Podcasts about owsley stanley

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 20, 2024 92:40

We couldn't be more stoked to have The Owsley Stanley Foundation with us this week on No Simple Road! Redbird Stanley, Starfinder Stanley, Hawk, and Pete all join us this week to talk about the new OSF's Bear's Sonic Journal Release, 'SING OUT!' This is Bear's last known recording of The Grateful Dead at a Seva Benefit concert in 1981. We talk with the crew about how this one came to be, some of the recording techniques involved in capturing this unique room, how they decided to put the booklet and CD release together, some memories of Owsley as a Dad to Starfinder and Redbird, and a ton more! To get more info on all of Bear's Sonic Journal and the Owsley Stanley Foundationa dn the great work they are doing, head over to: www.owsleystanleyfoundation.org -Make Sure to visit NORTHBOUND COFFEE ROASTERS for the best Deadhead roasted and delicious coffees + get free shipping with the PROMO CODE: nosimpleroad -For THE BEST MUSHROOM CHOCOLATES EVER go over to @MELTMUSHROOMS ON INSTAGRAM and shoot them a DM for a menu of all the amazing flavors of MUSHROOM CHOCOLATE BARS and MAKE SURE TO TELL THEM NSR SENT YOU FOR $20 OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER! -FREE SHIPPING from Shop Tour Bus Use The PROMO CODE: nosimpleroad INTRO MUSIC PROVIDED BY - Will Hanza of Escaper MUSIC IN THE COMMERCIALS BY AND USED WITH PERMISSION OF: CIRCLES AROUND THE SUN OUTRO MUSIC BY AND USED WITH PERMISSION OF: CHILLDREN OF INDIGO No Simple Road is part of OSIRIS MEDIA. Osiris Media is the leading storyteller in music, combining the intimacy of podcasts with the power of music.

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Owsley Stanley Foundation

A History Of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 12, 2024 39:46

Bear's Sonic Journals: Sing Out! Berkeley Community Theater, 4/25/1981

foundation bear owsley stanley berkeley community theater

Steven Blumenfeld: The Tech of Art and the Art of Tech

Burning Man LIVE

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 2, 2023 48:32

Yes, Burning Man has a Chief Technology Officer, and his name is Steven Blumenfeld. In this episode Stuart chats with “Bloom” about art, innovation, immediacy, and the power of the unexpected, with trippy side trips into AR, VR, and AI (and TLA).Yes, we have a CTO. We have all the enterprise tech needs of any not-small non-profit, with the added complications of ridiculously challenging work sites, a staff that's mostly seasonal volunteers, and an ethos rooted in Ten Principles that don't always line up with ideals of Big Tech or engineering efficiency. You don't build a city of 80,000 in the desert — or a global community of dreamers and doers — without bending a few bits and bytes. Or stepping on a few tech-bro toes.Bloom shares stories from his colorful career at the intersection of art and technology, from working with Al Gore at Current Media to pioneering the “always two years away” world of virtual reality. And he does his best to reassure Stuart that AI will not be taking his job… yet.

