1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,520 Speaker 1: The twenty seven Club is the production of I Heart 2 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:07,680 Speaker 1: Radio and Double Elvis. Janice Joplin died at the age 3 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:11,080 Speaker 1: of She lived the life that was so far out 4 00:00:11,119 --> 00:00:14,360 Speaker 1: it could be downright polarizing. I can give you twenty 5 00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:18,159 Speaker 1: seven reasons why that statement is true. Nine would be 6 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:20,759 Speaker 1: the number of years she spent singing old blues and 7 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:24,119 Speaker 1: folk tunes her way the way she heard them, which 8 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 1: was often raw or raspier and raunchier than audience has expected. 9 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:31,440 Speaker 1: You didn't forget Janice Joplin if you saw her sing. 10 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:34,360 Speaker 1: Another one would be the number of bastions of stagy 11 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,320 Speaker 1: old school entertainment who couldn't bear to listen to that raw, 12 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:39,959 Speaker 1: raspy voice of hers for more than a few bars. 13 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:42,559 Speaker 1: Four more would be the number of people who were 14 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 1: crammed inside a Pontiac Grand Prix with her when it 15 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 1: was pulled over on the Highway and Nebraska, stuffed with 16 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:52,400 Speaker 1: some ripe contraband. Another nine would be the average number 17 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:54,640 Speaker 1: of hours it would take for Ahead to come down 18 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:58,160 Speaker 1: from an LSD trip. And four will be the number 19 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: of years she had left to live after music promoter 20 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 1: and scene shaper Bill Graham tossed her out on the 21 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:07,319 Speaker 1: street for the crime of speaking her mind. On this 22 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:12,480 Speaker 1: our second episode of season three, raspy voices, ripe contraband 23 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:18,759 Speaker 1: public ejections in Janice Choplin, I'm Jake Brennan and this 24 00:01:18,760 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 1: is the seven coughs h. Richard Rogers sat in the 25 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 1: waiting room of Columbia Records in New York office, one 26 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:08,359 Speaker 1: leg crossed perfectly on top of the other, pants pleaded 27 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: and pressed straight. Winds are not on his necktie. He 28 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:14,680 Speaker 1: noticed the stray hair on the pocket of his drab 29 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: suit jacket and brushed it off before anyone else was 30 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: the wiser. The cross leg interfered with the calm symmetry 31 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:24,959 Speaker 1: of his neatly tailored and well coft image, but in 32 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:29,760 Speaker 1: moments of impatience, across legs sent a message. He sat 33 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:32,600 Speaker 1: with the kind of impatience befitting a sixty six year 34 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:35,600 Speaker 1: old composer, the kind whose mark in the Great American 35 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 1: Songbook was epic, the impatience of a man whose name 36 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 1: appeared alongside Loren's Heart and Oscar Hammerstein, and therefore shouldn't 37 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 1: be made to wait. Rogers was an m b E. 38 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:50,880 Speaker 1: But he was egot, e g ot, not just any ego, 39 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:53,240 Speaker 1: but the first ego before that was even a thing 40 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:57,480 Speaker 1: to be e an Emmy in two for the music 41 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 1: for an ABC show on Winston Churchill, ge, a Grammy 42 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:05,240 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty one for the sound of Music Oh 43 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:07,960 Speaker 1: an Oscar in nineteen forty six for the song it 44 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 1: Might as Well Be Spring from the movie Stayed Fair, 45 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,800 Speaker 1: and t a Tony in nineteen fifty multiple Tony's actually 46 00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: for Self Pacific, but it had been a few years 47 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: since an award. It was now nineteen sixty eight. Rogers 48 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 1: Broadway sensibilities were rapidly being replaced by noisemakers, folk singers, 49 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:29,640 Speaker 1: and men with long hair. They called The Who's Tommy 50 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: a rock opera after all. Rogers was concerned that his 51 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: kind of music was losing market share at Columbia to 52 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: the likes of Simon and Garfuncle and Johnny Cash and Shepherd. 