Fresh off of Ratdog.com's home page:
SPECIAL FLASH! Bob will be on CBS Sunday Morning (6 - 7:30 am in SF, hitch up your Tivos!) talking about the Summer of Love this Sunday, June 3rd...
1 hour ago
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Interesting article on Former Grateful Dead Chef- Now Artist: Rick Begneaud clicky here
Here's an excerpt:
“I met Weir in a little club in Mill Valley called Sweetwater. I went out to see Jorma Kaukonen [of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna]. I just happened to be standing next to Weir in the crowd. And then we just happened to walk outside together at the break. I just walked up to him and introduced myself and said, ‘Hey, do you like Cajun food?’ He said, ‘I love it.’ I said, ‘Well if you’d ever like someone to cook you Cajun food, that’s what I do.’ He said, ‘What are you doing Thursday night?’ I said, ‘Like, uh, nothing.’ So I gave him a card.”
Begneaud never expected that Weir would call him the next day. “We figured out this menu. I had my mom fly out some venison. I believe I made crawfish etouffee. I cooked all kinds of stuff that night. It was kind of a blowout. And it was an evening with [comparative mythology scholar] Joseph Campbell. That was the first time I met Garcia and the whole rest of the band. And it was just fairly surreal. The thing that blew me out was I have all the food set, it’s time to eat, then Weir turns to me and says, ‘Here’s my friend Rick from Louisiana, he’s going to tell you about the food.’ And I turn around, it’s dead silent in this room, I’m looking at Garcia, Joseph Campbell. I really couldn’t even honestly tell you what I said. It was the beginning of 1986. I was 28.”
Begneaud and Weir hit it off and hung out practically every day. Begneaud was a frequent visitor to the Dead’s Front Street recording studio in San Francisco, where he fed the band and collaborators like Bob Dylan during rehearsals. “When they were recording the [album] with “Touch of Grey” on it, we were just sitting there with the technicians, me and Weir and Garcia. And I had only met Garcia a couple of times before that. And he said, “Weir, get Rick some headphones,” and so Weir goes over and does the vocals for “Hell in a Bucket.” It was really kind of amazing for me to be sitting there in the studio, me and Garcia, just the two of us, after having been a fairly big fan for a while.” In all, before Garcia’s death in 1995, Begneaud says he attended between 355 to 400 Grateful Dead concerts.
“Jerry was pretty interesting to hang around,” he says. “I’ve never been around anybody who was so comfortable and seemingly knew something about everything. No matter what the subject was, the guy could speak intelligently about it. He was a sweet guy. ... I remember him being sick a couple of times, and I’d call him up and say ‘I’m bringing you gumbo, man.’ It’s sad he’s gone. He was certainly a bright light when he was here.”
Neither the über artworld of Rauschenberg nor the trippy days with the Dead could erase the Cajun in Begneaud. “I remember one time I was at Muir Beach and Weir and I were going to get together for dinner, and I was driving home. Right in the middle of the road there was a squirrel. His tail was still going, wagging like that. He had just fallen out of a tree or something. I stopped, I had a newspaper and I rolled him up. He was fresh you know. So I call Weir on the phone. I say, ‘I got a squirrel for dinner.’ He said ‘What?’ I said, ‘Go to Mill Valley Market and pick up a rabbit, we’ll cook them together because one squirrel for two people’s not really a lot.’ He goes ‘OK, man, but don’t clean it till I get there. I want to help you clean it.’ We ended up cleaning the squirrel and having a rabbit-squirrel dinner that night.”
At times, Begneaud, Rauschenberg and Weir found their way to Lafayette. Last year his parents’ 50-year anniversary party grew into a belated birthday party for Rauschenberg as well. “Some friends were coming down in a private jet from California,” Begneaud says, “and Weir jumped on because he knew Bob was going to be here, and Weir wound up bringing an amp and a guitar down and playing at my mom’s party. I think Michael Doucet was in there, and Dickie Landry was in there. It was at City Club. Here we were dancing to Grateful Dead tunes at City Club.”
Here's an excerpt:
“I met Weir in a little club in Mill Valley called Sweetwater. I went out to see Jorma Kaukonen [of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna]. I just happened to be standing next to Weir in the crowd. And then we just happened to walk outside together at the break. I just walked up to him and introduced myself and said, ‘Hey, do you like Cajun food?’ He said, ‘I love it.’ I said, ‘Well if you’d ever like someone to cook you Cajun food, that’s what I do.’ He said, ‘What are you doing Thursday night?’ I said, ‘Like, uh, nothing.’ So I gave him a card.”
Begneaud never expected that Weir would call him the next day. “We figured out this menu. I had my mom fly out some venison. I believe I made crawfish etouffee. I cooked all kinds of stuff that night. It was kind of a blowout. And it was an evening with [comparative mythology scholar] Joseph Campbell. That was the first time I met Garcia and the whole rest of the band. And it was just fairly surreal. The thing that blew me out was I have all the food set, it’s time to eat, then Weir turns to me and says, ‘Here’s my friend Rick from Louisiana, he’s going to tell you about the food.’ And I turn around, it’s dead silent in this room, I’m looking at Garcia, Joseph Campbell. I really couldn’t even honestly tell you what I said. It was the beginning of 1986. I was 28.”
Begneaud and Weir hit it off and hung out practically every day. Begneaud was a frequent visitor to the Dead’s Front Street recording studio in San Francisco, where he fed the band and collaborators like Bob Dylan during rehearsals. “When they were recording the [album] with “Touch of Grey” on it, we were just sitting there with the technicians, me and Weir and Garcia. And I had only met Garcia a couple of times before that. And he said, “Weir, get Rick some headphones,” and so Weir goes over and does the vocals for “Hell in a Bucket.” It was really kind of amazing for me to be sitting there in the studio, me and Garcia, just the two of us, after having been a fairly big fan for a while.” In all, before Garcia’s death in 1995, Begneaud says he attended between 355 to 400 Grateful Dead concerts.
“Jerry was pretty interesting to hang around,” he says. “I’ve never been around anybody who was so comfortable and seemingly knew something about everything. No matter what the subject was, the guy could speak intelligently about it. He was a sweet guy. ... I remember him being sick a couple of times, and I’d call him up and say ‘I’m bringing you gumbo, man.’ It’s sad he’s gone. He was certainly a bright light when he was here.”
Neither the über artworld of Rauschenberg nor the trippy days with the Dead could erase the Cajun in Begneaud. “I remember one time I was at Muir Beach and Weir and I were going to get together for dinner, and I was driving home. Right in the middle of the road there was a squirrel. His tail was still going, wagging like that. He had just fallen out of a tree or something. I stopped, I had a newspaper and I rolled him up. He was fresh you know. So I call Weir on the phone. I say, ‘I got a squirrel for dinner.’ He said ‘What?’ I said, ‘Go to Mill Valley Market and pick up a rabbit, we’ll cook them together because one squirrel for two people’s not really a lot.’ He goes ‘OK, man, but don’t clean it till I get there. I want to help you clean it.’ We ended up cleaning the squirrel and having a rabbit-squirrel dinner that night.”
At times, Begneaud, Rauschenberg and Weir found their way to Lafayette. Last year his parents’ 50-year anniversary party grew into a belated birthday party for Rauschenberg as well. “Some friends were coming down in a private jet from California,” Begneaud says, “and Weir jumped on because he knew Bob was going to be here, and Weir wound up bringing an amp and a guitar down and playing at my mom’s party. I think Michael Doucet was in there, and Dickie Landry was in there. It was at City Club. Here we were dancing to Grateful Dead tunes at City Club.”
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Shhhh!
Anyone interested in contributing to a birthday gift I'm composing for the Bobstar's 60th??
It won't cost you anything but a few minutes of your time )
And it doesnt involve strippers.
weirfreaks@mac.com
and I'll send you the info about it.
gracias!
Friday, May 25, 2007
More on the Summer of Love at GD Family member, Rosie McGee's blog/website
http://www.rosiemcgee.com/writings/SummerLove/index.html
Nice video of Estimated Prophet at http://profwatts.vox.com/library/post/estimated-prophet.html
http://www.rosiemcgee.com/writings/SummerLove/index.html
Nice video of Estimated Prophet at http://profwatts.vox.com/library/post/estimated-prophet.html
Thursday, May 24, 2007
I keep hoping Ratdog will play Jam in the Dam, but it's not looking like that's gonna happen in 2008.
But, here's who will be playing & other details from Jam in the Dam:
Hello All! Is everyone sitting down?
First off, we want to thank everyone for participating in our additional artists’ poll. The poll on our message board has gotten around 13,000 views in less than three weeks. We tried to narrow the choices to artists that had expressed interest in past years, and who would also contribute to an amazing show.
Well, as hard as we tried, we couldn’t narrow it down to two more bands. So, we’re bringing three! Six bands, you ask, how is that going to work in three nights? It won’t. So we are expanding the festival to four nights!
We are very excited to add the Disco Biscuits, Dark Star Orchestra, and Perpetual Groove. These were the top three vote-getters in the poll. You spoke, we listened. But we had to get very creative to accomplish this lineup. Here’s how:
The festival will now span four nights, March 16-17-18-19, 2008. We are also taking the unusual step of announcing the schedule concurrent with this announcement, so folks can get a gander at exactly how it will work. In short, DSO will only play the first two nights in the Max. Umphrey’s McGee and the Disco Biscuits will each have one night off out of four to potentially come and act as fans/guest musicians. We will play Tea Leaf Green, PGroove, and Lotus in the Old Hall each night, but only for March 16-17-18. On the 19th, the only show will be Umphrey’s McGee and the Biscuits in the Max, doing slightly longer sets.
What about DSO? Are they getting shortchanged? NO! As a result of so many of our European fans asking for DSO on a weekend, they will play the pre-party in the Old Hall on Saturday March 15th, doing their entire show. This show will be a separate ticket. Got all that? Didn’t think so. Take a look here at the schedule:
http://jaminthedam.com/ConcertSchedule07.html
A departure from the norm? Absolutely, but so is going to Amsterdam for four nights of music and civilized decadence! We had to figure a way to please the most people, including our hugely increasing European audience, which we feel DSO was greatly responsible for last year. Hope you like it!
There is expected to be a big demand for tickets this year. As such, there will only be one price for tickets. No early-bird, but also no price increase later. And the best news? We have only increased the ticket by $25 from this past year’s late price, but are offering a whole extra night of music and two more artists. Tickets will be $250 (185 euro) for the four nights, and $34 (25 euro) for the DSO pre-party on the 15th. A limited amount of one-night tickets will be available in Europe for 50 euro. On sale will commence July 20th.
A lot of work was done to get this completed as early as possible, so the saving, planning, and passport obtaining can start WAY in advance. Be aware that since passports are now required for Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean, wait times are up to 10 weeks, without paying an expedited fee. As always, Madison House Travel will be available to lend help to anyone needing it.
We are completely stoked about this format and lineup. It’s a great mix of JitD veterans and virgins, and will offer more music than ever…to pass along to a friend click here:
http://jaminthedam.com/referral.html
See you in March!
But, here's who will be playing & other details from Jam in the Dam:
Hello All! Is everyone sitting down?
First off, we want to thank everyone for participating in our additional artists’ poll. The poll on our message board has gotten around 13,000 views in less than three weeks. We tried to narrow the choices to artists that had expressed interest in past years, and who would also contribute to an amazing show.
Well, as hard as we tried, we couldn’t narrow it down to two more bands. So, we’re bringing three! Six bands, you ask, how is that going to work in three nights? It won’t. So we are expanding the festival to four nights!
We are very excited to add the Disco Biscuits, Dark Star Orchestra, and Perpetual Groove. These were the top three vote-getters in the poll. You spoke, we listened. But we had to get very creative to accomplish this lineup. Here’s how:
The festival will now span four nights, March 16-17-18-19, 2008. We are also taking the unusual step of announcing the schedule concurrent with this announcement, so folks can get a gander at exactly how it will work. In short, DSO will only play the first two nights in the Max. Umphrey’s McGee and the Disco Biscuits will each have one night off out of four to potentially come and act as fans/guest musicians. We will play Tea Leaf Green, PGroove, and Lotus in the Old Hall each night, but only for March 16-17-18. On the 19th, the only show will be Umphrey’s McGee and the Biscuits in the Max, doing slightly longer sets.
What about DSO? Are they getting shortchanged? NO! As a result of so many of our European fans asking for DSO on a weekend, they will play the pre-party in the Old Hall on Saturday March 15th, doing their entire show. This show will be a separate ticket. Got all that? Didn’t think so. Take a look here at the schedule:
http://jaminthedam.com/ConcertSchedule07.html
A departure from the norm? Absolutely, but so is going to Amsterdam for four nights of music and civilized decadence! We had to figure a way to please the most people, including our hugely increasing European audience, which we feel DSO was greatly responsible for last year. Hope you like it!
There is expected to be a big demand for tickets this year. As such, there will only be one price for tickets. No early-bird, but also no price increase later. And the best news? We have only increased the ticket by $25 from this past year’s late price, but are offering a whole extra night of music and two more artists. Tickets will be $250 (185 euro) for the four nights, and $34 (25 euro) for the DSO pre-party on the 15th. A limited amount of one-night tickets will be available in Europe for 50 euro. On sale will commence July 20th.
