60 Minute Cities San Francisco
Intro / I have grown up on the outskirts of San Francisco, the child of two cityborn parents
who managed to make any trip across the bridge seem as magical as a trip to Disneyland / Those from the Greater Bay Area call San Francisco “The City” when referring to it “I’m going to The City tonight to see the show”, you might say, and any of the 7.68 million people within the 7000 square mile, 9county boundary, will know where you mean / Over the last 20 years, the growing techsector has changed The City’s face / Once storied for its egalitarian politics and inclusive neighborhoods, it is now equally known for jawdroppingly expensive realestate and overpriced luxuries / These cities live sidebyside for now, but the old one is shrinking / You are as likely to hear construction sounds as street music as likely to hear the clinking of crystal cocktail glasses as the North Beach Jazz that Jack Kerouac wrote so feverishly about / In this city there is always some new thing to discover, some new flavor to sample / I have included as many of those flavors as I could the San Francisco of the People (The Mission District’s Dolores Park), the Global Metropolis San Francisco (Tourists watching Pier 39’s sea lions), the City of Civil Rights (Sounds of protest) / I’ve taken risks with these recordings hopefully you’ll hear what is beautiful and unique about these everyday moments when they’ve been taken from their native time and place and brought to wherever you are when you hear them //
01 / January 10, 2018 / 19:45 /
37°45'36.5"N 122°25'16.8"W / The Mission / A rainy Wednesday night in San Francisco’s Mission District / For a city noted for its exciting lifestyle and large population it can surprise you with a more humble presentation / Those few people who had business this evening can be heard passing: to the left is the rattle of a street elevator’s lid as passersby stomp it with their heels / This neighborhood has been the historical Latin heart of San Francisco but gentrification is changing the demographics daybyday, while the people who live here fight to save their art and culture //
02 / August 26, 2017 / 12:30 /
37°46'17.4"N 122°25'26.1"W / On The March / Donald Trump’s election was in direct opposition to the values this city holds dear, and his agenda has emboldened groups not normally found in San Francisco / On August 26th, a group calling itself Patriot Prayer organized a “freespeech rally” that many felt was a thinlyveiled attempt to introduce hateful rhetoric into the public consciousness / Thousands of protesters organized peacefully in opposition to the group and several marches took place; this one began at the top of Market Street in the Castro District and ended at San Francisco’s famed Civic Center / One can hear old civil rights songs and new chants for equality / In between, there is the comforting chatter of protestors bonding over a shared agenda //
03 / January 14, 2018 / 12:00 / 37°47'05.9"N
122°25'53.7"W / Japantown / Japantown has many unique features; it is mostly indoors between 3 buildings with a bridge connecting one set and a wide amphitheater connecting the other / Shops are built into the bridge, maximizing space / Inside are Japanese restaurants and shops where one can buy fine incense or the latest anime movie / On the day of this recording, a group of kimono clad women prepared for a calligraphy demonstration; you can hear their stockingedfeet crunch a plastic tarp as they ready the area //
04 / November 4. 2017 / 12:00 / 37°47'16.5"N 122°24'28.5"W / Before the Rally / An organization called
“Refuse Fascism” planned a rally protesting Donald Trump’s administration on November 11th, 2017 / There was a large turnout that culminated in a march, speeches and chants / I found myself fascinated by the sounds that happened beforehand, while organizers milled about and handed out fliers in Union Square, a park centered in San Francisco’s shopping district / Around me, the city’s life goes on while protestors gather to peacefully disrupt it for a moment //
05 / June 24, 2017 / 18:00 / 37°45'36.1"N 122°26'05.4"W / SF Pride 2017 / San Francisco’s yearly ‘Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender Pride Celebration’, called SF Pride, is always a big event nowhere more so than San Francisco’s historic gay community in the Castro District / Here are the sounds from the street, where bars have thrown open their windows against the summer heat and revelers from around the world meet and celebrate / At some point, firefighters responded to a minor emergency; partiers catcall from a 2nd story balcony and the firefighters egg them on, announcing their departure with a ring of the bell and the honk of a horn //
06 / January 13, 2018 / 12:30 / 37°47'37.7"N 122°23'51.6"W / California @
Davis / San Francisco is famous for its cable cars; these unique modes of transportation work by gripping an underground cable that pulls the trolley along / They are a wealth of sound there’s the rattle of the wheels, the traditional bells, the grinding brakes / As I prepared to capture the distinctive sound of the cable running under the street, a choir began to sing… and before I could find out who they were and why they were singing, they were gone / When I listen to this recording I’m struck by how the song seems to continue even after the chorus has stopped and the music fades into the sounds of traffic, the everpresent cable, and the sounds of cars crossing the tracks //
07 / August 26, 2017 / 13:30 / 37°46'47.1"N
122°25'03.3"W / Civic Center Protest / On this day of large protests against “Patriot Prayer”, all roads led to the Civic Center / As each separate march returned to this bastion of resistance, those groups already there would cheer their arrival / The sound of helicopters overhead breaks in to remind the listener that this is still a protest, still an act of dissent //
08 / January 13, 2018 / 13:30 /
37°47'32.8"N 122°23'33.6"W / Rincon Center / Housed in a 1940’s era former postoffice, Rincon Center is a business park with a unique feature; in the atrium, where several restaurants share dining space, a water fixture perpetually rains from 85ft up / Part of the cooling system as well as a fascinating feature for the eye, this “water column” is an interesting backdrop to the sounds of a busy restaurant catering to its Sunday brunch crowd. Headphones are recommended for this recording //
09 / January 20, 2018 / 15:30 / 37°45'32.6"N
122°25'37.0"W / Dolores Park / Recently revitalized, Mission Dolores Park in the Mission District has become a regular weekend hangout for the city’s youth / People bring in their own drinks or buy from the vendors who push their carts and ring their bells through the crowds / Park visitors lay on blankets in the grassy field, dogs roam offleash and children enjoy a nearby playground //
10 / January 13, 2018 / 14:30 / 37°48'38.4"N 122°24'40.4"W
/ Pier 39 / Pier 39, near Fisherman’s Wharf, is a popular tourist destination / There are shops and buskers and ferry trips… and there are the sea lions / A very potent symbol of what San Francisco tries to achieve, these enormous animals have found a way to coexist with a city of 870,000 people; the water is kept clean and in return wildlife thrives / As many as 1,700 sea lions can be seen at one time, lounging on the docks / Tourists come from all around to watch the animals swim and call to each other; and as this is still a working pier, to watch the boats gently navigate around them / A seaplane flies overhead and seabirds call, it’s January in San Francisco and the sun is shining //
BIO / Randy Johnson is a San Francisco Bay Area native;
the region’s rich history of progressive activism is what drove him to field recording / He hopes to capture the sound and spirit of that passion for justice / He is also fascinated by the possibilities inherent in highfidelity recording and uses exclusively analog recorders for his projects / This project is Randy’s first, and he would like to thank Bivouac Recording for the opportunity //
All recordings and images Copyright 2018 Randy Johnson and are used with permission / Photo Credits: Randy Johnson 1, 3, 4, 9; Lissette Valdez 2, 5; Donald Thomas 6, 8, 10 / Book design and layout Copyright 2018 Bivouac Recording and may not be reproduced without permission / For more information about the 60 Minute Cities project please visit: http://www.bivouacrecording.com/60minutecities/