Episode 165: “Dark Star” by the Grateful Dead

Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2023

Episode 165 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “Dark Stat” and the career of the Grateful Dead. This is a long one, even longer than the previous episode, but don't worry, that won't be the norm. There's a reason these two were much longer than average. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a twenty-minute bonus episode available, on "Codine" by the Charlatans. Errata I mispronounce Brent Mydland's name as Myland a couple of times, and in the introduction I say "Touch of Grey" came out in 1988 -- I later, correctly, say 1987. (I seem to have had a real problem with dates in the intro -- I also originally talked about "Blue Suede Shoes" being in 1954 before fixing it in the edit to be 1956) Resources No Mixcloud this week, as there are too many songs by the Grateful Dead, and Grayfolded runs to two hours. I referred to a lot of books for this episode, partly because almost everything about the Grateful Dead is written from a fannish perspective that already assumes background knowledge, rather than to provide that background knowledge. Of the various books I used, Dennis McNally's biography of the band and This Is All a Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead by Blair Jackson and David Gans are probably most useful for the casually interested. Other books on the Dead I used included McNally's Jerry on Jerry, a collection of interviews with Garcia; Deal, Bill Kreutzmann's autobiography; The Grateful Dead FAQ by Tony Sclafani; So Many Roads by David Browne; Deadology by Howard F. Weiner; Fare Thee Well by Joel Selvin and Pamela Turley; and Skeleton Key: A Dictionary for Deadheads by David Shenk and Steve Silberman. Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test is the classic account of the Pranksters, though not always reliable. I reference Slaughterhouse Five a lot. As well as the novel itself, which everyone should read, I also read this rather excellent graphic novel adaptation, and The Writer's Crusade, a book about the writing of the novel. I also reference Ted Sturgeon's More Than Human. For background on the scene around Astounding Science Fiction which included Sturgeon, John W. Campbell, L. Ron Hubbard, and many other science fiction writers, I recommend Alec Nevala-Lee's Astounding. 1,000 True Fans can be read online, as can the essay on the Californian ideology, and John Perry Barlow's "Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace". The best collection of Grateful Dead material is the box set The Golden Road, which contains all the albums released in Pigpen's lifetime along with a lot of bonus material, but which appears currently out of print. Live/Dead contains both the live version of "Dark Star" which made it well known and, as a CD bonus track, the original single version. And archive.org has more live recordings of the group than you can possibly ever listen to. Grayfolded can be bought from John Oswald's Bandcamp Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript [Excerpt: Tuning from "Grayfolded", under the warnings Before we begin -- as we're tuning up, as it were, I should mention that this episode contains discussions of alcoholism, drug addiction, racism, nonconsensual drugging of other people, and deaths from drug abuse, suicide, and car accidents. As always, I try to deal with these subjects as carefully as possible, but if you find any of those things upsetting you may wish to read the transcript rather than listen to this episode, or skip it altogether. Also, I should note that the members of the Grateful Dead were much freer with their use of swearing in interviews than any other band we've covered so far, and that makes using quotes from them rather more difficult than with other bands, given the limitations of the rules imposed to stop the podcast being marked as adult. If I quote anything with a word I can't use here, I'll give a brief pause in the audio, and in the transcript I'll have the word in square brackets. [tuning ends] All this happened, more or less. In 1910, T. S. Eliot started work on "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", which at the time was deemed barely poetry, with one reviewer imagining Eliot saying "I'll just put down the first thing that comes into my head, and call it 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.'" It is now considered one of the great classics of modernist literature. In 1969, Kurt Vonnegut wrote "Slaughterhouse-Five, or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death", a book in which the protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, comes unstuck in time, and starts living a nonlinear life, hopping around between times reliving his experiences in the Second World War, and future experiences up to 1976 after being kidnapped by beings from the planet Tralfamadore. Or perhaps he has flashbacks and hallucinations after having a breakdown from PTSD. It is now considered one of the great classics of modernist literature or of science fiction, depending on how you look at it. In 1953, Theodore Sturgeon wrote More Than Human. It is now considered one of the great classics of science fiction. In 1950, L. Ron Hubbard wrote Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. It is now considered either a bad piece of science fiction or one of the great revelatory works of religious history, depending on how you look at it. In 1994, 1995, and 1996 the composer John Oswald released, first as two individual CDs and then as a double-CD, an album called Grayfolded, which the composer says in the liner notes he thinks of as existing in Tralfamadorian time. The Tralfamadorians in Vonnegut's novels don't see time as a linear thing with a beginning and end, but as a continuum that they can move between at will. When someone dies, they just think that at this particular point in time they're not doing so good, but at other points in time they're fine, so why focus on the bad time? In the book, when told of someone dying, the Tralfamadorians just say "so it goes". In between the first CD's release and the release of the double-CD version, Jerry Garcia died. From August 1942 through August 1995, Jerry Garcia was alive. So it goes. Shall we go, you and I? [Excerpt: The Grateful Dead, "Dark Star (Omni 3/30/94)"] "One principle has become clear. Since motives are so frequently found in combination, it is essential that the complex types be analyzed and arranged, with an eye kept single nevertheless to the master-theme under discussion. Collectors, both primary and subsidiary, have done such valiant service that the treasures at our command are amply sufficient for such studies, so extensive, indeed, that the task of going through them thoroughly has become too great for the unassisted student. It cannot be too strongly urged that a single theme in its various types and compounds must be made predominant in any useful comparative study. This is true when the sources and analogues of any literary work are treated; it is even truer when the bare motive is discussed. The Grateful Dead furnishes an apt illustration of the necessity of such handling. It appears in a variety of different combinations, almost never alone. Indeed, it is so widespread a tale, and its combinations are so various, that there is the utmost difficulty in determining just what may properly be regarded the original kernel of it, the simple theme to which other motives were joined. Various opinions, as we shall see, have been held with reference to this matter, most of them justified perhaps by the materials in the hands of the scholars holding them, but none quite adequate in view of later evidence." That's a quote from The Grateful Dead: The History of a Folk Story, by Gordon Hall Gerould, published in 1908. Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse-Five opens with a chapter about the process of writing the novel itself, and how difficult it was. He says "I would hate to tell you what this lousy little book cost me in money and anxiety and time. When I got home from the Second World War twenty-three years ago, I thought it would be easy for me to write about the destruction of Dresden, since all I would have to do would be to report what I had seen. And I thought, too, that it would be a masterpiece or at least make me a lot of money, since the subject was so big." This is an episode several of my listeners have been looking forward to, but it's one I've been dreading writing, because this is an episode -- I think the only one in the series -- where the format of the podcast simply *will not* work. Were the Grateful Dead not such an important band, I would skip this episode altogether, but they're a band that simply can't be ignored, and that's a real problem here. Because my intent, always, with this podcast, is to present the recordings of the artists in question, put them in context, and explain why they were important, what their music meant to its listeners. To put, as far as is possible, the positive case for why the music mattered *in the context of its time*. Not why it matters now, or why it matters to me, but why it matters *in its historical context*. Whether I like the music or not isn't the point. Whether it stands up now isn't the point. I play the music, explain what it was they were doing, why they were doing it, what people saw in it. If I do my job well, you come away listening to "Blue Suede Shoes" the way people heard it in 1956, or "Good Vibrations" the way people heard it in 1966, and understanding why people were so impressed by those records. That is simply *not possible* for the Grateful Dead. I can present a case for them as musicians, and hope to do so. I can explain the appeal as best I understand it, and talk about things I like in their music, and things I've noticed. But what I can't do is present their recordings the way they were received in the sixties and explain why they were popular. Because every other act I have covered or will cover in this podcast has been a *recording* act, and their success was based on records. They may also have been exceptional live performers, but James Brown or Ike and Tina Turner are remembered for great *records*, like "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" or "River Deep, Mountain High". Their great moments were captured on vinyl, to be listened back to, and susceptible of analysis. That is not the case for the Grateful Dead, and what is worse *they explicitly said, publicly, on multiple occasions* that it is not possible for me to understand their art, and thus that it is not possible for me to explain it. The Grateful Dead did make studio records, some of them very good. But they always said, consistently, over a thirty year period, that their records didn't capture what they did, and that the only way -- the *only* way, they were very clear about this -- that one could actually understand and appreciate their music, was to see them live, and furthermore to see them live while on psychedelic drugs. [Excerpt: Grateful Dead crowd noise] I never saw the Grateful Dead live -- their last UK performance was a couple of years before I went to my first ever gig -- and I have never taken a psychedelic substance. So by the Grateful Dead's own criteria, it is literally impossible for me to understand or explain their music the way that it should be understood or explained. In a way I'm in a similar position to the one I was in with La Monte Young in the last episode, whose music it's mostly impossible to experience without being in his presence. This is one reason of several why I placed these two episodes back to back. Of course, there is a difference between Young and the Grateful Dead. The Grateful Dead allowed -- even encouraged -- the recording of their live performances. There are literally thousands of concert recordings in circulation, many of them of professional quality. I have listened to many of those, and I can hear what they were doing. I can tell you what *I* think is interesting about their music, and about their musicianship. And I think I can build up a good case for why they were important, and why they're interesting, and why those recordings are worth listening to. And I can certainly explain the cultural phenomenon that was the Grateful Dead. But just know that while I may have found *a* point, *an* explanation for why the Grateful Dead were important, by the band's own lights and those of their fans, no matter how good a job I do in this episode, I *cannot* get it right. And that is, in itself, enough of a reason for this episode to exist, and for me to try, even harder than I normally do, to get it right *anyway*. Because no matter how well I do my job this episode will stand as an example of why this series is called "*A* History", not *the* history. Because parts of the past are ephemeral. There are things about which it's true to say "You had to be there". I cannot know what it was like to have been an American the day Kennedy was shot, I cannot know what it was like to be alive when a man walked on the Moon. Those are things nobody my age or younger can ever experience. And since August the ninth, 1995, the experience of hearing the Grateful Dead's music the way they wanted it heard has been in that category. And that is by design. Jerry Garcia once said "if you work really hard as an artist, you may be able to build something they can't tear down, you know, after you're gone... What I want to do is I want it here. I want it now, in this lifetime. I want what I enjoy to last as long as I do and not last any longer. You know, I don't want something that ends up being as much a nuisance as it is a work of art, you know?" And there's another difficulty. There are only two points in time where it makes sense to do a podcast episode on the Grateful Dead -- late 1967 and early 1968, when the San Francisco scene they were part of was at its most culturally relevant, and 1988 when they had their only top ten hit and gained their largest audience. I can't realistically leave them out of the story until 1988, so it has to be 1968. But the songs they are most remembered for are those they wrote between 1970 and 1972, and those songs are influenced by artists and events we haven't yet covered in the podcast, who will be getting their own episodes in the future. I can't explain those things in this episode, because they need whole episodes of their own. I can't not explain them without leaving out important context for the Grateful Dead. So the best I can do is treat the story I'm telling as if it were in Tralfamadorian time. All of it's happening all at once, and some of it is happening in different episodes that haven't been recorded yet. The podcast as a whole travels linearly from 1938 through to 1999, but this episode is happening in 1968 and 1972 and 1988 and 1995 and other times, all at once. Sometimes I'll talk about things as if you're already familiar with them, but they haven't happened yet in the story. Feel free to come unstuck in time and revisit this time after episode 167, and 172, and 176, and 192, and experience it again. So this has to be an experimental episode. It may well be an experiment that you think fails. If so, the next episode is likely to be far more to your taste, and much shorter than this or the last episode, two episodes that between them have to create a scaffolding on which will hang much of the rest of this podcast's narrative. I've finished my Grateful Dead script now. The next one I write is going to be fun: [Excerpt: Grateful Dead, "Dark Star"] Infrastructure means everything. How we get from place to place, how we transport goods, information, and ourselves, makes a big difference in how society is structured, and in the music we hear. For many centuries, the prime means of long-distance transport was by water -- sailing ships on the ocean, canal boats and steamboats for inland navigation -- and so folk songs talked about the ship as both means of escape, means of making a living, and in some senses as a trap. You'd go out to sea for adventure, or to escape your problems, but you'd find that the sea itself brought its own problems. Because of this we have a long, long tradition of sea shanties which are known throughout the world: [Excerpt: A. L. Lloyd, "Off to Sea Once More"] But in the nineteenth century, the railway was invented and, at least as far as travel within a landmass goes, it replaced the steamboat in the popular imaginary. Now the railway was how you got from place to place, and how you moved freight from one place to another. The railway brought freedom, and was an opportunity for outlaws, whether train robbers or a romanticised version of the hobo hopping onto a freight train and making his way to new lands and new opportunity. It was the train that brought soldiers home from wars, and the train that allowed the Great Migration of Black people from the South to the industrial North. There would still be songs about the riverboats, about how ol' man river keeps rolling along and about the big river Johnny Cash sang about, but increasingly they would be songs of the past, not the present. The train quickly replaced the steamboat in the iconography of what we now think of as roots music -- blues, country, folk, and early jazz music. Sometimes this was very literal. Furry Lewis' "Kassie Jones" -- about a legendary train driver who would break the rules to make sure his train made the station on time, but who ended up sacrificing his own life to save his passengers in a train crash -- is based on "Alabamy Bound", which as we heard in the episode on "Stagger Lee", was about steamboats: [Excerpt: Furry Lewis, "Kassie Jones"] In the early episodes of this podcast we heard many, many, songs about the railway. Louis Jordan saying "take me right back to the track, Jack", Rosetta Tharpe singing about how "this train don't carry no gamblers", the trickster freight train driver driving on the "Rock Island Line", the mystery train sixteen coaches long, the train that kept-a-rollin' all night long, the Midnight Special which the prisoners wished would shine its ever-loving light on them, and the train coming past Folsom Prison whose whistle makes Johnny Cash hang his head and cry. But by the 1960s, that kind of song had started to dry up. It would happen on occasion -- "People Get Ready" by the Impressions is the most obvious example of the train metaphor in an important sixties record -- but by the late sixties the train was no longer a symbol of freedom but of the past. In 1969 Harry Nilsson sang about how "Nobody Cares About the Railroads Any More", and in 1968 the Kinks sang about "The Last of the Steam-Powered Trains". When in 1968 Merle Haggard sang about a freight train, it was as a memory, of a child with hopes that ended up thwarted by reality and his own nature: [Excerpt: Merle Haggard, "Mama Tried"] And the reason for this was that there had been another shift, a shift that had started in the forties and accelerated in the late fifties but had taken a little time to ripple through the culture. Now the train had been replaced in the popular imaginary by motorised transport. Instead of hopping on a train without paying, if you had no money in your pocket you'd have to hitch-hike all the way. Freedom now meant individuality. The ultimate in freedom was the biker -- the Hell's Angels who could go anywhere, unburdened by anything -- and instead of goods being moved by freight train, increasingly they were being moved by truck drivers. By the mid-seventies, truck drivers took a central place in American life, and the most romantic way to live life was to live it on the road. On The Road was also the title of a 1957 novel by Jack Kerouac, which was one of the first major signs of this cultural shift in America. Kerouac was writing about events in the late forties and early fifties, but his book was also a precursor of the sixties counterculture. He wrote the book on one continuous sheet of paper, as a stream of consciousness. Kerouac died in 1969 of an internal haemmorage brought on by too much alcohol consumption. So it goes. But the big key to this cultural shift was caused by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, a massive infrastructure spending bill that led to the construction of the modern American Interstate Highway system. This accelerated a program that had already started, of building much bigger, safer, faster roads. It also, as anyone who has read Robert Caro's The Power Broker knows, reinforced segregation and white flight. It did this both by making commuting into major cities from the suburbs easier -- thus allowing white people with more money to move further away from the cities and still work there -- and by bulldozing community spaces where Black people lived. More than a million people lost their homes and were forcibly moved, and orders of magnitude more lost their communities' parks and green spaces. And both as a result of deliberate actions and unconscious bigotry, the bulk of those affected were Black people -- who often found themselves, if they weren't forced to move, on one side of a ten-lane highway where the park used to be, with white people on the other side of the highway. The Federal-Aid Highway Act gave even more power to the unaccountable central planners like Robert Moses, the urban planner in New York who managed to become arguably the most powerful man in the city without ever getting elected, partly by slowly compromising away his early progressive ideals in the service of gaining more power. Of course, not every new highway was built through areas where poor Black people lived. Some were planned to go through richer areas for white people, just because you can't completely do away with geographical realities. For example one was planned to be built through part of San Francisco, a rich, white part. But the people who owned properties in that area had enough political power and clout to fight the development, and after nearly a decade of fighting it, the development was called off in late 1966. But over that time, many of the owners of the impressive buildings in the area had moved out, and they had no incentive to improve or maintain their properties while they were under threat of demolition, so many of them were rented out very cheaply. And when the beat community that Kerouac wrote about, many of whom had settled in San Francisco, grew too large and notorious for the area of the city they were in, North Beach, many of them moved to these cheap homes in a previously-exclusive area. The area known as Haight-Ashbury. [Excerpt: The Grateful Dead, "Grayfolded"] Stories all have their starts, even stories told in Tralfamadorian time, although sometimes those starts are shrouded in legend. For example, the story of Scientology's start has been told many times, with different people claiming to have heard L. Ron Hubbard talk about how writing was a mug's game, and if you wanted to make real money, you needed to get followers, start a religion. Either he said this over and over and over again, to many different science fiction writers, or most science fiction writers of his generation were liars. Of course, the definition of a writer is someone who tells lies for money, so who knows? One of the more plausible accounts of him saying that is given by Theodore Sturgeon. Sturgeon's account is more believable than most, because Sturgeon went on to be a supporter of Dianetics, the "new science" that Hubbard turned into his religion, for decades, even while telling the story. The story of the Grateful Dead probably starts as it ends, with Jerry Garcia. There are three things that everyone writing about the Dead says about Garcia's childhood, so we might as well say them here too. The first is that he was named by a music-loving father after Jerome Kern, the songwriter responsible for songs like "Ol' Man River" (though as Oscar Hammerstein's widow liked to point out, "Jerome Kern wrote dum-dum-dum-dum, *my husband* wrote 'Ol' Man River'" -- an important distinction we need to bear in mind when talking about songwriters who write music but not lyrics). The second is that when he was five years old that music-loving father drowned -- and Garcia would always say he had seen his father dying, though some sources claim this was a false memory. So it goes. And the third fact, which for some reason is always told after the second even though it comes before it chronologically, is that when he was four he lost two joints from his right middle finger. Garcia grew up a troubled teen, and in turn caused trouble for other people, but he also developed a few interests that would follow him through his life. He loved the fantastical, especially the fantastical macabre, and became an avid fan of horror and science fiction -- and through his love of old monster films he became enamoured with cinema more generally. Indeed, in 1983 he bought the film rights to Kurt Vonnegut's science fiction novel The Sirens of Titan, the first story in which the Tralfamadorians appear, and wrote a script based on it. He wanted to produce the film himself, with Francis Ford Coppola directing and Bill Murray starring, but most importantly for him he wanted to prevent anyone who didn't care about it from doing it badly. And in that he succeeded. As of 2023 there is no film of The Sirens of Titan. He loved to paint, and would continue that for the rest of his life, with one of his favourite subjects being Boris Karloff as the Frankenstein monster. And when he was eleven or twelve, he heard for the first time a record that was hugely influential to a whole generation of Californian musicians, even though it was a New York record -- "Gee" by the Crows: [Excerpt: The Crows, "Gee"] Garcia would say later "That was an important song. That was the first kind of, like where the voices had that kind of not-trained-singer voices, but tough-guy-on-the-street voice." That record introduced him to R&B, and soon he was listening to Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, to Ray Charles, and to a record we've not talked about in the podcast but which was one of the great early doo-wop records, "WPLJ" by the Four Deuces: [Excerpt: The Four Deuces, "WPLJ"] Garcia said of that record "That was one of my anthem songs when I was in junior high school and high school and around there. That was one of those songs everybody knew. And that everybody sang. Everybody sang that street-corner favorite." Garcia moved around a lot as a child, and didn't have much time for school by his own account, but one of the few teachers he did respect was an art teacher when he was in North Beach, Walter Hedrick. Hedrick was also one of the earliest of the conceptual artists, and one of the most important figures in the San Francisco arts scene that would become known as the Beat Generation (or the Beatniks, which was originally a disparaging term). Hedrick was a painter and sculptor, but also organised happenings, and he had also been one of the prime movers in starting a series of poetry readings in San Francisco, the first one of which had involved Allen Ginsberg giving the first ever reading of "Howl" -- one of a small number of poems, along with Eliot's "Prufrock" and "The Waste Land" and possibly Pound's Cantos, which can be said to have changed twentieth-century literature. Garcia was fifteen when he got to know Hedrick, in 1957, and by then the Beat scene had already become almost a parody of itself, having become known to the public because of the publication of works like On the Road, and the major artists in the scene were already rejecting the label. By this point tourists were flocking to North Beach to see these beatniks they'd heard about on TV, and Hedrick was actually employed by one cafe to sit in the window wearing a beret, turtleneck, sandals, and beard, and draw and paint, to attract the tourists who flocked by the busload because they could see that there was a "genuine beatnik" in the cafe. Hedrick was, as well as a visual artist, a guitarist and banjo player who played in traditional jazz bands, and he would bring records in to class for his students to listen to, and Garcia particularly remembered him bringing in records by Big Bill Broonzy: [Excerpt: Big Bill Broonzy, "When Things Go Wrong (It Hurts Me Too)"] Garcia was already an avid fan of rock and roll music, but it was being inspired by Hedrick that led him to get his first guitar. Like his contemporary Paul McCartney around the same time, he was initially given the wrong instrument as a birthday present -- in Garcia's case his mother gave him an accordion -- but he soon persuaded her to swap it for an electric guitar he saw in a pawn shop. And like his other contemporary, John Lennon, Garcia initially tuned his instrument incorrectly. He said later "When I started playing the guitar, believe me, I didn't know anybody that played. I mean, I didn't know anybody that played the guitar. Nobody. They weren't around. There were no guitar teachers. You couldn't take lessons. There was nothing like that, you know? When I was a kid and I had my first electric guitar, I had it tuned wrong and learned how to play on it with it tuned wrong for about a year. And I was getting somewhere on it, you know… Finally, I met a guy that knew how to tune it right and showed me three chords, and it was like a revelation. You know what I mean? It was like somebody gave me the key to heaven." He joined a band, the Chords, which mostly played big band music, and his friend Gary Foster taught him some of the rudiments of playing the guitar -- things like how to use a capo to change keys. But he was always a rebellious kid, and soon found himself faced with a choice between joining the military or going to prison. He chose the former, and it was during his time in the Army that a friend, Ron Stevenson, introduced him to the music of Merle Travis, and to Travis-style guitar picking: [Excerpt: Merle Travis, "Nine-Pound Hammer"] Garcia had never encountered playing like that before, but he instantly recognised that Travis, and Chet Atkins who Stevenson also played for him, had been an influence on Scotty Moore. He started to realise that the music he'd listened to as a teenager was influenced by music that went further back. But Stevenson, as well as teaching Garcia some of the rudiments of Travis-picking, also indirectly led to Garcia getting discharged from the Army. Stevenson was not a well man, and became suicidal. Garcia decided it was more important to keep his friend company and make sure he didn't kill himself than it was to turn up for roll call, and as a result he got discharged himself on psychiatric grounds -- according to Garcia he told the Army psychiatrist "I was involved in stuff that was more important to me in the moment than the army was and that was the reason I was late" and the psychiatrist thought it was neurotic of Garcia to have his own set of values separate from that of the Army. After discharge, Garcia did various jobs, including working as a transcriptionist for Lenny Bruce, the comedian who was a huge influence on the counterculture. In one of the various attacks over the years by authoritarians on language, Bruce was repeatedly arrested for obscenity, and in 1961 he was arrested at a jazz club in North Beach. Sixty years ago, the parts of speech that were being criminalised weren't pronouns, but prepositions and verbs: [Excerpt: Lenny Bruce, "To is a Preposition, Come is a Verb"] That piece, indeed, was so controversial that when Frank Zappa quoted part of it in a song in 1968, the record label insisted on the relevant passage being played backwards so people couldn't hear such disgusting filth: [Excerpt: The Mothers of Invention, "Harry You're a Beast"] (Anyone familiar with that song will understand that the censored portion is possibly the least offensive part of the whole thing). Bruce was facing trial, and he needed transcripts of what he had said in his recordings to present in court. Incidentally, there seems to be some confusion over exactly which of Bruce's many obscenity trials Garcia became a transcriptionist for. Dennis McNally says in his biography of the band, published in 2002, that it was the most famous of them, in autumn 1964, but in a later book, Jerry on Jerry, a book of interviews of