A lot of work was done to get this completed as early as possible, so the saving, planning, and passport obtaining can start WAY in advance. Be aware that since passports are now required for Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean, wait times are up to 10 weeks, without paying an expedited fee. As always, Madison House Travel will be available to lend help to anyone needing it.
We are completely stoked about this format and lineup. It’s a great mix of JitD veterans and virgins, and will offer more music than ever…to pass along to a friend click here:
http://jaminthedam.com/referral.html
See you in March!
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Here's a GD related link worth checking out:
clickies!
Heads up Bay Area:
from dot org:
RD3 Rides Again!
Weir, Wasserman, and Jay Lane will reunite after a lengthy lengthy period of not playing together. The trio is set to play a benefit for the Creative Arts Charter School in San Francisco on June 1 at the Ferry Building.
http://www.cacs-sf.org/
Keeping up with "Losing Jerry".cONCERT GOERS TO BE dEAD EXTRAS.
Part 4-
SUMMER OF LOVE: 40 YEARS LATER
Just a season, but it lives on
From politics to music to sexuality -- even to the way the PC was designed -- the values are ingrained in our culture
Joel Selvin, Chronicle Senior Pop Music Critic
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Forty years later, the ripples from the Haight-Ashbury are still being felt in our culture. The event itself may have gone bad almost at once, but the fact that the Summer of Love had a profound and lasting impact on American life -- that's one thing on which all the now-gray leaders of what was once called the Youth Movement agree, even if they debate what lasted and what didn't. The effects are here, undeniable and quantifiable -- in pop music, human relationships and sexuality, racial and ethnic diversity, a whole agenda of social thought and, yes, drugs.
David Freiberg/Quicksilver Messenger Service: There's still hippies. I see them every time we play.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti: That (movement) changed the whole country. All the main aspects of the hippie counterculture were ingested into the middle class -- the music, the clothes, the psychedelic colors, the anti-war movement. Herbert Marcuse spoke of the enormous capacity of the dominant society to ingest its own most dissonant elements. That's just what happened.
Peter Coyote: If you look at all the political agendas of the 1960s, they basically failed. We didn't end capitalism. We didn't end imperialism. We didn't end racism. Yeah, the war ended. But if you look at the cultural agendas, they all worked.
Stewart Brand: It was a permission-to-try-everything period where people encouraged each other to try things and to say things that were indefensible, if you looked at them closely, like Mao is a great leader.
Carolyn Garcia (Mountain Girl): I see remnants of that movement everywhere. It's sort of like the nuts in Ben and Jerry's ice cream -- it's so thoroughly mixed in, we sort of expect it. The nice thing is that eccentricity is no longer so foreign. We've embraced diversity in a lot of ways in this country. I do think it's done us a tremendous service.
Peter Berg: This is 2007, and it's been longer from "now" to "then," than "then" was from the '30s. It's an incredible thing to consider. Since time has speeded up a lot in our era, that makes it really antique. And there are people today who lived through it who tend to renounce it. Like, we were wrong-headed, or we didn't know the effects of drugs. I don't know where that spirit of renunciation comes from. I'm not like that.
Judy Goldhaft: The ideas for the rest of the continent spring out of the earth here. The Ohlone Indians said we dance here on the edge of the world.
David Smith: If it could have just stopped with the vision, that would have been great. But drugs seem to never stop. The movement encompassed such a broad spectrum of human enterprise -- from spiritual to sexual, from sweeping political ideas to intimate details of personal living. Music, food, art, fashion -- nothing passed through the firestorm of the '60s unchanged. Signs are everywhere.
Alton Kelley: It's all over the place. The very fact that people dress like they do, maybe a little more radical than we were, but I think all of these kind of wild-looking children are part of that thing, that freedom where you're not just a cookie-cutter person.
Michael Rossman: The range of experiments that characterized the Haight continued all over the country because it was a hydra with no central head. The whole range of inner exploration ... we're 40 years downstream and if you go cruise the telephone poles you still see the advertisements for the gurus and the wellness center and the yoga classes.
Paul Krassner: It was sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, and those were all fun. But at the core of the counterculture was a spiritual revolution, in a sense of leaving the Western religions of control, and exploring the eastern disciplines of liberation.
Angela Alioto: The Summer of Love really stressed the principles of St. Francis of Assisi, the guy who loved the environment, loved animals, loved the sick and poor and was against war. That was exactly what the Summer of Love was. ... The Summer of Love was flat-out beautiful.
Margot St. James: People are finally, four decades later, they're getting hip to what I think the beats and hippies were espousing -- a way of life that doesn't damage the planet and doesn't damage people. At that time, they called them Third World countries; they now call them Developing Nations.
Rock music gave the movement a public voice. It provided an easy entrance to the subculture and spread easily around the world. The early heroes of San Francisco rock not only broke the three-minute barrier in pop music -- stretching songs past the boundaries of the length of a 45 RPM single record for the first time -- but they were making startling, fresh music unlike anything that had ever been heard before.
Bob Weir/Grateful Dead: We were enamored of the notion that the times were changing. We were well aware that we were the tip of a pretty massive iceberg of population preponderance of youth and that we were in some regards the face of the youth culture movement.
Grace Slick/Jefferson Airplane: We thought enough information could change people's minds. If they sat around and considered it and weighed it, they'd see what was going on was probably not appropriate. And it's the same thing as anybody trying to do that today. ... But the basic desires of men to kill each other haven't changed at all. It's just stupid.
David Getz/Big Brother and the Holding Company: Who did more for African American people in this country -- Rosa Parks or Tiger Woods? Maybe somebody like Otis Redding and Janis Joplin, maybe that connection had more of a reverberation in the area of civil rights and racial awareness than some things that are more obviously political.
The message radiating from the Haight was far more personal than were political or social issues, complex as they were, such as the Vietnam War or voting rights in Mississippi. The very premises of modern American life were under scrutiny and suspicion.
David Harris: There was an understanding that the larger society was discredited and that the war was wrong, but the statement that was happening on the streets of the Haight-Ashbury was far more personal than that. It didn't address itself to the political issues of the day.
Coyote: I am still proud to say that I'm an anarchist. It's a viable political, decentralized system. I don't see much evidence that huge nationalized, centralized states, under either communism or capitalism, work very well for the majority of their citizens.
Slick: I've heard a lot of guys say "I became a lawyer because my father had a firm." They spent 25 years, wasted their lives, and they wanted to be a landscaper. You know what I mean? ... I did pretty much most of the stuff I had in mind. I don't sit around thinking I wasted my life making breakfast for old Fred. Uh-uh. Didn't do it.
The spirit of the late, lamented counterculture lives on. It lives at every yoga class in a strip mall, at every outdoor rock concert, in the organic produce section of your local supermarket and even in the heart of every personal computer.
Steve Wozniak: We were meeting at our Homebrew Computer Club right there at SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) in Menlo Park and were surrounded by a lot of the old hippie thinkers from the counterculture movement, basically trying to apply the same internal drives and passions into the use of technology to get us to that better, good world where people were equal and not so subject to the major corporations of the time, having all the power. The guy who knew how to program a computer was going to be the most important person in the company, more important than the CEO. It was so tied in with empowering the normal low-level people. That's not where it turned out now, but it's sure where the ideal got us going in that directions.
Brand: Burning Man, they have surpassed in every way the various things we were attempting with the Acid Tests and the Trips Festival. Burning Man has realized with such depth and thoroughness and ongoing originality and ability to scale and minimalist rules, but enough rules that you can function, and all the things we were farting around with, Larry Harvey has really pulled off.
David Hilliard: I think the entire political landscape has been changed by the actions of the people from the '60s. Many of the politicians who are now in Congress, senators, were people from the '60s. I think it had a tremendous impact on the political landscape.
Will Hearst III: I was in New York driving in a taxicab. Every taxicab driver is a philosopher, as well as politician and observer of the political scene. This guy was ragging on me. "God damn it -- the frickin' beatniks won." And I said, "What? What are you talking about?" Were driving through Manhattan in the year 2000. He says, "God damn, my kid goes to public school. God damn, when I went to school the teachers came in and they were dressed in a jacket and tie and it was Mr. this, Sir that. Now I go into my kid's classroom and the goddamned teacher looks like a beatnik. He's got jeans on. He's got an open neck shirt. They won, they won. That's what happened in America. They won."
Some things never change, of course: Shortly after this interview, when Joan Baez went to Washington, D.C., to sing with John Mellencamp at Walter Reed, the Army refused to allow her to appear.
Joan Baez: There is a song now that competes for me with "With God on Our Side," the song I've been waiting for, the song I thought was really brilliant and moving, and that's Tom Waits' song "The Day After Tomorrow." I'm going to go to Walter Reed Hospital for a John Mellencamp concert and sing that song in the middle of the concert. So it is so beautiful that it just kind of knocked my sock off. I just do it by myself. I don't do it with any other musician. Christ, what a song. I do it beautifully, if you don't mind my saying that.
Country Joe McDonald: All the things that Country Joe McDonald is, I became that in Summer of Love. The great thing about it is that it didn't stop. It gave me a reason to be alive, to live and to have hopes and dreams. ... It opened up a door and I walked through it and I'm still going through it right now.
Getz: I've done a lot of different things since the '60s, since Big Brother had its moment in time, its three and a half years. I've done a lot of other things. I've done art. I've done teaching. I've played jazz. I've done a whole lot of other things. But my tombstone is probably going to say Dave Getz played drums with Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company, no matter what I do.
Weir: I've never been called upon to really grow up. It just hasn't been part of my job description. What I grew into being back then, I'm still pretty much that same guy. I'm still open -- I try to stay open -- and I still question authority. I still believe in everybody pulling together and accomplishing stuff that is too difficult to do on any individual or small collective basis. I'm still making music and still wondering about it all, wondering about the cosmos and our place in it. Never gone away.
Series interviewees Here's a list of the people interviewed for today's segment of the Summer of Love anniversary series:
-- Angela Alioto, former San Francisco Supervisor, now working as a civil rights lawyer.
-- Peter Berg and Judy Goldhaft, directors of Planet Drum, a grassroots ecology outreach program that encourages regional sustainability around the world.
-- Stewart Brand, president of Long Now Foundation, which is developing an accurate millennial clock.
-- Peter Coyote, film and television actor.
-- Lawrence Ferlinghetti, North Beach poet, publisher and owner of City Lights Books.
-- David Freiberg, musician who now tours with Paul Kantner's Starship.
-- Carolyn Garcia (Mountain Girl), currently living in Oregon.
-- David Getz, musician, teacher of drumming and art, and still a member of Big Brother and the Holding Company.
-- David Harris, journalist and author of the 2004 book "The Crisis: The President, the Prophet, and the Shah -- 1979 and the Coming of Militant Islam."
-- Will Hearst III, partner in the venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers and a member of the board of directors of the Hearst Corp., owners of The Chronicle.
-- David Hilliard, visiting professor at the University of New Mexico.
-- Alton Kelley, artist, now living in Sonoma County.
-- Paul Krassner, author and social satirist whose most recent book, "One Hand Jerking: Reports from an Investigative Satirist," was published in 2005.
-- Keith Mather, works for the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection and remains involved in anti-war work.
-- Country Joe McDonald, musician, Berkeley resident and the father of two teenagers.
-- Michael Rossman, writer who continues to focus on counter-culture topics and building a huge poster archive at his home in Berkeley.
-- Grace Slick, painter who exhibits her portraits of other '60s rock stars all over the country, now living in Malibu.
-- David Smith, recently left the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic to start his own practice specializing in addiction medicine.
-- Margot St. James, retired, living on her grandmother's farm in Oregon state.
-- Bob Weir, musician, RatDog.
-- Steve Wozniak, the co-inventor of the Apple Computer, still attends rock concerts frequently.
The Chronicle looks back at the Summer of Love with a four-part series.
-- Sunday: The Summer of Love, 40 years ago.
-- Monday: Participants recall the time before that summer.
-- Tuesday: Thousands jam the city and the party goes bad.
-- Today: How it changed our lives.
Chronicle Staff Writer Jesse Hamlin contributed to this series. E-mail Joel Selvin at jselvin@sf chronicle.com.
clickies!
Heads up Bay Area:
from dot org:
RD3 Rides Again!
Weir, Wasserman, and Jay Lane will reunite after a lengthy lengthy period of not playing together. The trio is set to play a benefit for the Creative Arts Charter School in San Francisco on June 1 at the Ferry Building.
http://www.cacs-sf.org/
Keeping up with "Losing Jerry".cONCERT GOERS TO BE dEAD EXTRAS.
Part 4-
SUMMER OF LOVE: 40 YEARS LATER
Just a season, but it lives on
From politics to music to sexuality -- even to the way the PC was designed -- the values are ingrained in our culture
Joel Selvin, Chronicle Senior Pop Music Critic
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Forty years later, the ripples from the Haight-Ashbury are still being felt in our culture. The event itself may have gone bad almost at once, but the fact that the Summer of Love had a profound and lasting impact on American life -- that's one thing on which all the now-gray leaders of what was once called the Youth Movement agree, even if they debate what lasted and what didn't. The effects are here, undeniable and quantifiable -- in pop music, human relationships and sexuality, racial and ethnic diversity, a whole agenda of social thought and, yes, drugs.
