A Long Strange Trip (84 page)

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Authors: Dennis Mcnally

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Notes

All quotations are from the source to the author, or in the presence of the author, except where otherwise noted. “Band” means information gathered from all or virtually all members of the Grateful Dead.

Abbreviations: JB—John Perry Barlow. TC—Tom Constanten. JG—Jerry Garcia. MG—Carolyn “Mountain Girl” Adams Garcia. BG—Bill Graham. MH—Mickey Hart. DH—Dan Healy. RH—Robert Hunter. BK—Bill Kreutzmann. WL—Willy Legate. PL—Phil Lesh. JM—Jonathan McIntire. BM—Brent Mydland. SP—Steve Parish. BP— Bobby Peterson. DR—Danny Rifkin. RS—Rock Scully. RR—Ram Rod Shurtliff. OS— Owsley Stanley. AT—Alan Trist. BW—Bob Weir. Opening epigraphs: “When the going”: Hunter Thompson,
Shark,
p. 53. “Look, there are two curves”: Robinson Jeffers, “Diagram,”
Selected Poems,
p. 88. “That’s why the Lord”: Robert Hunter, “CD,” p. 4.

Chapter 1. “Why would the universe . . . figure it all out”: JG in Gans,
Conversations,
p. 79.

Chapter 2. “For our country”: “Epilogue,” in Karman, p. 3. JG childhood and adoles- cence: JG, Clifford Garcia, Dr. Dan Grayson, Lenore Garcia Ross, Mary Brydges Boggess, Laird Grant. “You will run”: S.F. Call-Bulletin clipping, n.d., courtesy of Clifford Garcia. Rock and Roll: see Palmer for overview. Martin Luther King Jr.: see Viorst. Art Institute: Wally Hedrick, Elmer Bischoff, Ann Besig Forwand, Laird Grant. “serious Bud- dhism . . . own car”: Michael McClure, “Painting Beat by Numbers,” in George-Warren. “kind of easy-listening . . . version”: JG in Stuckey, “Jerry Garcia.” Folk overview: see von Schmidt and Rooney. PL childhood: PL, Bob Hanson. “Philip, would you”: PL. “Absorbed in the work . . . innocence”: Peckham, p. 150. CSM: Mike Lamb. CSM jazz: Dick Crest, Lenny Lasher, Al Molina, Buddy Powers, Bobby Petersen. “blocks of granite”: PL in Harrison,
The Dead,
p. 30.

Chapter 3. Palo Alto and Chateau scene: JG, RH, AT, PL, WL, Danya Veltfort, Marshall Leicester, Joan Simms, Lester Hellums, David McQueen, Norman Fontaine, Karen Huntsberger. “Here, take the heavy . . . take you around”: JG to John McLaughlin. Paul Speegle: JG, AT, Paul Speegle Sr. “That’s the way I’m”: AT. St. Michael’s Alley: JG, RH, AT, Vern Gates. “The dialogue’s beginning
. . . our home”:
RH, “Trumpet,” pp. 18–20. RH bio: RH. AT bio: AT. Kepler’s: JG, RH, AT, Willy Legate, Roy Kepler, Ira Sandperl. “said a great deal . . . right idea after all”: RH, “Trumpet,” pp. 77–78. “thought is the most ductile”: JB. Brigid Meier bio: Brigid Meier. “He speaks of”: unpublished poem by Brigid Meier, courtesy of author. Early folk scene: Debbie Green Anderson, Hoyt Axton, Peter Berg, Gert Chiarito, Ted Claire, Earl Crabb, Dave and Vera Mae Frederickson, Charlie Frizzell, Lou Gottlieb, David Guard, Tom Hobson, Jorma Kaukonen, John Lundberg, Barry Olivier, Mary Ann Pollar, Chris Strachwitz. “dippy folk songs”: JG in Reich, p. 30. “Tell you a story about”: unrecorded song by RH and JG, courtesy of RH. Harry Smith: see Marcus,
Invisible Re-
public.
“The next number is an old”: RH, “Trumpet,” p. 60. “Man, all I wanna do”: JG to Norman Van Maastricht. “shiftless”: Marshall Leicester. Cadillac Hotel: JG, Brigid Meier. Boar’s Head: JG, RH, Rodney Albin, Peter Albin, Suze Wood, Marshall Leicester. “Sure, man . . . Tell everybody”: David Nelson. Ron McKernan: Mrs. Esther McKernan, Carol McKernan, Tawny Jones, John Manusos, Roger “Cool Breeze” Williams, Brigid Meier, Ted Claire, Lester Hellum, Sally Gist. “Don’t tell anybody”: Ted Claire. “real pixie . . . sweetheart”: JG to John McLaughlin. “apocalyptic . . . this planet”: AT. “Hey, babe . . . fuck”: RH, “Trumpet,” p. 22. “could walk on your mind”: RH. “come up with knuckle-busting”: Rick Melrose. “Music stopped be- ing”: TC. PL at Cal: PL, TC, BP; see Constanten,
Between Rock.
KPFA: PL, JG, Gert Chiarito.

