Pierced Arrows (#1): No Halloween Costumes Required.

Pierced Arrows dressed as themselves, Halloween Night 2012. Ash Street Saloon. Portland, Oregon.

 Fred Cole

A word often used to describe the husband (guitar/vocals) and wife (bass/vocals) team of Fred & Toody Cole is "legendary." After all, Fred Cole has a rock 'n' roll pedigree dating back to the '60s with his band the Weeds/Lollipop Shoppe, and their previous group Dead Moon garnered fans on at least a couple of continents. But I'd be remiss not to add "fun" and "intense" as onstage characterizations for them, as well.

Last night, I re-watched the Coles perform as part of Dead Moon in the 1996 documentary Hype! about the Seattle grunge scene. Although they're certainly representative of a Pacific Northwest psych-garage-punk sound, what's not mentioned in the flick is that the Coles pound terra 173 miles to the south in Portland -- not belly up to Puget Sound. Ah, the days when Portland got no respect!

As for the Coles and drummer Kelly Halliburton--"Much Respect," as the saying goes, for their gritty, gutsy playing, and Fred Cole's switchblade-insightful lyricism.

Toody Cole

Kelly Halliburton

Steve Bloom (#2): Reefer Flicks.

"Henry Hemp" interviewing Steve Bloom (right) about his book Reefer Movie Madness: The Ultimate Stoner Film Guide. Bloom, who runs the CelebStoner web site, edited articles of mine for High Times magazine, and gave me assignments to conduct feature interviews with authors Tom Robbins and T.C. Boyle.

For Reefer Movie Madness, I contributed a couple of movie reviews: Withnail and I ("Bruce Robinson's film deservedly has as devoted a cult audience in England as The Big Lebowski does in the U.S.") and Oliver Stone's Salvador ("There, Boyle and Rock encounter death squad victims at a mass dumping ground, right-wing paramilitaries, Marxist guerillas, and Reagan-administration interventionists who purposely overlook human rights violations by the El Salvadoran power elites...").

If I were being interviewed for a documentary right now, I'd say, "May there be less Reefer Madness, and more Reefer Movie Madness, in the days ahead."

Cut! That's a wrap!

Ralph Gean (#21): Ready To Play At Seventy.

Today is rock 'n' roll original Ralph Gean's seventieth birthday. I'm sure if he has guitar in hand, and someone in front of him, he'll naturally be playing his own songs or cover tunes, and serving as the entertainment tonight at his own celebration.

Never have I witnessed a performer reach so many different types of audiences: whether it be white hipster dive-bar patrons as he plays his original songs like "Homicidal Me," or latinos gamely listening to him butcher the lyrics to "La Bamba" at a blue-collar bar, or old folks at a retirement home as he breaks out a hip-shaking, risque Elvis standard. Ralph has been enjoyed at peckerwood car lots, local talent shows, and Satanist wedding receptions. He has the gift of reaching all manner of people through his muse.

I'm delighted to add that Ralph sometimes entertains people by playing a cover version of my song "Kill for a Cigarette," which Ralph released on one of his own CDs, in addition to having tickled the keys on my very own, original Gregory Ego sound recording. (See YouTube video below.)



Here's hoping Ralph remains ready, willing, and able to rock and roll all night for years to come.

Happy Birthday to you, Ralph Gean!

Ralph opening for John Doe at the Lion's Lair in Denver on May 27, 2011.

Paul Z. Simons: Anarchy in Johnny's Newsstand.

Paul Z. Simons, a onetime writer and editor for the magazine he's seen holding, at a now-defunct Denver newsstand. (I'm amused at how there's a loaded gun on the cover of TIME magazine, but not on Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed -- stereotypes be damned.) Currently, he's an editor for the magazine Modern Slavery: A Journal for the Abolition of all forms of Enslavement.