53 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,160 Speaker 1: To thank the Birds, he wanted to share his concerns 54 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: with Goddard Lieberson, top brass at Columbia. Lieberson was a 55 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: bit old guard himself, He'd understand, but it was unlike 56 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 1: Liberson to make Rogers wait so long. And while Rogers 57 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 1: sat waiting, one leg still crossed in silent protests at 58 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 1: the prospect of more waiting Clive Davis had to buy. 59 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:04,840 Speaker 1: Davis was Columbia's new president, appointed by Lieberson to maintain 60 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:07,640 Speaker 1: Columbia's status as a hip record label while rock and 61 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: roll trends continued to evolve as fast as some of 62 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 1: the hair that was growing on its front line purveyors. 63 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:16,760 Speaker 1: Davis clapped his hands together at the unexpected side of 64 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:19,839 Speaker 1: Roger's Sitting there, Davids said he had an idea. He 65 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:22,280 Speaker 1: could practically see the light bulb turn on where his 66 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:26,240 Speaker 1: forehead and meant his receiving hairline. Richard Clapp shouted, do 67 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 1: you have a minute, I've got something going to play? 68 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:32,599 Speaker 1: Inside Davis's office, Rogers watched as Davis pulled a record 69 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 1: from its sleeve and gently placed it on a turntable. 70 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 1: The records cover art looked like comic book panels, some 71 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: five and dime schlock meant to attract the lowest common 72 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 1: denominator at the top, drawn in red and yellow electric 73 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:50,680 Speaker 1: shock fuzz, it read cheap thrills. Well, at least they've 74 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 1: got the good sense to admit what they are. Roger's 75 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,520 Speaker 1: thought to himself. He was willing to give Davis a 76 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:57,920 Speaker 1: chance on this, though he could tell he wasn't going 77 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:00,799 Speaker 1: to like it. You're gonna dig this, man, Davis said, 78 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,039 Speaker 1: as if he could read Roger's mind and wanted to 79 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: blatantly contradict him, And then he put the needle down 80 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:09,800 Speaker 1: on the record. The third track on side one. The 81 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:12,200 Speaker 1: record crackled as a piece of fuzz was caught between 82 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: the stylists and the vinyl bass and drums slowly oozed 83 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 1: from the speakers, playing a descending progression that was immediately 84 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 1: recognizable to Rogers, and then an electric guitar tossed some 85 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 1: classical sounding neodly notes on top. It was all very 86 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:32,279 Speaker 1: remedial to Rogers. The musicians were far from terrific. Still, 87 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:35,599 Speaker 1: he could tell the song was Summertime, the great Gershwin 88 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: song from Porgy and Bess, a musical so refined and 89 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:41,360 Speaker 1: so important that it had been deemed an opera when 90 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 1: it originally debuted in Rogers didn't write Summertime, but he 91 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:48,920 Speaker 1: always wished he had written it, and he could see 92 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 1: why Davis wanted his opinion, because Davis couldn't go straight 93 00:05:52,480 --> 00:06:01,239 Speaker 1: to the source material. George Gershwin was dead in April seven, 94 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:04,160 Speaker 1: Gershwin was sitting in his usual chair at a barbershop 95 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:07,560 Speaker 1: in Los Angeles when he smelled it burnt rubber. It 96 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:10,680 Speaker 1: was strong. It was so strong that it cut through 97 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:14,160 Speaker 1: the barbershops usual smells, the shaving cream, the aftershave, the 98 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: hair tonic. Gersh when asked his barber what it was, 99 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 1: what new chemical they were using that smelled like that, 100 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,360 Speaker 1: like a car riding its brakes down a steep hill 101 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 1: in San Francisco. The barber had no idea what Gershwin 102 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:28,640 Speaker 1: was going on about. At a rehearsal with the l 103 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:31,640 Speaker 1: A Philharmonic, Gershwin stumbled at the podium and had to 104 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:35,279 Speaker 1: grab its sides to keep himself from falling down. In 105 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:38,719 Speaker 1: the coming weeks, the burnt rubber smell returned. It followed 106 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:42,279 Speaker 1: him around wherever he went, haunted him. His knees buckled 107 00:06:42,279 --> 00:06:45,400 Speaker 1: on stairs, He dropped glasses of water and books and 108 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 1: they just tumbled from his hands. He couldn't even play piano. 