David Freiberg/Quicksilver Messenger Service: There's still hippies. I see them every time we play.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti: That (movement) changed the whole country. All the main aspects of the hippie counterculture were ingested into the middle class -- the music, the clothes, the psychedelic colors, the anti-war movement. Herbert Marcuse spoke of the enormous capacity of the dominant society to ingest its own most dissonant elements. That's just what happened.
Peter Coyote: If you look at all the political agendas of the 1960s, they basically failed. We didn't end capitalism. We didn't end imperialism. We didn't end racism. Yeah, the war ended. But if you look at the cultural agendas, they all worked.
Stewart Brand: It was a permission-to-try-everything period where people encouraged each other to try things and to say things that were indefensible, if you looked at them closely, like Mao is a great leader.
Carolyn Garcia (Mountain Girl): I see remnants of that movement everywhere. It's sort of like the nuts in Ben and Jerry's ice cream -- it's so thoroughly mixed in, we sort of expect it. The nice thing is that eccentricity is no longer so foreign. We've embraced diversity in a lot of ways in this country. I do think it's done us a tremendous service.
Peter Berg: This is 2007, and it's been longer from "now" to "then," than "then" was from the '30s. It's an incredible thing to consider. Since time has speeded up a lot in our era, that makes it really antique. And there are people today who lived through it who tend to renounce it. Like, we were wrong-headed, or we didn't know the effects of drugs. I don't know where that spirit of renunciation comes from. I'm not like that.
Judy Goldhaft: The ideas for the rest of the continent spring out of the earth here. The Ohlone Indians said we dance here on the edge of the world.
David Smith: If it could have just stopped with the vision, that would have been great. But drugs seem to never stop. The movement encompassed such a broad spectrum of human enterprise -- from spiritual to sexual, from sweeping political ideas to intimate details of personal living. Music, food, art, fashion -- nothing passed through the firestorm of the '60s unchanged. Signs are everywhere.
Alton Kelley: It's all over the place. The very fact that people dress like they do, maybe a little more radical than we were, but I think all of these kind of wild-looking children are part of that thing, that freedom where you're not just a cookie-cutter person.
Michael Rossman: The range of experiments that characterized the Haight continued all over the country because it was a hydra with no central head. The whole range of inner exploration ... we're 40 years downstream and if you go cruise the telephone poles you still see the advertisements for the gurus and the wellness center and the yoga classes.
Paul Krassner: It was sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, and those were all fun. But at the core of the counterculture was a spiritual revolution, in a sense of leaving the Western religions of control, and exploring the eastern disciplines of liberation.
Angela Alioto: The Summer of Love really stressed the principles of St. Francis of Assisi, the guy who loved the environment, loved animals, loved the sick and poor and was against war. That was exactly what the Summer of Love was. ... The Summer of Love was flat-out beautiful.
Margot St. James: People are finally, four decades later, they're getting hip to what I think the beats and hippies were espousing -- a way of life that doesn't damage the planet and doesn't damage people. At that time, they called them Third World countries; they now call them Developing Nations.
Rock music gave the movement a public voice. It provided an easy entrance to the subculture and spread easily around the world. The early heroes of San Francisco rock not only broke the three-minute barrier in pop music -- stretching songs past the boundaries of the length of a 45 RPM single record for the first time -- but they were making startling, fresh music unlike anything that had ever been heard before.
Bob Weir/Grateful Dead: We were enamored of the notion that the times were changing. We were well aware that we were the tip of a pretty massive iceberg of population preponderance of youth and that we were in some regards the face of the youth culture movement.
Grace Slick/Jefferson Airplane: We thought enough information could change people's minds. If they sat around and considered it and weighed it, they'd see what was going on was probably not appropriate. And it's the same thing as anybody trying to do that today. ... But the basic desires of men to kill each other haven't changed at all. It's just stupid.
David Getz/Big Brother and the Holding Company: Who did more for African American people in this country -- Rosa Parks or Tiger Woods? Maybe somebody like Otis Redding and Janis Joplin, maybe that connection had more of a reverberation in the area of civil rights and racial awareness than some things that are more obviously political.
The message radiating from the Haight was far more personal than were political or social issues, complex as they were, such as the Vietnam War or voting rights in Mississippi. The very premises of modern American life were under scrutiny and suspicion.
David Harris: There was an understanding that the larger society was discredited and that the war was wrong, but the statement that was happening on the streets of the Haight-Ashbury was far more personal than that. It didn't address itself to the political issues of the day.
Coyote: I am still proud to say that I'm an anarchist. It's a viable political, decentralized system. I don't see much evidence that huge nationalized, centralized states, under either communism or capitalism, work very well for the majority of their citizens.
Slick: I've heard a lot of guys say "I became a lawyer because my father had a firm." They spent 25 years, wasted their lives, and they wanted to be a landscaper. You know what I mean? ... I did pretty much most of the stuff I had in mind. I don't sit around thinking I wasted my life making breakfast for old Fred. Uh-uh. Didn't do it.
The spirit of the late, lamented counterculture lives on. It lives at every yoga class in a strip mall, at every outdoor rock concert, in the organic produce section of your local supermarket and even in the heart of every personal computer.
Steve Wozniak: We were meeting at our Homebrew Computer Club right there at SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) in Menlo Park and were surrounded by a lot of the old hippie thinkers from the counterculture movement, basically trying to apply the same internal drives and passions into the use of technology to get us to that better, good world where people were equal and not so subject to the major corporations of the time, having all the power. The guy who knew how to program a computer was going to be the most important person in the company, more important than the CEO. It was so tied in with empowering the normal low-level people. That's not where it turned out now, but it's sure where the ideal got us going in that directions.
Brand: Burning Man, they have surpassed in every way the various things we were attempting with the Acid Tests and the Trips Festival. Burning Man has realized with such depth and thoroughness and ongoing originality and ability to scale and minimalist rules, but enough rules that you can function, and all the things we were farting around with, Larry Harvey has really pulled off.
David Hilliard: I think the entire political landscape has been changed by the actions of the people from the '60s. Many of the politicians who are now in Congress, senators, were people from the '60s. I think it had a tremendous impact on the political landscape.
Will Hearst III: I was in New York driving in a taxicab. Every taxicab driver is a philosopher, as well as politician and observer of the political scene. This guy was ragging on me. "God damn it -- the frickin' beatniks won." And I said, "What? What are you talking about?" Were driving through Manhattan in the year 2000. He says, "God damn, my kid goes to public school. God damn, when I went to school the teachers came in and they were dressed in a jacket and tie and it was Mr. this, Sir that. Now I go into my kid's classroom and the goddamned teacher looks like a beatnik. He's got jeans on. He's got an open neck shirt. They won, they won. That's what happened in America. They won."
Some things never change, of course: Shortly after this interview, when Joan Baez went to Washington, D.C., to sing with John Mellencamp at Walter Reed, the Army refused to allow her to appear.
Joan Baez: There is a song now that competes for me with "With God on Our Side," the song I've been waiting for, the song I thought was really brilliant and moving, and that's Tom Waits' song "The Day After Tomorrow." I'm going to go to Walter Reed Hospital for a John Mellencamp concert and sing that song in the middle of the concert. So it is so beautiful that it just kind of knocked my sock off. I just do it by myself. I don't do it with any other musician. Christ, what a song. I do it beautifully, if you don't mind my saying that.
Country Joe McDonald: All the things that Country Joe McDonald is, I became that in Summer of Love. The great thing about it is that it didn't stop. It gave me a reason to be alive, to live and to have hopes and dreams. ... It opened up a door and I walked through it and I'm still going through it right now.
Getz: I've done a lot of different things since the '60s, since Big Brother had its moment in time, its three and a half years. I've done a lot of other things. I've done art. I've done teaching. I've played jazz. I've done a whole lot of other things. But my tombstone is probably going to say Dave Getz played drums with Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company, no matter what I do.
Weir: I've never been called upon to really grow up. It just hasn't been part of my job description. What I grew into being back then, I'm still pretty much that same guy. I'm still open -- I try to stay open -- and I still question authority. I still believe in everybody pulling together and accomplishing stuff that is too difficult to do on any individual or small collective basis. I'm still making music and still wondering about it all, wondering about the cosmos and our place in it. Never gone away.
Series interviewees Here's a list of the people interviewed for today's segment of the Summer of Love anniversary series:
-- Angela Alioto, former San Francisco Supervisor, now working as a civil rights lawyer.
-- Peter Berg and Judy Goldhaft, directors of Planet Drum, a grassroots ecology outreach program that encourages regional sustainability around the world.
-- Stewart Brand, president of Long Now Foundation, which is developing an accurate millennial clock.
-- Peter Coyote, film and television actor.
-- Lawrence Ferlinghetti, North Beach poet, publisher and owner of City Lights Books.
-- David Freiberg, musician who now tours with Paul Kantner's Starship.
-- Carolyn Garcia (Mountain Girl), currently living in Oregon.
-- David Getz, musician, teacher of drumming and art, and still a member of Big Brother and the Holding Company.
-- David Harris, journalist and author of the 2004 book "The Crisis: The President, the Prophet, and the Shah -- 1979 and the Coming of Militant Islam."
-- Will Hearst III, partner in the venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers and a member of the board of directors of the Hearst Corp., owners of The Chronicle.
-- David Hilliard, visiting professor at the University of New Mexico.
-- Alton Kelley, artist, now living in Sonoma County.
-- Paul Krassner, author and social satirist whose most recent book, "One Hand Jerking: Reports from an Investigative Satirist," was published in 2005.
-- Keith Mather, works for the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection and remains involved in anti-war work.
-- Country Joe McDonald, musician, Berkeley resident and the father of two teenagers.
-- Michael Rossman, writer who continues to focus on counter-culture topics and building a huge poster archive at his home in Berkeley.
-- Grace Slick, painter who exhibits her portraits of other '60s rock stars all over the country, now living in Malibu.
-- David Smith, recently left the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic to start his own practice specializing in addiction medicine.
-- Margot St. James, retired, living on her grandmother's farm in Oregon state.
-- Bob Weir, musician, RatDog.
-- Steve Wozniak, the co-inventor of the Apple Computer, still attends rock concerts frequently.
The Chronicle looks back at the Summer of Love with a four-part series.
-- Sunday: The Summer of Love, 40 years ago.
-- Monday: Participants recall the time before that summer.
-- Tuesday: Thousands jam the city and the party goes bad.
-- Today: How it changed our lives.
Chronicle Staff Writer Jesse Hamlin contributed to this series. E-mail Joel Selvin at jselvin@sf chronicle.com.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Grateful Dead on sirius radio!
Sirius to Launch 'Grateful Dead Radio'
Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. said it will launch a channel dedicated to music from the Grateful Dead this summer. Grateful Dead Radio will play music from the iconic group around the clock, including live shows from the band's archives and bootleg performances from fans. Sirius said the channel will also include on-air appearances by members of the band -- drummer Mickey Hart and guitarist Bob Weir announced the new offering with the New York satellite radio company. Sirius, which broadcasts more than 130 channels, has a handful of other channels dedicated to individual artists, including Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and Frank Sinatra.
--The Wall Street Journal Onlin
Sirius to Launch 'Grateful Dead Radio'
Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. said it will launch a channel dedicated to music from the Grateful Dead this summer. Grateful Dead Radio will play music from the iconic group around the clock, including live shows from the band's archives and bootleg performances from fans. Sirius said the channel will also include on-air appearances by members of the band -- drummer Mickey Hart and guitarist Bob Weir announced the new offering with the New York satellite radio company. Sirius, which broadcasts more than 130 channels, has a handful of other channels dedicated to individual artists, including Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and Frank Sinatra.
--The Wall Street Journal Onlin
Monday, May 21, 2007
While pondering my way across the internet about the Summer of Love, I visited this SF Chron blog -where readers were invited to share their memories from that era. I read through the entries and found a thoughtful & detailed entry by Mr Mark Karan.
I don't think he'd mind that I'm sharing this here with you. In the first paragraph, MK is responding to some negative comments, after that are some of his memories.