Garcia edited by McNally, McNally talks about it being when Garcia was nineteen, which would mean it was Bruce's first trial, in 1961. We can put this down to the fact that many of the people involved, not least Garcia, lived in Tralfamadorian time, and were rather hazy on dates, but I'm placing the story here rather than in 1964 because it seems to make more sense that Garcia would be involved in a trial based on an incident in San Francisco than one in New York. Garcia got the job, even though he couldn't type, because by this point he'd spent so long listening to recordings of old folk and country music that he was used to transcribing indecipherable accents, and often, as Garcia would tell it, Bruce would mumble very fast and condense multiple syllables into one. Garcia was particularly impressed by Bruce's ability to improvise but talk in entire paragraphs, and he compared his use of language to bebop. Another thing that was starting to impress Garcia, and which he also compared to bebop, was bluegrass: [Excerpt: Bill Monroe, "Fire on the Mountain"] Bluegrass is a music that is often considered very traditional, because it's based on traditional songs and uses acoustic instruments, but in fact it was a terribly *modern* music, and largely a postwar creation of a single band -- Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys. And Garcia was right when he said it was "white bebop" -- though he did say "The only thing it doesn't have is the harmonic richness of bebop. You know what I mean? That's what it's missing, but it has everything else." Both bebop and bluegrass evolved after the second world war, though they were informed by music from before it, and both prized the ability to improvise, and technical excellence. Both are musics that involved playing *fast*, in an ensemble, and being able to respond quickly to the other musicians. Both musics were also intensely rhythmic, a response to a faster paced, more stressful world. They were both part of the general change in the arts towards immediacy that we looked at in the last episode with the creation first of expressionism and then of pop art. Bluegrass didn't go into the harmonic explorations that modern jazz did, but it was absolutely as modern as anything Charlie Parker was doing, and came from the same impulses. It was tradition and innovation, the past and the future simultaneously. Bill Monroe, Jackson Pollock, Charlie Parker, Jack Kerouac, and Lenny Bruce were all in their own ways responding to the same cultural moment, and it was that which Garcia was responding to. But he didn't become able to play bluegrass until after a tragedy which shaped his life even more than his father's death had. Garcia had been to a party and was in a car with his friends Lee Adams, Paul Speegle, and Alan Trist. Adams was driving at ninety miles an hour when they hit a tight curve and crashed. Garcia, Adams, and Trist were all severely injured but survived. Speegle died. So it goes. This tragedy changed Garcia's attitudes totally. Of all his friends, Speegle was the one who was most serious about his art, and who treated it as something to work on. Garcia had always been someone who fundamentally didn't want to work or take any responsibility for anything. And he remained that way -- except for his music. Speegle's death changed Garcia's attitude to that, totally. If his friend wasn't going to be able to practice his own art any more, Garcia would practice his, in tribute to him. He resolved to become a virtuoso on guitar and banjo. His girlfriend of the time later said “I don't know if you've spent time with someone rehearsing ‘Foggy Mountain Breakdown' on a banjo for eight hours, but Jerry practiced endlessly. He really wanted to excel and be the best. He had tremendous personal ambition in the musical arena, and he wanted to master whatever he set out to explore. Then he would set another sight for himself. And practice another eight hours a day of new licks.” But of course, you can't make ensemble music on your own: [Excerpt: Jerry Garcia and Bob Hunter, "Oh Mary Don't You Weep" (including end)] "Evelyn said, “What is it called when a person needs a … person … when you want to be touched and the … two are like one thing and there isn't anything else at all anywhere?” Alicia, who had read books, thought about it. “Love,” she said at length." That's from More Than Human, by Theodore Sturgeon, a book I'll be quoting a few more times as the story goes on. Robert Hunter, like Garcia, was just out of the military -- in his case, the National Guard -- and he came into Garcia's life just after Paul Speegle had left it. Garcia and Alan Trist met Hunter ten days after the accident, and the three men started hanging out together, Trist and Hunter writing while Garcia played music. Garcia and Hunter both bonded over their shared love for the beats, and for traditional music, and the two formed a duo, Bob and Jerry, which performed together a handful of times. They started playing together, in fact, after Hunter picked up a guitar and started playing a song and halfway through Garcia took it off him and finished the song himself. The two of them learned songs from the Harry Smith Anthology -- Garcia was completely apolitical, and only once voted in his life, for Lyndon Johnson in 1964 to keep Goldwater out, and regretted even doing that, and so he didn't learn any of the more political material people like Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, and Bob Dylan were doing at the time -- but their duo only lasted a short time because Hunter wasn't an especially good guitarist. Hunter would, though, continue to jam with Garcia and other friends, sometimes playing mandolin, while Garcia played solo gigs and with other musicians as well, playing and moving round the Bay Area and performing with whoever he could: [Excerpt: Jerry Garcia, "Railroad Bill"] "Bleshing, that was Janie's word. She said Baby told it to her. She said it meant everyone all together being something, even if they all did different things. Two arms, two legs, one body, one head, all working together, although a head can't walk and arms can't think. Lone said maybe it was a mixture of “blending” and “meshing,” but I don't think he believed that himself. It was a lot more than that." That's from More Than Human In 1961, Garcia and Hunter met another young musician, but one who was interested in a very different type of music. Phil Lesh was a serious student of modern classical music, a classically-trained violinist and trumpeter whose interest was solidly in the experimental and whose attitude can be summed up by a story that's always told about him meeting his close friend Tom Constanten for the first time. Lesh had been talking with someone about serialism, and Constanten had interrupted, saying "Music stopped being created in 1750 but it started again in 1950". Lesh just stuck out his hand, recognising a kindred spirit. Lesh and Constanten were both students of Luciano Berio, the experimental composer who created compositions for magnetic tape: [Excerpt: Luciano Berio, "Momenti"] Berio had been one of the founders of the Studio di fonologia musicale di Radio Milano, a studio for producing contemporary electronic music where John Cage had worked for a time, and he had also worked with the electronic music pioneer Karlheinz Stockhausen. Lesh would later remember being very impressed when Berio brought a tape into the classroom -- the actual multitrack tape for Stockhausen's revolutionary piece Gesang Der Juenglinge: [Excerpt: Karlheinz Stockhausen, "Gesang Der Juenglinge"] Lesh at first had been distrustful of Garcia -- Garcia was charismatic and had followers, and Lesh never liked people like that. But he was impressed by Garcia's playing, and soon realised that the two men, despite their very different musical interests, had a lot in common. Lesh was interested in the technology of music as well as in performing and composing it, and so when he wasn't studying he helped out by engineering at the university's radio station. Lesh was impressed by Garcia's playing, and suggested to the presenter of the station's folk show, the Midnight Special, that Garcia be a guest. Garcia was so good that he ended up getting an entire solo show to himself, where normally the show would feature multiple acts. Lesh and Constanten soon moved away from the Bay Area to Las Vegas, but both would be back -- in Constanten's case he would form an experimental group in San Francisco with their fellow student Steve Reich, and that group (though not with Constanten performing) would later premiere Terry Riley's In C, a piece influenced by La Monte Young and often considered one of the great masterpieces of minimalist music. By early 1962 Garcia and Hunter had formed a bluegrass band, with Garcia on guitar and banjo and Hunter on mandolin, and a rotating cast of other musicians including Ken Frankel, who played banjo and fiddle. They performed under different names, including the Tub Thumpers, the Hart Valley Drifters, and the Sleepy Valley Hog Stompers, and played a mixture of bluegrass and old-time music -- and were very careful about the distinction: [Excerpt: The Hart Valley Drifters, "Cripple Creek"] In 1993, the Republican political activist John Perry Barlow was invited to talk to the CIA about the possibilities open to them with what was then called the Information Superhighway. He later wrote, in part "They told me they'd brought Steve Jobs in a few weeks before to indoctrinate them in modern information management. And they were delighted when I returned later, bringing with me a platoon of Internet gurus, including Esther Dyson, Mitch Kapor, Tony Rutkowski, and Vint Cerf. They sealed us into an electronically impenetrable room to discuss the radical possibility that a good first step in lifting their blackout would be for the CIA to put up a Web site... We told them that information exchange was a barter system, and that to receive, one must also be willing to share. This was an alien notion to them. They weren't even willing to share information among themselves, much less the world." 1962 brought a new experience for Robert Hunter. Hunter had been recruited into taking part in psychological tests at Stanford University, which in the sixties and seventies was one of the preeminent universities for psychological experiments. As part of this, Hunter was given $140 to attend the VA hospital (where a janitor named Ken Kesey, who had himself taken part in a similar set of experiments a couple of years earlier, worked a day job while he was working on his first novel) for four weeks on the run, and take different psychedelic drugs each time, starting with LSD, so his reactions could be observed. (It was later revealed that these experiments were part of a CIA project called MKUltra, designed to investigate the possibility of using psychedelic drugs for mind control, blackmail, and torture. Hunter was quite lucky in that he was told what was going to happen to him and paid for his time. Other subjects included the unlucky customers of brothels the CIA set up as fronts -- they dosed the customers' drinks and observed them through two-way mirrors. Some of their experimental subjects died by suicide as a result of their experiences. So it goes. ) Hunter was interested in taking LSD after reading Aldous Huxley's writings about psychedelic substances, and he brought his typewriter along to the experiment. During the first test, he wrote a six-page text, a short excerpt from which is now widely quoted, reading in part "Sit back picture yourself swooping up a shell of purple with foam crests of crystal drops soft nigh they fall unto the sea of morning creep-very-softly mist ... and then sort of cascade tinkley-bell-like (must I take you by the hand, ever so slowly type) and then conglomerate suddenly into a peal of silver vibrant uncomprehendingly, blood singingly, joyously resounding bells" Hunter's experience led to everyone in their social circle wanting to try LSD, and soon they'd all come to the same conclusion -- this was something special. But Garcia needed money -- he'd got his girlfriend pregnant, and they'd married (this would be the first of several marriages in Garcia's life, and I won't be covering them all -- at Garcia's funeral, his second wife, Carolyn, said Garcia always called her the love of his life, and his first wife and his early-sixties girlfriend who he proposed to again in the nineties both simultaneously said "He said that to me!"). So he started teaching guitar at a music shop in Palo Alto. Hunter had no time for Garcia's incipient domesticity and thought that his wife was trying to make him live a conventional life, and the two drifted apart somewhat, though they'd still play together occasionally. Through working at the music store, Garcia got to know the manager, Troy Weidenheimer, who had a rock and roll band called the Zodiacs. Garcia joined the band on bass, despite that not being his instrument. He later said "Troy was a lot of fun, but I wasn't good enough a musician then to have been able to deal with it. I was out of my idiom, really, 'cause when I played with Troy I was playing electric bass, you know. I never was a good bass player. Sometimes I was playing in the wrong key and didn't even [fuckin'] know it. I couldn't hear that low, after playing banjo, you know, and going to electric...But Troy taught me the principle of, hey, you know, just stomp your foot and get on it. He was great. A great one for the instant arrangement, you know. And he was also fearless for that thing of get your friends to do it." Garcia's tenure in the Zodiacs didn't last long, nor did this experiment with rock and roll, but two other members of the Zodiacs will be notable later in the story -- the harmonica player, an old friend of Garcia's named Ron McKernan, who would soon gain the nickname Pig Pen after the Peanuts character, and the drummer, Bill Kreutzmann: [Excerpt: The Grateful Dead, "Drums/Space (Skull & Bones version)"] Kreutzmann said of the Zodiacs "Jerry was the hired bass player and I was the hired drummer. I only remember playing that one gig with them, but I was in way over my head. I always did that. I always played things that were really hard and it didn't matter. I just went for it." Garcia and Kreutzmann didn't really get to know each other then, but Garcia did get to know someone else who would soon be very important in his life. Bob Weir was from a very different background than Garcia, though both had the shared experience of long bouts of chronic illness as children. He had grown up in a very wealthy family, and had always been well-liked, but he was what we would now call neurodivergent -- reading books about the band he talks about being dyslexic but clearly has other undiagnosed neurodivergences, which often go along with dyslexia -- and as a result he was deemed to have behavioural problems which led to him getting expelled from pre-school and kicked out of the cub scouts. He was never academically gifted, thanks to his dyslexia, but he was always enthusiastic about music -- to a fault. He learned to play boogie piano but played so loudly and so often his parents sold the piano. He had a trumpet, but the neighbours complained about him playing it outside. Finally he switched to the guitar, an instrument with which it is of course impossible to make too loud a noise. The first song he learned was the Kingston Trio's version of an old sea shanty, "The Wreck of the John B": [Excerpt: The Kingston Trio, "The Wreck of the John B"] He was sent off to a private school in Colorado for teenagers with behavioural issues, and there he met the boy who would become his lifelong friend, John Perry Barlow. Unfortunately the two troublemakers got on with each other *so* well that after their first year they were told that it was too disruptive having both of them at the school, and only one could stay there the next year. Barlow stayed and Weir moved back to the Bay Area. By this point, Weir was getting more interested in folk music that went beyond the commercial folk of the Kingston Trio. As he said later "There was something in there that was ringing my bells. What I had grown up thinking of as hillbilly music, it started to have some depth for me, and I could start to hear the music in it. Suddenly, it wasn't just a bunch of ignorant hillbillies playing what they could. There was some depth and expertise and stuff like that to aspire to.” He moved from school to school but one thing that stayed with him was his love of playing guitar, and he started taking lessons from Troy Weidenheimer, but he got most of his education going to folk clubs and hootenannies. He regularly went to the Tangent, a club where Garcia played, but Garcia's bluegrass banjo playing was far too rigorous for a free spirit like Weir to emulate, and instead he started trying to copy one of the guitarists who was a regular there, Jorma Kaukonnen. On New Year's Eve 1963 Weir was out walking with his friends Bob Matthews and Rich Macauley, and they passed the music shop where Garcia was a teacher, and heard him playing his banjo. They knocked and asked if they could come in -- they all knew Garcia a little, and Bob Matthews was one of his students, having become interested in playing banjo after hearing the theme tune to the Beverly Hillbillies, played by the bluegrass greats Flatt and Scruggs: [Excerpt: Flatt and Scruggs, "The Beverly Hillbillies"] Garcia at first told these kids, several years younger than him, that they couldn't come in -- he was waiting for his students to show up. But Weir said “Jerry, listen, it's seven-thirty on New Year's Eve, and I don't think you're going to be seeing your students tonight.” Garcia realised the wisdom of this, and invited the teenagers in to jam with him. At the time, there was a bit of a renaissance in jug bands, as we talked about back in the episode on the Lovin' Spoonful. This was a form of music that had grown up in the 1920s, and was similar and related to skiffle and coffee-pot bands -- jug bands would tend to have a mixture of portable string instruments like guitars and banjos, harmonicas, and people using improvised instruments, particularly blowing into a jug. The most popular of these bands had been Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers, led by banjo player Gus Cannon and with harmonica player Noah Lewis: [Excerpt: Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers, "Viola Lee Blues"] With the folk revival, Cannon's work had become well-known again. The Rooftop Singers, a Kingston Trio style folk group, had had a hit with his song "Walk Right In" in 1963, and as a result of that success Cannon had even signed a record contract with Stax -- Stax's first album ever, a month before Booker T and the MGs' first album, was in fact the eighty-year-old Cannon playing his banjo and singing his old songs. The rediscovery of Cannon had started a craze for jug bands, and the most popular of the new jug bands was Jim Kweskin's Jug Band, which did a mixture of old songs like "You're a Viper" and more recent material redone in the old style. Weir, Matthews, and Macauley had been to see the Kweskin band the night before, and had been very impressed, especially by their singer Maria D'Amato -- who would later marry her bandmate Geoff Muldaur and take his name -- and her performance of Leiber and Stoller's "I'm a Woman": [Excerpt: Jim Kweskin's Jug Band, "I'm a Woman"] Matthews suggested that they form their own jug band, and Garcia eagerly agreed -- though Matthews found himself rapidly moving from banjo to washboard to kazoo to second kazoo before realising he was surplus to requirements. Robert Hunter was similarly an early member but claimed he "didn't have the embouchure" to play the jug, and was soon also out. He moved to LA and started studying Scientology -- later claiming that he wanted science-fictional magic powers, which L. Ron Hubbard's new religion certainly offered. The group took the name Mother McRee's Uptown Jug Champions -- apparently they varied the spelling every time they played -- and had a rotating membership that at one time or another included about twenty different people, but tended always to have Garcia on banjo, Weir on jug and later guitar, and Garcia's friend Pig Pen on harmonica: [Excerpt: Mother McRee's Uptown Jug Champions, "On the Road Again"] The group played quite regularly in early 1964, but Garcia's first love was still bluegrass, and he was trying to build an audience with his bluegrass band, The Black Mountain Boys. But bluegrass was very unpopular in the Bay Area, where it was simultaneously thought of as unsophisticated -- as "hillbilly music" -- and as elitist, because it required actual instrumental ability, which wasn't in any great supply in the amateur folk scene. But instrumental ability was something Garcia definitely had, as at this point he was still practising eight hours a day, every day, and it shows on the recordings of the Black Mountain Boys: [Excerpt: The Black Mountain Boys, "Rosa Lee McFall"] By the summer, Bob Weir was also working at the music shop, and so Garcia let Weir take over his students while he and the Black Mountain Boys' guitarist Sandy Rothman went on a road trip to see as many bluegrass musicians as they could and to audition for Bill Monroe himself. As it happened, Garcia found himself too shy to audition for Monroe, but Rothman later ended up playing with Monroe's Blue Grass Boys. On his return to the Bay Area, Garcia resumed playing with the Uptown Jug Champions, but Pig Pen started pestering him to do something different. While both men had overlapping tastes in music and a love for the blues, Garcia's tastes had always been towards the country end of the spectrum while Pig Pen's were towards R&B. And while the Uptown Jug Champions were all a bit disdainful of the Beatles at first -- apart from Bob Weir, the youngest of the group, who thought they were interesting -- Pig Pen had become enamoured of another British band who were just starting to make it big: [Excerpt: The Rolling Stones, "Not Fade Away"] 29) Garcia liked the first Rolling Stones album too, and he eventually took Pig Pen's point -- the stuff that the Rolling Stones were doing, covers of Slim Harpo and Buddy Holly, was not a million miles away from the material they were doing as Mother McRee's Uptown Jug Champions. Pig Pen could play a little electric organ, Bob had been fooling around with the electric guitars in the music shop. Why not give it a go? The stuff bands like the Rolling Stones were doing wasn't that different from the electric blues that Pig Pen liked, and they'd all seen A Hard Day's Night -- they could carry on playing with banjos, jugs, and kazoos and have the respect of a handful of folkies, or they could get electric instruments and potentially have screaming girls and millions of dollars, while playing the same songs. This was a convincing argument, especially when Dana Morgan Jr, the son of the owner of the music shop, told them they could have free electric instruments if they let him join on bass. Morgan wasn't that great on bass, but what the hell, free instruments. Pig Pen had the best voice and stage presence, so he became the frontman of the new group, singing most of the leads, though Jerry and Bob would both sing a few songs, and playing harmonica and organ. Weir was on rhythm guitar, and Garcia was the lead guitarist and obvious leader of the group. They just needed a drummer, and handily Bill Kreutzmann, who had played with Garcia and Pig Pen in the Zodiacs, was also now teaching music at the music shop. Not only that, but about three weeks before they decided to go electric, Kreutzmann had seen the Uptown Jug Champions performing and been astonished by Garcia's musicianship and charisma, and said to himself "Man, I'm gonna follow that guy forever!" The new group named themselves the Warlocks, and started rehearsing in earnest. Around this time, Garcia also finally managed to get some of the LSD that his friend Robert Hunter had been so enthusiastic about three years earlier, and it was a life-changing experience for him. In particular, he credited LSD with making him comfortable being a less disciplined player -- as a bluegrass player he'd had to be frighteningly precise, but now he was playing rock and needed to loosen up. A few days after taking LSD for the first time, Garcia also heard some of Bob Dylan's new material, and realised that the folk singer he'd had little time for with his preachy politics was now making electric music that owed a lot more to the Beat culture Garcia considered himself part of: [Excerpt: Bob Dylan, "Subterranean Homesick Blues"] Another person who was hugely affected by hearing that was Phil Lesh, who later said "I couldn't believe that was Bob Dylan on AM radio, with an electric band. It changed my whole consciousness: if something like that could happen, the sky was the limit." Up to that point, Lesh had been focused entirely on his avant-garde music, working with friends like Steve Reich to push music forward, inspired by people like John Cage and La Monte Young, but now he realised there was music of value in the rock world. He'd quickly started going to rock gigs, seeing the Rolling Stones and the Byrds, and then he took acid and went to see his friend Garcia's new electric band play their third ever gig. He was blown away, and very quickly it was decided that Lesh would be the group's new bass player -- though everyone involved tells a different story as to who made the decision and how it came about, and accounts also vary as to whether Dana Morgan took his sacking gracefully and let his erstwhile bandmates keep their instruments, or whether they had to scrounge up some new ones. Lesh had never played bass before, but he was a talented multi-instrumentalist with a deep understanding of music and an ability to compose and improvise, and the repertoire the Warlocks were playing in the early days was mostly three-chord material that doesn't take much rehearsal -- though it was apparently beyond the abilities of poor Dana Morgan, who apparently had to be told note-by-note what to play by Garcia, and learn it by rote. Garcia told Lesh what notes the strings of a bass were tuned to, told him to borrow a guitar and practice, and within two weeks he was on stage with the Warlocks: [Excerpt: The Grateful Dead, “Grayfolded"] In September 1995, just weeks after Jerry Garcia's death, an article was published in Mute magazine identifying a cultural trend that had shaped the nineties, and would as it turned out shape at least the next thirty years. It's titled "The Californian Ideology", though it may be better titled "The Bay Area Ideology", and it identifies a worldview that had grown up in Silicon Valley, based around the ideas of the hippie movement, of right-wing libertarianism, of science fiction authors, and of Marshall McLuhan. It starts "There is an emerging global orthodoxy concerning the relation between society, technology and politics. We have called this orthodoxy `the Californian Ideology' in honour of the state where it originated. By naturalising and giving a technological proof to a libertarian political philosophy, and therefore foreclosing on alternative futures, the Californian Ideologues are able to assert that social and political debates about the future have now become meaningless. The California Ideology is a mix of cybernetics, free market economics, and counter-culture libertarianism and is promulgated by magazines such as WIRED and MONDO 2000 and preached in the books of Stewart Brand, Kevin Kelly and others. The new faith has been embraced by computer nerds, slacker students, 30-something capitalists, hip academics, futurist bureaucrats and even the President of the USA himself. As usual, Europeans have not been slow to copy the latest fashion from America. While a recent EU report recommended adopting the Californian free enterprise model to build the 'infobahn', cutting-edge artists and academics have been championing the 'post-human' philosophy developed by the West Coast's Extropian cult. With no obvious opponents, the global dominance of the Californian ideology appears to be complete." [Excerpt: Grayfolded] The Warlocks' first gig with Phil Lesh on bass was on June the 18th 1965, at a club called Frenchy's with a teenage clientele. Lesh thought his playing had been wooden and it wasn't a good gig, and apparently the management of Frenchy's agreed -- they were meant to play a second night there, but turned up to be told they'd been replaced by a band with an accordion and clarinet. But by September the group had managed to get themselves a residency at a small bar named the In Room, and playing there every night made them cohere. They were at this point playing the kind of sets that bar bands everywhere play to this day, though at the time the songs they were playing, like "Gloria" by Them and "In the Midnight Hour", were the most contemporary of hits. Another song that they introduced into their repertoire was "Do You Believe in Magic" by the Lovin' Spoonful, another band which had grown up out of former jug band musicians. As well as playing their own sets, they were also the house band at The In Room and as such had to back various touring artists who were the headline acts. The first act they had to back up was Cornell Gunter's version of the Coasters. Gunter had brought his own guitarist along as musical director, and for the first show Weir sat in the audience watching the show and learning the parts, staring intently at this musical director's playing. After seeing that, Weir's playing was changed, because he also picked up how the guitarist was guiding the band while playing, the small cues that a musical director will use to steer the musicians in the right direction. Weir started doing these things himself when he was singing lead -- Pig Pen was the frontman but everyone except Bill sang sometimes -- and the group soon found that rather than Garcia being the sole leader, now whoever was the lead singer for the song was the de facto conductor as well. By this point, the Bay Area was getting almost overrun with people forming electric guitar bands, as every major urban area in America was. Some of the bands were even having hits already -- We Five had had a number three hit with "You Were On My Mind", a song which had originally been performed by the folk duo Ian and Sylvia: [Excerpt: We Five, "You Were On My Mind"] Although the band that was most highly regarded on the scene, the Charlatans, was having problems with the various record companies they tried to get signed to, and didn't end up making a record until 1969. If tracks like "Number One" had been released in 1965 when they were recorded, the history of the San Francisco music scene may have taken a very different turn: [Excerpt: The Charlatans, "Number One"] Bands like Jefferson Airplane, the Great Society, and Big Brother and the Holding Company were also forming, and Autumn Records was having a run of success with records by the Beau Brummels, whose records were produced by Autumn's in-house A&R man, Sly Stone: [Excerpt: The Beau Brummels, "Laugh Laugh"] The Warlocks were somewhat cut off from this, playing in a dive bar whose clientele was mostly depressed alcoholics. But the fact that they were playing every night for an audience that didn't care much gave them freedom, and they used that freedom to improvise. Both Lesh and Garcia were big fans of John Coltrane, and they started to take lessons from his style of playing. When the group played "Gloria" or "Midnight Hour" or whatever, they started to extend the songs and give themselves long instrumental passages for soloing. Garcia's playing wasn't influenced *harmonically* by Coltrane -- in fact Garcia was always a rather harmonically simple player. He'd tend to play lead lines either in Mixolydian mode, which is one of the most standard modes in rock, pop, blues, and jazz, or he'd play the notes of the chord that was being played, so if the band were playing a G chord his lead would emphasise the notes G, B, and D. But what he was influenced by was Coltrane's tendency to improvise in long, complex, phrases that made up a single thought -- Coltrane was thinking musically in paragraphs, rather than sentences, and Garcia started to try the same kind of th

