Bennett, Alex, “Alex Bennett with the
Grateful Dead. Interview broadcast on WMCA in New York City in 1970 [radio
broadcast],” Grateful Dead Archive Online,
accessed August 2, 2015, http://www.gdao.org/items/show/378659.
Grateful Dead. Interview broadcast on WMCA in New York City in 1970 [radio
broadcast],” Grateful Dead Archive Online,
accessed August 2, 2015, http://www.gdao.org/items/show/378659.
Nothing here is verbatim, but hopefully this can provide some markers if anyone else wants to go check this out.
A few things of interest.
First, the date is 9/16/70, just before the Fillmore East “An Evening With the Grateful Dead” run.
Second, this is the day they flew on the plane with Huey Newton.
Third, I love that Bob Weir was reading the Times.
Fourth, with Paul’s passing I’d like to go back and see what they said about Kantner.
Fifth, some time-stamping on American Beauty, which is just being finished. I think we knew that, but anyway.
Sixth, note they say they are going to go out and jam somewhere this night. I wonder?
Seventh, already talking about playing the base of the Great Pyramids. Badass.
Sketchy notes follow.
~~~~~
Garcia, Weir, Lesh, Cutler, Mickey,
How do you like the Big Apple?
Plane flight.
0138 JG we were on the plane sitting
with Huey Newton and David Hilliard.
with Huey Newton and David Hilliard.
0228 we just talked, we raved for the
whole flight [with Huey Newton]
whole flight [with Huey Newton]
Q what did Huey Newton say?
JG 0245 he said a lot of things. They
were all good.
were all good.
0457 Spiro Agnew in the newspaper
yesterday about pop musicians and the drug culture
yesterday about pop musicians and the drug culture
! ref: Naughton, James M. 1970. Agnew
Assails Songs and Films that Promote a ‘Drug Culture’. New York Times, September 15, 1970, p. 18.
Assails Songs and Films that Promote a ‘Drug Culture’. New York Times, September 15, 1970, p. 18.
Perfect foil for us freaks. Nice and
slow, dull-witted. 0545
slow, dull-witted. 0545
Kantner and Croz
We just got off a 5 hour flight
0950 new GD album so well produced and so
commercial. Why all of a sudden?
commercial. Why all of a sudden?
Phil we sold out
JG That’s what we started out to do,
but we have been incredibly unsuccessful with that. Finally we’re good enough
where we can get our stuff to be communicative to a large body. It looks like
we’ve gotten simpler, more direct, etc. Starting off with the incredible,
crystalline, baroque, Taj Mahal structure which we’ve hammered and chiseled
down to a fine little diamond. After a long period of time we’ve come out with
a sound that’s commercial blah blah.
but we have been incredibly unsuccessful with that. Finally we’re good enough
where we can get our stuff to be communicative to a large body. It looks like
we’ve gotten simpler, more direct, etc. Starting off with the incredible,
crystalline, baroque, Taj Mahal structure which we’ve hammered and chiseled
down to a fine little diamond. After a long period of time we’ve come out with
a sound that’s commercial blah blah.
BW 1115
Putting out a free record … 1200
Happy with the record?
We are just finishing the other new
album.
album.
1228 Workingman’s Dead is a nice
lead-in to the new album. I like it a lot.
lead-in to the new album. I like it a lot.
Bill Kreutzmann arrives
Reference to Marmaduke being in the
room
room
Pigpen’s a no-show 1400
Messrs Cutler and McIntire are also
present
present
Goofy chaos
1722 just gonna keep asking stereotype
questions
questions
1744 Bonnie radio station up in Canada
story about Jerry
story about Jerry
1857 How does your mother feel about
your long hair?
your long hair?
Bob’s parents asked Phil and Jerry to
keep Bob in school.
keep Bob in school.
Highest gig was Haight Street 3/3/68
ca. late 20s over 30
ca. late 20s over 30
The Be-In was a great one.
Haight Street crumbled right after that
Late 32 speed and smack brought down
the Haight
the Haight
3320 where do you draw your limit on
drugs?
drugs?
JG everybody can choose their own poison.
Everybody can mess themselves up whatever way they want.
Everybody can mess themselves up whatever way they want.
3354 if someone asked you
There’s no situation in which we would
be considered to be experts.
be considered to be experts.
3445 JG drugs to be one of the ways for
a person to eliminate themselves from endless karmic recycling. You can think
about drugs in the way you think about automobiles. … it used to be there were
a lot of natural deaths. Now everybody is kept alive. So the automobile is an
out for that. Drugs are that, too, maybe.
a person to eliminate themselves from endless karmic recycling. You can think
about drugs in the way you think about automobiles. … it used to be there were
a lot of natural deaths. Now everybody is kept alive. So the automobile is an
out for that. Drugs are that, too, maybe.
3555 life kills
3618 cyanide and cigarettes
3655 suicide in the widest, broadest …
might as well be an act of freewill. Laws that have to do with preventing
injury to one’s body. That’s a big Christian trip.
might as well be an act of freewill. Laws that have to do with preventing
injury to one’s body. That’s a big Christian trip.
3819 are the Dead doing something about
it
it
Traveling across the country making a
film. No we didn’t do that film. Ripoff. Ripoff. WB was making a movie of a
caravan going across the country. 3954 a whole bunch of other people and they
were putting it together. It wasn’t our scene, we didn’t do it. Somewhere some
money hungry lawyers. At the last moment they slapped us with some silly
contract. 4028
film. No we didn’t do that film. Ripoff. Ripoff. WB was making a movie of a
caravan going across the country. 3954 a whole bunch of other people and they
were putting it together. It wasn’t our scene, we didn’t do it. Somewhere some
money hungry lawyers. At the last moment they slapped us with some silly
contract. 4028
Now it’s 8:15 they’re gonna go and jam
tonight somewhere. This will be on 9/16. We’re doing the FE right now, Capitol
Theater in first week of November. October on the east coast doing schools.
41:17
tonight somewhere. This will be on 9/16. We’re doing the FE right now, Capitol
Theater in first week of November. October on the east coast doing schools.
41:17
Boston 4200 in November on the 20th
and the next weekend.
and the next weekend.
Chaos
4917 what trip would JG like to do
musically?
musically?
Base of the Great Pyramids! 4930
5215 anything else you’d like to impart
to the people?
to the people?
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