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Wow! some of us seem to have struck a nerve here. i’m shocked and disappointed to discover so much generalized hostility toward an era and group of people who so clearly (to those of us not predisposed to hatred and intolerance) left a positive mark on society.
my feelings lie with the camp that fondly remembers the time as pivotal and positive. there were problems of course… as in any large group of humans. we’re fallible. it’s our nature as humans. but my experiences in the haight in the middle 1960s were mostly pretty great… myriad, colorful and both life changing and life affirming.
others have mentioned good ol’ foghorn fish’n’chips… wrapped in newspaper old london-style and served w/malt vinegar… there was mnsidika (sp?) where you could find all kinds of fun, colorful, expressive clothes… there was the psychedelic shop where you could get the new rolling stone, berkeley barb or oracle, pick up some incense and maybe an eyeball “stash ring”… magnolia thunderpussy where you could order the wonderfully silly and decadent “fudgecake phoebe” to be delivered in the middle of the nite while sitting up listening to donahue on kmpx… the first “free radio” format.
and there was the music… there was always music going on somewhere. i remember seeing janis and big brother playing in the panhandle… for free on a couple sheets of plywood w/ a generator as the diggers gave away free food to anyone who was hungry… hippie hill, where you could stumble across many a cool soul to chat with, smoke a joint or maybe listen to them sing & play guitar… speedway meadows where so many great bands played… the dead, quicksilver, the airplane, the sons, country joe and on and on… for free! just “because”…
i also went to many of bill graham’s fillmore events because, in the spirit of the times… bill offered those of us “12 & under” an opportunity to see the same shows the “adult” hipsters saw on friday and saturday nites for free on sunday afternoons! along with the radical and fun local bands, i was given the chance to see performers like howlin’ wolf, bb king, james cotton, albert king… a lot of music i would doubtless have missed out on otherwise… and i’m forever grateful for that. this music changed my life. since then both my vocation and my avocation has been to play music and, as much as possible, share the spirit that those times helped birth.
there were drugs to be sure… but initially they were drugs that were all about expanding the mind, not shutting down or hiding from oneself. lsd gave many of us a glimpse into another world that sparked our curiosity about our own consciousness and spirituality. it wasn’t until speed and heroin entered the scene that i saw the ill-effects of “bad” drugs and people’s potential to be consumed by their own “darkness”.
whatever those who weren’t there or who at the time were too threatened to allow themselves to see clearly may say, there were new attitudes flourishing. there was a new positivity… a sense of community and acceptance… a belief and faith in humankind rather than this or that political/religious ideology…
the things i experienced during this time in my life more than anything have guided me thru my life’s journey and served me well. whenever i have remembered to let the love, acceptance… the spirit of growth, expansion and exploration guide my footsteps, i have ended up where i needed to be. that’s the simple truth of it.
it’s sad to see so many of that era seeming to have indeed turned their back on the beliefs and philosophies we all held so dear, but there are still many of us for whom nothing can close the doors that were opened by those experiences and who continue to this day to serve that greater cause.
it’s also sad and painful to see the few hate-filled posts that have appeared on this page. it’s indicative of how far we still have to come before we can really accept, love and support one another. but i still believe that’s the goal. i wish those of you with the angry chip on your shoulders peace. to the rest of us… thank you for being on the planet and sharing “our” experiences!
Posted By: mark_karan | May 20 2007 at 03:40 PM
SF Chron blog
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Today's article on it from SF Chronicle-
SUMMER OF LOVE 40 YEARS LATER
Goodbye innocence, hello hippies!
The party starts as rock 'n' roll ethos, LSD inspire beatniks and beckon an influx of free spirits to San Francisco
Joel Selvin, Chronicle Senior Pop Music Critic
Monday, May 21, 2007
Summer of Love
40 Years Later
1967: The stuff that myths are made of
Goodbye innocence, hello hippies!
Before the Summer of Love in 1967, there was the Beat Generation, whose counterculture ethos was defined by Jack Kerouac's "On the Road." The 1957 publication of Kerouac's stream-of-consciousness novel drew thousands of like-minded searchers to San Francisco's North Beach, the heart of Beat culture. Once LSD and electric guitars were added, a new psychedelic underground swirled throughout the city. Those who were there recall the transformative power of the psychedelic experience.
David Getz/Big Brother and the Holding Company: I was 25 years old and I really thought I knew where it was at, that I really knew how to teach painting and what painting was about and all of that. ... And then I dropped acid. I met Peter Albin and I was in a band. I thought when I first got in the band -- this is before Janis (Joplin) was in that band -- I thought, "This is fun, I'll get laid a lot, be more of a part of this great scene that's going on, starting out, and have some fun playing music." ... Within a year after I joined that band, I wasn't painting. I wasn't teaching. I didn't get hired again. My hair was long. I started to look different than everybody.
Alton Kelley: I came out originally in the winter of '64 and settled in on Pine Street. Went up to the Red Dog Saloon with the Charlatans. They were putting the Red Dog together. Then we came back and said, "What are we going to do now?" That's when we started the Family Dog. I was one of the four original members. We got Bill Ham to do a light show. We rented Longshoreman's Hall, threw a few dances and found out we weren't very good businesspeople.
Michael Rossman: Also in late '65, the rock dances started happening, the first public events of what came to be called the countercommunity or, in this local case, the Haight-Ashbury.
Before more than a thousand long-haired weirdos showed up at the first Family Dog dance at Longshoreman's Hall, nobody had any idea there were even that many hippies around town. The dances proved popular and quickly moved in late '65 to the Fillmore Auditorium. That's where Bill Graham began presenting weekly shows in January 1966. Before long, Chet Helms opened weekly dances at the Avalon Ballroom at Sutter and Van Ness, and the golden age of the San Francisco rock underground was in full swing. Dancers flocked to the halls, grooving beneath pulsing, throbbing psychedelic light shows. Large portions of the audience were under the influence of LSD. The bands often were, too. Helms recognized these tribal rites as Dionysian revels.
Bob Weir/Grateful Dead: I left home when I was 17 and stepped into a situation where I could make a good living, or at least a decent living, in a communal environment doing what I always wanted to do, which was make music. It was just wonderful to step from home into that environment and be able to live that way. I think maybe a lot of other people, maybe they weren't quite as young as I was, but still it was the best of all possible homes for us. We were the young, artistic community and we didn't have to struggle quite as much as young artists normally do, because there was a big market for what we had to offer right there in the neighborhood.
Stewart Brand: In January of '66, we did the Trips Festival and had something like 10,000 people over three nights. At that point, nobody had any idea there was that many hippies in the world, never mind the Bay Area.
Revolution was in the air. Free thinkers turned to social action. A Haight-Ashbury group calling itself the Diggers began to serve free food every day in the Panhandle, made from scraps scavenged from local supermarkets and restaurants. Soon, the Diggers opened the Free Store on Haight Street, where everything in the store was given away.
Peter Berg: Emmett Grogan walked into the San Francisco Mime Troupe when I was the assistant director and Judy (Goldhaft) had been there a long time. Billy Murcott had been reading a book about (Gerrard) Winstanley, the leader of the English heretical, communalistic group -- and very Christian, by the way -- called the Diggers. So Billy said, "Well, you know, dig, like to dig, dig this, man." Together they made a manifesto that they tacked up on the front door of the Mime Troupe on Howard Street, next to that journalists' bar, the M&M. This was like (Martin Luther) tacking the 95 Theses on the cathedral door. ... A lot of people collaborated on the ideas -- "everything is free, do your own thing."
Judy Goldhaft: That was the Diggers' phrase. ... We opened the first Free Store right after the manifesto.
Peter Coyote: We wanted to use our improvisatory skills to create theatrical events that no one would know was theater. So Peter Berg created the Free Store, in which not only were the goods free, but so were all the roles: manager, owner, boss. People would come in and say, "Who's in charge here?'' and we'd say, "You are.'' So, if you just stood there and looked stupid, there was no sense blaming the Pig or the Man or the System for your shabby little life. You've been offered a gift of the imagination and you dropped the ball. By the same token, if you said, "Oh, I'm in charge, great, let's clean this place up, it's filthy,'' we'd do that. In retrospect, the Diggers were probably a four-year performance art piece designed to trigger a fundamental dialogue about power and money and class and status and who owned what in American society.
Wavy Gravy: I clicked my heels three times and found myself standing in a corner of the Digger Free Store on Haight Street. There was a swing in the window, an actual swing, inhabited by a spunky 7-year-old, celebrating her blackness and swinging in the sunshine. Into this timeless moment, came these words loud and clear, into the very ear of my ear: "Wanna help?" In what seemed merely a moment, I had helped to fold every last garment like magic. No surprise, my fellow folder was Emmett Grogan.
Other stores along Haight Street, such as the Thelin brothers' Psychedelic Shop and the rainbow-colored underground newspaper the Oracle, gave the growing social experiment an even stronger sense of community. Before long, the Haight had its own free medical clinic, a first in the country.
Dr. David Smith: My parents died in the '50s, when I was in my teens. I inherited some money and I bought an apartment building to have a home. I didn't have any brothers or sisters. That's where I lived. That was basically right on the outskirts of the Haight, but I had absolutely no social activism. I just happened to be a drug expert on the outskirts of the drug revolution. All that Hippie Hill stuff just started. It just totally boggled my mind. I took LSD and had a spiritual experience. I had a cultural transformation and ended up starting the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic. After I took LSD and got involved in the counterculture, the air moved and you became one with the world. Suddenly, you had to help the poor. It was this consciousness transformation that happened during that time.
The dance halls were serving a nightly cultural renaissance, where old bluesmen or celebrated jazz artists shared the stage with the new psychedelic San Francisco bands, everything from Bo Diddley to Lenny Bruce.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti: Before, up through the Human Be-In, the Haight was really sort of innocent, clean. I remember the early Jefferson Airplane, which was very lyrical. I was going to Fillmore quite a bit. (Poet) Andre Voznesensky and I performed in between sets of the Jefferson Airplane at the old Fillmore. Bill Graham generously offered us the stage. I was reading translations of Andre's poems. He was doing them in Russian. There was a light show going on.
In January 1967, the crowd for the Human Be-In, a Gathering of the Tribes, organized by Haight-Ashbury communards, swelled into the tens of thousands, filling the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park for a day of rock music, poetry, Buddhist chants -- a day of peace and music where the Hells Angels took care of lost children. A Harvard professor named Timothy Leary issued the marching orders, admonishing the crowd to "turn on, tune in and drop out."
Michael McClure: I was sitting onstage next to Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder. Timothy Leary was up there, and Lenore Kandel. I sang one of my poems, "The God I Worship Is a Lion.'' It was the first great congregation of the young seeker people, known as the counterculture, who were drawing together to create their own huge family, and to celebrate it in their own huge tribe, and to celebrate it with music and dance and song and psychedelics and some real good political things.
Ferlinghetti: I was onstage right next to Allen Ginsberg at the Human Be-In. I had an autoharp, which I was playing in those days. Luckily, they never allowed me to perform because it would've been a disaster. There was a sea of 10,000 faces. Don't know how many they actually counted. I remember, in the sunset, this lone parachutist descended on the crowd.
The March 1966 Life magazine cover article on LSD led to the psychedelic drug being made illegal by October. But the genie was out of the bottle. Word about the Haight-Ashbury had spread -- not least by finger-wagging mainstream media -- which inadvertently gave the burgeoning movement the best advertising it could have. People were already starting to trail into town in early 1967.
Getz: It was a time when, in the beginning of '67, where the band had moved back from living together in a house in Lagunitas to having our own places in the city. I was living on the outskirts of the Haight, in the Fillmore, a little apartment I had. It was kind of a nice time in the beginning of '67, before all the influx of all those people, still Lagunitas. People knew each other. You could go down to Haight Street and see your friends, walk around, go to the different dances. My life had really shifted into a place where I was completely consumed with the business and the music of Big Brother.
Country Joe McDonald: Everything just started changing. For me, I think it changed because it was the Bay Area. The Bay Area allowed that sort of thing to happen and it could happen, magically. And I was changing with it. I was very, very happy. It was very interesting. The music was new. The clothes were new. The drug thing was interesting. To me, it had an erotic sexual thing, which was the opposite of the repressed thing that I grew up with in the '50s.
Kelley: But those first years -- '65, '66, '67 -- it was really a great neighborhood, the Haight-Ashbury. Everybody knew everybody. It was really fun. Everybody was really enjoying themselves. It was sort of the opposite of the beatnik era. They all dressed in black and were on kind of a downer. We all came out of the rock 'n' roll world and not World War II. We all had this background behind us of Chuck Berry and Little Richard.
Margo St. James: That's when I got my nun's habit from Dick Gregory. He sent it to me from New York. So I was having my own Summer of Love and happening and running my salon, if you will. The neighbor lady didn't like me laying topless in my little garden because, on her deck, she had a 16-year-old boy. I had a black girlfriend living with us, Barbara. This lady next door was kinda antsy. She'd be watering her flowers up there and make sure to squirt me with the water.
One day I put on my nun's habit and walked down to Haight Street. The florist ran out and gave me some flowers. He thought I was from the Good Shepherd. He said, "You're doing such good work." Then the neighbor lady's husband passes me on the street and I thought, "Oh, I'm busted now." But he didn't recognize me. I had on the Mammy Yoakum shoes, the rimless glasses with, of course, the whole habit. That was my contribution to the Haight, just providing a place for people to hang out and meet. I had Steve Mann living with me. Frank Zappa came by to see Steve. Dr. John came by, Mac Rebennack. I had a grand piano there, so we always had live music there. I loved it.
Rossman: The thing about weed and political action, in that era, when you sucked on a joint, you inhaled not simply some smoke, but you inhaled this whole complex of cultural attitudes, not only opposition to the war, but a liking for madras bedspreads, an inclination to taste new and interesting foods, to feel less guilty about cutting class, to disrespect authority more because they were trying to make you a criminal for having these experiences and changes of perspective. When you made millions of young people criminals this way, on the narrow issue of whether they could put this plant's smoke or that plant's smoke in their bodies, you corrupted their attitudes about a whole lot in the culture.
Julia Brigden (Girl Freiberg): From my perspective, it seems to me that LSD had a lot to do with the mind-set at least that me and some of my friends had. That sort of changed perspective on everything and added this spiritual side that not having grown up in a church -- my family looked at church as a sort of primitive hangover -- not having been exposed to any sort of religion, it was really exciting to be exposed to LSD and realize that there was this whole bigger context out there and we this little tiny piece of the great web of life.
-- Tuesday, Part III: As soon as the school year was over, they began to head for San Francisco. Summer would arrive early that year.
Summer of Love's poets, painters, musicians and activists
Here's a list of the people interviewed in today's Summer of Love feature:
Peter Berg and Judy Goldhaft, directors of Planet Drum, a grassroots ecology outreach program that encourages regional sustainability around the world.