Chapter 4. Lundberg’s: John Lundberg, Ken Frankel. RH and LSD: RH and RH notes. “Sit back picture . . . to remain insane”: RH notes, courtesy of RH. “that incredible clarity”: JG in Jones and Pickard. Bluegrass: Ken Frankel, Joe and Jim Edmonston, JG, RH, Scott Hambly, Marshall Leicester, Neil Rosenberg, Sandy Roth- man, Mayne Smith. “imbued the sixties generation”: Raskin, p. 45. “We make music in . . . hours to tune”: JG, from a recording courtesy of Rodney Albin. CSM Folk Festival: recording, JG, RH, David Nelson, Norman Van Maastricht, Mike Jonas, Rick Melrose. “Let’s get loaded . . . this stuff works”: David Nelson, Rick Melrose. Tangent: JG, RH, Stu Goldstein, David and Julie Schoenstadt, Jorma Kaukonen, Rodney Albin, Butch Waller, Herb Pedersen. Romance and wedding with Sara Rup- penthal: JG, Sara R. Katz, RH, WL, David Nelson, PL. PL in Las Vegas: PL, TC. Mon- terey Folk Festival: JG, RH, Sara R. Katz, Ken Frankel, Suze Wood. Bob Dylan: see Scaduto, Kramer. JG as music teacher: Sara R. Katz, Randy Groenke. “I tried to teach”: JG in Reich, p. 33. “How long . . . feel like it”: Randy Groenke. Zodiacs: JG, Troy Weiden- heimer, BK. Black Mountain Boys: JG, RH, Eric Thompson, Sara R. Katz, David Nelson, letter from Sara R. Katz to Stu Goldstein, 10/3/63. “sort of a weasel . . . mind him”: Sara R. Katz to Stu Goldstein, 10/28/63. Offstage: Paul Foster, Paul Kantner, David Freiberg, Jorma Kaukonen. Birth of Heather: Sara R. Katz, JG, RH. Ashgrove gig: JG, Ken Frankel, Marshall Leicester, RH. “Shut up and”: RH.

Chapter 5. “anarchic oligarchy”: RH. “I am not an artist”: JG on “I Believe.” “a matter of sensibility”: Marshall Leicester. “Avoidance of confrontation”: PL to David Gans. “Default and digression”: Scully and Dalton, p. 45. “The question is . . . more fun”: JG in Reich, p. 110. Ron Rakow to Richard Nixon, in Grateful Dead Record Company newsletter, 9/74. Meeting entries from G.D. meeting minutes taken by Sue Stephens. “Bad-mouthing someone . . . are coming”: unpublished note from Willy Legate. “Well, I can’t say . . . rave awhile”: Hal Kant.

Chapter 6. 12/31/63: BW, JG, Bob Matthews. BW bio: BW, Wendy Weir, Sue Swanson, Bob Matthews. “eyes open wide”: Watrous, “Night.” Jug band: JG, BW, RH, Bob Matthews, Sara R. Katz, Dave Parker, Michael Wanger. “practically lived”: Sara R. Katz to Stu Goldstein, 3/23/64. Beatles: see Philip Norman. Scientology: RH, Willy Legate, David Nelson. Event III: PL, TC, Ramon Sender, Steve Reich. Mime Troupe: Pe- ter Berg, Peter Coyote. “dockworkers, college students . . . until she did”: Coyote, p. 17. “Hat size . . . pretty small”: PL. Southern trip: JG, Sara R. Katz, Sandy Rothman, Scott Hambly, Neil Rosenberg, Mayne Smith, Roland White, Bill Keith, Marshall Leicester. Chrysler Imperial: Loyal Gould in Joseph, p. 27. “little model of good . . . still make it”: JG in Reich, p. 38.

Chapter 7. Rolling Stones: see Booth,
True Adventures.
“see that blind man”: quoted in ibid., p. 111. “The only drummer . . . total imp”: JG to John McLaughlin. BK bio: BK, Brenda Kreutzmann, Lee Anderson. “Bill, you have to leave”: BK. LSD experience: JG, Sara R. Katz, RH, David Nelson, Rick Shubb, Butch Waller, Eric Thompson. “Yeah, this is what . . . even more”: JG to Alderson. “There’s more than”: JG to Mary Eisenhart. “Do you always jump”: David Nelson. “It’s all right”: Sara R. Katz. “and just rapped insanely on television”: JG in Gleason,
Je ferson Airplane,
p. 325. “Using a blowtorch”: Richard Fariña in Eisen, p. 205. “That he not busy”: Dylan, “It’s Allright Ma,”
Writings,
p. 171. Warlocks: JG, BW, BK, Sue Swanson, Connie Bonner, Bob Matthews. “unkempt monkey”: PL. “We are witness”: David Meltzer, unpublished MS. “Listen, man”: PL. “I was so excited”: PL in ZigZag. “See those bottom . . . you go, man”: PL. “decided I just . . . the instruments”: Dana Morgan Sr. in Donnelly. “wooden . . . real stiff”: PL in ZigZag.