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reprise mute avalon mk ultra hound lovin george harrison wasteland lone hubbard carousel rod stewart bluegrass starship ike howl paul simon crusade ray charles midi sirens monterey lou reed desi frank zappa collectors happenings gee little richard yoko ono omni janis joplin healy viper chuck berry world wide web barlow zz top bakersfield tangent xerox estimates old west scully carlos santana van morrison velvet underground weir stills tubes rock music booker t cutler kurt vonnegut john coltrane brian wilson caltech dennis hopper chipmunks kevin kelly aldous huxley ram dass buddy holly east west dean martin cyberspace hangman randy newman hunter s thompson dick cheney galapagos hard days scott adams steve wozniak sturgeon american beauty david crosby dilbert good vibrations byrds jack kerouac ginsberg boris karloff charlatans spoonful gunter john cage lyndon johnson hells angels great migration jerry garcia astounding charlie parker helms merle haggard chords bozo go crazy mcnally fillmore eric schmidt easy rider les h jefferson airplane chick corea glen campbell timothy leary allen ginsberg stax dark star pete seeger greatest story ever told bahamian joe smith todd rundgren george jones on the road power brokers scientologists cantos rothman scruggs jackson pollock dusseldorf midnight special truckin' mgs buddy guy coltrane true fans trist warlocks yardbirds deadheads muscle shoals new hollywood count basie john campbell lenny bruce technocracy coasters electronic frontier foundation valium harry nilsson midnight hour diggers bo diddley allman brothers band casey jones everly brothers watkins glen skeleton keys marshall mcluhan prepositions bowery benny goodman sgt pepper steve reich kqed frenchy kerouac vonnegut cell block working man money money graham nash do you believe southern comfort rifkin tom wolfe on new year hornsby bruce hornsby baskervilles stoller harts decca great society boulders beatniks slaughterhouse five altamont ken kesey varese beat generation jefferson starship beverly hillbillies inc. bob weir hedrick robert a heinlein goldwater pigpen stephen stills uncle john zodiacs holding company acid tests suspicious minds telecasters outlaw country bill monroe buck owens johnny b goode international order robert moses sly stone people get ready chet atkins flatt robert anton wilson arpanet senatorial mccoy tyner bill graham haight ashbury stockhausen basil rathbone pranksters warners bolos all along folsom prison north beach gordon moore steve cropper family dog leiber john w campbell robert caro bozos odd fellows macauley dianetics cassady phil lesh fare thee well dire wolf louis jordan terry riley karlheinz stockhausen phil ochs vint cerf stewart brand mountain high gibsons peter tork basie robert hunter rhino records winterland morning dew kingston trio charles ives jimmie rodgers green onions fillmore east roy wood eric dolphy mickey hart cecil taylor golden road giants stadium van dyke parks not fade away monterey pop festival ink spots live dead i walk merry pranksters jerome kern information superhighway one flew over the cuckoo brand new bag turing award new riders blue suede shoes johnny johnson other one warner brothers records oscar hammerstein steve silberman prufrock stagger lee purple sage ramrod luciano berio world class performers port chester berio joel selvin billy pilgrim discordianism lee adams theodore sturgeon owsley merle travis scotty moore buckaroos general electric company esther dyson blue cheer damascene monterey jazz festival fillmore west john dawson la monte young incredible string band john perry barlow james jamerson standells alembic have you seen ashbury bill kreutzmann jug band wplj mixolydian david browne junior walker bakersfield sound bobby bland kesey astounding science fiction torbert slim harpo mitch kapor blue grass boys neal cassady travelling wilburys donna jean furthur gary foster surrealistic pillow more than human reverend gary davis david gans john oswald alec nevala lee furry lewis dennis mcnally haight street ratdog pacific bell harold jones owsley stanley floyd cramer sugar magnolia firesign theater sam cutler bob matthews uncle martin brierly hassinger geoff muldaur plunderphonics brent mydland don rich smiley smile death don jim kweskin jesse belvin langmuir have no mercy in room david shenk so many roads kilgore trout one more saturday night turn on your lovelight noah lewis aoxomoxoa gus cannon vince welnick tralfamadore dana morgan dan healey garcia garcia edgard varese cream puff war viola lee blues 'the love song

