Church of the Good Earth 1963 and Beyond

Hey Brother. I remember you. You were there when I first came out in the winter of 1970. Then I was back and forth bi-coastal until 1974 when I went back east for good. Haven't thought about Kelly band the others in ages . With each new person that joins this forum more and more memories come flashing back. How are you doing and what are you up to?

ZEV aka Zih-Ave

 

Flashback..GE'ers I remember...Cyril Issacs / Cancer Nancy, Steven Stacy, Aires Ron, Aquarius Tony, Sleaze John, Kid, Bull / Carolyn, Hydraulic Jack, Breeze / Rose, Schills / Dianne, Count / Barbara, Scorpio Ted, Taurus Steve, Rock Bottom, Ga Ga, Taurus John / Toni, Mouseman, Darryl / Mama Kitten, Leo Ron / Reggie, Wild Bill / Jane, Maura, Dianne / Dennis, Wendy, Piecies Bob / Mary, Johnnie, Risa, Julie, Kelly, Nailcakes, Leslie, Dana, Biker Ray, Sampson, Piecies Kathy, Debbie, Sunshine,

Family meetings, "Omming,"

 

:grouphug: Hellloooooo Family.. glad to see ya Spud.. I remember them all too.. it took me ten yrs online to make any contact and make a place for us to gather.. I am so glad it's being utillized and we are all connecting.. Skip the webmaster was kind enough to give us a room.. (Love ya Skip).. Where's Mouseman.. I lost contact last yr, hope he and heather are well n happy.. I knows yous happy, by the look on your face with your little angelbaby.. Bright Blessings Family.. Love Love Love..

 

Hey Zev,

I remember you also. We hung out with different family members (right?). I started my GE career at the Recycling Center on Haight Street; smashing glass bottles in 55 gallon drums. Leo Ron would come by in the "Bread Truck" and we would load up a half-dozen barrels of glass, metal, paper, etc and head on down to South San Francisco to the scrap yards. Passing dubes and 40s all-the-way.

From there I got a spot on the GE Paint Crew (Leonard was the foreman). We painted quite a few victorians in the city. We had a contract to do the Jefferson Airplane's house on Fulton Street.

After painting houses, I started doing auto repair (at the garage on Cole Street). After the big Cole Street bust, I moved up to Haight Street and worked at the auto repair shop behind the Hole in Wall (Cyril's Art Gallery).

From there, I moved up to Ash Valley, Oregon (circa 1971) and settled in with several GE'rs who wanted to get back to nature. Ten years of living off the grid and working in the woods....

 

I have to add Whitey to list and Big Steve. I remember a bunch of us going up to Mt. Tamalpias in the GE bus and tripping out for the day. I went on the bus up to the Magic People's Farm for a day long outing. Lots of fun with the Family!

 

hello all.. this is lesley...i worked the recycling center also.. remember the hungry eye for family meetings..ommmmmmmmmmmmm
remmber a family trip to mendocino where its a beautiful day played..i lived with jerry the jewelry maker who passed away in dec 71..i went bac east in aug 71..i ahve so many great memories i could write all night..lol..have not heard anyone mention marianne who was a social worker and had a daughter valerie who was age 8 in 71..i would baby sit she and ronnie who was age 5.. ronnieis kittens daughter.. i took them to meet maharishi mahesh yogi at golden gate..hugggg ever1

 

((((HUGS))) Lesley

 

Nailcakes, Thanks for all your hard work to get this site together! I think this is great! More and more GE'rs will chime in as time goes on. You betcha! Mouseman is still in the Eugene, Oregon area, as far as I know. As you probably know, Woodpecker got shut down a few years ago. We lost a great spot for our annual reunions. We need to come up with an alternative. I hear from Wild Bill from time to time. He started a website for grandparents. Are we getting old? I am still working as a land use / transportation planner; Cathy's Good Earth Botanicals and Massage business is doing well. My son Danny is a great musician, as is my other son Chris. They are playing together in a bluegrass band. Danny has a reggae band and write and produces urban hip hop tunes. We are located in Southern Oregon. Peace out...

 

View attachment 39906 Spud planting spare trees at his place in Ash Valley!

 

View attachment 39907 Some of the Homegrown Reforestation crew circa 1981...

 

Glad to see all of you here. 'Cakes, congrats on putting this together. The memories are all good and definitely not boring, that's fer sure. Some of the names brought up stir up some images, some a bit foggier than others. I wonder why that is. Lesley, thanks for mentioning Jerry. I certainly remember his passing as he fell victim, as did Jane, Xiomara, Mouseman, and others to Sam's selling us uncut acid under the guise of something else. He was truly enlightened. Pisces Patty? Five kids? Wow!

I've got two grown kids. Jessica, now 35 eek, living in Texas, and Jason, 25. He's autistic, living with his mother (A.J. from GE in the mid '70s) in Sacramento. Hobbled but still a great kid.

I'm a globe trotter these days, splitting time between L.A. and Europe. Not crazy about L.A. but the nature of my occupation makes it necessary. I'm sure you all heard about the success of Taurus Barbara's writing career and her premature death due to liver cancer. She is dearly missed.

