Alembic Guitars Club
Connecting => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: cozmik_cowboy on July 26, 2025, 12:45:58 PM
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I just stumbled across the fact that Dennis McNally (longtime Dead publicist & author of A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History Of The Grateful Dead, which is highly recommended) has a new one out; The Last Great Dream: How Bohemians Became Hippies And Created The Sixties.
Just ordered from the library; I'll report back.
Peter
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... Just ordered from the library; I'll report back.
Peter
Please do!
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Thanks Peter
Got it Kindle for under 20
it has certainly put the lasso around the neck of my interest :D
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This afternoon I read the table of contents and the introduction online, and now I've just ordered as well.
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Hey there Dave and Peter
It's been a great read so far
I think you both will be glad you bought it
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Just finished it; a wonderful tracing of several generations the cultural, spiritual, and intellectual underpinnings of the hippie movement. A fine reminder of why we were right all along......
In the acknowledgements, McNally says it is "the fourth and last part" of his life's work, a history of the post-war (mostly) American counterculture. Having now read the 2nd (A Long Strange Trip: the Inside History of the Grateful Dead) and the 4th and loved both, I ordered the one copy held in any Illinois library of the 1st (Desolate Angel: Jack Kerouac, the Beat Generation, and America*) and, no library owning it, from Amazon the 3rd (On Highway 61: Music, Race, and the Evolution of Cultural Freedom).
*Garcia worshiped Kerouac and loved Dennis's bio; that's how he came to be their publicist.
Peter
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I'm on chapter 30, about 64% of the way through; and so far, it's amazing. I know a lot of the names and events from other sources I've come across throughout my life; and this book ties them all together into a cohesive whole, even deeper than I previously imagined - names and events that came to significantly shape my life as well as the culture.
I'm considering moving next to two autobiographical books by Peter Coyote that cover some of the same ground, especially around the Diggers.
At the same time I'm reading A History of Rock & Roll in 500 Songs mentioned in another thread, which also covers some of the same ground. I'm on Episode 15, Hound Dog by Big Mama Thornton. Well researched and well written.
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I'm on chapter 30, about 64% of the way through; and so far, it's amazing. I know a lot of the names and events from other sources I've come across throughout my life; and this book ties them all together into a cohesive whole, even deeper than I previously imagined - names and events that came to significantly shape my life as well as the culture.
I'm considering moving next to two autobiographical books by Peter Coyote that cover some of the same ground, especially around the Diggers.
At the same time I'm reading A History of Rock & Roll in 500 Songs mentioned in another thread, which also covers some of the same ground. I'm on Episode 15, Hound Dog by Big Mama Thornton. Well researched and well written.
All duly noted; thanks, Dave.
Peter
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Just finished Desolate Angel. A cover blurb from Paul Krasner calls it "....the Roots of the hippie generation." Seems apt.
I'm about to start On Highway 61, and am sorry I didn't read them in order written. I highly recommend all (so far - but I have reason to believe this last one will stand up to the others; to wit the Introduction - mods, do you think it would get us trouble it I posted 2 1/5 pages of McNally's text - with proper citation, of course)?
And i will tell you something: One of the worst parts about being an historian is reading other historian's writing; most of them - I guess I should say "us".... (no matter how knowledgeable the author nor how interesting what s/he's trying to present could be) are truly execrable writers.
McNally is decidedly an exception; his style flows into the eyes as easily as Christopher Moore at his best!
These books are really reminding me how & why I became who I did.
Peter
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... the Introduction - mods, do you think it would get us trouble it I posted 2 1/5 pages of McNally's text - with proper citation, of course)? ...
After a brief search, I'm left thinking that 2 1/2 pages could be problematic.
However, it looks like Google Books has the 2 1/2 pages in question available online. (Reading the introduction there now.)
https://www.google.com/books/edition/On_Highway_61/kHtLEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=on+highway+61+-+dave+mcnally&pg=PA449&printsec=frontcover (https://www.google.com/books/edition/On_Highway_61/kHtLEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=on+highway+61+-+dave+mcnally&pg=PA449&printsec=frontcover)
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Thanks, Dave. But when I click it, the first readable page 228; intro starts on 1........
My attempts to refresh my memory on the matter leads me to think that for my purpose, it fall under "Favored Use" (more likely - but not assuredly - to be considered fair use) on 3 on of the 4 criteria, and probably would meet the 4th test, but I don't want to take any risk of creating a hassle for Alembic.
With as many pages as Google has up, I'd think that we'd fine with proper citation, but I will refrain so as to not have any risk of causing problems for our kind hosts.
Take my word, folks; if you read the intro, you'd want to read the book!