The State of 70s Psychedelia with Jesse Jarnow

Love is the Message: Dance, Music and Counterculture

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 27, 2023 68:45

In this episode we were extremely happy to welcome to the show the writer, podcaster and historian Jesse Jarnow to discuss the state of psychedelic culture in 1975. Jesse is the author of several books, including Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America, as well as the host of the official Grateful Dead podcast, so he is the perfect guide through the bardos of American drug history. Jeremy and Jesse cover the history of modern urban psychedelic use through the Twentieth Century, including the boom in legal usage through the 50s and early 60s for multiple purposes: therapeutic, mystic, mind-control and goofing around. They go on to cover the shift in attitude towards psychedelics in the mid-60s, prohibition, and the racist antecedents of ‘reefer madness'. After getting reacquainted with Ginsburg and the Beats, we consider the veracity of the claim that the main schism in leftist organising in the 60s was between the old school straights in the SDS and the new unruly Hippies, and we spend time tripping on the couch with the Weavers. Jesse gives a fascinating account of the ‘family tree' of Owsley Stanley's acid production, noting the various distribution networks and showing how writing history about something so secretive is not always easy! He introduces us to The Parkies - early NYC hippies living and turning on in Central Park - and reveals the links between Dead-related chemists and the Rajnish. And of course, all this acid use circles back round to our main story on the show, the NYC party scene and - you guessed it - The Loft. We are really grateful to Jesse for coming on and being such a generous guest. We thoroughly encourage you to check out his podcast The Good Old Grateful Dead Cast at dead.net/deadcast, tune in to The Frow Show every Tuesday night on WFMU and learn more about Jesse's work at jessejarnow.com. Produced and edited by Matt Huxley. Tune in, Turn on, Get Down! Books: Jesse Jarnow - Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America Jesse Jarnow - Big Day Coming: Yo La Tengo and the Rise of Indie Rock Jesse Jarnow - Wasn't That a Time: The Weavers, the Blacklist, and the Battle for the Soul of America Mike Jay - Mescaline: A Global History of the First Psychedelic Stephen Stiff - Acid Hype: American News Media and the Psychedelic Experience Jay Stevens - Storming Heaven; LSD and the American Dream Ken Kesey - Electric Cool Aid Acid Test

american new york city soul battle dead beats ruth bader ginsburg lsd central park grateful dead blacklist get down loft hippies twentieth century sds weavers wfmu psychedelia jesse jarnow owsley stanley psychedelic america heads a biography frow show time the weavers

Bear's Choice 50

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 30, 2023 81:55

Bear's Choice 50The Deadcast returns to the Fillmore East and digs into the Dead's 1st archival live album, History of the Grateful Dead, Volume One (Bear's Choice), produced by former LSD alchemist Owsley Stanley & released as a tribute to Pigpen just after his death.Guests: Allan Arkush, Gary Lambert, David Lemieux, Starfinder StanleySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

music history san francisco dead bear band cats beatles rolling stones doors guitar psychedelics bob dylan lsd woodstock vinyl pink floyd cornell neil young jimi hendrix warner brothers grateful dead john mayer ripple avalon janis joplin chuck berry dawg music podcasts classic rock phish wilco rock music prog dave matthews band music history american beauty vampire weekend red rocks hells angels jerry garcia merle haggard fillmore jefferson airplane ccr dark star los lobos truckin' seva deadheads allman brothers band watkins glen dso arista bruce hornsby buffalo springfield my morning jacket altamont ken kesey bob weir pigpen acid tests dmb long strange trip warren haynes bill graham billy strings haight ashbury jim james psychedelic rock music commentary family dog trey anastasio phil lesh fare thee well robert hunter winterland rhino records jam bands don was fillmore east mickey hart time crisis live dead david lemieux merry pranksters disco biscuits wall of sound david grisman relix nrbq string cheese incident ramrod john perry barlow jgb oteil burbridge steve parish neal casal jug band quicksilver messenger service david browne jerry garcia band david fricke mother hips jesse jarnow circles around the sun deadcast ratdog owsley stanley touch of grey sugar magnolia jrad acid rock jeff chimenti brent mydland we are everywhere ken babbs box of rain aoxomoxoa vince welnick gary lambert new riders of the purple sage sunshine daydream mars hotel capital theater bill kreutzman owlsley stanley

1. “They’ve Joined the Human Race” ft. Harry

Gaucho Amigos

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 7, 2023 58:58

In this debut episode of new Steely Dan-themed podcast "Gaucho Amigos," Alex is joined by his friend Harry to discuss Steely Dan's place in the 1970's California music scene, Owsley Stanley, Donald Fagen's "I.G.Y." and "Memorabilia," and much more in this wide-ranging conversation about Steely Dan's legacy and lore.