109 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:53,400 Speaker 1: His doctor prescribed barbiturates, and they caused inexplicable behavior, like 110 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:55,200 Speaker 1: the time he tried to push the driver out of 111 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:57,720 Speaker 1: a moving car while being driven to a medical appointment, 112 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: or the time, he mistook a box of chocolate it's 113 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:02,720 Speaker 1: for lotion, and didn't realize until he had rubbed them 114 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:06,360 Speaker 1: all over his body. The burnt rubber smell never left. 115 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:10,720 Speaker 1: It was still lingering, still hanging around. On July eleven seven, 116 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:15,680 Speaker 1: when the brain Tour took George Gershwin's life, he was 117 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 1: thirty eight. Porgy and Bess was and remains a controversial masterpiece. 118 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:28,080 Speaker 1: The fact that the African American experience was being told 119 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: by Jewish Russian immigrant songwriters and a white Southern novelist 120 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:35,680 Speaker 1: was not lost on many. Harry Belafonte, for one, famously 121 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 1: refused to play Porgy for Auto Premeterer's nineteen fifty nine 122 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:44,640 Speaker 1: film version because he found the opera quote racially demeaning. Summertime, however, 123 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:47,160 Speaker 1: quickly became a standard and was performed by black and 124 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 1: white singers alike. It still is. The song has reportedly 125 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:54,840 Speaker 1: been recorded over twenty five thousand times. Billy Holliday's nineteen 126 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:58,040 Speaker 1: thirty six version hit the pop charts. Sam Cook sang 127 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 1: it in nineteen fifty seven, Rickie Nelson in nineteen sixty two, 128 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:05,240 Speaker 1: and Billy Stewart in nineteen sixty six. Miles Davis's nineteen 129 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:08,080 Speaker 1: fifty nine album The Entire Poor Gy in Best Opera 130 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:10,720 Speaker 1: was one of his best sellers, and of course Summertime 131 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:13,480 Speaker 1: naturally it was a highlight of the sessions. Into My 132 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:17,040 Speaker 1: Ears is my favorite version of the song. Richard Rodgers 133 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: had heard all those versions. His opinions waffled back and forth, 134 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:24,520 Speaker 1: but typically the more modern the interpretation, the more he 135 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:27,880 Speaker 1: despised it. He had recently been subjected to the supreme 136 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:30,560 Speaker 1: sing Rogers in Heart, a record by the Bowtown Group 137 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:33,200 Speaker 1: to put a contemporary dinner theater spin on some of 138 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:36,760 Speaker 1: his most classic tunes, like My Funny Valentine, the Ladies, 139 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:40,559 Speaker 1: a Tramp in Blue Moon, a few of his favorite things. 140 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 1: They weren't. And then there was the voice coming from 141 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:47,360 Speaker 1: Clive Davis's speakers had to be the worst of them all. 142 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:50,400 Speaker 1: It was strained, shredded. It was so coarse and crackle 143 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:52,800 Speaker 1: that Rogers wondered if one of the speaker cones had 144 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:56,240 Speaker 1: been ruptured, even though it wasn't his tune. Rogers felt 145 00:08:56,280 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 1: disgusted on Gershwin's behalf. He cocked his head to the 146 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:02,120 Speaker 1: like a dog when it hears a tone that causes 147 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:06,000 Speaker 1: immediate displeasure. This woman's voice, not a proper woman, that 148 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:08,760 Speaker 1: was for sure, made a spectacle of the song. Where 149 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:11,560 Speaker 1: was the reverence? Where was the respect? Where was the talent? 