Thursday, August 6, 2009

Janis...

Two of my favorite photos of Janis

<--Click on Janis' passport (I sign my "J's" EXACTLY the same way!)
Check out this tribute to Janis:


Night Flight 60's Hippie Movie Trailer


Taped from an old broadcast of "Night Flight" on the USA Network...
1. "Psych-Out" (1967) -- with Jack Nicholson and Bruce Dern! "C'mon man, Warren's freaking out at the gallery!
2. "Skidoo" (1968).
3. I Love You Alice B. Toklas

Trip out man.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

San Francisco - Scott McKenzie (1967)

Scott McKenzie (b. 10 January 1939, Jacksonville, Florida) is a singer best known for his 1967 hit of "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)." San Francisco was featured in the highly acclaimed movie Forrest Gump. He grew up in North Carolina and Virginia, where he became friends with the son of one of his mother's friends, John Phillips. In the mid 1950s, he sang briefly with Tim Rose in a high school group called The Singing Strings, and later with Phillips, Mike Boran and Bill Cleary formed a doo wop band, The Abstracts. He (Scott) was a crooner in an era which lacked crooners under the age of fifty.

Scott was a natural for the song (San Francisco). What he wasn't a natural for was the result of having a hit record:

"God, Ned, hide me willya?" It's Scott.
He stands on my porch looking wild-eyed and frightened. He looks as if he's been up all night.
"What's wrong, man," I ask.
"Women. They're all over my place. They're swarming up Laurel Canyon."
"Wait, lemme get a few things, a toothbrush ..." I said, heading for the bathroom.
"No, you don't understand. I mean armies. Dozens of girls literally breaking into my house to have sex with me." We stood there looking at each other, he pleading for understanding, me for time.
"Toothbrush and toothpaste," I said, picking up the pace.
"You don't see it, do you? One month ago these chicks wouldn't give me the time of day, and now they can't wait to f*** me. Why? I mean -- it's sick, man. It's perverse. Some of these girls are fourteen, fifteen years old!"
"Toothbrush, toothpaste some gum ..."
"Ned, you're not listening. They come at all times of the night and day, they don't care. They have boyfriends, husbands, it doesn't matter. They're like animals. It's not a turn-on at all, it's -- terrifying." This was subversive talk and it made me uncomfortable. Since when did a man turn down free pussy? It wasn't in the book.
"Get hold of yourself, Scott. This is what we're here for. You're supposed to get all this sex and fame and money. These are the goods for chrissake."
"Then how come it's got me all freaked out?"
"Simple. You're a very sick person, Scott. Now, do you think you could convince some of them, the ones you don't want, that I have a hit coming out, too? Nothing spectacular, I'll just skim off the blowby." Scott stared at me, turned, and fled.


If this little ditty doesn't take you back to the Summer of Love, nothing will.
Go ahead, turn it up and sing along (you know you want to...)



Saturday, August 1, 2009

Saturday, July 25, 2009

The Hippie Temptation - CBS News Report (1967)


Harry Reasoner visits The Haight Ashbury District and presents to us the truth about the "Hippie Movement." If you were, are, or would like to be a Hippie, this video is must viewing. Learn the scientific truth about LSD, the hazards of LSD Flashbacks, scientific conclusions such as chromosome damage and destruction caused by "trips." An interview with the Grateful Dead. Canned Heat plays a ballroom. The Dead plays a concert in the park "Dancing In The Street." Our country in degeneration. CBS News 1967, reddish and white color. 50 min.



Link to full broadcast: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BWAAKEBB

Thursday, July 23, 2009

KFRC Fantasy Faire and Magic Mountain Festival (6-10-67)



On June 10th and 11th in 1967 radio station KFRC put on the "Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Festival" on Mount Tamalpais just north of San Francisco. The Festival was held at the 4,000 seat Sidney B. Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre high on the South face of Mount Tamalpais. According to Wikipedia, over 15,000 people attended. This was the first of several cultural events that came to be known as "The Summer of Love." Admission to the festival was $2 and all proceeds were donated to nearby Hunter's Point Child Care Center in San Francisco. The Festival was originally scheduled for June 3rd and 4th but was rescheduled due to inclement weather. After enjoying a scenic ride up the mountain from points such as the Marin Civic Center and Mill Valley, a giant Buddha balloon greeted attendees when they arrived. Transportation was provided by "Trans Love Bus Lines."
Official Program:

