Were you in the Haight Ashbury in 1967? If yes, why did you come? What drew you to the Haight? What were you expecting to find? And once you got there, what was your reality?! Was the Summer of Love filled with love and good energy or was the Haight beginning to turn hateful? Did being in San Francisco then turn your life upside down? Inside out? Right side up? Etc. etc. Lots of questions because we are making a documentary film and looking for personal stories. We are also hoping someone out there has (or knows someone who has) old home movie footage stored away somewhere. This is a real search, we are legit filmmakers. sf67@igc.org [COLOR=Sienna]Summer of Love[/COLOR]
You have all your answers here. Quite a collection of actual Hippies from that era from around the world. Good luck. Beads forever.
I was there before 'during and after-which year do you want to know about-67?-fun for awhile but then overcrowded-plenty of drugs and sex but not enough crash pads food or money for basics-I liked the place better in 66 before the "gold rush"- so to speak-that was before the tag "hippy" was put on people and thats when all the music was new and free alot of times-and Owsley made the finest crazy mind altering stuff in the world-very strong!-A small amount and the streets buckled-the sky was multi colored people all looked funny and ya could;nt quit laughing making the "straights" think we were stone crazy!- but we knew as a group how to survive and party-but alas' all good things must end-LSD was made illegal in late 66-and then the flood of new faces filled the Haight Ashbury and then came the tour buses and tourists-the rest is history-the scene changed-got too popular of place for many and people started heading for the hills to form communes-mostly-and that was alot of fun too-no cops or paranoia-ya see' when the masses of people came in to the Haight- the hard drugs came with them-so now instead of people doing recreational drugs like acid or weed; now it;s speed and heroin-these two drugs destroyed many people and now it was no longer safe to even be on the streets at night-so-that was one of the downfalls of the Haight Ashbury scene-and those two drugs are still the main culprits today in splitting up communaties and families-Bad Stuff-The magic from those days was great and everything we did was new-the music ;the people ;the drugs ;the attitude -all new as far as a group thinking as one-I learned alot about life and people in those few years-very good education in humanaties -San Francisco was party central; but also was a good place to grow-from the inside out-
In the early spring of 1967, I was living in a loft at 25 Bleecker, and then at 6 Bleecker, right off The Bowery, damn near on the boundary line of The West and East Villages. I was delivering the East Village Other every week with my 1950 Chevy and managing their back-issue office at E.10th and Ave. A. Mainly, I sat around getting high, reading and bull-shitting with people that stopped in. I began hearing of the new scene in Haight-Ashbury, and decided to go. So, in June, I stopped home in eastern PA, picked up my buddy, Nat, who I had turned on to pot, rounded up some money and headed west. We took the back seat out so we could sleep better and drove basically non-stop in about 6 days. I remember we had a 5 gallon can of oil, a army jerry-can of water and three spare tires. We used almost all the oil plus 2 of the tires. Anyhow, we pulled into San Francisco early in the morning, got directions to the Haight, and by noon had a second-floor corner apartment at the intersection of Haight and Octavia Sts., almost near Market St. $60 a month, I think-- share a bathroom. We soon were up at the main drag- about 6 blocks along Haight to Golden Gate Park. I was used to the night-time scene at McDougal and Bleecker in the West Village, but what I saw here was hard to believe! 24-7, crowded like Mardi Gras, drug-dealers every few yards actually hawking their wares: "Acid?", "Pot?", Hash?", 'Speed?", and done in a semi-loud tone of voice as if they were selling tomatoes or sweet corn. And, the age of the kids! In NYC, we called them "teeny-boppers", kids still in high school who hopped the subway and came downtown to play hippie for a night. But, even they were mostly 16 or 17. Christ!, here in S.F., the whole fucking street was full of 13,14,15 year-old kids, obvious run-aways. Walking around barefoot in the dog-shit, broken-glass filth that littered the street. Up the street, the Hell's Angels held court at a bar, and these stupid children were hanging around them, idolizing their slimy asses, getting gang-banged, knocked-up, beaten-up and given mega-doses of clap. I was 20 and had street-smarts, having lived in the Village since 1966; I was appalled at the basic stupidity, naiveity and ignorance I encountered. In NYC, people at least made a pretense to be an artist or an aspiring writer or a dancer. Here, they just wanted to get high. I stayed for over 5 months, and I don't know if I had three conversations that didn't center around drugs, the pigs, man!, drugs, I'm broke, man!, drugs and more drugs. Don't get me wrong: I smoked pot and took my first acid trip in Golden Gate Park (where I unfortunately met Charlie Manson before he became notorious), but my live didn't revolve around them. I explored the whole city, sold newspapers in Chinatown and Fisherman's Wharf, fucked a lot, got the clap twice,saw my first speed-freaks shooting up (yes, there was plenty of it around) and had big fun. In Sept., my buddy left, hitch-hiking home through the northern states. After the Death of Hippie March, where I was the head pallbearer of the "dead" hippie (the only march I ever took part in during three years in the hip scene), me and a girl hitch-hiked home via Reno, Las Vegas and Route 66. It took us 5 days, and we returned to good old NYC. Yeah, there was peace and love and beatific smiles and friendly people. There was also rapes, one murder (at least), beau-coup bad-trips and drug-overdoses, Hell Angel-violence,rampant venereal disease and con-artists (like Manson) preying on the naive kids. Let's just say I have fond memories of San Francisco, but they are of the beauty of the weather and the city, not so much of the people. But--- it was a time! All things considered, I preferred the West Village and the old beatnik crowd.