150 00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:14,960 Speaker 1: Good god man, Roger shouted, that's enough, turn it off. 151 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:18,520 Speaker 1: What the hell was that? Rogers wanted to know the 152 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:20,600 Speaker 1: name of the thing that had offended him so much 153 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:24,080 Speaker 1: that dared take on such a revered slice of Americana 154 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:26,760 Speaker 1: Dragged through the mud like a stray cat, howling through 155 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:30,160 Speaker 1: the back alleys near forty two Street. He flipped over 156 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: the record to see on the back cover a woman 157 00:09:32,679 --> 00:09:35,520 Speaker 1: with a huge smile, bent over with her hands on 158 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:38,719 Speaker 1: her knees, spaggy clothing, bracelets running up a right arm, 159 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:42,800 Speaker 1: her unkept hair obscuring half of her face. Clive Davis 160 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:48,120 Speaker 1: laughed that Richard is Janice Choplin, and she is going 161 00:09:48,160 --> 00:10:19,640 Speaker 1: to be a star. Late September, the blue lights were 162 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:22,280 Speaker 1: just their luck, and they were all alone on a 163 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:25,640 Speaker 1: desolate stretch of Route eighty in Nebraska, a drive that 164 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 1: seemed to go on endlessly, a long stretch of road 165 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:31,360 Speaker 1: that becomes a long stretch of time, like one of 166 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:34,319 Speaker 1: those acid tests back home at the Film War Auditorium 167 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:37,480 Speaker 1: or longshoreman's hall that seemed to spend the night into 168 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:41,880 Speaker 1: formless infinity. This wasn't no Root sixty six. There were 169 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:45,559 Speaker 1: no kicks for miles, nothing and now police lights out 170 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: of nowhere, siren whoops, warning shots. Sam Andrew's big brother 171 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:53,679 Speaker 1: in the Holding Company's guitar player, currently playing the role 172 00:10:53,679 --> 00:10:56,400 Speaker 1: of chauffeur, felt his hands clenched up on the wheel. 173 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:01,559 Speaker 1: Pontiac Grand Prix was filled to the brim with musicians 174 00:11:01,559 --> 00:11:05,439 Speaker 1: and gear. Even Sam's girlfriend, speed Freak Rita, managed to 175 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:08,960 Speaker 1: squeeze herself in there. It was too many. Sam worried, 176 00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:12,000 Speaker 1: maybe in a legal amount. The cop probably saw all 177 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:15,240 Speaker 1: those bodies crammed inside, not to mention all the long hair, 178 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:17,600 Speaker 1: and made his move. All the kids in the car 179 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:20,120 Speaker 1: knew that no cop passed up the opportunity to funk 180 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:23,120 Speaker 1: with a hippie. Welcome to Nebraska. Ship birds, now pull 181 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:26,880 Speaker 1: the funk over Nebraska. If Big Brother in the Holding 182 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:29,439 Speaker 1: Company thought Chicago was tough, wait until they got a 183 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:32,600 Speaker 1: load of Nebraska. Sam didn't want to stop the car, 184 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:36,320 Speaker 1: but he had no choice. Funk man, what about the grass? 185 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:40,040 Speaker 1: Janice Droplin scream from the back seat, her voice crackling 186 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:42,840 Speaker 1: with equal amounts of fear and humor. If that cop 187 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:45,120 Speaker 1: found all the grass and Dave's kit, they would never 188 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:50,280 Speaker 1: see California again. And then she laughed, that big enveloping 189 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:53,520 Speaker 1: laugh of hers. It said three things. One that was 190 00:11:53,559 --> 00:11:56,280 Speaker 1: a deadly serious joke I just made too. We're all 191 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:59,160 Speaker 1: in this together. In three, anyone have a brilliant idea 192 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:03,040 Speaker 1: to get us out of this. Janie was right, though, 193 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:06,959 Speaker 1: Holy shit grass. The real reason Sam didn't want to 194 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 1: stop the car wasn't because he was afraid that the 195 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:11,840 Speaker 1: band was going to catch some rural Midwestern harassment by 196 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:15,400 Speaker 1: a square Nebraska stady. It was the handfuls of marijuana 197 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:19,040 Speaker 1: stashed inside dan Gets his space room. It was literally 198 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:21,160 Speaker 1: minutes before that they had seen it on the side 199 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:24,560 Speaker 1: of the road. Minutes all that grass, just on the 200 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:26,760 Speaker 1: side of the road, right there in Nebraska. Again, it 201 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:29,559 Speaker 1: was just their luck. Clearly the Midwest didn't want them 202 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:32,199 Speaker 1: to catch a break. They were driving down Route eighty 203 00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:34,800 Speaker 1: in this Pontiac they had borrowed in Chicago after their 204 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 1: month long residency at Mother Blues in the summer of 205 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:42,120 Speaker 1: nineteen in order to get themselves back to California. An 206 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:45,040 Speaker 1: opportunity to deliver a car to San Francisco by driving 207 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:47,920 Speaker 1: across country had fallen into their laps, and as they 208 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:50,920 Speaker 1: passed fields of crops whipping by the windows. Corn we 209 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:55,680 Speaker 1: eat more corn. They then saw it fields of grass. 