Stewart Brand, president of Long Now Foundation, which is developing an accurate millennial clock.
Julia Brigden (Girl Freiberg), now living with her second husband and their teenage son in Napa.
Peter Coyote, well-known film and television actor.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, North Beach poet, publisher and owner of City Lights Books.
David Freiberg, musician who now tours with Paul Kantner's Starship.
David Getz, musician, teacher of drumming and art, and still a member of Big Brother and the Holding Company.
Alton Kelley, artist, now living in Sonoma County.
Keith Mather, works for the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection and remains involved in anti-war work.
Michael McClure, poet who occasionally performs with Ray Manzarek, organist for the Doors.
Country Joe McDonald, musician, Berkeley resident and the father of two teenagers.
Michael Rossman, writer who continues to focus on counterculture topics and is building a huge poster archive at his home in Berkeley.
Dr. David Smith, recently left the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic to start his own practice specializing in addiction medicine.
Margo St. James, feminist and advocate for prostitute's rights, retired, living on her grandmother's farm in Washington state.
Wavy Gravy, grand guru of the Seva Foundation, helping people with eyesight problems in developing nations.
Bob Weir, musician, RatDog.
The Chronicle looks back at the Summer of Love with a four-part series.
-- Sunday: The Summer of Love, 40 years ago.
-- Today: Participants recall the time before that summer.
-- Tuesday in Datebook: Thousands jam the city and the party goes bad.
-- Wednesday in Datebook: How it changed our lives.
Chronicle Staff Writer Jesse Hamlin contributed to this series. E-mail Joel Selvin at jselvin@
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LOL-
Close one!
My mom called today .
Alexis is my sister, Chris is my Brother in law, C. is his sister and Richard is C's husband.
L & W are my sister's kids.
Mom: You'll never guess who I saw yesterday!
Me: mmm ?
Mom: We were at Alexis & Chris's club.
Me; hmmm?
Mom: Richard said it was Bob Weir!
Me: GETOUTOFHERE!
Mom: He was just sitting there next to Richard.
Me: Well, did you meet him? Did Alexis meet him? Did you mention your older daughter is
HISBIGGESTFANINTHEWHOLEWIDE WORLD????????!!!!!!!
Mom: Well, no, I was chasing after L & W. Alexi & Chris were playing tennis he was just sort of sitting next to Richard and Richard didnt tell me it was THAT Bob Weir until we were on our way to the parking lot afterwards.
Me: You didnt go back and say anything did you?
Mom: I thought about it but it didnt seem right to bother him.
I don't think he'd mind that I'm sharing this here with you. In the first paragraph, MK is responding to some negative comments, after that are some of his memories.
......................................
Wow! some of us seem to have struck a nerve here. i’m shocked and disappointed to discover so much generalized hostility toward an era and group of people who so clearly (to those of us not predisposed to hatred and intolerance) left a positive mark on society.
my feelings lie with the camp that fondly remembers the time as pivotal and positive. there were problems of course… as in any large group of humans. we’re fallible. it’s our nature as humans. but my experiences in the haight in the middle 1960s were mostly pretty great… myriad, colorful and both life changing and life affirming.
others have mentioned good ol’ foghorn fish’n’chips… wrapped in newspaper old london-style and served w/malt vinegar… there was mnsidika (sp?) where you could find all kinds of fun, colorful, expressive clothes… there was the psychedelic shop where you could get the new rolling stone, berkeley barb or oracle, pick up some incense and maybe an eyeball “stash ring”… magnolia thunderpussy where you could order the wonderfully silly and decadent “fudgecake phoebe” to be delivered in the middle of the nite while sitting up listening to donahue on kmpx… the first “free radio” format.
and there was the music… there was always music going on somewhere. i remember seeing janis and big brother playing in the panhandle… for free on a couple sheets of plywood w/ a generator as the diggers gave away free food to anyone who was hungry… hippie hill, where you could stumble across many a cool soul to chat with, smoke a joint or maybe listen to them sing & play guitar… speedway meadows where so many great bands played… the dead, quicksilver, the airplane, the sons, country joe and on and on… for free! just “because”…
i also went to many of bill graham’s fillmore events because, in the spirit of the times… bill offered those of us “12 & under” an opportunity to see the same shows the “adult” hipsters saw on friday and saturday nites for free on sunday afternoons! along with the radical and fun local bands, i was given the chance to see performers like howlin’ wolf, bb king, james cotton, albert king… a lot of music i would doubtless have missed out on otherwise… and i’m forever grateful for that. this music changed my life. since then both my vocation and my avocation has been to play music and, as much as possible, share the spirit that those times helped birth.
there were drugs to be sure… but initially they were drugs that were all about expanding the mind, not shutting down or hiding from oneself. lsd gave many of us a glimpse into another world that sparked our curiosity about our own consciousness and spirituality. it wasn’t until speed and heroin entered the scene that i saw the ill-effects of “bad” drugs and people’s potential to be consumed by their own “darkness”.
whatever those who weren’t there or who at the time were too threatened to allow themselves to see clearly may say, there were new attitudes flourishing. there was a new positivity… a sense of community and acceptance… a belief and faith in humankind rather than this or that political/religious ideology…
the things i experienced during this time in my life more than anything have guided me thru my life’s journey and served me well. whenever i have remembered to let the love, acceptance… the spirit of growth, expansion and exploration guide my footsteps, i have ended up where i needed to be. that’s the simple truth of it.
it’s sad to see so many of that era seeming to have indeed turned their back on the beliefs and philosophies we all held so dear, but there are still many of us for whom nothing can close the doors that were opened by those experiences and who continue to this day to serve that greater cause.
it’s also sad and painful to see the few hate-filled posts that have appeared on this page. it’s indicative of how far we still have to come before we can really accept, love and support one another. but i still believe that’s the goal. i wish those of you with the angry chip on your shoulders peace. to the rest of us… thank you for being on the planet and sharing “our” experiences!
Posted By: mark_karan | May 20 2007 at 03:40 PM
SF Chron blog
..............................................
Today's article on it from SF Chronicle-
SUMMER OF LOVE 40 YEARS LATER
Goodbye innocence, hello hippies!
The party starts as rock 'n' roll ethos, LSD inspire beatniks and beckon an influx of free spirits to San Francisco
Joel Selvin, Chronicle Senior Pop Music Critic
Monday, May 21, 2007
Summer of Love
40 Years Later
1967: The stuff that myths are made of
Goodbye innocence, hello hippies!
Before the Summer of Love in 1967, there was the Beat Generation, whose counterculture ethos was defined by Jack Kerouac's "On the Road." The 1957 publication of Kerouac's stream-of-consciousness novel drew thousands of like-minded searchers to San Francisco's North Beach, the heart of Beat culture. Once LSD and electric guitars were added, a new psychedelic underground swirled throughout the city. Those who were there recall the transformative power of the psychedelic experience.
David Getz/Big Brother and the Holding Company: I was 25 years old and I really thought I knew where it was at, that I really knew how to teach painting and what painting was about and all of that. ... And then I dropped acid. I met Peter Albin and I was in a band. I thought when I first got in the band -- this is before Janis (Joplin) was in that band -- I thought, "This is fun, I'll get laid a lot, be more of a part of this great scene that's going on, starting out, and have some fun playing music." ... Within a year after I joined that band, I wasn't painting. I wasn't teaching. I didn't get hired again. My hair was long. I started to look different than everybody.
Alton Kelley: I came out originally in the winter of '64 and settled in on Pine Street. Went up to the Red Dog Saloon with the Charlatans. They were putting the Red Dog together. Then we came back and said, "What are we going to do now?" That's when we started the Family Dog. I was one of the four original members. We got Bill Ham to do a light show. We rented Longshoreman's Hall, threw a few dances and found out we weren't very good businesspeople.
Michael Rossman: Also in late '65, the rock dances started happening, the first public events of what came to be called the countercommunity or, in this local case, the Haight-Ashbury.
Before more than a thousand long-haired weirdos showed up at the first Family Dog dance at Longshoreman's Hall, nobody had any idea there were even that many hippies around town. The dances proved popular and quickly moved in late '65 to the Fillmore Auditorium. That's where Bill Graham began presenting weekly shows in January 1966. Before long, Chet Helms opened weekly dances at the Avalon Ballroom at Sutter and Van Ness, and the golden age of the San Francisco rock underground was in full swing. Dancers flocked to the halls, grooving beneath pulsing, throbbing psychedelic light shows. Large portions of the audience were under the influence of LSD. The bands often were, too. Helms recognized these tribal rites as Dionysian revels.
Bob Weir/Grateful Dead: I left home when I was 17 and stepped into a situation where I could make a good living, or at least a decent living, in a communal environment doing what I always wanted to do, which was make music. It was just wonderful to step from home into that environment and be able to live that way. I think maybe a lot of other people, maybe they weren't quite as young as I was, but still it was the best of all possible homes for us. We were the young, artistic community and we didn't have to struggle quite as much as young artists normally do, because there was a big market for what we had to offer right there in the neighborhood.
Stewart Brand: In January of '66, we did the Trips Festival and had something like 10,000 people over three nights. At that point, nobody had any idea there was that many hippies in the world, never mind the Bay Area.
Revolution was in the air. Free thinkers turned to social action. A Haight-Ashbury group calling itself the Diggers began to serve free food every day in the Panhandle, made from scraps scavenged from local supermarkets and restaurants. Soon, the Diggers opened the Free Store on Haight Street, where everything in the store was given away.
Peter Berg: Emmett Grogan walked into the San Francisco Mime Troupe when I was the assistant director and Judy (Goldhaft) had been there a long time. Billy Murcott had been reading a book about (Gerrard) Winstanley, the leader of the English heretical, communalistic group -- and very Christian, by the way -- called the Diggers. So Billy said, "Well, you know, dig, like to dig, dig this, man." Together they made a manifesto that they tacked up on the front door of the Mime Troupe on Howard Street, next to that journalists' bar, the M&M. This was like (Martin Luther) tacking the 95 Theses on the cathedral door. ... A lot of people collaborated on the ideas -- "everything is free, do your own thing."
Judy Goldhaft: That was the Diggers' phrase. ... We opened the first Free Store right after the manifesto.
Peter Coyote: We wanted to use our improvisatory skills to create theatrical events that no one would know was theater. So Peter Berg created the Free Store, in which not only were the goods free, but so were all the roles: manager, owner, boss. People would come in and say, "Who's in charge here?'' and we'd say, "You are.'' So, if you just stood there and looked stupid, there was no sense blaming the Pig or the Man or the System for your shabby little life. You've been offered a gift of the imagination and you dropped the ball. By the same token, if you said, "Oh, I'm in charge, great, let's clean this place up, it's filthy,'' we'd do that. In retrospect, the Diggers were probably a four-year performance art piece designed to trigger a fundamental dialogue about power and money and class and status and who owned what in American society.
Wavy Gravy: I clicked my heels three times and found myself standing in a corner of the Digger Free Store on Haight Street. There was a swing in the window, an actual swing, inhabited by a spunky 7-year-old, celebrating her blackness and swinging in the sunshine. Into this timeless moment, came these words loud and clear, into the very ear of my ear: "Wanna help?" In what seemed merely a moment, I had helped to fold every last garment like magic. No surprise, my fellow folder was Emmett Grogan.
Other stores along Haight Street, such as the Thelin brothers' Psychedelic Shop and the rainbow-colored underground newspaper the Oracle, gave the growing social experiment an even stronger sense of community. Before long, the Haight had its own free medical clinic, a first in the country.
Dr. David Smith: My parents died in the '50s, when I was in my teens. I inherited some money and I bought an apartment building to have a home. I didn't have any brothers or sisters. That's where I lived. That was basically right on the outskirts of the Haight, but I had absolutely no social activism. I just happened to be a drug expert on the outskirts of the drug revolution. All that Hippie Hill stuff just started. It just totally boggled my mind. I took LSD and had a spiritual experience. I had a cultural transformation and ended up starting the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic. After I took LSD and got involved in the counterculture, the air moved and you became one with the world. Suddenly, you had to help the poor. It was this consciousness transformation that happened during that time.
The dance halls were serving a nightly cultural renaissance, where old bluesmen or celebrated jazz artists shared the stage with the new psychedelic San Francisco bands, everything from Bo Diddley to Lenny Bruce.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti: Before, up through the Human Be-In, the Haight was really sort of innocent, clean. I remember the early Jefferson Airplane, which was very lyrical. I was going to Fillmore quite a bit. (Poet) Andre Voznesensky and I performed in between sets of the Jefferson Airplane at the old Fillmore. Bill Graham generously offered us the stage. I was reading translations of Andre's poems. He was doing them in Russian. There was a light show going on.
In January 1967, the crowd for the Human Be-In, a Gathering of the Tribes, organized by Haight-Ashbury communards, swelled into the tens of thousands, filling the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park for a day of rock music, poetry, Buddhist chants -- a day of peace and music where the Hells Angels took care of lost children. A Harvard professor named Timothy Leary issued the marching orders, admonishing the crowd to "turn on, tune in and drop out."