And Simons is also a onetime employer of mine. In the '90s, he headed an HIV and Hepatitis C prevention group called People Engaged in Education and Reduction Strategies (PEERS). From '97 to '98, I helped coordinate the organization's activities. Our non-profit co-hosted a conference on harm reduction that was attended by the health departments of several Western states, as well as Colorado's future governor. (My article on the event can be found here, on pg. 28.) We spearheaded a change in Denver law concerning syringe exchange, and attempted to reform state law in the legislature. And we hosted a regional user's group which solicited advice, on behalf of state funding overseers, from injection drug users on how to best offer services.

I once asked Simons how he managed to be a political outsider, yet still officiate in a very public way within the system.

"Compartmentalization," he shot back.

I still find that to be particularly helpful advice.

Wayne Kramer (#3): Wayne Raging On Guitar.

UPDATE: The photo above of Wayne Kramer was recently included within the book Feeding Back: Conversations With Alternative Guitarists by David Todd. It’s a book of interviews, which are as much about several, unique musicians’ takes on life as it is about their relationship with their instrument. For instance:

David Todd: Are you still a work in progress?

Wayne Kramer: Well, yeah. I haven’t pulled over and parked. I guess we’re coming back around to this idea of ambition, and I actually feel like I’m just getting started, you know…That’s why I’m grateful that I’m alive, I’m enthusiastic about every day. I know that my time is finite, but it’s enough time. It’s exactly enough time if you’re using it as best you can.

It’s time to express my gratitude. I was tickled pink – or, perhaps, red, white and blue (like Wayne’s axe) – that the Kramer organization directed Todd towards my photo, and suggested it be used as the one representative shot of the guitar-slinger that would be included in the book at the start of the interview.

*
Wayne Kramer makes ready to perform a most incendiary version of "Kick Out The Jams" with Rage Against the Machine, across town from the Democratic National Convention. Denver Coliseum. August 27, 2008.

Here's my Huffington Post interview with Kramer that took place prior to the event. Kramer relates his experience with the MC5 at the violence-soaked '68 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

(Click here for my other Wayne Kramer photos.)

fIREHOSE (#1): fIREHOSERS.

ed fROMOHIO and Mike Watt of  fIREHOSE. Early '90s. Where and when exactly...it's all a mystery to me today.

Having seen Mike Watt's previous band, I can attest that fIREHOSE were no Minutemen. But, then again, the Minutemen were no fIREHOSE.

Here's to fIREHOSE's present-day reunion -- and to Mike Watts' continued low-end endeavors.

Slim Cessna's Auto Club (#17): Celebrating Slim Cessna's Auto Club.

Cheers! Wishing the always energetic Slim Cessna's Auto Club another 20 years of activity. The band celebrates its double-decade existance this week with three gigs at the Lions Lair in Denver -- a rare treat. Those shows I'll be missing. But luckily I've seen the band at the venue, in the past. The photo above, though, was taken in Fort Collins in the late '90s.

Tom Robbins (#2): The Green Man.

 

The photo that I took above accompanied my feature interview with Tom Robbins ("The Green Man") in the June 2000 issue of High Times. The same interview was recently reprinted in a scholarly work published by the University Press of Mississippi: Conversations with Tom Robbins. Nice to know that a state-affiliated publisher in Mississippi would concern itself with Mr. Robbins' thoughts concerning pyschedelics.

My favorite exchange:

HT: Why, in your opinion, is fiction still an important art form?

TR: Much more than an entertaining set of exaggerated facts, fiction is a metaphoric method of describing, dramatizing and condensing historical events, personal actions, psychological states and the symbolic knowledge encoded within the collective unconscious; things, events and conditions that are otherwise too diffuse and/or complex to be completely digested or appreciated by the prevailing culture. The human race has always defined itself through narration. That isn't going to change just because we've gone electronic. What is changing is that now we're allowing corporations to tell our stories for us. And as I write in my new novel, the message of the corporate story is always the same: "To be special, you must conform; to be valid, you must consume." Real fiction will prevail, however, because at its best it's an enchantment that refreshes the wasteland of the mind.