210 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:59,000 Speaker 1: Not just any grass, the good grass, marijuana, the grass 211 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:00,960 Speaker 1: that gets you high, the us that mellows you out, 212 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:03,400 Speaker 1: growing tall and beautiful right there on the side of 213 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:05,640 Speaker 1: the road. And they thought it was grass. It had it. 214 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:09,040 Speaker 1: We couldn't be anything else. Someone in the car shout, 215 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:11,679 Speaker 1: it stopped, and Sam slammed on the brakes and they 216 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:13,760 Speaker 1: all climbed out of the sedan, made sure no one 217 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:16,680 Speaker 1: was looking, and started yanking plants from the ground. Was 218 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:19,080 Speaker 1: coming with him, obviously, But where then were they going 219 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:21,400 Speaker 1: to fit this much dope? And the Pontiac was packed 220 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 1: tight with amplifiers, guitars, suitcases, and Dave's drums. The drums, 221 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:31,960 Speaker 1: of course, perfect place for this freshly harvested stash. The 222 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:34,680 Speaker 1: band started a bucket brigade, as so it's a fucking brigade. 223 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:36,720 Speaker 1: One set of hands pulled the plants from the ground, 224 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:39,120 Speaker 1: passed them along to the next, and then the next, 225 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 1: and then finally to Dave, who, like most drummers wasn't 226 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 1: about to let one of his bandmates touch his drums, 227 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:46,680 Speaker 1: and they couldn't wait to see the looks and the 228 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:49,439 Speaker 1: faces of everyone back in San Francisco when they pulled 229 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:53,080 Speaker 1: all this green from the fucking drums of all places, 230 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:55,079 Speaker 1: but now on the side of the highway, in the 231 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:58,400 Speaker 1: middle of nowhere, still far far away from the relaxed 232 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:01,280 Speaker 1: mental state of California up they didn't want to see 233 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:04,199 Speaker 1: the looks on anyone's faces when they saw the stash, 234 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:09,920 Speaker 1: least of all a state trooper. Peter Alban was a 235 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:13,040 Speaker 1: lucky man. Following his fight with Janis over that dumb 236 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 1: Kashmir sweater pinched from the chair in the Rain Blues apartment, 237 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:18,720 Speaker 1: he took his aunt up on a plane ticket back west, 238 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:22,120 Speaker 1: and the others in the band were jealous. Golden parachutes 239 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 1: weren't something that any of them were used to, and 240 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:26,720 Speaker 1: as a band they all stuck together to the good 241 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:29,240 Speaker 1: and the bad. They all had their own private moments, 242 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 1: seething at the thought of Peter living the lap of 243 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:33,880 Speaker 1: luxury at thirty thousand feet while the rest of the 244 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:36,280 Speaker 1: band were about to pay the piper in Middle America. 245 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:40,480 Speaker 1: The trooper took his time walking to the driver's side window, 246 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:44,800 Speaker 1: slowly absorbing the freaky scene fermenting inside the sedan from 247 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: behind his mirrored sunglasses. Guys that looked like girls, girls 248 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:51,880 Speaker 1: that talked like guys, and the band was a sweaty 249 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:55,120 Speaker 1: mess speed freak. Rita, true to her name, was tweaking, 250 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:58,480 Speaker 1: teeth and fists were clenched, eyes twitched. All of them 251 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:01,360 Speaker 1: consciously tried to not erect their gaze back at Dave's 252 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:04,640 Speaker 1: hard packed bass drump. And when the trooper tapped on 253 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:06,880 Speaker 1: the window with a bare knuckle and then made the 254 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:09,840 Speaker 1: motion with his hand that wordlessly instructed sand to roll 255 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:13,200 Speaker 1: it down, Sam felt his stomach lurch into his throat, 256 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:16,400 Speaker 1: and that's when he remembered that he was driving with 257 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:21,760 Speaker 1: an expired license. The opportunity to drive the Pontiac from 258 00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:25,040 Speaker 1: Chicago to California was fortuitous at