Michael McClure: I was sitting onstage next to Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder. Timothy Leary was up there, and Lenore Kandel. I sang one of my poems, "The God I Worship Is a Lion.'' It was the first great congregation of the young seeker people, known as the counterculture, who were drawing together to create their own huge family, and to celebrate it in their own huge tribe, and to celebrate it with music and dance and song and psychedelics and some real good political things.
Ferlinghetti: I was onstage right next to Allen Ginsberg at the Human Be-In. I had an autoharp, which I was playing in those days. Luckily, they never allowed me to perform because it would've been a disaster. There was a sea of 10,000 faces. Don't know how many they actually counted. I remember, in the sunset, this lone parachutist descended on the crowd.
The March 1966 Life magazine cover article on LSD led to the psychedelic drug being made illegal by October. But the genie was out of the bottle. Word about the Haight-Ashbury had spread -- not least by finger-wagging mainstream media -- which inadvertently gave the burgeoning movement the best advertising it could have. People were already starting to trail into town in early 1967.
Getz: It was a time when, in the beginning of '67, where the band had moved back from living together in a house in Lagunitas to having our own places in the city. I was living on the outskirts of the Haight, in the Fillmore, a little apartment I had. It was kind of a nice time in the beginning of '67, before all the influx of all those people, still Lagunitas. People knew each other. You could go down to Haight Street and see your friends, walk around, go to the different dances. My life had really shifted into a place where I was completely consumed with the business and the music of Big Brother.
Country Joe McDonald: Everything just started changing. For me, I think it changed because it was the Bay Area. The Bay Area allowed that sort of thing to happen and it could happen, magically. And I was changing with it. I was very, very happy. It was very interesting. The music was new. The clothes were new. The drug thing was interesting. To me, it had an erotic sexual thing, which was the opposite of the repressed thing that I grew up with in the '50s.
Kelley: But those first years -- '65, '66, '67 -- it was really a great neighborhood, the Haight-Ashbury. Everybody knew everybody. It was really fun. Everybody was really enjoying themselves. It was sort of the opposite of the beatnik era. They all dressed in black and were on kind of a downer. We all came out of the rock 'n' roll world and not World War II. We all had this background behind us of Chuck Berry and Little Richard.
Margo St. James: That's when I got my nun's habit from Dick Gregory. He sent it to me from New York. So I was having my own Summer of Love and happening and running my salon, if you will. The neighbor lady didn't like me laying topless in my little garden because, on her deck, she had a 16-year-old boy. I had a black girlfriend living with us, Barbara. This lady next door was kinda antsy. She'd be watering her flowers up there and make sure to squirt me with the water.
One day I put on my nun's habit and walked down to Haight Street. The florist ran out and gave me some flowers. He thought I was from the Good Shepherd. He said, "You're doing such good work." Then the neighbor lady's husband passes me on the street and I thought, "Oh, I'm busted now." But he didn't recognize me. I had on the Mammy Yoakum shoes, the rimless glasses with, of course, the whole habit. That was my contribution to the Haight, just providing a place for people to hang out and meet. I had Steve Mann living with me. Frank Zappa came by to see Steve. Dr. John came by, Mac Rebennack. I had a grand piano there, so we always had live music there. I loved it.
Rossman: The thing about weed and political action, in that era, when you sucked on a joint, you inhaled not simply some smoke, but you inhaled this whole complex of cultural attitudes, not only opposition to the war, but a liking for madras bedspreads, an inclination to taste new and interesting foods, to feel less guilty about cutting class, to disrespect authority more because they were trying to make you a criminal for having these experiences and changes of perspective. When you made millions of young people criminals this way, on the narrow issue of whether they could put this plant's smoke or that plant's smoke in their bodies, you corrupted their attitudes about a whole lot in the culture.
Julia Brigden (Girl Freiberg): From my perspective, it seems to me that LSD had a lot to do with the mind-set at least that me and some of my friends had. That sort of changed perspective on everything and added this spiritual side that not having grown up in a church -- my family looked at church as a sort of primitive hangover -- not having been exposed to any sort of religion, it was really exciting to be exposed to LSD and realize that there was this whole bigger context out there and we this little tiny piece of the great web of life.
-- Tuesday, Part III: As soon as the school year was over, they began to head for San Francisco. Summer would arrive early that year.
Summer of Love's poets, painters, musicians and activists
Here's a list of the people interviewed in today's Summer of Love feature:
Peter Berg and Judy Goldhaft, directors of Planet Drum, a grassroots ecology outreach program that encourages regional sustainability around the world.
Stewart Brand, president of Long Now Foundation, which is developing an accurate millennial clock.
Julia Brigden (Girl Freiberg), now living with her second husband and their teenage son in Napa.
Peter Coyote, well-known film and television actor.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, North Beach poet, publisher and owner of City Lights Books.
David Freiberg, musician who now tours with Paul Kantner's Starship.
David Getz, musician, teacher of drumming and art, and still a member of Big Brother and the Holding Company.
Alton Kelley, artist, now living in Sonoma County.
Keith Mather, works for the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection and remains involved in anti-war work.
Michael McClure, poet who occasionally performs with Ray Manzarek, organist for the Doors.
Country Joe McDonald, musician, Berkeley resident and the father of two teenagers.
Michael Rossman, writer who continues to focus on counterculture topics and is building a huge poster archive at his home in Berkeley.
Dr. David Smith, recently left the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic to start his own practice specializing in addiction medicine.
Margo St. James, feminist and advocate for prostitute's rights, retired, living on her grandmother's farm in Washington state.
Wavy Gravy, grand guru of the Seva Foundation, helping people with eyesight problems in developing nations.
Bob Weir, musician, RatDog.
The Chronicle looks back at the Summer of Love with a four-part series.
-- Sunday: The Summer of Love, 40 years ago.
-- Today: Participants recall the time before that summer.
-- Tuesday in Datebook: Thousands jam the city and the party goes bad.
-- Wednesday in Datebook: How it changed our lives.
Chronicle Staff Writer Jesse Hamlin contributed to this series. E-mail Joel Selvin at jselvin@
....................
LOL-
Close one!
My mom called today .
Alexis is my sister, Chris is my Brother in law, C. is his sister and Richard is C's husband.
L & W are my sister's kids.
Mom: You'll never guess who I saw yesterday!
Me: mmm ?
Mom: We were at Alexis & Chris's club.
Me; hmmm?
Mom: Richard said it was Bob Weir!
Me: GETOUTOFHERE!
Mom: He was just sitting there next to Richard.
Me: Well, did you meet him? Did Alexis meet him? Did you mention your older daughter is
HISBIGGESTFANINTHEWHOLEWIDE WORLD????????!!!!!!!
Mom: Well, no, I was chasing after L & W. Alexi & Chris were playing tennis he was just sort of sitting next to Richard and Richard didnt tell me it was THAT Bob Weir until we were on our way to the parking lot afterwards.
Me: You didnt go back and say anything did you?
Mom: I thought about it but it didnt seem right to bother him.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Groovy video and mini interview from soundcheck on Earth Day!
If you look carefully, you'll see me smiling in the "crowd".
Some nice old photos in there too!
CHECK IT OUT!!
To see Bobby & Ratdog's Earthday on vid set go to http://www.grunzychannel.net/id19.html
I'm excited, I ordered the show from Munck and the discs should be here soon!
Here's a link to an article on Summer of Love from same paper (my morning Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/20/MNG2NPUD1C1.DTL"
Another cool article on Summer Of Love is from this website in the UK.
Take a lookseeat http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,,2080206,00.html
Where was I the Summer of Love?
We lived in a pretty house in San Mateo.
I shared my room with Tippy, one of a string of foreign exchange students we hosted.
Tippy was from Thailand, very beautiful and very much into music. I can picture her doing her homework next to our massive hi fi. She listened to all kinds of music but mainly the Beatles . She turned my parents on to Simon and Garfunkel. When Tippy wasnt monopolizing the stereo, my folks would play HER S&G albums.
It was Tippy & her friends that took me to GGP to a free concert. I don't know which one or if it was the Summer of Love, but it was around then. I hated the music, I hated being cold. I was encouraged to wander around (probably so Tippy & CO. could get high) . I wandered by the motorcycles (Hell's Angels!) and one of them growled at me! Another snarled and snapped his teeth at me - I hated the free show in the park! I didnt make it back for another one until I was in high school in the 70's.
If you look carefully, you'll see me smiling in the "crowd".
Some nice old photos in there too!
CHECK IT OUT!!
To see Bobby & Ratdog's Earthday on vid set go to http://www.grunzychannel.net/id19.html
I'm excited, I ordered the show from Munck and the discs should be here soon!
Here's a link to an article on Summer of Love from same paper (my morning Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/20/MNG2NPUD1C1.DTL"
Another cool article on Summer Of Love is from this website in the UK.
Take a lookseeat http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,,2080206,00.html
Where was I the Summer of Love?
We lived in a pretty house in San Mateo.
I shared my room with Tippy, one of a string of foreign exchange students we hosted.
Tippy was from Thailand, very beautiful and very much into music. I can picture her doing her homework next to our massive hi fi. She listened to all kinds of music but mainly the Beatles . She turned my parents on to Simon and Garfunkel. When Tippy wasnt monopolizing the stereo, my folks would play HER S&G albums.
It was Tippy & her friends that took me to GGP to a free concert. I don't know which one or if it was the Summer of Love, but it was around then. I hated the music, I hated being cold. I was encouraged to wander around (probably so Tippy & CO. could get high) . I wandered by the motorcycles (Hell's Angels!) and one of them growled at me! Another snarled and snapped his teeth at me - I hated the free show in the park! I didnt make it back for another one until I was in high school in the 70's.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Thanks to Scott's friend Johnny, we made it to Wavy's (and Seva's) big bash last night. No Bobby, but great to see so many Bay Area people out. Hippie Bill was the only Ratdog crew at work. Somewhere along the way I had a conversation with Steve Kimock. I was pleased to discover I'm not the last person in the world that feels they could be starstruck if I had a chance to talk to Patti Smith.
.....
The 60's can be a little foggy.
Here's a look back by David Knopf from http://www.kansascity.com/news/neighborhood/olathe/story/111986.html
I was in St. Louis to move my daughter home from college when her roommate popped in a Grateful Dead CD.
Packing and moving seem to go better with the meanderings of a band that gave us “Truckin’.”
During a break, I thumbed through the liner notes and saw guitarist Jerry Garcia in a familiar T-shirt. There were photos of him in the same shirt on several pages.
It was vaguely purple (the lighting wasn’t great), the letters across the chest seemed vaguely orange, and the letters spelled out … Anthem.
Nothing vague about that.
Anthem of the Sun was a 1968 Dead album, and Anthem was the alternative newspaper my friends and I published at Clark University in 1969. Clark had a student-funded newspaper, but we regarded it as establishment, staid and boring, which, I might mention, it was.
We named our paper after the Dead album, then printed prankish purple and orange shirts with numbers on the back and Anthem on the chest. Mine was No. 22, a tip of the cap to “Catch-22,” Joseph Heller’s anti-war tome of the Vietnam era.
Thirty-seven years after making those shirts, I see Jerry Garcia wearing one on the liner notes of a Dead CD. This was a small blip on the cultural radar screen, but significant to me, nonetheless.
We’d made only five or six shirts, and it’s very possible I gave Garcia mine because the band played at our school in April 1969, the same year our paper came out. I don’t remember giving Garcia my shirt and will probably never know if I did.
I scanned the photos for my college alumni magazine and attached some background on this slightly significant sighting.
Two or three days before I saw the two-inch blurb about the Anthem saga in the alumni mag, e-mail started arriving from hither and yon. The blurb mentioned — not my idea — that “David Knopf would love to hear from classmates at …” and gave my e-mail address.
The mere reference to the Dead touched a nerve. It’s how important the band — and the movement — were to people at our little college.
I heard from alums I knew well, from people I should’ve known well and had forgotten, and from people I didn’t know at all.
Someone from the Class of 1983 wanted to know the name of the Dead CD. Someone else wrote to tell me about a streamed recording of the Dead at Clark on Archive.org, of which I was already aware.
Some of the e-mails were personal. I received one signed “J” from a person who told me she’d adopted a dog of mine named Sam, which I had no recollection of whatsoever.
She didn’t mention her name, but said she’d cleaned up a lot of horse manure in her day and, along the way, written a book about horse breeds. Using that tidbit and a last name culled from her e-mail address, l learned that “J” stood for Judith.
This was getting embarrassing.
Someone else wrote to say she’d hung around with me, a friend and someone named Judy one summer. Judy, she said, was my girlfriend. Hmmm.
I wrote back, ’fessing up to the Sam and Judith ignorance, and learned that Judy and Judith might not be the same person.
My wife said it was OK to forget a dog, just not a girlfriend. I trust her judgment on these things.
A professor wrote to say he’d like copies of Anthem and a T-shirt for the college archives. He sent me a copy of the Clark history he’d written and I wrote back to say I’d send him copies of our newspaper.
A friend who worked for the Dead wrote to say he still had his Anthem shirt, but didn’t want to part with it.
He sent a photo of the shirt, which helped me settle one thing: he didn’t give Garcia the shirt off his back. It might’ve been me.
I’d forgotten Sam the dog. I’d forgotten Judy the girlfriend and Judith the horse expert. I’d forgotten a lot.
Forgetting a shirt wasn’t nearly as bad.
Reach David Knopf at 816-234-7730 or send e-mail to dknopf@kcstar.com.
.....
