Peter wrote:
Terry: As to the basics of memory, I will leave the theory to the amnestic experts and avoid bridging the theoretical gap between any anatomical differences of the subcortical regions for bass players versus other guitarists.
An impressive display of eloquent and euphemistic prolixity, Peter -- something worthy of
Mr. Spock, even. As to my previous posting regarding Chris Hillman, it just struck me funny that he would use "I was just the bass player" as the reason why "Crosby and McGuinn might remember more". Since that reasoning is "
totally illogical, Captain," I decided to have some fun with it.
I am struck by two things with regard to The Beatles visiting The Byrds. To begin, I feel that the visit represents a healthy respect that the Fab Four had for the Byrds' abilities. Quote:. . . [Derek] Taylor points out, "They met the Beatles and were worshipped by them . . ."
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, page 109 And who are we to argue with Derek Taylor?
Quote:The Beatles . . . felt that we were the most original and innovative American band. There wasn't any question about it. They made that very clear, said it over and over again, whenever they were talking about the Byrds. Safe to say they loved what we were doing, just as we loved what they had done and were doing then.
Long Time Gone, David Crosby & Carl Gottlieb, p. 101 And who are we to argue with David Crosby?
Moreover, there is also the matter of the overall impact of the visit over time. Either the visit was lackluster or perhaps, to follow up on your comments, those systems responsible for the storage of memory were compromised by chemical agents.
Byrds memory "compromised by chemical agents"? (As in
drugs?) I don't know where anyone would ever get that idea.
Quote:[Byrds mentor/manager] Jim Dickson: . . . at that time [1964] I had
better dope than [Crosby] had. I'd
get him high and we'd talk and he was convinced I was a genius. It was the
dope.
Long Time Gone, David Crosby & Carl Gottlieb, page 79 Quote:. . . Dickson
enjoyed smoking dope with Crosby . . .
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, page 127 Quote:After a dramatic conclusion to 1964, the Byrds opened the New Year still intact and slightly nervous about their forthcoming recording date at Columbia. Crosby suggested that an addendum be attached to their management contract requiring Dickson and [Eddie] Tickner "to
provide the valium" for the session.
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, page 60 Quote:Whether Crosby had received
the valium that he'd . . . demanded prior to the session is not known, but there was little sign of his customary awkwardness at any time during the recording.
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, page 63 Quote:Drugs, for McGuinn, were always connected to his search for a new religious experience. . . . "So one day I was walking around the block in Greenwich Village,
smoking a joint with another guy, and we passed by someone named Richmond Shephard, who was a mime in the area, and he said, 'You know, I've got something better.'" That something better was a form of Eastern mysticism called
Subud. "I thought it was
something you put in your coffee," said McGuinn.
When The Music Mattered, Bruce Pollock, page 88-89 Quote:McGuinn had first encountered this cult religion shortly before leaving New York. While wandering around Greenwich Village with his folk musician friend Bob Kerry, McGuinn was
openly smoking a joint in the street. The pair met up with mime artiste Lionel Shepherd, whom McGuinn handed
a reefer, only to be rebuffed by the words, "No thanks, I've got something better." Intrigued and eager to sample Shepherd's supposedly
superior stash, McGuinn demanded more information. "I'd envisaged
something you put in your coffee or something," he recalls. . . . On 10 January 1965, McGuinn was initiated into
Subud . . . .
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, page 60 Quote:Vito [Paulekas] and his Freakers were an
acid-drenched extended family of
brain-damaged cohabitants. . . .
Abundant supplies of grass were coming up from Mexico at prices that sound like Depression era fantasies: an
ounce of marijuana cost twenty dollars, a
single kilo went for under a hundred, and for entrepeneurs who wanted to deal weight,
multiple kilos would be delivered in a rent-a-car to the residential garage of your choice for fifty-five or sixty bucks per
2.2 pound brick, each
kilo wrapped in colored cellophane and Mexican newspapers after compacting.