Chapter 8. Dylan at Newport: Nick Gravenites, von Schmidt and Rooney. Group LSD trip: JG, PL, BW, Sue Swanson. “The whole world”: JG in Reich, p. 41. “The bath- rooms alone”: Raechel Donahue. Jefferson Airplane: see Gleason,
Je ferson Airplane;
Selvin,
Summer of Love;
Jorma Kaukonen, Bill Thompson. “You better be”: Gleason,
Je fer-
son Airplane,
p. 127. “entirely possible that”: Gleason,
Chronicle,
8/20/65. In Room: JG, BW, PL, BK, Dale O’Keefe, Maruska Nelson, Herb Greene. “looked so young . . . rendered him beautiful”: McClanahan, “Grateful Dead.” “a part that fetches”: Sturgeon, p. 107. “Surrendering . . . why not?”: JG in Gleason,
Je ferson Airplane,
p. 326. “longer and longer . . . in bluegrass”: JG to Rowland, “Elvis Costello.” “one of the reasons”: Jones,
Blues People,
p. 75. Influence of Coltrane: JG, PL, BW, BK. “There was something . . . influenced us”: JG in Blair Jackson, “Pigpen Forever.” “You guys . . . too weird”: PL and BW. Red Dog Saloon: Chandler Laughlin, Luria Castell, Mary Works film. Family Dog: Luria Castell, Alton Kelley. “San Francisco can be . . . super-uptite plastic”: Gleason,
Jef-
ferson Airplane,
p. 3. “from velvet Lotta”: ibid., p. 6. “They can’t bust”: Selvin,
Summer of
Love,
p. 28. San Francisco band origins: see Selvin. “Lady, what this . . . in drag”: JG. “a piano player”: Raechel Donahue. Autumn Records: see Selvin; Raechel Donahue, Florence Nathan, Bobby Freeman, Carl Scott. Emergency Crew: JG, PL, BW, BK. Pierre’s: PL. “David Grisman found’’: Israel Young, “Frets.’’ First photo session: JG, BW, Herb Greene, Maruska Nelson, Sara R. Katz. “How dare you”: Alton Kelley. Mime Troupe benefit: see Gleason,
Je ferson Airplane;
Graham and Greenfield. “coins and raisins”: Anthony, p. 53. “Frank [Sinatra]’s flying”: Graham and Greenfield, p. 125. Choos- ing name “Grateful Dead”: JG, PL, BW, BK. “Everything else on the page”: JG in Lydon, p. 117. “However you spell it”: Pauline Swain.

Chapter 9. “the primitive terror”: T. S. Eliot, “The Dry Salvages,” in Four Quartets. Origins of LSD: see Albert Hofmann. “Acid lowers
. . . is
important”: Gaskin,
Haight
Street,
p. 12. “It’s a language . . . of experience”: Kleps, p. 15. “When LSD hit . . . an overview”: JG to Alderson. “If one’s thesis”: Kleps, p. 40. Band and McKenna: JG, Alan Trist, Frances Shurtliff. “spun a myth . . . biocosmic symphony”: McKenna,
Hallucinations,
pp. xii, 5, 194.