Peter
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When I first searched it out in Google Books, that happened to me too. But then I somehow scrolled up and a table of contents showed up and I clicked on Introduction.
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I got as far as clicking on "Introduction".
Introduction, alas, was not taking my call; everything stayed the same.
But if some folks can read it by so clicking, then verily do I urge them on!
Peter
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Oh boy! In On Highway 61, McNally throws us a wink & a nod! He writes "But Twain was a prankster, and you can never trust a prankster."
Anyone else want to be a fly on the ceiling of a discussion between Twain & Kesey?
Peter
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In the news today, a never before published 2 page short piece by Jack Kerouac, written at the time he was writing On The Road. You can read about the piece here:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/oct/10/very-significant-jack-kerouac-story-discovered-after-mafia-boss-auction (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/oct/10/very-significant-jack-kerouac-story-discovered-after-mafia-boss-auction)
And you can read the piece itself by clicking on one of the pictures. Four pages come up: Kerouac's picture, the title page, and the two pages of the piece.
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David. Thanks for posting that Jack Kerouac piece! I find it to be a most interesting two pages of writing on multiple levels. I hope that all is well in your world.
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Thanks, Dave!
I will point out that the article perpetuates the nonsense that he wrote the first draft on a roll of paper in 3 weeks; he wrote, rewrote, changed the subject, rewrote again, changed the subject back, rewrote, etc., etc., over years - 6, IIRC.
He habitually used a roll of teletype (not, as I always heard, butcher's) paper not so he could crank out a novel in one long speed* run, but because he typed 100 wpm, and changing sheets took longer than typing them.
*Yes, almost everything he wrote was done under the influence of amphetamines; he might not have written On The Road in one fell swoop, but he did write fast, in long swaths.
Peter (who has now read all 4 of McNally's books, and will recommend On Highway 61 to serious music geeks [anyone here know any of those??] and Desolate Angel, A Long Strange Trip, and The Last Great Dream to one and all)
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Reading that short piece has me wanting to re-read On The Road and Dharma Bums; it's been almost 50 years.
And I do hope to get to those other McNally books at some point.
Oh, and thanks; in the world over this away, just up from the creek, every day is a wonder and a joy.
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Heard of On The Road, haven’t read it.
Read those two pages and what a rush! Caught my breathe on the second to last paragraph and now am intrigued.
Thanks Dave!
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Thanks, David, that was wonderful, my favorite author and my favorite book :)
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Heard of On The Road, haven’t read it.
Read those two pages and what a rush! Caught my breathe on the second to last paragraph and now am intrigued.
Thanks Dave!
Again, it's been a very long time, and I do not have much of a memory in general, but my recollection is that the whole book, On The Road, is like those two pages. I read several of his books at that time, but On The Road and Dharma Bums are the ones that made a big impression, and to a significant degree, influenced my life.
In the way that the real-life Neal Cassady is the main character in On The Road, the real-life Gary Snyder is a, or the, main character in Dharma Bums. My recollection is that I was already familiar with Gary Snyder when I read Dharma Bums; I had (still do) his Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Snyder (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Snyder)
I don't know how these books have held up with the passage of time, but I want to say that I recommend both.
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Just pre-ordered from Relix (release date 12/3/25) Cronies, A Burlesque: Adventures With Ken Kesey, Neil Cassady, The Merry Pranksters, and the Grateful Dead, by Ken Babbs.
Peter
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In the news today, a never before published 2 page short piece by Jack Kerouac, written at the time he was writing On The Road. You can read about the piece here:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/oct/10/very-significant-jack-kerouac-story-discovered-after-mafia-boss-auction (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/oct/10/very-significant-jack-kerouac-story-discovered-after-mafia-boss-auction)
And you can read the piece itself by clicking on one of the pictures. Four pages come up: Kerouac's picture, the title page, and the two pages of the piece.
Many Thanks Dave :D :D :D
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Just pre-ordered from Relix (release date 12/3/25) Cronies, A Burlesque: Adventures With Ken Kesey, Neil Cassady, The Merry Pranksters, and the Grateful Dead, by Ken Babbs.
Peter
This looks interesting as well. I looked it up, found a reference that said it was published in 2022. I just ordered it from Amazon, should get it Tuesday. Looking forward to reading it. Thanks for posting.
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Just pre-ordered from Relix (release date 12/3/25) Cronies, A Burlesque: Adventures With Ken Kesey, Neil Cassady, The Merry Pranksters, and the Grateful Dead, by Ken Babbs.
Relix lied to me?!?!? Why, those dirty......