Thudly-Good recall you have-You pretty much nailed it-The best times in the Haight were prior to the Summer Of Love-In 66- it was kinda like Greenwich Village on a much smaller scale-there were poets' artists musicians etc. and very little violence-Sorry you got there a little late-There was way too many street kids panhandeling and tripping-It was all over by 67-I was there also for death of the hippy-and it was sad-something so good now gone-The Hells Angels used to throw parties down at Playland at the beach-Me and my buddies went and had no problems at all-But I was there at Altamont and watched them stomp the hell out of people and killed one guy-The Rolling Stones hired them to be security for the concert-nice!-Shit there was people droppin all over the place-they wrecked the show-To be fair tho-in 1970 me and my partner were in New York City for one night on our way to Europe and we checked out the Village-we got robbed right on the street--but Iv'e had that happen in SF too-The village was nice--but I'm done with big city living--East or West-
Robspace, I checked your profile (nosy me) and I see you were born June 8, 1949. The woman I once loved, now dead, was born June 8, 1947. I was born June 9, 1947, 12 hours after Sandy. We met 33 years later, drank and fucked and ruined my marriage, I don't regret one goddamned minute of it. I still make love with my ex-wife and I still pour a beer on Sandy's grave.*(She died of liver disease--caused by drinking and meth abuse). The big thing is-- Sandy and I were in the same maternity ward when we were only a few days old. THERE ARE NO CO-INCIDENCES!
Here's my first post in here man...in 1967 i was 13 and just grttin' started gettin' my head together and now in 05, i got lots of stories and time to tell them. Real cool place-so far!!!
Thudly-Your life story sounds alot like mine-contained confusion!-haha--and chaos--But hey 'I am just happy and slightly amazed that I am still on the topside and not under it-God knows I;ve accidentaly tried very hard to bail' but like Dyan sez The only thing I knew how to do was keep on keepin on-I lost my sons mom about 5 years ago at 47 from too many years of fast livin-it does catch ya-also many friends from overdose and alki-liver failure like you said--lost my mom at 50 and my only brother at 52 from alki--so-I quit-threw in the towel and life is slower but more sure-good luck bro!-Rob
PS-Thudly-Did ever catch Dylan in the village in the early 60s?--I never saw him until after he went electric-which I thought was good stuff-I downloaded some old Dylan last night-sounded great -then I downloaded his new album-Wow-the voice is gone' but the writing is still good-
No, robspace, I didn't get to the Village until 1966 and by then Dylan was living in Woodstock. Dylan's music and Henry Miller's writing were two reasons I went to NYC. I did have a loft at 6 Bleecker, one floor above A.J. Weberman who termed himself a "garbologist" and a "Dylanologist". He was famous at the time (the 70's) for going through Dylan's garbage after Dylan moved back to West 4th St. and generally pestering him --finally, Dylan caught him raiding his garbage and beat him up, probably the only guy in his life he ever fought. What a claim to fame! Check out his web-site at www.ajweberman.com
Thudly-I think I remember that dumpster dive for Dylan guy-It seems as much as John Lennon dug Dylan they would have gotten together with acoustic guitars and done some impromtu sessions in some of those smaller clubs in the Village-That would have been great to see!-Bye the way how did Lennon's killer ever make it to court-Seems like there should have been a lynching in Central Park for that asshole-man-the world lost a great musician that day-what a waste-Did you have a chance to check out all the local groups when you were in S.F-at the Fillmore or the Avalon?
Robspace-- I'm getting drunk. I saw Tht Greatful Dead before they were named that, and I thought they sucked. I still think they suck, (37 years later), and even Though I like maybe 4 of their songs, they still suck!