california steely dan human race memorabilia donald fagen owsley stanley

1. “They’ve Joined the Human Race” ft. Harry

Gaucho Amigos

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 7, 2023 58:58

In this debut episode of new Steely Dan-themed podcast "Gaucho Amigos," Alex is joined by his friend Harry to discuss Steely Dan's place in the 1970's California music scene, Owsley Stanley, Donald Fagen's "I.G.Y." and "Memorabilia," and much more in this wide-ranging conversation about Steely Dan's legacy and lore.

california steely dan human race memorabilia donald fagen owsley stanley

Destiny: Dr. Richard Miller, The Wisdom of Psychedelic Elders

Earth Ancients

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 18, 2023 79:33

Reveals how these scientists, doctors, therapists, and teachers have applied their entheogenic experiences in their professions, leading to therapeutic advancements, scientific discoveries, and healing for thousands Includes contributions from scientific psychonaut Amanda Feilding, psychedelic swami Dr. Allan Ajaya, “America's Doctor” Dean Edell, convicted psychiatrist Frederike Meckel Fisher, love doctor Charley Wininger, professor of psychedelics Thomas B. Roberts, ethnobotanical explorer Dennis McKenna, the “Sunshine Makers” Tim Scully and Michael Randall, as well as many othersOver the past decade, many famous entrepreneurs and celebrities have begun to open up about their life-changing experiences with psychedelics that led to their personal successes. But less well-known are the wisdom-bringing psychedelic experiences of many top psychologists, psychiatrists, researchers, and others who have taken what they learned from their entheogenic experiences and applied it in their professions, leading to therapeutic advancements, scientific discoveries, and healing for thousands.In this profound book, Dr. Richard Louis Miller shares stories of psychedelic transformation, insight, and wisdom from his conversations with 19 scientists, doctors, therapists, and teachers, each of whom has been self-experimenting with psychedelic medicines, sub rosa, for decades. We hear from scientific psychonaut Amanda Feilding, founder of the Beckley Foundation; ethnobotanical explorer Dennis McKenna; research advocate and head of MAPS Rick Doblin; and the “Sunshine Makers”: Tim Scully, the scientist taught to make LSD by Owsley Stanley, and Michael Randall, the leader of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love. We learn about recasting “bad trips” as unfamiliar challenges from psychedelic swami Allan Ajaya as well as the therapeutic uses of MDMA from “the love doctor” Charley Wininger and gain decades of insights from psychedelic professor Thomas B. Roberts as well as several others. Revealing the psychedelic wisdom uncovered in spite of decades of the “War on Drugs,” Dr. Miller and his contributors show how LSD and other psychedelics offer a pathway to creativity, healing, innovation, and liberation.

america wisdom psychedelics elders includes revealing lsd brotherhood war on drugs mdma eternal love richard miller dennis mckenna beckley foundation amanda feilding owsley stanley thomas b roberts

Owsley Stanley Foundation

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 2, 2022 46:39

Bear's Sonic Journals: The Foxhunt, The Chieftains Live in San Francisco 1973 & 1976

san francisco foundation bear owsley stanley

The Owsley Stanley Foundation - The Foxhunt

Mindrolling with Raghu Markus

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 2, 2022 77:32

Our friends Starfinder Stanley, Hawk Semins, and Pete Bell from the Owsley Stanley Foundation join us for a special extra episode of No Simple Road this week! This is a true musical history lesson contained in this episode. We travel all the way to Ireland to find the roots of Bluegrass music waiting and find out why Jerry Garcia invited The Chieftains to Open for Old And In The Way in 1973!The Owsley Stanley Foundation's mission is to preserve more than 1,300 recordings left behind by famed Wall Of Sound engineer and architect and infamous LSD chemist, Owsley "Bear" Stanley. These preserved and meticulously remastered releases have been entitled "Bears Sonic Journals". The Owsley Stanley Foundation's ninth release of Bear's Sonic Journals: The Foxhunt features the Chieftains performing live in San Francisco in 1973 (CD & vinyl) and 1976 (CD & digital only).We talk with Starfinder, Pete, and Hawk about the painstaking work that went into creating this release, the detective work that went into creating the 30+ page booklet of info and stories that come with the physical copies, the artwork and why this particular piece was chosen for the cover, traveling to Dublin just prior to Paddy Moloney's death to get the whole story, and so much more!To purchase a copy of this amazing release head over to www.owsleystanleyfoundation.org/No Simple Road Intro Music Created By ESCAPERFREE SHIPPING from Shop Tour Bus Use The PROMO CODE: nosimpleroadFor 20% off Sunset Lake CBD PROMO CODE: NSR20 For 20% off Grady's Cold Brew PROMO CODE: NSRMUSIC IN THE COMMMERCIALS BY AND USED WITH PERMISSION OF:LAMPOUTRO MUSIC BY AND USED WITH PERMISSION OF:CHILLDREN OF INDIGONo Simple Road is part of OSIRIS MEDIA. Osiris Media is the leading storyteller in music, combining the intimacy of podcasts with the power of music.We inform and delight music fans by creating shows with leading artists, telling untold stories, and working with brands to craft compelling narratives that bring music to life.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/nosimpleroad. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Episode 28 - "Samuel Bercholz - Founder, Shambhala Publications"

Love Is The Author

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 12, 2022 71:04

Samuel Bercholz is the Founder and Editor In Chief of the legendary Shambhala Publications, original publisher of an entire library of spiritual classics by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Pema Chödron, Shunryu Suzuki, Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche (to name a few), and was an early student of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche's. Samuel is the genuine article mover and shaker of the early Buddhist scene in the US, and what George Martin was for The Beatles, Samuel has been for the Dharma flourishing in the West (though you'll hear he considers himself more of a Forest Gump). You'll hear the unbelievable stories of Samuel as an 18 year old co-hosting a weekly San Francisco based radio show with legendary Zen philosopher Alan Watts called "Adventures In Consciousness", and the last epic hang Chögyam Trungpa had with Alan Watts on the day Alan died. Samuel then blows Jaymee's mind by describing Chogyam Trungpa needing to perform an exorcism for Alan Watts a month later, claiming Alan "doesn't know he is dead" and "is stuck" in the bardo. You'll hear about Samuel's friendship with legendary clandestine chemist Owsley Stanley in San Francisco, who synthesized a drug that left Samuel high for two weeks straight. As if this isn't enough, Samuel has flatlined twice in his life, and in his most recent book "A Guided Tour Of Hell" (as well as on this podcast), Samuel shares the gory details of his experience, what he describes as feeling like an eternity in a hell realm, followed by the surprising pain of returning to his body ("leaving is easy; coming back is incredibly painful"). Stacks of Shambhala books have changed Jaymee's life over the past decade, so this episode was truly a high point of Jaymee's life, living vicariously through one of the most captivating figures in the history of American publishing. Shambhala Publications: www.shambhala.com "A Guided Tour Of Hell" book: https://bit.ly/3awDjlm Steve Buscemi and Sam Bercholz discuss "A Guided Tour In Hell": https://vimeo.com/217433321 LOVE IS THE AUTHOR: produced, edited, and hosted by Jaymee Carpenter. MANAGEMENT: Lacee Dilmore - lacee@loveistheauthor.com Follow us on Instagram: @loveistheauthor

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Conspiracies of the Grateful Dead Pt. 1

Conspiracy Theories

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 18, 2022 41:15

In the 1960s a counterculture revolution was upending traditional norms of life, and the Grateful Dead were providing the soundtrack... and the drugs. LSD was having a revolution of its own, and the Dead were rubbing elbows with its biggest proponents. They headlined Ken Kesey's acid tests and put acid guru Owsley Stanley to work as their audio engineer. Of course, this put them right in the crosshairs of the FBI. But while the feds had a file on the band, did they also have a deal together? Some say the disastrous Altamont Music Festival has all the markings of sabotage... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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432 – Ram Dass, Jerry Garcia & The Dead with Oteil Burbridge & Mike Finoia

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 25, 2022 68:23

Oteil Burbridge, Mike Finoia, & Raghu read Ram Dass' eulogy for Jerry Garcia, in a Grateful Dead steeped discussion spanning from Owsley Stanley's ‘Wall of Sound' to John Mayer's musical karma.This podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/mindrollingOteil Burbridge is a two time Grammy-winning bassist who has been in the music business touring and recording for over three decades, playing in acts such as Dead & Company, the Allman Brothers Band, and the Aquarium Rescue Unit feat. Col. Bruce Hampton. Mike Finoia is a nationally touring comedian and producer who has been featured on Comedy Central, TruTV, and Sirius XM. Mike is a producer for the acclaimed show Impractical Jokers, as well as host of the Amigos podcast. Together, Oteil and Mike host Comes a Time – a podcast exploring spirituality and meaning through the lens of jam music culture, self-exploration, and beyond.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

time sound religion meditation dead spirituality grammy wall consciousness col psychedelics amigos sirius xm comedy central betterhelp grateful dead john mayer ram dass trutv jerry garcia impractical jokers allman brothers band raghu bruce hampton oteil burbridge mike finoia owsley stanley oteil aquarium rescue unit mindrolling mindpod network mindpod

The Owsley Stanley Foundation -Discovering Bear's Sonic Journals

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 20, 2022 127:55

We're honored this week to have Starfinder Stanley and Hawk from Owsley Stanley Foundation as our guests this week. While perhaps most widely known as the “Acid King” for his early role manufacturing the highest quality LSD to help fuel the psychedelic revolution of the 1960s, Owsley was a self-educated innovator, scientist, artist, and patron of the arts with wide-ranging interests. As such, he had a profound and well-documented influence on other artists, musicians, and sound engineers, among others. Owsley essentially recorded every artist that ever played through a sound system that he built.His catalog is prolific – both in the quantity of recordings and the stature of the artists. These historic recordings comprise what he called “Bear's Sonic Journals.”The Owsley Stanley Foundation is a 501c(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of “Bear's Sonic Journals,” Owsley's archive of more than 1,300 live concert soundboard recordings from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, including recordings by Miles Davis, Johnny Cash, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Fleetwood Mac, Janis Joplin, and more than 80 other artists across nearly every musical idiom. These analog reel-to-reel recordings are nearing the end of their expected shelf lives and will deteriorate and be lost forever if they are not preserved.We catch up with Starfinder and Hawk to talk about the latest release of Bear's Sonic Journals, "Johnny Cash At The Carousel Ballroom April 24th, 1968". This iconic sonic treasure has a story all its own and the guys from the OSF take us through how this journal came to find itself being released, they share some super interesting descriptions of how Bear did his thing, share with us some of what goes into creating the entire package for a 'Sonic Journal', give their thoughts on why they believe Johnny Cash is an icon of American Music, and much, much, more!Make sure to head over to: www.owsleystanleyfoundation.org to sponsor a future reel, get yourself the sonic journals, and find out all that's going with the Owsley Stanley Foundation!No Simple Road Intro Music Performed and Created By ESCAPERFREE SHIPPING from Shop Tour Bus Use The PROMO CODE: nosimpleroadFor 20% off Sunset Lake CBD PROMO CODE: NSR20 For 25% off Electric Fish Lights PROMO CODE: NSR OTHER MUSIC BY AND USED WITH OUR GRATITUDE AND THE PERMISSION OF:CIRCLES AROUND THE SUNOUTRO MUSIC BY AND USED WITH OUR GRATITUDE AND THE PERMISSION OF:CHILLDREN OF INDIGONo Simple Road is part of OSIRIS MEDIA. Osiris is creating a community that connects people like you with podcasts and live experiences about artists and topics you love. To stay up to date on what we're up to, visit our site and sign up for our newsletter. Osiris works in partnership with JamBase, which connects music fans with the music they...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/nosimpleroad. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