The 60's can be a little foggy.
Here's a look back by David Knopf from http://www.kansascity.com/news/neighborhood/olathe/story/111986.html
I was in St. Louis to move my daughter home from college when her roommate popped in a Grateful Dead CD.
Packing and moving seem to go better with the meanderings of a band that gave us “Truckin’.”
During a break, I thumbed through the liner notes and saw guitarist Jerry Garcia in a familiar T-shirt. There were photos of him in the same shirt on several pages.
It was vaguely purple (the lighting wasn’t great), the letters across the chest seemed vaguely orange, and the letters spelled out … Anthem.
Nothing vague about that.
Anthem of the Sun was a 1968 Dead album, and Anthem was the alternative newspaper my friends and I published at Clark University in 1969. Clark had a student-funded newspaper, but we regarded it as establishment, staid and boring, which, I might mention, it was.
We named our paper after the Dead album, then printed prankish purple and orange shirts with numbers on the back and Anthem on the chest. Mine was No. 22, a tip of the cap to “Catch-22,” Joseph Heller’s anti-war tome of the Vietnam era.
Thirty-seven years after making those shirts, I see Jerry Garcia wearing one on the liner notes of a Dead CD. This was a small blip on the cultural radar screen, but significant to me, nonetheless.
We’d made only five or six shirts, and it’s very possible I gave Garcia mine because the band played at our school in April 1969, the same year our paper came out. I don’t remember giving Garcia my shirt and will probably never know if I did.
I scanned the photos for my college alumni magazine and attached some background on this slightly significant sighting.
Two or three days before I saw the two-inch blurb about the Anthem saga in the alumni mag, e-mail started arriving from hither and yon. The blurb mentioned — not my idea — that “David Knopf would love to hear from classmates at …” and gave my e-mail address.
The mere reference to the Dead touched a nerve. It’s how important the band — and the movement — were to people at our little college.
I heard from alums I knew well, from people I should’ve known well and had forgotten, and from people I didn’t know at all.
Someone from the Class of 1983 wanted to know the name of the Dead CD. Someone else wrote to tell me about a streamed recording of the Dead at Clark on Archive.org, of which I was already aware.
Some of the e-mails were personal. I received one signed “J” from a person who told me she’d adopted a dog of mine named Sam, which I had no recollection of whatsoever.
She didn’t mention her name, but said she’d cleaned up a lot of horse manure in her day and, along the way, written a book about horse breeds. Using that tidbit and a last name culled from her e-mail address, l learned that “J” stood for Judith.
This was getting embarrassing.
Someone else wrote to say she’d hung around with me, a friend and someone named Judy one summer. Judy, she said, was my girlfriend. Hmmm.
I wrote back, ’fessing up to the Sam and Judith ignorance, and learned that Judy and Judith might not be the same person.
My wife said it was OK to forget a dog, just not a girlfriend. I trust her judgment on these things.
A professor wrote to say he’d like copies of Anthem and a T-shirt for the college archives. He sent me a copy of the Clark history he’d written and I wrote back to say I’d send him copies of our newspaper.
A friend who worked for the Dead wrote to say he still had his Anthem shirt, but didn’t want to part with it.
He sent a photo of the shirt, which helped me settle one thing: he didn’t give Garcia the shirt off his back. It might’ve been me.
I’d forgotten Sam the dog. I’d forgotten Judy the girlfriend and Judith the horse expert. I’d forgotten a lot.
Forgetting a shirt wasn’t nearly as bad.
Reach David Knopf at 816-234-7730 or send e-mail to dknopf@kcstar.com.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
The Monterey Pop festival has it's own blog- to read of the Grateful Dead on it click here: http://monterey-pop-festival.com/category/grateful-dead/"
From http://www.antimusic.com/news/07/may/1802.shtml
(PR) In celebration of the Monterey International Pop Festival’s 40th anniversary, VH1 Rock Docs will premiere an original documentary, “Monterey 40” on Saturday, June 16 at 9 PM ET/PT on VH1 Classic and VH1.
“Monterey 40” will tell the story of this historic event from conception to event to aftermath to lasting impact from the perspective of musicians, organizers, audience members and visual documentarians.
The film will include new interviews with Paul McCartney, David Crosby, Michelle Phillips, Pete Townshend, Grace Slick, Bob Weir, Micky Dolenz, Ravi Shankar, [worthless corporate fools that have ruined rock have been removed from this announcement] and Paul Kantner among others.
Hmm? hIPPIE WORSHIP?
From http://www.antimusic.com/news/07/may/1802.shtml
(PR) In celebration of the Monterey International Pop Festival’s 40th anniversary, VH1 Rock Docs will premiere an original documentary, “Monterey 40” on Saturday, June 16 at 9 PM ET/PT on VH1 Classic and VH1.
“Monterey 40” will tell the story of this historic event from conception to event to aftermath to lasting impact from the perspective of musicians, organizers, audience members and visual documentarians.
The film will include new interviews with Paul McCartney, David Crosby, Michelle Phillips, Pete Townshend, Grace Slick, Bob Weir, Micky Dolenz, Ravi Shankar, [worthless corporate fools that have ruined rock have been removed from this announcement] and Paul Kantner among others.
Hmm? hIPPIE WORSHIP?
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
YO!
Found the following article at:
http://media.www.theskylineview.com/media/storage/paper619/news/2007/05/14/Entertainment/Comedy.Review.Conan.Obrien-2903252.shtml
Comedy Review : Conan O'Brien
Shannon Elliott
Date created: 5/14/07 Section: ENTERTAINMENT
Article Tools
Page 1 of 1
Media Credit: Courtesy of Nick Donofrio
In line outside of the Orpheum on Thursday, May 3rd 2007
Self-deprecating, late night, funny man, Conan O’Brien spent a week filming his show at San Francisco’s Orpheum Theater. So early one morning a fellow staffer and friend Nick Donofrio and I woke up very early and headed down to the Orpheum to try and get in to the show.
Waiting in line for tickets was almost as interesting as the show it self, we killed time by playing cards and Travel Scrabble. We met some interesting people in line who joined in our games. The crowd around us was an interesting one that was for sure. Packed with people who were drinking and or smoking their breakfast. A huge group of a true San Francisco stereotype came out in full force…Deadheads, because on the show that night was Bob Weir and Rat Dog, which is the remnants of the San Francisco, band the Grateful Dead. At one point we were worried that we might not get in, but lady luck smiled down on us and we made it into the theater.
The packed theater was alive with sounds of excitement and people holding up home made signs as if they where at a concert for a top of the pop charts boy band, a boy band fronted by a tall skinny pale red head.
The Max Weinberg 7 the Late Night house band took the stage to a raucous round of applause as they took the stage to play a few songs before the show, and really got the crowd going for the big moment when Conan took the stage.
Conan took the stage to a standing ovation as he grooved his way down the golden gate bridge that decorated the stage. Pausing at the bottom to do his trade mark string dance where he wiggles his hips back and forth like they’re attached to strings and stops abruptly when he cuts the strings.
In the opening monolog Conan joked about how the historic Orpheum was smack dab in the middle of the Tenderloin district which he said is the only neighborhood where you can go to an art museum see a play and defecate in the middle of the street.
It also appears from that monologue that Conan O’Brien and Mayor Gavin Newsome are having a torrid love affair and man if those guys had a love child their kids would have some damn good hair.
Randy Jackson from American Idol and former member of Journey came out on stage to crowd barking like dogs at him or as he would say “Dawgs.” During the interview Conan did an audition for American Idol singing Journeys Lights. His vocals were interesting to say the least. But alas Randy did not feel that Conan was good enough for American Idol.
Randy Jackson was fallowed by Patton Oswalt a comedian who is known for his work on The King of Queens. Oswalt a native of the Bay Area got the laughs with jokes about scene kids, and the lame three wheeled cars tourists rent to go site seeing around town.
But the bit where Conan learns to play Frisbee Golf with the national Frisbee Golf Champ David Feldberg was one of the major highlights of the show with the course set up in the crowd. Things got a little crazy and the competition soon deteriorated into the two men tossing Frisbees to the audience members. /
Musical guest Bob Weir and Rat Dog gave the crowd a flash back to the San Francisco of the 60’s, as the band played to crowd was dancing with their arms and swaying to the music in the classic hippie fashion. After the show Conan stuck around a bit to sign autographs for his wonderfully crazy fans.
Conan who is used to filming his show for audiences of around two hundred, played in front of crowd around three thousand, and he stepped up to the plate and hit a homer brought the funny to San Francisco, if you ever get to see this pale red headed funny dude do it. You are in for the treat of a life time.
Found the following article at:
http://media.www.theskylineview.com/media/storage/paper619/news/2007/05/14/Entertainment/Comedy.Review.Conan.Obrien-2903252.shtml
Comedy Review : Conan O'Brien
Shannon Elliott
Date created: 5/14/07 Section: ENTERTAINMENT
Article Tools
Page 1 of 1
Media Credit: Courtesy of Nick Donofrio
In line outside of the Orpheum on Thursday, May 3rd 2007
Self-deprecating, late night, funny man, Conan O’Brien spent a week filming his show at San Francisco’s Orpheum Theater. So early one morning a fellow staffer and friend Nick Donofrio and I woke up very early and headed down to the Orpheum to try and get in to the show.
Waiting in line for tickets was almost as interesting as the show it self, we killed time by playing cards and Travel Scrabble. We met some interesting people in line who joined in our games. The crowd around us was an interesting one that was for sure. Packed with people who were drinking and or smoking their breakfast. A huge group of a true San Francisco stereotype came out in full force…Deadheads, because on the show that night was Bob Weir and Rat Dog, which is the remnants of the San Francisco, band the Grateful Dead. At one point we were worried that we might not get in, but lady luck smiled down on us and we made it into the theater.
The packed theater was alive with sounds of excitement and people holding up home made signs as if they where at a concert for a top of the pop charts boy band, a boy band fronted by a tall skinny pale red head.
The Max Weinberg 7 the Late Night house band took the stage to a raucous round of applause as they took the stage to play a few songs before the show, and really got the crowd going for the big moment when Conan took the stage.
Conan took the stage to a standing ovation as he grooved his way down the golden gate bridge that decorated the stage. Pausing at the bottom to do his trade mark string dance where he wiggles his hips back and forth like they’re attached to strings and stops abruptly when he cuts the strings.
In the opening monolog Conan joked about how the historic Orpheum was smack dab in the middle of the Tenderloin district which he said is the only neighborhood where you can go to an art museum see a play and defecate in the middle of the street.
It also appears from that monologue that Conan O’Brien and Mayor Gavin Newsome are having a torrid love affair and man if those guys had a love child their kids would have some damn good hair.
Randy Jackson from American Idol and former member of Journey came out on stage to crowd barking like dogs at him or as he would say “Dawgs.” During the interview Conan did an audition for American Idol singing Journeys Lights. His vocals were interesting to say the least. But alas Randy did not feel that Conan was good enough for American Idol.
Randy Jackson was fallowed by Patton Oswalt a comedian who is known for his work on The King of Queens. Oswalt a native of the Bay Area got the laughs with jokes about scene kids, and the lame three wheeled cars tourists rent to go site seeing around town.
But the bit where Conan learns to play Frisbee Golf with the national Frisbee Golf Champ David Feldberg was one of the major highlights of the show with the course set up in the crowd. Things got a little crazy and the competition soon deteriorated into the two men tossing Frisbees to the audience members. /
Musical guest Bob Weir and Rat Dog gave the crowd a flash back to the San Francisco of the 60’s, as the band played to crowd was dancing with their arms and swaying to the music in the classic hippie fashion. After the show Conan stuck around a bit to sign autographs for his wonderfully crazy fans.
Conan who is used to filming his show for audiences of around two hundred, played in front of crowd around three thousand, and he stepped up to the plate and hit a homer brought the funny to San Francisco, if you ever get to see this pale red headed funny dude do it. You are in for the treat of a life time.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Monterey Pop festival turns 40!
Bob Weir & RatDog and the Allman Brothers at Jones Beach
The Rex Foundation is having a special ticket $210.00 includes, VIP tent with dinner ,open bar, vip parking per order, and orchestra seating at Jones Beach on 8.21.07
This a fundaising event for both the Allman Brothers Big House Foundation and the Rex Foundation.. A first time collaboration .
Tickets are LIMITED, go to the Rex Foundation website www.rexfoundation.org or GDTSTOO download the order form , fill it out and fax today!!! ALSO- Phone in credit card orders will be accepted by Rex and GDTSTOO .
http://www.rexfoundation.org/jonesbeachparty.html
good luck!! and thank you!
NEW INFO!!!!
As of 5.9.07... GDTSTOO is sold out of these tickets.
Call Rex Foundation . 415 561 3135 or download form and fax in..... there are a just few left.
Bob Weir & RatDog and the Allman Brothers at Jones Beach
The Rex Foundation is having a special ticket $210.00 includes, VIP tent with dinner ,open bar, vip parking per order, and orchestra seating at Jones Beach on 8.21.07
This a fundaising event for both the Allman Brothers Big House Foundation and the Rex Foundation.. A first time collaboration .
Tickets are LIMITED, go to the Rex Foundation website www.rexfoundation.org or GDTSTOO download the order form , fill it out and fax today!!! ALSO- Phone in credit card orders will be accepted by Rex and GDTSTOO .
http://www.rexfoundation.org/jonesbeachparty.html
good luck!! and thank you!