 Trip out on that! In Jackson, no less!

Carol Doda (#1): Carol Doda Keeps Her Shirt On.

 

 

Legendary Condor Club stripper Carol Doda displaying her vocal and stand-up comedienne — rather than bump ‘n’ grind — skills. At the nightclub Amante in North Beach, San Francisco. May 2010.

William Breathes (#1): Chronicling The Chronic.

Cannabis critics? For sure: it’s not just wine, beer, or cigars that deserve appraising reviews.

The first cannabis reviewer that I ever read was a fellow who went by the initial “R,” while penning for High Times back in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s.

These days, the anonymous – yet notorious – critic William Breathes writes for Denver’s alternative weekly Westword. Here’s a piece I wrote for Kush Magazine on Breathes (pg. 52).

As I state/ask in my article:

But Breathes can proudly face-off against other critics in the world of media. Let’s face it: there are a host of reviewers out there who note the aesthetics of a variety of commercial products – like wine, cigars, beer, food – and often use the same language, focusing on the terpenes that they detect in the nose or on the palette. Why not cannabis reviewers, as well, being considered as serious and distinguished trades people?

Little Fyodor (#3), Boyd Rice (#4), Ralph Gean (#20): Holding Court.

The Court Jester, The Duke of Doom, and The Star Trekkin’ Rock ‘n’ Roll Knight.

Little Fyodor, Boyd Rice, and Ralph Gean gathered together in fellowship at the Lion’s Lair in Denver. Franksgiving Celebration. 10/8/2011.

Das Racist (#1): Vas Ist Das Racist?

Kush Magazine published my article on rap act Das Racist, who I describe as thus:

A mixture of humor and bluster. Bark and snark. Singing about White Demons and White Castle hamburgers. Cartoonish. Playing with sedition in the classic, American tradition, like a Charlie Chaplin or Abbie Hoffman. A self-referential, all-brown, Cheech and Chong meets the Three Stooges meets the Beastie Boys.

Here are some of my photos of the group at Casselman’s on 11/19/10. A sloppy, fun show.

 Victor Vazquez

 Himanshu Suri

 Himanshu Suri & Ashok Kondabolu

 Himanshu Suri & Victor Vazquez

Johnny Strike (#3): Wickedpedia.

One of the few friends of mine to have his own Wikipedia page, Johnny Strike certainly possesses a background worthy of being researched via an online encyclopedia: co-founder of the seminal San Francisco punk band CRIME; former methadone clinic counselor; author of two books. The above photo, taken in May 2010, also appears on his "author page" on the web site for Headpress, one of his publishers.

Ken Babbs (#1): The Psychedelic Captain.

Recently, I wrote an article on the Merry Prankster and author Ken Babbs, someone I'd long been interested in meeting again after encountering him once in Boulder in the early ‘90s. Luckily, Babbs just released a novel loosely-based on his time as a marine helicopter pilot in Vietnam at the start of that war – Who Shot the Water Buffalo? -- which allowed me to secure an assignment from Kush Magazine (scroll to page 108).

Babbs was there in '64 on the festively-painted bus Further with fellow writer Ken Kesey and crew: a journey spotlighted in Tom Wolfe’s novel The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and a new documentary film Magic Trip. The first public Acid Test was held at his place, as well. 

Here’s the psychedelic captain in July 2011 at his spread near Eugene, Oregon, flying both his American flag and his, so to speak, “Freak” flag.

Sun Ra (#2): The Book Of Ra.

Some jazz texts may overlook the impact of jazz musician Sun Ra on popular culture, but (obviously) not Sun Ra: Interviews and Essays (Headpress, 2010). Ra championed a space age mythos in his live performances as well as recordings, incorporating costumes, improvisation, choreography, and big band compositions. Within the book, he is seen as an innovator, a catalyst, a precursor, and a visionary by those who still feel his impact: e.g., editor John Sinclair, poet Amiri Baraka, musicians Jerry Dammers and Wayne Kramer, and, ahem, myself—having contributed photos to the project. (The photo above, used in the book, was taken at Sun Ra’s "Election Night End of the World Party" on November 8, 1988 at The Broadway in Denver.)

