Editorial:

The Golden Bear reunion concerts this weekend at the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort will be more than a nostalgia trip for 1960s music lovers. They will also be a glimpse into a part of history that is irrevocably fading away.

Back in those iconic days — were they really more than 40 years ago? — the Who famously snarled, “Hope I die before I get old,” and the Beatles mused, tongue firmly in cheek, about the prospect of turning 64. Now, both groups are survived by only two out of four members. The last year, in particular, has seen the deaths of a number of members of the ’60s pantheon — Gordon Waller of Peter and Gordon, Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary, and Michael Jackson, who first soared to fame during the Woodstock era with the Jackson 5.

In recent years, there has often been talk of how the Greatest Generation, which won World War II, is dying out. That generation couldn’t be more different in many ways than the one that spawned Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin, but the sad truth is that the people who defined the ’60s as a cultural force are starting to thin out as well.

So the shows, which bring together a number of people who dominated the Southern California music scene nearly a half-century back, are bound to be bittersweet.

But with the incredible talent coming to Surf City, it’s hard to imagine the mood won’t be celebratory as well.

Love that extended organ solo on the Doors’ “Light My Fire”? Ray Manzarek, the band’s keyboardist, will be on the bill Friday.

Can’t get enough of the Byrds’ silky-smooth harmonies? Chris Hillman, who provided part of that vocal blend, will join the lineup Saturday.

There will also be the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (of “Mr. Bojangles” fame), David Lindley and Steve Noonan (both sidemen to Orange County songwriting legend Jackson Browne) and others.

Earlier this year, Huntington Beach author Dixon Hearne, who penned a chapter of a book commemorating the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, spoke to the Independent about how younger generations view today’s incoming senior citizens. Hearne, a college lecturer for years, noted that his students often seemed cowed by the example set by their parents and grandparents, who were, in his words, “the original counterculture prototype.”

It’s a prototype that America, and Huntington Beach, has emulated ever since. And anyone who attends the Waterfront Beach Resort this weekend can tell their descendants they saw the real thing.