Long Time Gone, David Crosby & Carl Gottlieb, page 91 Quote:". . . The Byrds began rehearsing in Vito's basement and got to know
Carl [Franzoni], and gradually it all came together." The basement sessions were conducted in a
fashionably stoned atmosphere, with the Byrds working up new material while
smoking endless joints and
experimenting with LSD. "
We used to all smoke pot with them,"
Hillman confesses, "and Beatle Bob would come over and play congas with us. When we worked out 'The Bells Of Rhymney' at Vito's art studio,
we were all on acid . . ."
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, page 66 Quote:After seeing the Byrds' opening nights at Ciro's some spectators, including . . . Derek Taylor, felt that both the group and their followers were
permanently stoned.
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, page 68 Quote:When the single received airplay in San Francisco a contingent of proto-hippies trekked to Hollywood convinced that
the Byrds were preaching the LSD gospel.
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, page 70 Quote:But we ran risks.
Marijuana was all the rage and
very illegal.
Possession carried harsh penalties--mostly jail--and one of the exquisite sensations of the time was the endless paranoia.
But the quality--and the price--Man! Too much!
"Inside The Byrds": Personal Reflections by Derek Taylor, Byrds Boxed Set Booklet, page 45
Quote:Anyway, in the summer of 1965, we were all out on the road and
we wanted to smoke pot, which we liked to do.
Long Time Gone, David Crosby & Carl Gottlieb, page 98 Quote:There was no rest for the Byrds in America during July . . . . A gruelling coast to coast schedule was organized . . . . In order to make the journey more pleasant, Crosby kept a
substantial stash of marijuana on board which was
liberally distributed among the group and their following. On a couple of occasions, the group was stopped by
the police, and it was only a combination of luck, swift action, and bare-faced effrontery that saved them from
arrest. "I was 17 when we went on tour," recalls Lizzie Donohue, a member of their travelling dance troupe. "We took a Trailways bus -- the Byrds, Bryan MacLean, Carl, Karen Yum Yum, Jeanine and me. Linda Bopp and Butchie followed in a car. I remember
we all got high in a bathroom on the bus, especially David Crosby. In Duluth, Minnesota,
the police searched the bus and I remember David having to throw
his stash out of the window." The second
police confrontation was more alarming. [Jim] Dickson had appointed his best friend John Barrick to act as road manager on the tour, but he could not control Crosby, who defied authority with a brass neck wilfulness that astonished everybody. "Somewhere along
the trip, another
sheriff stopped them and asked to
search the bus," Dickson recalls. "David had
a pound of grass and he went to the top of the bus, stood in the door and said, 'You're not getting on this bus!' There wasn't anybody there that had that much nerve. Jim McGuinn told me that he was petrified. He thought it was all over. They all knew there was
a pound on the bus and
the cops couldn't miss it. But David stood there and defied
the police and convinced them that they had no right to get on
his bus. 'We're travelling interstate and . . .' He'd make it up as he was going along, like he does. John Barrick, who had become totally disillusioned with David by then just couldn't believe his eyes, couldn't accept what he was hearing. David stood nose to nose with this
nasty cop and he backed
the cop down. Everybody felt sure
the cop would lose patience and
arrest David for what he was saying. But, instead they drove away without a
search."
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, pages 89-90 Quote:The folk fraternity were expert draft dodgers and champions of 4-F status, with a book of tricks that included
simulated psychosis through drugs, marriages of convenience, feigned homosexuality and, in the most extreme cases, amputation of a big toe. As the last Byrd to attract the attention of the draft board, Clarke was determined not to be enlisted. He
stayed up for several nights with the assistance of
dexedrine, dressed himself in shabby clothes and, psyched up by Gene Clark, he set off for his induction interview eager to provide an Oscar-winning performance.
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, page 91 Quote:The Byrds arrived at London Airport from Chicago at 8 am on Monday 2 August, already looking . . .
prematurely stoned.