Sun Ra excited my ears, entranced my mind, and awakened my own interest in and exploration of jazz and its history. The late bandleader promised the stars. And, for many who still revel in his brand of joyful noise, Sun Ra keeps keeping his promise.

Purple Fluid (#1): Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kulwicki.

Here's what I remember about the Fluid: high energy, raw power, long hair, great presence, great drive. They were the band that served the image of Denver well on the Sub Pop roster -- the first non-Seattle band signed to the label.

The Fluid's drummer Garrett Shavlik

Regrettably, I never got to see any of the Fluid's reunion shows, which took place about a couple years ago, but I did get to see 'em a few times back in the day, back in the mid to late '80s. (And I also didn't get to see them a time or two when the fire department, for instance, would shut down a show before it began or midway into it.) Heck, I even opened up on a bill for them with my compadre Kirk Gill, both of us playing electric guitars, no drums, no bass, when I helped organize a couple of their appearances on the Auraria Campus at a club called the Mission.

I didn't know guitarist Rick Kulwicki, personally. But his recent death at age 49 felt like a chapter closing. He not only left behind great rock 'n' roll memories, he left behind two teenagers, who are carrying on his legacy: singer Richard and rhythm guitarist Roman of the band Purple Fluid.

Purple Fluid

The Kulwickis performed this past weekend with Purple Fluid at a benefit intended for them. They did a stand-up job of displaying their sonic lineage. Enhancing the event (and adding a heaping helping of Fluid to Purple Fluid), they were joined onstage for their set by two of their late dad's band mates: namely, drummer Garrett Shavlik and vocalist John Robinson.

John Robinson joins Purple Fluid onstage.

Missed the Kulwicki benefit shows? It's not too late to contribute here.

William S. Burroughs (#5): Thankfully, Burroughs.

A couple of weeks ago at the Starz Denver International Film Festival, I saw the documentary that I’d been eagerly awaiting: William S. Burroughs: A Man Within. Denver’s alternative weekly Westword published a blog about my contributions towards the film’s making--since it features some of my photos of Burroughs, as well as audio (Burroughs talking about his “shotgun art”) from my interview with the writer. In fact, my black-and-white photo of Burroughs wearing a “brain machine” (above) can be seen within the documentary’s latest trailer:



The film offers a compelling look at Burroughs’ history, featuring the affecting recollections and perspectives of Patti Smith, John Waters, and Genesis P-Orridge. People unfamiliar with Burroughs and his work will learn about the counterculture legend from it, and longtime Burroughs devotees will gain new insights. In fact, in its stellar review of the film, the New York Times wrote, "There is not a word or image wasted in a documentary you wish ran an extra half-hour beyond its condensed 90 minutes."

I’m thankful that I was able to lend a hand.

Which reminds me: What would a Thanksgiving be without taking in a viewing of William S. Burroughs’ A Thanksgiving Prayer (also featured within the film)?

The Specials (#1): They Did Too Much, Much Too Young.

Bassist Horace Panter and vocalist Terry Hall of The Specials. I'd add that the band was opening for The Police at the Rainbow Music Hall in Denver in 1980, when I took this photo -- but, actually, it felt more like The Police closed the show for this legendary, British ska amalgamation (and it wasn't like The Police had a bad set, by any means, either). The Specials were so hyper-manic (like watching a ping-pong match), with a purpose (think black-and-white, inclusive, "2 Tone" movement), it was hard to accept that they fizzled out after only another year. Perhaps it was a case -- to quote one of their songs (albeit, one about teenage pregnancy) -- of them doing "too much, too young."

Back together, more or less (more if you count Terry Hall returning to the band; less if you count the lack of keyboardist and founder Jerry Dammers), the band continues to play shows. Just as long as they're not "too little, too old," I say...hell, they've never needed my encouragement to "go for it"--frenetically or musically.