http://mildequator.com/performancehistory/memorabilia/tamalpaisinside1.html

The copy reads: ...A Benefit for the Hunters Point Child Care Centers ....A gathering of beautiful things, created and collected by the artisians and craftsmen of Northern California, and represented by the exhibitors listed on the Fantasy Fair Map...a variety of "happenings." When you arrive at the Fantasy Fair, you will immediately surrounded by color and motion, the good vibrations of thousands of people flowing with the natural beauty of Mt. Tamalpais. The major happening is you, your feeling of good will, and your knowledge that the Fair and the Mountain are a part of you, therefore yours to enjoy. The woods and meadows are an open invitation to wander and enjoy yourself to the limits of your imagination. And because they are yours to enjoy, we hope that you will grove with the surroundings, doing everything you can to keep them in their natural state.... For your enjoyment, The Fantasy Fair staff has prepared the Geodesic Dome Light Chamber. The Dome can accomadate 150 people per 8 minute show. We invite your participation in the wonders of the Dome, and ask that at the end of each show, you move out to make room for others waiting on line. You are also invited to enloy the giant slide, the tree swings (on the way to the valley of dancing), the vast assortment of strolling or sitting musicians (find many of them under trees or rocks), and other suprises prepared by Fantasy Fair volunteers for your pleasure and participation.... Music will be performed hourly in the Amphitheatre from 8am until 6pm. We ask that after each performance the seats be cleared to make way for people that may be waiting for the next performance... The Fantasy Fair wishes to express extreme gratitude to the artists in the performing groups, who have graciously donated their valuable time and exceptional talents, and all the bands performing in the Valley of Dancing.
Performers at the show were:
P.F.Sloan
The Grass Roots
Moby Grape
The 13th Floor Elevator
Spanky and Our Gang
Rodger Collins
Blackburn and Snow
Every Mother's Son
The Sons of Champlain
Jefferson Airplane
The Mojo Men
The Merry Go Round
The Performers for Sunday were:
The Byrds
The Loading Zone
Tim Buckley
The Doors
Every Mother's Son
Wilson Pickett
Hugh Maskela
The Steve Miller Blues Band
The Seeds
Country Joe and the Fish
Smokey Robinson and The Miracles
The Doors - Video Mount Tamalpais Outdoor Theater 6-10-1967:


Photos from the show:
http://www.bcx.org/photos/events/concerts/ffair/?file=KFRCFantasyFair19670603_7587SBCX.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenbove/sets/72157603860560629/
http://www.radioismoaning.com/Photographs/main.php?g2_itemId=1935
http://www.sanfranciscoaudio.com/MtTamalpaisMagicMountain.html

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

The San Francisco Trips Festival (1966)

Click on the Program and Lineup signed by Wavy Gravy-->

The Trips Festival was held at the Longshoreman's Hall in San Francisco over three days in January of 1966. The festival was the brainchild of Stewart Brand, a Prankster and later publisher of the Whole Earth Catalog. Brand and Ramon Sender did most of the early organizing. The festival roughly followed the format of the earlier Acid
Tests and, by all accounts, it was equally chaotic and off the wall (despite the best efforts of Bill Graham and his clipboard).
The Pranksters were involved early on, and on Saturday night they provided their usual homemade inter-active technology and wacked-out craziness. The Dead played -- well, sort of -- as did Big Brother and the Holding Company, along with lots of other musicians and artists. Kesey offered the crowds a running commentary of the craziness on an overhead projector. The audience were encouraged to be more than just spectators and many wore "Ecstatic Dress" and danced the night away as the fliers had requested. A bag of LSD circulated around the hall courtesy of Owsley himself.

Ben Van Meter - S.F. Trips Festival, An Opening (1966):

Rockin' at the Red Dog Saloon (1965)


Opening in June 1965, the Red Dog Saloon in Virginia City, Nevada, was the prototype for the hippie dance halls of San Francisco, the proving ground for new groups like the Grateful Dead and the Great Society, and the outlaw enclave where Bill Ham invented the psychedelic light show. Melding raucous vintage footage with recent interviews, this brilliant documentary is essential for anyone interested in
the kinetic rise of Si
xties rock.

Quicksilver Messenger Service - Dino's Song (1968)

Must be one of the earliest ever music videos. The scene is the houseboat docks in Sausalito, home to generations of Bay Area bohemians including Alan Watts and the Whole Earth Catalog editors. The subject, Dino Valente, composer of the hippie anthem "Let's Get Together."