BONUS: Inside the Vault

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 16, 2021 80:21

We uncover the secrets of the Grateful Dead's legendary tape vault with archivist David Lemieux, from LSD alchemist Owsley Stanley to the making of the Betty Boards, from “Dick's Picks” (& Dick Latvala's own home recordings) to the 10th anniversary of “Dave's Picks.”Guests: David Lemieux, Carol Latvala, Rhoney Stanley, Starfinder Stanley, David Gans, Mike Johnson

music san francisco dead band cats beatles rolling stones doors guitar psychedelics bob dylan vault lsd woodstock st louis vinyl pink floyd cornell neil young jimi hendrix warner brothers grateful dead john mayer ripple avalon mike johnson janis joplin chuck berry dawg music podcasts classic rock phish wilco rock music prog dave matthews band music history american beauty vampire weekend red rocks hells angels jerry garcia merle haggard fillmore jefferson airplane ccr dark star los lobos truckin' seva deadheads allman brothers band watkins glen dso arista bruce hornsby buffalo springfield my morning jacket altamont ken kesey bob weir pigpen acid tests dmb long strange trip billy strings warren haynes bill graham haight ashbury jim james psychedelic rock music commentary family dog trey anastasio phil lesh fare thee well fox theater robert hunter winterland rhino records jam bands don was mickey hart time crisis david lemieux live dead merry pranksters disco biscuits wall of sound david grisman relix nrbq string cheese incident ramrod john perry barlow jgb oteil burbridge steve parish neal casal jug band quicksilver messenger service david browne jerry garcia band david fricke mother hips jesse jarnow david gans circles around the sun deadcast ratdog owsley stanley touch of grey jrad sugar magnolia acid rock jeff chimenti brent mydland we are everywhere ken babbs box of rain aoxomoxoa new riders of the purple sage vince welnick gary lambert sunshine daydream mars hotel capital theater bill kreutzman owlsley stanley

Owsley Stanley Foundation

New Books in Popular Culture

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 21, 2021 28:07

Bear's Sonic Journals: Johnny Cash – At the Carousel Ballroom

foundation bear owsley stanley

Samantha Durbin, "Raver Girl: Coming of Age in the 90s" (She Writes Press, 2021)

New Books in Music

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2021 57:13

A '90s time capsule buried inside a coming-of-age memoir set against the neon backdrop of the San Francisco Bay Area's rave scene, Raver Girl (She Writes Press, 2021) chronicles Samantha's double life as she teeters between hedonism and sobriety, chaos and calm, all while sneaking under the radar of her entrepreneur father—a man who happened to drop acid with LSD impresario Owsley Stanley in the '60s. Samantha keeps a list of every rave she goes to—a total of 104 over four years. During that time, what started as trippy fun morphs into a self-destructive roller coaster ride. Samantha opens the doors of her mind, but she's left with traumas her acid-fried brain won't let her escape; and when meth becomes her drug of choice, things get progressively darker. Through euphoric highs and dangerous lows, Samantha discovers she's someone who lives life to the fullest and learns best through alternative experience rather than mainstream ideals. She's a creative whose mind is limitless, whose quirks are charms, whose passion is inspirational. She's an independent woman whose inner strength is rooted in unwavering family ties. And if she can survive high school, she just might be okay. Rebekah Buchanan is an Associate Professor of English and Director of English Education at Western Illinois University. Her research focuses on feminism, activism, and literacy practices in youth culture, specifically through zines and music. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/music

director english girl press associate professor lsd san francisco bay area writes coming of age durbin western illinois university raver english education she writes press rebekah buchanan owsley stanley

Samantha Durbin, "Raver Girl: Coming of Age in the 90s" (She Writes Press, 2021)

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2021 57:13

A '90s time capsule buried inside a coming-of-age memoir set against the neon backdrop of the San Francisco Bay Area's rave scene, Raver Girl (She Writes Press, 2021) chronicles Samantha's double life as she teeters between hedonism and sobriety, chaos and calm, all while sneaking under the radar of her entrepreneur father—a man who happened to drop acid with LSD impresario Owsley Stanley in the '60s. Samantha keeps a list of every rave she goes to—a total of 104 over four years. During that time, what started as trippy fun morphs into a self-destructive roller coaster ride. Samantha opens the doors of her mind, but she's left with traumas her acid-fried brain won't let her escape; and when meth becomes her drug of choice, things get progressively darker. Through euphoric highs and dangerous lows, Samantha discovers she's someone who lives life to the fullest and learns best through alternative experience rather than mainstream ideals. She's a creative whose mind is limitless, whose quirks are charms, whose passion is inspirational. She's an independent woman whose inner strength is rooted in unwavering family ties. And if she can survive high school, she just might be okay. Rebekah Buchanan is an Associate Professor of English and Director of English Education at Western Illinois University. Her research focuses on feminism, activism, and literacy practices in youth culture, specifically through zines and music. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/popular-culture

director english girl press associate professor lsd san francisco bay area writes coming of age durbin western illinois university raver english education she writes press rebekah buchanan owsley stanley

Samantha Durbin, "Raver Girl: Coming of Age in the 90s" (She Writes Press, 2021)

New Books in Gender Studies

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2021 57:13

A '90s time capsule buried inside a coming-of-age memoir set against the neon backdrop of the San Francisco Bay Area's rave scene, Raver Girl (She Writes Press, 2021) chronicles Samantha's double life as she teeters between hedonism and sobriety, chaos and calm, all while sneaking under the radar of her entrepreneur father—a man who happened to drop acid with LSD impresario Owsley Stanley in the '60s. Samantha keeps a list of every rave she goes to—a total of 104 over four years. During that time, what started as trippy fun morphs into a self-destructive roller coaster ride. Samantha opens the doors of her mind, but she's left with traumas her acid-fried brain won't let her escape; and when meth becomes her drug of choice, things get progressively darker. Through euphoric highs and dangerous lows, Samantha discovers she's someone who lives life to the fullest and learns best through alternative experience rather than mainstream ideals. She's a creative whose mind is limitless, whose quirks are charms, whose passion is inspirational. She's an independent woman whose inner strength is rooted in unwavering family ties. And if she can survive high school, she just might be okay. Rebekah Buchanan is an Associate Professor of English and Director of English Education at Western Illinois University. Her research focuses on feminism, activism, and literacy practices in youth culture, specifically through zines and music. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/gender-studies

director english girl press associate professor lsd san francisco bay area writes coming of age durbin western illinois university raver english education she writes press rebekah buchanan owsley stanley

Samantha Durbin, "Raver Girl: Coming of Age in the 90s" (She Writes Press, 2021)

New Books in the American West

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2021 57:13

A '90s time capsule buried inside a coming-of-age memoir set against the neon backdrop of the San Francisco Bay Area's rave scene, Raver Girl (She Writes Press, 2021) chronicles Samantha's double life as she teeters between hedonism and sobriety, chaos and calm, all while sneaking under the radar of her entrepreneur father—a man who happened to drop acid with LSD impresario Owsley Stanley in the '60s. Samantha keeps a list of every rave she goes to—a total of 104 over four years. During that time, what started as trippy fun morphs into a self-destructive roller coaster ride. Samantha opens the doors of her mind, but she's left with traumas her acid-fried brain won't let her escape; and when meth becomes her drug of choice, things get progressively darker. Through euphoric highs and dangerous lows, Samantha discovers she's someone who lives life to the fullest and learns best through alternative experience rather than mainstream ideals. She's a creative whose mind is limitless, whose quirks are charms, whose passion is inspirational. She's an independent woman whose inner strength is rooted in unwavering family ties. And if she can survive high school, she just might be okay. Rebekah Buchanan is an Associate Professor of English and Director of English Education at Western Illinois University. Her research focuses on feminism, activism, and literacy practices in youth culture, specifically through zines and music. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-west

director english girl press associate professor lsd san francisco bay area writes coming of age durbin western illinois university raver english education she writes press rebekah buchanan owsley stanley

Samantha Durbin, "Raver Girl: Coming of Age in the 90s" (She Writes Press, 2021)

New Books in Biography

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2021 57:13

A '90s time capsule buried inside a coming-of-age memoir set against the neon backdrop of the San Francisco Bay Area's rave scene, Raver Girl (She Writes Press, 2021) chronicles Samantha's double life as she teeters between hedonism and sobriety, chaos and calm, all while sneaking under the radar of her entrepreneur father—a man who happened to drop acid with LSD impresario Owsley Stanley in the '60s. Samantha keeps a list of every rave she goes to—a total of 104 over four years. During that time, what started as trippy fun morphs into a self-destructive roller coaster ride. Samantha opens the doors of her mind, but she's left with traumas her acid-fried brain won't let her escape; and when meth becomes her drug of choice, things get progressively darker. Through euphoric highs and dangerous lows, Samantha discovers she's someone who lives life to the fullest and learns best through alternative experience rather than mainstream ideals. She's a creative whose mind is limitless, whose quirks are charms, whose passion is inspirational. She's an independent woman whose inner strength is rooted in unwavering family ties. And if she can survive high school, she just might be okay. Rebekah Buchanan is an Associate Professor of English and Director of English Education at Western Illinois University. Her research focuses on feminism, activism, and literacy practices in youth culture, specifically through zines and music. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biography

director english girl press associate professor lsd san francisco bay area writes coming of age durbin western illinois university raver english education she writes press rebekah buchanan owsley stanley

Samantha Durbin, "Raver Girl: Coming of Age in the 90s" (She Writes Press, 2021)

New Books in American Studies

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2021 57:13

A '90s time capsule buried inside a coming-of-age memoir set against the neon backdrop of the San Francisco Bay Area's rave scene, Raver Girl (She Writes Press, 2021) chronicles Samantha's double life as she teeters between hedonism and sobriety, chaos and calm, all while sneaking under the radar of her entrepreneur father—a man who happened to drop acid with LSD impresario Owsley Stanley in the '60s. Samantha keeps a list of every rave she goes to—a total of 104 over four years. During that time, what started as trippy fun morphs into a self-destructive roller coaster ride. Samantha opens the doors of her mind, but she's left with traumas her acid-fried brain won't let her escape; and when meth becomes her drug of choice, things get progressively darker. Through euphoric highs and dangerous lows, Samantha discovers she's someone who lives life to the fullest and learns best through alternative experience rather than mainstream ideals. She's a creative whose mind is limitless, whose quirks are charms, whose passion is inspirational. She's an independent woman whose inner strength is rooted in unwavering family ties. And if she can survive high school, she just might be okay. Rebekah Buchanan is an Associate Professor of English and Director of English Education at Western Illinois University. Her research focuses on feminism, activism, and literacy practices in youth culture, specifically through zines and music. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

director english girl press associate professor lsd san francisco bay area writes coming of age durbin western illinois university raver english education she writes press rebekah buchanan owsley stanley

Samantha Durbin, "Raver Girl: Coming of Age in the 90s" (She Writes Press, 2021)

New Books Network

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2021 57:13

A '90s time capsule buried inside a coming-of-age memoir set against the neon backdrop of the San Francisco Bay Area's rave scene, Raver Girl (She Writes Press, 2021) chronicles Samantha's double life as she teeters between hedonism and sobriety, chaos and calm, all while sneaking under the radar of her entrepreneur father—a man who happened to drop acid with LSD impresario Owsley Stanley in the '60s. Samantha keeps a list of every rave she goes to—a total of 104 over four years. During that time, what started as trippy fun morphs into a self-destructive roller coaster ride. Samantha opens the doors of her mind, but she's left with traumas her acid-fried brain won't let her escape; and when meth becomes her drug of choice, things get progressively darker. Through euphoric highs and dangerous lows, Samantha discovers she's someone who lives life to the fullest and learns best through alternative experience rather than mainstream ideals. She's a creative whose mind is limitless, whose quirks are charms, whose passion is inspirational. She's an independent woman whose inner strength is rooted in unwavering family ties. And if she can survive high school, she just might be okay. Rebekah Buchanan is an Associate Professor of English and Director of English Education at Western Illinois University. Her research focuses on feminism, activism, and literacy practices in youth culture, specifically through zines and music. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

director english girl press associate professor lsd san francisco bay area writes coming of age durbin western illinois university raver english education she writes press rebekah buchanan owsley stanley

Samantha Durbin, "Raver Girl: Coming of Age in the 90s" (She Writes Press, 2021)

New Books in Women's History

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2021 57:13

A '90s time capsule buried inside a coming-of-age memoir set against the neon backdrop of the San Francisco Bay Area's rave scene, Raver Girl (She Writes Press, 2021) chronicles Samantha's double life as she teeters between hedonism and sobriety, chaos and calm, all while sneaking under the radar of her entrepreneur father—a man who happened to drop acid with LSD impresario Owsley Stanley in the '60s. Samantha keeps a list of every rave she goes to—a total of 104 over four years. During that time, what started as trippy fun morphs into a self-destructive roller coaster ride. Samantha opens the doors of her mind, but she's left with traumas her acid-fried brain won't let her escape; and when meth becomes her drug of choice, things get progressively darker. Through euphoric highs and dangerous lows, Samantha discovers she's someone who lives life to the fullest and learns best through alternative experience rather than mainstream ideals. She's a creative whose mind is limitless, whose quirks are charms, whose passion is inspirational. She's an independent woman whose inner strength is rooted in unwavering family ties. And if she can survive high school, she just might be okay. Rebekah Buchanan is an Associate Professor of English and Director of English Education at Western Illinois University. Her research focuses on feminism, activism, and literacy practices in youth culture, specifically through zines and music. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

director english girl press associate professor lsd san francisco bay area writes coming of age durbin western illinois university raver english education rebekah buchanan owsley stanley