Hunter S. Thompson (#2): Owl Farmer.

Legendary "gonzo" writer Hunter S. Thompson, appearing at the Tattered Cover bookstore in downtown Denver and enjoying his choice of libation.





Recently, I had the chance to visit Thompson's Owl Farm in Woody Creek, Colorado, accompanying other attendees of NORML's 2010 Aspen Legal Seminar at a cookout at Thompson's place:



Wishing to appease the Spirit of Gonzo, I offered to read from one of the late Thompson's works. (I understand that Thompson used to enjoy hearing his own writing read aloud to him.) I didn't know beforehand that Anita Thompson would respond to my request by picking the beginning of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (one of my all-time favorite openings) and inviting me to recite it in front of the group of people gathered in the cabin's living room:



Visiting Owl Farm was a dream come true, but for one thing: the late Thompson wasn't there in the flesh to chide me or nod in approval at my recitation -- whichever the case may have been -- while taking a slug of Chivas Regal.

Jack Herer (#2): Worthy Of A Scythian Send-Off.

Jack Herer in Boulder in the early '90s.

Jack Herer at the Colorado State Capitol in the early '90s, lecturing a crowd on how hemp sails fueled oceangoing exploration.

Jack Herer in Lakewood, Colorado in 1991 with his friend "Captain Ed" Adair.

Cannabis and the Dead
Cannabis was an integral part of the Scythian cult of the dead, wherein homage was paid to the memory of their departed leaders. After the death and burial of their king, the Scythians would purify themselves by setting up small tepee-like structures which they would enter to inhale the fumes of hemp seeds (and the resinous flower calyxes surrounding the seeds) thrown onto red-hot stones.

In a famous passage written in about 450 B.C., Herodotus describes these funeral rites as follows:

...when, therefore, the Scythians have taken some seed of this hemp, they creep under the cloths and put the seeds on the red hot stones; but this being put on smokes, and produces such a steam, that no Grecian vapour-bath would surpass it. The Scythians, transported by the vapour, shout aloud.

Long live Jack Herer, the father of the modern hemp and cannabis legalization movement! Herer passed away on April 15, 2010.

I was one of the last writers to conduct a full-length feature interview with Herer, which was published in Medical Marijuana News and Directory last year, before Herer suffered another heart attack in September and his health declined irrevocably. The interview is reprinted over at Westword -- which interviewed me, as well, about Herer's passing.

Hopefully, there have been enough smoke signals sent up, in order to lead Jack along on his journey. Hopefully, he's getting a send-off worthy of a Scythian king!

Cypress Hill (#1): Hits From The Cypress Hill.

The reefer-fueled rap act Cypress Hill -- that hip hoppin' posse best known for their songs "I Wanna Get High," "Insane in the Brain," and "Hits from the Bong" -- will be appearing this Saturday at the Colorado Cannabis Convention.

I saw them live once: In 1999, while attending High Times magazine's 25th Anniversary Party. I seem to recall being listed on that publication's masthead back then as a "Contributing Writer."

Here's a shot of front man B-Real, lo those eleven years -- and many, many blunts -- ago:

And just in case you were ever wondering what an ice sculpture shaped like a cannabis leaf looks like, here's a photo of the one at the party:

I wonder whether they'll have one of those at the Colorado Cannabis Convention -- in addition to Cypress Hill.

Party on, gentlemen. I just might be joining you.

Sin Desires Marie (#1): Desiring a Reunion of Sin Desires Marie.

Sin Desires Marie (2004)

A couple weeks ago I was visiting Portland, Oregon. At a New Seasons grocery store, I coincidentally spied a familiar face from good, old Denver: Germaine Baca-Has, who has played drums in several bands, both there and here. The one I'm most familiar with, though, also happens to be one of my local, Denver faves from days gone by: Sin Desires Marie. Their sound was both intelligent and explosive--and it had a good beat, you could dance to it. Here are a few photos from a reunion show they put on in 2004 at the now-defunct venue The Climax Lounge. (Nothing lasts forever, does it?)