Peter (who could have saved a fair amount by going that route, it turns out)
Peter
This looks interesting as well. I looked it up, found a reference that said it was published in 2022. I just ordered it from Amazon, should get it Tuesday. Looking forward to reading it. Thanks for posting.
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Just ordered it on Kindle. $2.99 with some credits I had.
Bill, tgo
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OK, Cronies arrived, and the release & price discrepancies are now explained; I didn't realize Relix was offering an author-signed edition. Cool.
57 pages in, here's my impression:
Just as football announcing teams have a "color man" - a former player to give some context to what the play-by-play and/or analyst are saying - for those interested in the intellectual, philosophical, and chemical history of how many of us here got to be who we are, Babbs makes a wonderful color man for Desolate Angel and The Last Great Dream. And not the standard genetic-mutant-with-CTE "Now, back when I played the game" color man; I'm talking Dandy Don Meridith-level here!
Peter
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The book listings suggest that the stories are to some degree enhanced with fiction to round them out. Are you finding this?
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So far, I have seen nothing that struck me as out of line with what little I know of that part of things that could not be explained by the passage of time and the contemporary.....um...... enhanced states of mind.
And I do believe I saw somewhere that Babbs called it "a burlesque" because he was, basically, looking to convey the truth of it more than the facts.
Peter
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Thanks!
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The book listings suggest that the stories are to some degree enhanced with fiction to round them out. Are you finding this?
I bought the book and have started reading it. I like it so far. David, to answer your question, I think the intent is in the spirit of Kesey and Hunter Thompson, but not to that degree, which keeps it more real I think.
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Thanks; when I can get to it, I'm going to read some of the sample on amazon.
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About 1/3 of the way, and I am struck by how hierarchical the Pranksters were. Their scene was absolutely directed chaos - and the direction flowed top down.
Kesey's Prankster name was Chief - and he was. It seems that this was somewhat because he was charismatic, a natural leader; part of it was also because they were good Americans, and it was His Money.
Kesey was without question the Bullgoose Looney on the Prankster bus; Babbs was a clear #2, and Cassady was a very close 3rd.
Then there was everybody else.
Not meaning this as a put-down, but I had expected it to be a tad more egalitarian.
Peter
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The book listings suggest that the stories are to some degree enhanced with fiction to round them out. Are you finding this?
OK, found one. On page 348, one of the busses in their caravan to Woodstock, late July '69, breaks down; much frustration ensues until Babbs cools everyone out by sticking in a tape of "Shakedown Street" - first performance 8/31/78.
Peter
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:)
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Oh, boy!
One of my Winter Solstice gifts from Senior Management was Amelia Davis & David Gans's brand new coffee table book The Grateful Dead By Jim Marshall: Photos And Stories From The Formative Years, 1966-1977!
Gans we all know; Ms Davis was Jim's assistant the last 18 (IIRC) years of his life - and thus has control of his archive. Many amazing pix - a goodly number never before seen, and more never before seen by me, with blurbs & short essays from many of our favorite characters.
Among the highlights for me:
A number of shots of people with instruments I've never even heard they'd played (Garcia on a block-inlay 335, and a sunburst Strat with a rosewood 'board & a flag decal south of the wiggle stick, Weir on a '68-'71 Les Paul Custom) and more shots of things they played briefly (a bunch of Jer with his late '52 or early '53 Goldtop, converted to a Tune-O-Matic bridge off a Gibson acoustic & a 330/335-style diamond trapeze tailpiece; I take especial note of it as I think a friend may have owned it in the late '70s).
Then there things like:
Yes, we get the famous color shot of the 5 core SF bands (Dead, Airplane, Quicksilver, Big brother, and Charlatans) together in the Panhandle - plus B&W shots of everyone walking to the shoot, and a great one of the managers; the Charlatans apparently didn't have a manager, but the other 4 had 6 betwixt them (JA & GD 2 each), and they're all in a line - with each guy reaching into the next guy's pocket. Perfect managers shot!
And then there are the actual music shots, including a number of one-offs, including proof of the long-rumored Garcia/Traffic street jam in support of striking KMPX-FM employees (and proof Jer enjoyed hisself greatly doing so), and what was apparently a one-night band dubbed "Grateful Butterplane". Alas, we don't get a rundown of the whole night, but we do get a fine shot of Jack, Jerry, Elvin, Spenser, and Jorma in full swing.
Opened it about 11 hours ago, and (with time out to make & eat dinner, calm Her down because I was spending too much time enjoying Her gift, etc.) I have 8 pages of 288 left to go - and that's just an afterword by John Mayer.
The book is highly recommended.
Peter
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Congrats! Sounds like a great picture book!