a time when Big 259 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:27,840 Speaker 1: Brother's luck seemed to have run out. They thought their 260 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:30,560 Speaker 1: success in San Francisco is one of the most important 261 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:33,760 Speaker 1: rock bands in the jest, stating psychedelic scene would translate 262 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:37,640 Speaker 1: to straight laced, working class Chicago, but it didn't. The 263 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:41,080 Speaker 1: resistance was palpable. The group was like a ship without 264 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:43,840 Speaker 1: a rudder. Janice was becoming a bigger focal point of 265 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:46,440 Speaker 1: Big Brothers sound, and the guys knew they were ruined 266 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:49,200 Speaker 1: without her. They were a decent rock band on their own, 267 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:52,320 Speaker 1: but with Janie they were unique. They stood out from 268 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:55,600 Speaker 1: the colorful crowd, and their manager, Chat Helms was sucking 269 00:15:55,640 --> 00:15:57,880 Speaker 1: a right dead on when he sent Travis Rivers back 270 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:01,400 Speaker 1: to Texas a few months before with the explicit instructions 271 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:05,160 Speaker 1: to return with Janice Chopolin. She was the missing ingredient, 272 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:10,000 Speaker 1: the secret weapon. Like fellow San Franciscan's Jefferson airplane, Big 273 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:12,920 Speaker 1: Brother's calling car became the interplay between the male and 274 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:17,160 Speaker 1: female vocals. But unlike the airplane, Janice was a Category 275 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:21,080 Speaker 1: five storm. She wasn't slick, far from it. She was 276 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:24,600 Speaker 1: a rough road, a late night, a hard truth. Janice's 277 00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:28,600 Speaker 1: voice was life. So before they left for their Chicago residency, 278 00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:31,800 Speaker 1: Big Brother cut loose Chat Holmes. It didn't matter that 279 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 1: he had been their manager for sixteen months. Chat had 280 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:37,320 Speaker 1: lost interest. He was so busy booking other shows that 281 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:39,560 Speaker 1: he had no time to properly handle Big Brother. As 282 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:42,840 Speaker 1: they made their next crucial steps, the band was sending 283 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:46,040 Speaker 1: a message to Janice. They wanted Janice to know they 284 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:48,600 Speaker 1: were serious. The band was everything and she was one 285 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:51,320 Speaker 1: of them. They didn't want her going anywhere, and they 286 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:53,440 Speaker 1: especially didn't want her to take a deal with Paul 287 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:58,040 Speaker 1: Rothschild and Electro. And then there was a second four TU. 288 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:01,880 Speaker 1: At this moment in Chicago, group was approached by Bobby Shadd, 289 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 1: forty five year old record producer and head of Mainstream Records. 290 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:09,040 Speaker 1: Shad had his sights on the sweet San Francisco rock 291 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:12,200 Speaker 1: and roll action and Big Brother in particular for some time. 292 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:15,679 Speaker 1: Big Brother auditioned for Shad earlier in the summer for 293 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:18,919 Speaker 1: a spot on his Mainstream Records label, but Chad had 294 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:21,000 Speaker 1: shut the whole thing down when he caught wind that 295 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:23,679 Speaker 1: Shad was simply going to put the screws to them all. 296 00:17:24,080 --> 00:17:27,119 Speaker 1: Shad was a lowballer, an opportunity man, the sort of 297 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:29,119 Speaker 1: shrewd record man who was ready to help out a 298 00:17:29,119 --> 00:17:32,760 Speaker 1: band and kneed, but only if it helped him out more. Now, 299 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:36,359 Speaker 1: without a manager, audience, or money, Big Brother was an 300 00:17:36,359 --> 00:17:39,600 Speaker 1: easy target. Hanging out for Dear Life at Mother Blues, 301 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:42,840 Speaker 1: Shad smelled blood in the water. He knew the venue 302 00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:45,479 Speaker 1: would stop paying the band it's contracted fee because they 303 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:48,800 Speaker 1: weren't drawing crowds as advertised. He knew the chat Helms 304 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,000 Speaker 1: was out of the picture. He knew that none of them, 305 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:53,560 Speaker 1: not even their wise beyond her years lead singer, could 306 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:56,560 Speaker 1: interpret a recording contract that their life depended on it, 307 00:17:57,040 --> 00:17:59,040 Speaker 1: and they were between a rock and a hard place. 