Germaine Baca-Has

Claudine Rousseau

Yoon Park

Germaine told me that she had instigated another Sin Desires Marie reformation the last time she moved back to Denver -- but then before the good news could even reach me, she had returned to Portland, dashing my chances to see the band once again, and, as she herself put it, "breaking hearts" in the process. Now Germaine's back in Denver, and hopefully she's making good on her promise to rejoin with guitarist Claudine Rousseau and bassist Yoon Park.

Gregory desires another Sin Desires Marie reunion.

Niagara (#2): Niagara Destroys All Monsters.

Salute! Artist and punk rock chanteuse Niagara beside her seductively and destructively-themed work at the (now defunct) D.C. Gallery in Denver. September 3, 2004. Niagara not only provides an eyeful, she's provided an earful with the noise band (in its early years) Destroy All Monsters.

Ralph Gean (#20): Get on the Mike, Ralph.

The Amazing Ralph Gean singin' old school rock 'n' roll into an old school-style microphone. Guest vocalist with The Calf Branders at the Skylark Lounge in Denver. June 26, 2009.

Jules Siegel (#2): ¡Feliz cumpleaños, Jules!

He’s written about Bob Dylan for the Saturday Evening Post in 1966.

He’s written about Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys in 1967, during the making of what some call that era’s unreleased musical masterwork, SMiLE.

He’s been published in Best American Short Stories.

He’s co-authored a book about his ex-wife’s affair with the famously-reclusive novelist Thomas Pynchon.

He’s a practitioner of book art, which has led to a couple of his works residing in the Museum of Modern Art.

He’s co-written a guidebook with family members about Cancun, Mexico—where he’s lived as an expatriate for over two decades.

He manages a listserv for journalists, Newsroom-L, on which he can be a fierce and cantankerous debater and moderator.

He’s also seen to it that I’ve been comped for lunch in one of Cancun’s finest restaurants, La Habichuela, for which he designed the menus. That’s where we exchanged talk about freelance writing and Mexico travels. And it’s where this photo beneath the palm (its shadow cast onto his face) was taken in 2003.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the multi-faceted -- and insightful dining companion of mine -- Jules Siegel.

Happy Birthday, Jules!

The Clash (#1): Stay Free.

It was thirty years ago today…

The Clash -- without whom I wouldn’t be who I am today (for better or worse) -- playing at the Palladium in New York City on September 21, 1979. My third rock concert. (And the first time I ever availed myself of a certain herbal substance, using the ticket stub as a “roach clip.”)

A little ragged at first, the band heated up and then provided a pressure-cooker performance. It’s the concert which imprinted “revolution rock” onto my neurons. (It also probably damaged some of my hearing early on, as I stood on the arm-rests of a seat near the front of the stage in front of a massive bank of speakers, howling at the music and snapping photographs.)

From left to right: the late Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, and Paul Simonon (whose image from that very same night, photographed in black-and-white by Pennie Smith, appears on the cover of the band’s London Calling album).

Although I eventually saw The Clash again with the same lineup – at Red Rocks here in Colorado in the summer of ‘82 on their Combat Rock tour – this night still remains the ultimate performance by the band for me. It’s not only the concert by which I judge the second and third times I saw the group, it’s probably the concert by which I judge all other concerts that I’ve seen since.

Not only were The Clash on that night, opening act The Undertones had a decent set, and then Sam & Dave (of "Soul Man" fame) unleashed a zestful performance.

My best to surviving members of The Clash: Jones, Simonon, and drummer Topper Headon. To paraphrase the lyrics of the twelfth song the band played that night (thanks to the outtasight site Black Market Clash for jogging my memory with background info on the concert): “If you read this blog tonight, have a drink on me. But go easy…Step lightly…Stay free.”