 

This is GREAT!!!! I am sooooo happy to see all of you :grouphug:... Zev.. you said they would come.. you was righty right.. I has been a long strange trip hadn't it.. all our babies now have babies and some of us have greatgrandbabies.. we have 15 grandbabies.. well.. some aint babies no more.. our oldest grand kid is 18!!! our youngest .. we have two that were born two weeks apart (both girls) and are 1yr old.. In fact we have 13 girls and only two boys.. but I don't think a couple of the kiddos are done yet so we are still counting..... Just more to huggle up and love love love..Yes, I did hear about Woodpecker. What a BUMMER... The last time I talked to Mouseman. he and Heather were still doing the Kettle Korn....talking about going to mexico.. Taurus Barbra.. Man.. we all remember Barbra.. she was 14 under the hood of a truck when I first met her.. there next to underhouse.. with Kid. n Count, It was hard to distingues between them.. bc they were covered in grease... Barbra n I had been talking for about 1 1/2 yr before she lost her fight with Hep-C.... yes, she will be missed... She thought often of all of us and her book's charectures were based on her GE Family.. Too Cool.......................I have had a few visits from Family.. Diane (Ms Shills) from underhouse.. two yrs ago ( we are in constant contact now) and is planning another visit next month for Thanksgiving.. Diane is living in Encino.. After Diane's visit in Jan 2006, Ranger and Rita came for a couple of weeks..that summer and are both in Arizona now I believe...Then This yr lo n behold Shills himself blew in on 18 wheels on his way to FtW.. He lives in Tenn with his new wife Beverly ( 10 yrs).. Well most all of that is already posted in this thread.. I just get excited .. It is soooo very cool that we are getting more family together here, where we can remember and catch up..I feel Blessed.. Here's too us all :cheers2:... Nailcakes..

 

Who is this guy named Sam? I also fell victim to uncut, super-strength L. It happened at least twice that I can remember (the fog is thick). The first time was one night in front of the Cole Street House. Me and Ga Ga were hanging out on the front stoop; Kid just closed-up the garage and took off with Sleaze John; then this dude comes up and asks if we want a toot. Of course me and Ga Ga (aka "Coo-Ga") say yes. Toot, toot and we were both in La, La land. All I can remember is everything was spinning out of control - Ga Ga dissappeared into the night - I could hardly stand up straight. I made it through somehow. The other time was after a Halloween party in Sausalito (Van Morrison and the violin player from It's a Beautiful Day played) - same results.

 

Sam was an older black man who started hanging out. I always got a creepy feeling from him. I had already dealt with my meth addiction before the Good Earth and was not ready to go there again. He was constantly trying to get the ladies of the house to get high with him. Everyone thought it was cocaine but it was just plainold bathtub speed. I told him that I was hip to his game. He just laughed and started calling me "slim hipped schiz". He was very charming but not a very nice man. He was around about the time of Rattlesnake Ray. Anyone remember Ray? What a character!

 

View attachment 39914 Here's one of our "old" GE Botanicals and Massage product labels

 

I remember Ray. He was an older, biker-type dude (remember the "chocalate?). Bosco was his favorite.

Remember Alice (and Daryl)? How about Dana. She was a fox and a mule.

 

More memoroies come back. Spud wew did hang with different people. I did a lot of work with Leo Ron and Meg the bg rig. I was also trying to get my music going (That picture I posted a while ago is my band
SPARKY playin a benefit concert for NORML ( Or maybe it was for the Platypus Party) that we did off the corner of OAK & COLE.)

I think that day in Sausilito I was playing keyboard with that violinist whose name was David LaFlame.

Sam was invoved with Stacey and Ron in the non-hip business of the family. He did think all he had to do to get laid was give a girl some coke or whatever else he had. And yes Dana was a fox.

Do any of you remember the big meeting of the tribes at Cat Mother's ranch up in northern Califonia. I took a bunch of people up in my old Econoline van including Kitten & child and Xiomara (and Patty I think you came with us also.) I forget If I was with Nancy or Michelle at the time. I remember that we had so little money for gas (and gas was oh so cheap then) that I coasted a lot of the way home. I know I sat in wiht the bands up there for some blues.

Some questions was it Aquarious Tony who had (built) the Harley trike in the basement of Oak Street and worked int wood and was Marianne sort of short roundish with really curly hair?

Wild Bill it's good to know you're still around. When I was feuding with Kid nyou were one of the few voices of reason that calmed things down.

The times at Good Earth were like the opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities "It was the best of tims ; it was the worst of times" and sometimes like that line fom Gilbert & Sullivan "Things are seldom what they seem; Skim milk often masquerades as cream". I learned much at Good Earth and not all of it the easy way. I'm hoping that we can once again have a family meeting and I hope it's soon. I haven't been to a group OM in to long minute.

Well enough for now. I'm off to an audition to see if I can get back to playing more Music and doing less Law.

 

Spud. I still have a deer horn pipe that Daryle made for me and pair of the erotic bongs that Eden made and Alice modeled for the female one.

 

Didn't Ray also have a trade Electrician or plumber ( or both)?

 

I heard from Daryl a few years ago. He said he was married and living in Las Vegas doing carpendry. I have one of his collages (attached). View attachment 39926