOL!!! ” I know you rider going to miss me when I am gone……………………….” Thanks for reading.