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, page 95 Quote:Following the reception, the Byrds retired to the Europa Hotel in Grosvenor Square,
smoked several joints and stayed in their rooms until dark fell. The whiff of
marijuana was seldom absent from hotel suites and dressing rooms frequented by the Byrds, but they invariably brought a touch of
psychedelic bliss to their dull surroundings. "They had crystals and coloured cubes," Derek Taylor recalls. "Chamber maids were saying, 'I don't know what they're doing in that room. They've got all these things piled up like children's bricks on the table. And what are they doing with
the towels?'" Taylor knew that
the towels placed on the bottom of doors were to prevent
marijuana smoke escaping from the room while they got
happily stoned watching their collection of coloured objects. The
bizarre behaviour proved all too much for their Cockney roadie Bobby Hamilton, who quit after a few days. Looking back, he pictures the group as almost otherworldly: "
They floated out of the hotel,
floated into the car,
floated on stage,
floated off stage,
floated back to the hotel, shut the bedroom door and that was it.
It was reefers from day one. You could never socialize with them. They were away.
Smoke was everywhere."
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, pages 95-96 Quote:"
The dope smoking was chronic," Derek Taylor confirms. "
And we were taking purple hearts, which I'd bought from some bloke who came up from W.10. He said, 'What do you want, buddy?' I said, 'I don't know. What have you got?' He said, 'These are 15 quid a hundred.' So I said, 'Give us them.'
I distributed the purple hearts and generally behaved irresponsibly, I would say." As it turned out, the Byrds could hardly have survived the week without some kind of
artificial stimulation . . . . Even before they reached the stage, there was a casualty in the ranks . . . . Chris Hillman collapsed in the dressing room, suffering from "acute asthma and bronchitis" and a doctor was rushed to the scene to administer emergency . . .
injections . . . . After a 30-minute delay, Hillman recovered sufficiently to appear on stage. As a result of the drama, not much attention was paid to the show. Instead, journalists gathered around and took photos of McGuinn offering
medication to the beleaguered bassist, who was huddled up in the corner like a war refugee.
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, page 96 Quote:After the show, the [Byrds] fraternized with John [Lennon] and George [Harrison] and
consumed too many bottles of wine. The entire troupe then returned to Brian Jones' flat, where they stayed up until the early hours of the morning
smoking dope . . . . With little time for sleep after their
riotous night of pop star entertainment,
the Byrds consumed more pills and prepared for an action-packed weekend.
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, page 98 Quote:After their second performance of the evening, the Byrds relaxed by climbing on to a nearby rooftop and
smoking some dope . . .
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, page 100 Quote:When we played another place in Soho [The Flamingo] . . . . Paul McCartney was there and he took me and McGuinn home in his Aston-Martin. Scared us to pieces because he was
driving drunk . . .
Long Time Gone, David Crosby & Carl Gottlieb, pages 100-101 Quote:The most astonishing song on the [Byrds' second] album was surely Gene Clark's . . . . The song was written during the British tour, following a
late-night drinking session with Paul McCartney and various members of the Animals at London's Scotch of St James. Gene remembers what happened next: "When I reached my room, I got out my acoustic guitar and started picking out a tune. In a couple of hours I was finished, literally! I slept a full 12 hours after that."
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, page 144 Quote:The combination of late nights, double bookings,
pep pills and testing schedules soon caught up with McGuinn, who followed Hillman into the realms of the afflicted.
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, page 102 Quote:They were still in a weakened state during the latter half of the itinerary and
the speed they had ingested was now repaying them with bouts of exhaustion. Derek Taylor diagnosed their problems most perceptively: "Their resistance was low. Mike was ill, Hillman was ill, McGuinn was ill.". . . the group had already
wasted themselves on a 30-date tour of the USA and were now living on
artificial energy in order to take advantage of London's night life. . . . for the Byrds weren't the kind of act to return to their hotel and settle into bed with a cup of cocoa.
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, page 103 Quote:Graham Nash: ". . . I saw them down at a club called Blazes and I was astounded because I think I saw either Crosby or McGuinn
pull out a joint and start smoking on stage."