308 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:03,880 Speaker 1: And Shad also knew that, despite Chicago's unreasonably chilly reception, 309 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:07,280 Speaker 1: Big brother in the Holding Company were a great fucking 310 00:18:07,359 --> 00:18:10,120 Speaker 1: rock band, worthy at the very least of a shitty 311 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:13,760 Speaker 1: deal on a small upstart label his label. So the 312 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:17,760 Speaker 1: band took Shad's lifeline in Chicago. They signed to Mainstream Records, 313 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:20,359 Speaker 1: even though they begged for an advance and were refused, 314 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:22,320 Speaker 1: even though they begged their new label to buy them 315 00:18:22,359 --> 00:18:24,840 Speaker 1: all plane tickets back home. Shadow told them they should 316 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:27,760 Speaker 1: consider themselves lucky to be on a label at all, period, 317 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:32,680 Speaker 1: and the story they did consider themselves lucky. Janis thanked 318 00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:35,440 Speaker 1: the lucky goddamn stars when that Nebraska copy didn't bother 319 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:38,399 Speaker 1: searching the Pontiac Grand Prix. He didn't know what a 320 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:40,879 Speaker 1: marijuana plants smelled like, He didn't know what a speed 321 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:43,240 Speaker 1: freak looked like, and they got off with a fifty 322 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:46,080 Speaker 1: dollar five, a strict order to swiftly take their hippy 323 00:18:46,119 --> 00:18:49,560 Speaker 1: asses out of Nebraska, and another strict order to never 324 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:52,440 Speaker 1: come back. And they weren't welcome there. Go back to 325 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:56,840 Speaker 1: California suited them fine. Janis Joplin and the boys would 326 00:18:56,840 --> 00:18:59,400 Speaker 1: get back to San Francisco just in time for an 327 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:06,639 Speaker 1: honest odd revolution. We'll be right back after this word 328 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:15,800 Speaker 1: word word no. Two stories from the film Wore Auditorium 329 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:20,800 Speaker 1: on the night of January six were alike. Each story 330 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:24,240 Speaker 1: begins the same way, though. Person walks into the film More, 331 00:19:24,359 --> 00:19:26,720 Speaker 1: the soon to be immortalized music venue on the corner 332 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 1: of Fillmore Street and Gary Boulevard, a rundown section of 333 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:32,359 Speaker 1: San Francisco, and person drinks from a cup filled with 334 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:34,960 Speaker 1: kool aid. It's not just any kool aid, of course, 335 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:38,080 Speaker 1: it's kool aid spiked with acid. Person then joins the 336 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: acid test, already in progress, and waits for the trip 337 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:44,120 Speaker 1: to begin. The Grateful Dead is set up on one 338 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:46,480 Speaker 1: side of the room and the Mary Pranksters are stationed 339 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:48,760 Speaker 1: on the other, and there is no stage. The night 340 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:52,479 Speaker 1: is a blank canvas, and from there the stories different. 341 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:55,719 Speaker 1: You could ask one hundred different people about what they experienced, 342 00:19:55,760 --> 00:19:58,720 Speaker 1: and you get one hundred different answers. One guy said 343 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:01,399 Speaker 1: that every vibration that came from the Dead's amplifiers or 344 00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:04,800 Speaker 1: the pranksters Mobius Loops was like a novella. The music 345 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:07,240 Speaker 1: spoke to him, and so did the noise. It was 346 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:09,199 Speaker 1: like he was reading another novella every time a new 347 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: vibration would enter his body. Someone else said that it 348 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:14,840 Speaker 1: rained inside the film were all night. It was just 349 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:17,679 Speaker 1: thunder and lightning, a light wind. He couldn't believe that 350 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:20,439 Speaker 1: it was raining inside the auditorium. For one thing, the 351 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:22,600 Speaker 1: place had a working roof, and also it wasn't even 352 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:25,640 Speaker 1: raining outside. How is this even possible? That's what he said, 353 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:28,679 Speaker 1: all night long, just walking around shouting in people's faces. 354 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:32,160 Speaker 1: How is this even possible. A girl said she saw God. 355 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:34,760 Speaker 1: He was smoking a lucky strike and wearing a cloth diaper. 356 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:36,679 Speaker 1: Of course he was. A guy said he saw a 357 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:39,760 Speaker 1: fire breathing dragon playing a trumpet, and another girl said 358 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:42,280 Speaker 1: that the flashing lights affected her so much that she 359 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:45,280 Speaker 1: never stopped seeing them. She went home that night sometime 360 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:47,600 Speaker 1: after two am, once the cops had shown up to 361 00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:50,040 Speaker 1: shut it all down. Per the city's noise organance, and 362 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:53,520 Speaker 1: she couldn't fall asleep. All she saw were the flashing lights, 363 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:56,800 Speaker 1: and not just flashing lights, but faces in the flashing lights. 