NEW INFO!!!!
As of 5.9.07... GDTSTOO is sold out of these tickets.
Call Rex Foundation . 415 561 3135 or download form and fax in..... there are a just few left.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
The Scoop: Ithaca Mayor Declares May 8 Grateful Dead Day
Ithaca — In honor of the 30th anniversary of one of the Grateful Dead's most legendary performances that took place on May 8, 1977 at Cornell University's Barton Hall, Ithaca Mayor Carolyn Peterson will declare May 8, Grateful Dead Day in Ithaca.
The headlining event of this anniversary celebration is Dark Star Orchestra's recreation of the Legendary May 8, 1977 Grateful Dead concert.
The Mayors Proclamation is as follows:
Proclamation from the Mayor of the City of Ithaca
Whereas, the Grateful Dead have been recognized by many highly credible organizations, individuals and entities including the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as significantly important and integral to the musical and social fabric of our contemporary culture, and
Whereas, on May 8th, 1977 the Grateful Dead performed in Barton Hall on the campus of Cornell University in the city of Ithaca New York, a concert that is widely acknowledged and regarded as a defining and transcendent occasion and example of the art of contemporary musical improvisation, collaboration, musicianship, and performance, and
Whereas, many tens of thousands of individuals who were not in attendance that night in Barton Hall, have become knowledgeable & familiar with the extraordinary nature of the performance on May 8th 1977 through the trading and sharing of recordings of the show, and
Whereas, the cultural identity and perceptions of Ithaca as a community, have been informed and bolstered by the widespread acknowledgement of the magic of May 8th, 1977, and
Whereas, it has been said many times by many people that, “there is nothing like a Grateful Dead concert”,
Now therefore, be it resolved that as Mayor of the City of Ithaca, and in heartfelt recognition of the thirtieth anniversary of the May 8th 1977 concert performance, I declare May 8th 2007 as Grateful Dead Day in the City of Ithaca.
Originally published April 19, 2007
Ithaca — In honor of the 30th anniversary of one of the Grateful Dead's most legendary performances that took place on May 8, 1977 at Cornell University's Barton Hall, Ithaca Mayor Carolyn Peterson will declare May 8, Grateful Dead Day in Ithaca.
The headlining event of this anniversary celebration is Dark Star Orchestra's recreation of the Legendary May 8, 1977 Grateful Dead concert.
The Mayors Proclamation is as follows:
Proclamation from the Mayor of the City of Ithaca
Whereas, the Grateful Dead have been recognized by many highly credible organizations, individuals and entities including the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as significantly important and integral to the musical and social fabric of our contemporary culture, and
Whereas, on May 8th, 1977 the Grateful Dead performed in Barton Hall on the campus of Cornell University in the city of Ithaca New York, a concert that is widely acknowledged and regarded as a defining and transcendent occasion and example of the art of contemporary musical improvisation, collaboration, musicianship, and performance, and
Whereas, many tens of thousands of individuals who were not in attendance that night in Barton Hall, have become knowledgeable & familiar with the extraordinary nature of the performance on May 8th 1977 through the trading and sharing of recordings of the show, and
Whereas, the cultural identity and perceptions of Ithaca as a community, have been informed and bolstered by the widespread acknowledgement of the magic of May 8th, 1977, and
Whereas, it has been said many times by many people that, “there is nothing like a Grateful Dead concert”,
Now therefore, be it resolved that as Mayor of the City of Ithaca, and in heartfelt recognition of the thirtieth anniversary of the May 8th 1977 concert performance, I declare May 8th 2007 as Grateful Dead Day in the City of Ithaca.
Originally published April 19, 2007
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Thanks Mazzy!
Mazzy! - May 6, 2007 10:39 am (#6656 Total: 6657)
.............. see that Dog Star shine!
Earth Day 2007, now available from ratdog live!!
Clickity here!!
San Francisco CA - April 22, 2007
Green Apple Music And Arts Festival - A portion of the procceds will be donated to a green charity
Green Apple Music And Arts Festival
CD
Disc 1
1. Jack Straw (10:52)
2. Cassidy > (7:37)
3. Book Of Rules (3:59)
4. Money For Gasoline (6:13)
5. Loose Lucy > * (7:19)
6. Eyes Of The World (17:17)
Disc 2
1. Jam # (6:51)
2. Dear Prudence > (9:10)
3. China Cat Sunflower > (8:54)
4. I Know You Rider (7:22)
5. Encore: Samson And Delilah > (7:51)
6. Attics Of My Life (5:23)
Review Comments: * w/ Sammy Hagar #w/ Radioactive
.............. see that Dog Star shine!
Earth Day 2007, now available from ratdog live!!
Clickity here!!
San Francisco CA - April 22, 2007
Green Apple Music And Arts Festival - A portion of the procceds will be donated to a green charity
Green Apple Music And Arts Festival
CD
Disc 1
1. Jack Straw (10:52)
2. Cassidy > (7:37)
3. Book Of Rules (3:59)
4. Money For Gasoline (6:13)
5. Loose Lucy > * (7:19)
6. Eyes Of The World (17:17)
Disc 2
1. Jam # (6:51)
2. Dear Prudence > (9:10)
3. China Cat Sunflower > (8:54)
4. I Know You Rider (7:22)
5. Encore: Samson And Delilah > (7:51)
6. Attics Of My Life (5:23)
Review Comments: * w/ Sammy Hagar #w/ Radioactive
Friday, May 04, 2007
Ratdog on Conan
Check out this cool Alan Hess' Bobby weir photo!
Alan has limited amounts of a gorgeous Green Apple Earth Day available for purchase at his gallery- Click to check out!
The Grateful Dead are cool again!
Ratdog on Conan!
Alan has limited amounts of a gorgeous Green Apple Earth Day available for purchase at his gallery- Click to check out!
The Grateful Dead are cool again!
Ratdog on Conan!
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Ratdog on Conan TONIGHT!
I can't wait!
I obviously, am not in SF.
I did consider heading to the stand by line but Noah requesred not to take the bus home. There was a plethora of media peeps/camera trucks and reporters at the school this morning when I went to drop him off. It did cross my mind to hit up the NBC news team for a 'Weiracle" but remembered , Noah might need me more than I need to be goofing around on another Ratdog adventure. The band is amazing, I'm sure there will be many more TV show appearances to scam my way into. C'est la vie.
Check in on this link to keep up with Conan this week.
Here's a perk-me-up!
Earth Day photos by Bob Minkin
.............
I obviously, am not in SF.
I did consider heading to the stand by line but Noah requesred not to take the bus home. There was a plethora of media peeps/camera trucks and reporters at the school this morning when I went to drop him off. It did cross my mind to hit up the NBC news team for a 'Weiracle" but remembered , Noah might need me more than I need to be goofing around on another Ratdog adventure. The band is amazing, I'm sure there will be many more TV show appearances to scam my way into. C'est la vie.
Check in on this link to keep up with Conan this week.
Here's a perk-me-up!
Earth Day photos by Bob Minkin
.............
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Reminder for tomorrow!!
Late Night With Conan O'Brien Randy Jackson; Patton Oswalt; Bob Weir and RatDog perform; at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco. 12:37 a.m. KNBC 2346520
...............OY!.................................................................................................................
I was totally going to head up to SF tomorrow to see if I could catch the Conan with Ratdog taping.
But then today, an SUV plunged into a group of kids at my son's middle school.
I'll see how the kid feels about taking a bus home tomorrow
and
I'll see how I feel about his taking bus home tomorrow.
Scott has Wednesdays off and Wednesdays are Noah's minimum day.
As usual on Wednesdays, Scott picked Noah up.
Noah squeaked out of his last class a few minutes early , luckily they were just a minute off campus when the fracas began.
We still don't know who was hurt but send our best vibes to {{kids, parents, staff)) who were involved or witnessed the accident.
Late Night With Conan O'Brien Randy Jackson; Patton Oswalt; Bob Weir and RatDog perform; at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco. 12:37 a.m. KNBC 2346520
...............OY!.................................................................................................................
I was totally going to head up to SF tomorrow to see if I could catch the Conan with Ratdog taping.
But then today, an SUV plunged into a group of kids at my son's middle school.
I'll see how the kid feels about taking a bus home tomorrow
and
I'll see how I feel about his taking bus home tomorrow.
Scott has Wednesdays off and Wednesdays are Noah's minimum day.
As usual on Wednesdays, Scott picked Noah up.
Noah squeaked out of his last class a few minutes early , luckily they were just a minute off campus when the fracas began.
We still don't know who was hurt but send our best vibes to {{kids, parents, staff)) who were involved or witnessed the accident.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Red Rock Pictures expands P&A commitments
JAMS WITH MOCKUMENTARY "ELECTRIC APRICOT"
LOS ANGELES, CA, May 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Red Rock Pictures
Holdings (OTCBB: RRPH.OB) is quickly expanding its commitment to financing
prints and advertising for the release of independent motion pictures,
announcing today its financial support to jam band mockumentary "Electric
Apricot: Quest for Festeroo." The announcement was made by Barry Layne, Red
Rock's President, and Les Claypool, the picture's Writer, Director and
Co-Star.
The movie features jam band legends including the Grateful
Dead/Ratdog's Bob Weir, Mike Gordon from Phish, Warren Haynes and Matt Abts
from Gov't Mule, plus Seth Green and Matt Stone.
Red Rock will support "Electric Apricot's" specialty market theatrical
release later this year and its subsequent DVD/home entertainment consumer
market release.
"Red Rock is committed to finding unique pictures from fresh voices,
and 'Electric Apricot: Quest for Festeroo' and Les Claypool certainly fall
into that category," Mr. Layne said. "We are set to help take this picture
to the market through a focused theatrical release followed by its DVD
market entry. This is a special picture and we are confident that it will
reach its audience in a meaningful way," he added.
About Red Rock Pictures Holding Inc:
Red Rock Pictures (http://www.redrockpics.com) finances and co-produces
feature films and entertainment for all media. Dedicated to truly
partnering with the creative community - from up-and-coming writers,
directors and producers to experienced hands in film, television and
digital media - Red Rock Pictures is built on its commitment to creative
entertainment, finance and innovation. Red Rock Pictures management team
has been involved in over 50 feature length films, with an outstanding
proven track record that generated over a billion dollars in the U.S.
domestic box office market, and over 2 billion dollars in total revenue.
Cautionary Statement Pursuant to Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, which are
made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Expressions of future goals and similar
expressions reflecting something other than historical fact are intended to
identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of
identifying such statements. These forward-looking statements involve a
number of risks and uncertainties. The actual results that the Company
achieves may differ materially from any forward-looking statements due to
such risks and uncertainties. The Company undertakes no obligations to
revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events
or circumstances that may arise after the date of this news release.
For further information contact:
Maxwell Network Group Inc.
Sheldon Gold / Mira Anidjar
Investment Relations
1-800-596-5503
http://www.maxwellnetwork.com
SOURCE Red Rock Pictures Holdings, Inc.
JAMS WITH MOCKUMENTARY "ELECTRIC APRICOT"
LOS ANGELES, CA, May 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Red Rock Pictures
Holdings (OTCBB: RRPH.OB) is quickly expanding its commitment to financing
prints and advertising for the release of independent motion pictures,
announcing today its financial support to jam band mockumentary "Electric
Apricot: Quest for Festeroo." The announcement was made by Barry Layne, Red
Rock's President, and Les Claypool, the picture's Writer, Director and
Co-Star.
The movie features jam band legends including the Grateful
Dead/Ratdog's Bob Weir, Mike Gordon from Phish, Warren Haynes and Matt Abts
from Gov't Mule, plus Seth Green and Matt Stone.
Red Rock will support "Electric Apricot's" specialty market theatrical
release later this year and its subsequent DVD/home entertainment consumer
market release.
"Red Rock is committed to finding unique pictures from fresh voices,
and 'Electric Apricot: Quest for Festeroo' and Les Claypool certainly fall
into that category," Mr. Layne said. "We are set to help take this picture
to the market through a focused theatrical release followed by its DVD
market entry. This is a special picture and we are confident that it will
reach its audience in a meaningful way," he added.
About Red Rock Pictures Holding Inc:
Red Rock Pictures (http://www.redrockpics.com) finances and co-produces
feature films and entertainment for all media. Dedicated to truly
partnering with the creative community - from up-and-coming writers,
directors and producers to experienced hands in film, television and
digital media - Red Rock Pictures is built on its commitment to creative
entertainment, finance and innovation. Red Rock Pictures management team
has been involved in over 50 feature length films, with an outstanding
proven track record that generated over a billion dollars in the U.S.
domestic box office market, and over 2 billion dollars in total revenue.
Cautionary Statement Pursuant to Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, which are
made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Expressions of future goals and similar
expressions reflecting something other than historical fact are intended to
identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of
identifying such statements. These forward-looking statements involve a
number of risks and uncertainties. The actual results that the Company
achieves may differ materially from any forward-looking statements due to
such risks and uncertainties. The Company undertakes no obligations to
revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events
or circumstances that may arise after the date of this news release.
For further information contact:
Maxwell Network Group Inc.
Sheldon Gold / Mira Anidjar
Investment Relations
1-800-596-5503
http://www.maxwellnetwork.com
SOURCE Red Rock Pictures Holdings, Inc.
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