Long Time Gone, David Crosby & Carl Gottlieb, page 103 Quote:Turning to [Derek] Taylor on the plane back to America, [Crosby] produced
his stash of marijuana and, with a twinkle in his eye, announced: "If we did nothing else, even if our music is bad,
we got you high."
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, page 109 Quote:On the evening of 25 August 1965, there was a meeting of
frazzled minds in Benedict Canyon, Beverly Hills. The Beatles were holding court and had invited the Byrds to a supergroup summit. . . . With
the police force providing a safe escort, the Byrds were allowed through to the house, where they were soon joined by Crosby's friend Peter Fonda. An
acid-drenched evening stretched into the night and continued the following morning. During the revels, Fonda recalled a near death experience while on the operating table and kept repeating the words: "I know what it's like to be dead." Chilled by the mournful tone, John Lennon told him to shut up, but the words stuck in his head and would later form the chorus of the Beatles' 'She Said She Said'. Fonda was not the only influence on the Beatles' songwriting that evening. An informal jamming session took place which would prove significant. "We were
sitting around on acid playing 12-strings in the shower," McGuinn told me. "We were in this large bathtub which used to belong to the Gabors. John, George, David and I were just sitting there playing. We were showing them what we knew about Ravi Shankar and they'd never heard of him." When they emerged from the bathtub, somebody pointed out that it had been an age since any of them had eaten. Unfortunately, a sterling attempt to prepare some food in the kitchen caused further problems as
the LSD exaggerated their spatial perspective. Some found they had too much food, others not enough. Meanwhile, John Lennon lost the ability to operate a knife and fork and went through a
torment worthy of Tantalus as his food moved around the plate, frustratingly out of mouth's reach. Eventually, he poured the contents on to the floor, unsure how to proceed thereafter.
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, page 113 Note to Peter: It is perhaps not generally known that current
RIC CEO John Hall was present at this event as a teenager. Whether or not he, too, consumed controlled substances in mass quantities and dumped his food all over the floor is also not generally known. However, since
[email protected] is not primarily known as "a bass player," perhaps he "might remember more."
Quote:John [Hall] was at Burt Lancaster's house on that fateful day when Roger McGuinn had his first
acid trip and David Crosby turned George Harrison on to Indian sitar music. He witnessed Lennon punching it out with Peter Fonda . . .
Guitar World's 1991-92 Guitar Buyer's Guide, page 155 It should be noted that no way in hell was this Roger McGuinn's first
acid trip. By 1965, McGuinn was already a
veteran acidhead, and had been for years. It was, however, the Beatles' very first willful
acid trip, John and George having
experienced LSD only once before, and against their will, when, unbeknownst to them, their dentist slipped it into their coffee/tea at a party months earlier (which they subsequently fled, fearing an orgy). Needless to say, guess who turned the Beatles on to
acid for real at the Byrds/Beatles summit and sent the Fabs down the long and winding road of their own magical mystery tour.
Quote:"Yeah," the Byrd, McGuinn, explained, summarizing the historic moment, "Dylan was real and the Beatles were plastic. Then the Beatles got more authentic and Dylan got more top 40." Part of the credit, many believe, must go to the brand of
hallucinogens the Beatles were ingesting,
bestowed upon them by McGuinn, when the Byrds . . . as "John Lennon's favorite American band" got an audience with the fab four. "We'd seal ourselves up in a bathroom, get the security guys out of there, and all
take acid and sit on the floor and play guitars," McGuinn recalled nostalgically.
Hipper Than Our Kids, Bruce Pollock, page 92 Quote:We'd meet and hang out, sometimes for days at a time. I was their connection for getting
good weed and, in some cases,
acid. We played guitar together. We talked together. We watched movies together. Basically, you could say we had a great time.
Long Time Gone, David Crosby & Carl Gottlieb, p. 101 Quote:. . . McGuinn recalls, "we all got together and had a good time."
The Byrds [1971], Bud Scoppa, page 34 Quote:Acid had a part in further altering the character of both groups:
LSD was a factor in the creative explosion of the Beatles . . .