Chapter 10. “one hundred per cent . . . an art form . . . being conscious”: JG to au- thor and Al Aronowitz. “Others can talk”: Foster, p. 50. Neal Cassady bio: see McNally, Plummer. “the yoga of a man”: Kesey,
Garage,
p. 223. Bus trip: see Wolfe,
Kool-Aid;
Paul Perry,
Bus.
Carolyn Adams bio: Carolyn Adams. “secret meanings”: Foster, p. 42. “We’re working on”: Carolyn Adams. First acid test: JG, PL, BW, Sue Swanson, Connie Bonner. “History had kicked”: Kesey in Graham and Greenfield, p. 73. “We always thought”: Ken Babbs in ibid. “The idea . . . something of it”: JG in Lydon, p. 119. Mime Troupe benefit: see Gleason,
Je ferson Airplane;
JG, BW, PL, BK, Bill Graham. “Goodwill cum”: Gleason,
Je ferson Airplane,
pp. 12–13. Big Beat: JG in Reich, JG, BW, PL, BK, Stewart Brand, Foster. “Where’s Pigpen”: Stewart Brand. “like pigs being”: Foster, p. 185. “Suddenly peo- ple . . . old armors again”: Kesey,
Garage,
p. 175. “Freedom had a lot . . . to get in”: JG to Alderson. “tremendously funny”: JG in “What Was That?” radio documentary. “Voices coming out”: JG in Lufkin, “The Dead.” “He would pick”: Wavy Gravy in Plummer, p. 139. “the guy who was”: JG in ibid., p. 140. “The tips, Captain”: Denise Kaufman in Perry, p. 148. “Are you . . . the movie”: BK. Owsley Stanley bio: OS. “If Bear decided”: Frances Shurtliff. “Just like the big time . . . commercial”: Kesey in
Garcia,
editors of
Rolling Stone,
p. 7. Portland: JG, PL, BK, BW; see also 3/9/67 tape. Matrix: JG, PL, BK, BW, Ray An- dersen, Darby Slick, pp. 84–86. California Hall: Luria Castell, Danny Rifkin, Rock Scully. Fillmore Acid Test: BK, JG, BW, PL, RH, Sara R. Katz, Brian Rohan, John Warnecke, Paul Foster. “like the backstage crowd”: Gleason, “Fillmore.” “An hour or so”: Scully and Dalton, p. 10. “Who’s in charge . . . dog police”: JG in “What Was That?” radio documentary. “They’re pretty fast . . . quick-witted, too”: BK. “Come on . . . come down”: BW.

Trips Festival: Ramon Sender, Stewart Brand, BG, JG, PL, BK, BW, Sara R. Katz, Graham and Greenfield. “in his infinite wisdom”: Gottlieb, “Glorious.” Kesey arrest: Brian Rohan. “Well, I’m an Angel”: Vera Mae Frederickson. “Outside is inside”: RH in Allen,
Aces,
p. 140. “Lights flashing . . . beautiful magic”: JG to Lydon, pp. 120–21. “It was open . . . something new”: JG to Reich, p. 48. “It was music . . . was warping”: PL in Harrison,
The Dead,
p. 26. “Jerry Garcia, plug in”: BW. “Who’s this asshole”: BW in Graham and Greenfield, p. 139. BG and Angels: Ramon Sender. “In the clutch”: Dusheck, “Abandon.” “The Acid Test is at its best”: “Mr. Jones,”
Daily Cal,
2/10/66. “a woman in a negligee”: “Happenings,”
Time.
“Cut out this”: Ray Andersen. “No, I wouldn’t . . . more fun”: OS in Gans,
Conversations,
p. 305. “Ocean ocean”: MG.

Chapter 11. L.A.: Jean Mayo Millay, Julius Karpen, Florence Nathan, Sara R. Katz, John Manusos. “Great to see you . . . don’t hide”: Julius Karpen. Watts: JG, BW, PL, BK, MG, Sara R. Katz, Wavy Gravy. “I’m so high . . . can comprehend”: Paul Perry, p. 164. Wavy Gravy bio: Wavy Gravy. “I wanna know . . . talkin’ about now”: acid-test tape tran- scription by Nicholas Meriwether, in Getz and Dwork, pp. 99–100. “dynamic . . . paying attention”: JG to Alderson. Pink House: JG, BW, PL, BK, Sara R. Katz, Brenda Kreutzmann, MG, OS, RS, DR, Florence Nathan (later Rosie McGee), Sue Swanson, Tim Scully. “The band is my body”: Florence Nathan. Rock Scully bio: RS, Annie Corson. Danny Rifkin bio: DR, BW. “not a small world”: Ray Sewell. Ron Rakow bio: Danny Rifkin, Lydia d’Fonsecca Rakow. Sound matters: Tim Scully, OS, PL, DR. Pranksters in L.A.: MG, Julius Karpen. Early Fillmore: Chet Helms, BG, Graham and Greenfield. “Hey, man . . . early . . . production end”: Gleason,
Je ferson Airplane,
p. 289. Bill Graham bio: BG, Graham and Greenfield. “He is ambitious”: Wasserman, “Hard-Driving.” “dances are being . . . Graham”: Wenner, “Pranksters’.” “Wait a minute . . . let ’em in”: BG in Gleason,
Je ferson Airplane,
pp. 286–87. “misdirected and highly unfair”: “The Fillmore Auditorium Case,” S.F. Chronicle, 4/21/66. “Why are you . . . right here”: Maitland Zane, “Cops Bust.” Haight scene: Chet Helms, Rodney Albin, DR; see Caserta. Band review: see Selvin,
Summer of Love,
“walking horror . . . walkin’ around”: JG on 3/9/67 tape.

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