Episode 8: Music as Healing and Sanctuary

Freak Flag Flying

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 22, 2021 47:08

David Crosby and Steve Silberman continue their in-depth conversation about David's iconic album, If I Could Only Remember My Name, in Freak Flag Flying's final episode of season two. To begin, Steve takes you on a musical journey that features classic Croz songs that you know and love, along with rare, previously unheard tracks and demos. Whether you're a hardcore Crosby fanatic or just a fan of creative, innovative, soul-soothing music, you'll love what Steve has in store. The episode continues by rejoining David at Hyde Street Studios (formerly Wally Heider's, where the album was recorded 50 years ago), to hear more stories about the recording of this all-time classic album, as well as tales of meeting the Beatles as a member of the Byrds and turning George Harrison onto the music of Ravi Shankar, Jerry Garcia's distinctive gift to one of David's greatest tracks, “Laughing,” how hard it is to sit in successfully with the Grateful Dead, and meeting acid king and sonic alchemist Owsley Stanley in LAX. You'll also hear David talk about the essence of what music means to him.Freak Flag Flying is brought to you by Osiris Media. Interview and editing by Steve Silberman. Produced by Tom Marshall and Zach Brogan. Art by Mark Dowd. Photo of Croz by Matt Bueby. Sales/Sponsorships by Greg Stangel and Christina Collins. Media by Nick Cejas. To discover more podcasts that connect you more deeply to the music you love, check out osirispod.comThis is an Osiris Media production, all rights reserved 2021 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

music art interview healing media beatles sanctuaries laughing grateful dead george harrison lax david crosby byrds jerry garcia ravi shankar tom marshall steve silberman osiris media croz mark dowd owsley stanley christina collins hyde street studios zach brogan

BONUS: Bear Drops: LA ‘66

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 21, 2021 92:46

We explore the Grateful Dead's formative early 1966 months in Los Angeles under the patronage of Owsley Stanley, LSD chemist & the band's new sound engineer, featuring Owsley's assistants Tim Scully & Don Douglas, Merry Pranksters, Rosie McGee, & an archival interview with Owsley.GUESTS: Tim Scully, Don Douglas, Rosie McGee, Denise Kaufman, Ken Babbs, Starfinder Stanley, Hawk, David Gans

music los angeles san francisco dead bear band cats beatles rolling stones doors drops guitar psychedelics bob dylan lsd woodstock st louis vinyl pink floyd cornell hawk neil young jimi hendrix warner brothers grateful dead john mayer ripple avalon janis joplin chuck berry dawg music podcasts classic rock phish wilco rock music prog dave matthews band music history american beauty vampire weekend red rocks hells angels jerry garcia merle haggard fillmore jefferson airplane ccr dark star los lobos truckin' seva deadheads allman brothers band watkins glen dso arista bruce hornsby buffalo springfield my morning jacket altamont ken kesey bob weir pigpen acid tests dmb long strange trip billy strings warren haynes bill graham haight ashbury jim james psychedelic rock music commentary family dog trey anastasio phil lesh fare thee well fox theater robert hunter winterland rhino records jam bands don was mickey hart time crisis david lemieux live dead merry pranksters disco biscuits wall of sound david grisman relix nrbq string cheese incident ramrod owsley john perry barlow jgb oteil burbridge steve parish neal casal jug band quicksilver messenger service david browne jerry garcia band david fricke mother hips jesse jarnow david gans circles around the sun deadcast ratdog owsley stanley sugar magnolia touch of grey jrad acid rock brent mydland jeff chimenti we are everywhere ken babbs box of rain aoxomoxoa new riders of the purple sage vince welnick gary lambert mars hotel sunshine daydream capital theater bill kreutzman tim scully owlsley stanley

The Owsley Stanley Foundation - Checking In With The Mothership

Love is the Message: Dance, Music and Counterculture

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 12, 2021 93:10

A mid-week special episode with Starfinder Stanley and Hawk from The Owsley Stanley Foundation. The Owsley Stanley Foundation is a 501c(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of “Bear's Sonic Journals,” Owsley's archive of more than 1,300 live concert soundboard recordings from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, including recordings by Miles Davis, Johnny Cash, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Fleetwood Mac, Janis Joplin, and more than 80 other artists across nearly every musical idiom. These analog reel-to-reel recordings are nearing the end of their expected shelf lives and will deteriorate and be lost forever if they are not preserved and that is the mission of the Owsley Stanley Foundation.We check in with Starfinder and Hawk and talk about finding the most recent release 'Bear's Sonic Journals: Merry-Go-Round At The Carousel' Tim Buckley at the Carousel Ballroom on June 15th & 16th 1968. This is a true gem and among Buckley aficionados considered to be a seminal performance. We also get into some of the inner workings of the OSF and how everyone out there can help make sure Bear's meticulous work and honored legacy live on!Head over to owsleystanlyfoundation.org to check out the full catalog of releases and to see how you can sponsor a reel (or reels) and make sure the music never stops!Please do us a solid and leave us a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts!Become a Patron of No Simple Road On Patreon.com20% off with Melophy PROMO CODE: NSRFREE SHIPPING FROM Shop Tour Bus Use The PROMO CODE: nosimpleroadFor 20% off Sunset Lake CBD PROMO CODE: NSR20 For 10% off Electric Fish Lights PROMO CODE: NSR OUTRO MUSIC BY AND USED WITH OUR GRATITUDE AND THE PERMISSION OF:CHILLDREN OF INDIGONo Simple Road is part of OSIRIS MEDIA. Osiris is creating a community that connects people like you with podcasts and live experiences about artists and topics you love. To stay up to date on what we're up to, visit our site and sign up for our newsletter. Osiris works in partnership with JamBase, which connects music fans with the music they love and empowers them to go see live music!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/nosimpleroad. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Storm King Today on Hempresent

Hempresent

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 26, 2021 30:09

Storm King joins us today on Hempresent with Vivian McPeak only on Cannabis Radio. Storm King is a retired social media, social activist who loves telling stories about growing up as a hippie. He was raised by his mother, Marge King, and some went by his aunt, Jean Mayo Millay. For various reasons, those two ladies ended up smack dab in the middle of some of the most seminal events of the hippie era. Including the famous 1966 Watts Acid Test. And the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival. Storm was also in attendance, as one of the few children, at both those events. His family members were devout followers of, and to a degree, friends with, Timothy Leary, whom they met in 1964. Storm received his first dose of very pure LSD from his mother in the proper set and setting in the fall of 1965, just before he turned 12. After an initial career as an electronics technician, Storm went back to school later in life and got a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. He has a blog page that tells the many stories he has to share of growing up as a hippie at www.ramdasslove.org. He's here today to tell us stories of what it was like to be a child raised by adults who became friends with counter-culture icons such as Timothy Leary, Owsley Stanley, and Ram Dass.

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Turn Off Your Mind, Relax and Float Downstream...

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 24, 2021 75:19

In this week's episode Tim and Jeremy are tuning in and dropping out as we talk all things Acid. We hear a history of the psychedelic movement within the Anglophone world, taking in the accidental maiden trip of chemist Albert Hoffmann, the activities of Timothy Leary at Millbrook and the Merry Pranksters on their Magic Bus, and The Beatles' musical rendering of the classic trip. Tim and Jeremy also consider how dancing is incorporated into the Acid experience, with a grateful nod to the role played by the Dead and their sound engineer Owsley Stanley, and draw out the tensions between the post-war consumer culture and the emergent psychedelic movement that rendered Acid such a uniquely potent political - as well as pharmacological - phenomenon. Note: At Love is the Message, we don't encourage our listeners to take Acid, which is of course illegal! Also, more prosaically, in this episode Jeremy refers to Ralph ‘Metzinger' - he is of course talking about Ralph Metzner, the American psychologist and not Thomas Metzinger the contemporary American philosopher. Tim Lawrence and Jeremy Gilbert are authors, academics, DJs and audiophile dance party organisers. They've been friends and collaborators since 1997, teaching together and running parties since 2003. With clubs closed and half their jobs lost to university cuts, they're inevitably launching a podcast. Produced and edited by Matt Huxley. We are committed to making Love is the Message free to everyone who wants it, but if you have the means, please become a supporter by visiting www.patreon.com/LoveMessagePod for as little as £3 a month so we can stay free. Tune in, Turn on, Get Down! Tracklist: Ali Akbar Khan and Ravi Shankar - Raga Palas Kafi The Grateful Dead - Alice D. Millionaire The Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows Country Joe and the Fish - The Acid Commercial Country Joe and the Fish - Colours for Susan Charles Earland - Leaving This Planet

Spot Lyte On...Jack Casady

Spot Lyte On...

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 13, 2021 46:30

John William "Jack" Casady (born April 13, 1944) is an American bass guitarist, best known as a member of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. Jefferson Airplane became the first successful exponent of the San Francisco Sound. Their singles, including "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit", had a more polished style than their other material, and successfully charted in 1967 and 1968. Casady, along with the other members of Jefferson Airplane, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.In this episode, Jack talks about growing up in Washington, DC. He also talks about the jazz shows he saw as a teenager and building early amps and electronics for his bass with Owsley Stanley. Jack and Jorma are hitting the road post-pandemic so grab your tickets. There are acoustic Hot Tuna dates in the spring/summer and Electric Tuna dates in the fall. Learn more about Lyte.

Spot Lyte On...Jack Casady

Spotlight On

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 13, 2021 46:29

John William "Jack" Casady (born April 13, 1944) is an American bass guitarist, best known as a member of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. Jefferson Airplane became the first successful exponent of the San Francisco Sound. Their singles, including "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit", had a more polished style than their other material, and successfully charted in 1967 and 1968. Casady, along with the other members of Jefferson Airplane, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.In this episode, Jack talks about growing up in Washington, DC. He also talks about the jazz shows he saw as a teenager and building early amps and electronics for his bass with Owsley Stanley. Jack and Jorma are hitting the road post-pandemic so grab your tickets. There are acoustic Hot Tuna dates in the spring/summer and Electric Tuna dates in the fall. Learn more about Lyte. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Owsley Stanley Foundation

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 14, 2020 28:56

That Which Colors the Mind

foundation mind owsley stanley

The Owsley Stanley Foundation - Listening For The Secret

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 11, 2020 140:06

No Simple Road is extremely honored to have Starfinder and Hawk from the Owsley Stanley Foundation as our guests this week. The Owsley Stanley Foundation is a 501c(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of “Bear's Sonic Journals,” Owsley's archive of more than 1,300 live concert soundboard recordings from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, including recordings by Miles Davis, Johnny Cash, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Fleetwood Mac, Janis Joplin, and more than 80 other artists across nearly every musical idiom. These analog reel-to-reel recordings are nearing the end of their expected shelf lives and will deteriorate and be lost forever if they are not preserved.We talk with the guys about their mission to preserve the legacy of such an iconic part of American Musical history, how Bear saw things differently and used that to create his own technology, the mission behind the Owsley Stanley Foundation and why it matters so much, and a whole lot more. This is Grateful Dead Family here folks! Listen well and let's all lend our hand to this effort.To get involved in sponsoring a reel, buying some music, and more got to: www.owsleystanleyfoundation.orgLeave us a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you get NSR!***THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY THE AMAZING AND INCREDIBLE SHOP TOUR BUS , DEFYNE PREMIUM CANNABIS, SUNSET LAKE CBD, CLYOR and ELECTRIC FISH LIGHTS !!!!For FREE SHIPPING FROM Shop Tour Bus Use The Promo code: nosimpleroadFor 10% off from Electric Fish Lights use the PROMO CODE: NSR at checkout.FOR 20% off incredible wellness products at Medicine Box use the code NSR2020 at checkoutFor 20% off at Sunset Lake CBD use the code: NSR20 at checkoutCLICK HERE $5 off and FREE SHIPPING of a Holiday box at HARRYS.COMINTRO & SET BREAK MUSIC BY AND USED WITH OUR GRATITUDE AND THE PERMISSION OF:TRAVERS BROTHERSHIPANDREW HENDRYXNo Simple Road is part of OSIRIS MEDIA. Osiris is creating a community that connects people like you with podcasts and live experiences about artists and topics you love. To stay up to date on what we're up to, visit our site and sign up for our newsletter. Osiris works in partnership with JamBase, which connects music fans with the music they love and empowers them to go see live musicSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/nosimpleroad. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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BONUS! Bear Drops, Episode 1: What’s With the Bear(s)?