The Byrds [1971], Bud Scoppa, page 35 Quote:. . . all sorts of weird and wonderful scenes opened up to the Byrds in 1965
and 1966, among them, getting to meet the Beatles. "We'd seal ourselves up in a bathroom or something, get the security guys out of there, and all
take acid and sit on the floor and play guitars," McGuinn recalled. McGuinn credits himself for turning George Harrison on to Eastern mysticism. "George didn't believe in anything when I first met him. I remember his response, because I thought it was really odd. He said, 'We don't believe in God.' Like he didn't have a personal mind or ego of his own. It was a group consciousness. Well, we don't know what to think about that. They were kind of neat the way they worked, the Beatles. They used to all protect each other; it was like a little gang. If you do something to one of them, they'll get you. Anyway, I told him about
Ravi Shankar and all that Indian stuff, and he got into it after that."
When The Music Mattered, Bruce Pollock, page 85 Quote:At first, George was skeptical--"We don't believe" . . . . Not long after, George bought a sitar and sought
Ravi Shankar as his teacher. He also found out all he could about the tenets of Hinduism. George's subsequent songwriting, as well as his actions in general, changed radically.
The Byrds [1971], Bud Scoppa, page 34 Quote:I'm not sure if it was me that did it, but there are people that tell me I turned [George] on to Indian music. I know I was turning everybody I met on to
Ravi Shankar . . .
Long Time Gone, David Crosby & Carl Gottlieb, p. 101 Quote:. . . master sitarist Ravi Shankar recorded at World Pacific Studios during the Byrds' [1964] residency there . . .
Byrds Boxed Set Booklet, page 22
Quote:McGuinn had first tried
LSD back in 1961, when it was decidedly underground and still legal. "There were five of us in a commune in the Mission district of San Francisco," he said. "One guy started drawing weird stuff on napkins, and then he got crazy. We had to
hide all the knives. I got into music. I remember testing myself to see if
I was out of control. I got into the shower and I said, 'Well, if
I'm out of control, I'll turn the shower on and get myself wet.' So I stood there and decided, no, I'm not gonna do that." Experiences like those were then intensified by the proselytizing of the Byrds, the Beatles, and
Dr. Timothy Leary.
When The Music Mattered, Bruce Pollock, page 85 Quote:Jim McGuinn had first taken
LSD as early as 1962 and was
still getting high on acid in a bathtub with the Beatles three years later. Upon waking every morning, he usually
began the day with a joint and
moved on to speed late in the evening.
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, pages 163-164 And, of course, The Byrds/Beatles/FBI/
drugs incident mentioned in a
previous posting. (See
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, pages 114-117.)
Quote:"It took a crisis to get the best out of Derek [Taylor]," Dickson notes, "and what he did at that Columbia session with the
FBI astounded me."
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, page 117 Quote:Before long, McGuinn became convinced that the group was being followed by the
FBI. "They'd been chasing after us because somebody left some
hashish in the airplane coming back from England," he said. "So they came down on us in a recording studio and said, 'Whose is this?' Of course nobody claimed it. But I remember one time not long after that when we were out on the road. David Crosby was on the balcony of this Holiday Inn, and he had a slingshot with these little .22 caps that you put in a blank gun. He was shooting them against the brick wall, maybe thirty feet down, and they were exploding, right? Okay, well down at the end, right where these things were blowing up, there was a bunch of rednecks playing poker. And they came out and started climbing over the balcony, screaming, 'Guys died in Iwo Jima for punks like you.' They were pounding on Crosby, when suddenly the
FBI appeared. You know, '
FBI, son, break it up.' They took these guys out and sent them off to their room. I don't know if it was just a coincidence, but what were they doing in the middle of Iowa? From then on I used to be looking over my shoulder, thinking that the government was after me."
When The Music Mattered, Bruce Pollock, page 86
![The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequel [1998], Johnny Rogan, pages 113-117](http://www.mlode.com/~813/timelessflight.jpg){kind=link}