364 00:20:57,200 --> 00:20:59,960 Speaker 1: Weeks months later, they're still there, like they're in print 365 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:03,280 Speaker 1: did on her brain. And then there was that one 366 00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:06,160 Speaker 1: guy who totally freaked the funk out lost his ship. 367 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:10,040 Speaker 1: He started receiving transmissions from Jerry Garcia's guitar, and there 368 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:12,520 Speaker 1: were notes, at first, very musical, but the more he 369 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:14,760 Speaker 1: honed in on what Jerry was playing, the more the 370 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:17,639 Speaker 1: notes became signals, like an S O S being tapped 371 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:19,760 Speaker 1: out in Morse code from the deck of a large boat, 372 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:22,359 Speaker 1: tossed in a choppy c like a plastic bag in 373 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:25,840 Speaker 1: the wind. Soon the guitar was no longer generating musical sounds. 374 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:28,560 Speaker 1: It was all monotone bleeps and bloops. And then the 375 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:32,080 Speaker 1: bleeps and bloops became scratching sounds, like fingers on a chalkboard, 376 00:21:32,359 --> 00:21:35,960 Speaker 1: the longest finger nails dragging down the longest chalkboard, the 377 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:38,439 Speaker 1: sound toward his ears. He thought his ears were bleeding, 378 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:40,280 Speaker 1: so he put his hands up to his ears, touched 379 00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:42,440 Speaker 1: him and then looked at his hands, and when he did, 380 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:44,600 Speaker 1: his hands were reversed. His right hand was on his 381 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:47,080 Speaker 1: left hand, his left hand was on his right. So 382 00:21:47,119 --> 00:21:49,359 Speaker 1: he grabbed a nearby chair and started to drag it 383 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:51,719 Speaker 1: across the floor to make the same scratching sound he 384 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:55,080 Speaker 1: heard coming from Jerry's guitar. Maybe two similar scratching sounds 385 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:57,600 Speaker 1: would cancel each other out. Ship. No, that was stupid. 386 00:21:57,600 --> 00:21:59,600 Speaker 1: That wasn't gonna help at all. The guy couldn't take 387 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:02,000 Speaker 1: it anymore. He ran from the film were screaming, got 388 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:04,040 Speaker 1: behind the wheel of his forward galaxy and ran it 389 00:22:04,119 --> 00:22:09,640 Speaker 1: into a ditch. The acid test at the film Wore 390 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:13,800 Speaker 1: or the Trips Festival at Longshoreman's Hall public experiments where 391 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:16,720 Speaker 1: thousands of people could trip together in a controlled environment 392 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:19,480 Speaker 1: that were whatever you wanted them to be. They could 393 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:23,080 Speaker 1: be a powerful source of inspiration, of knowledge and creativity, 394 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:25,040 Speaker 1: or they could be a portal to a personal hell, 395 00:22:25,359 --> 00:22:28,520 Speaker 1: a sensory overload of sights, sounds, and sensations that could 396 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:32,840 Speaker 1: forever alter one's mind. For Janice Joplin, acid wasn't of 397 00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:35,520 Speaker 1: great interest. She didn't like the lack of control she 398 00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:37,639 Speaker 1: felt when she was on it, and so an acid 399 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:41,200 Speaker 1: test wasn't exactly a scene. But San Francisco, the city 400 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:43,200 Speaker 1: by the Bay that gave all the freaks and weirdos 401 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:45,360 Speaker 1: an outlet to do their thing, no matter how far out, 402 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:49,080 Speaker 1: no matter how groovy. San Francisco was it brother, it 403 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:51,639 Speaker 1: was a place where Janice could be liberated. The city 404 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:54,639 Speaker 1: felt like freedom. The music she played with Big Brothers 405 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 1: sounded like freedom. Freedom to do what she wanted, to say, 406 00:22:57,600 --> 00:22:59,639 Speaker 1: what she wanted, to dress the way she wanted. She 407 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:01,960 Speaker 1: could shed the baggage of Port Arthur, the town that 408 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,679 Speaker 1: attempted to beat the strange right out of her. In 409 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:07,720 Speaker 1: San Francisco, Janice could be strange and the presence of 410 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:10,159 Speaker 1: others who were equally strange. It didn't matter what you 411 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:13,800 Speaker 1: were into. Everybody was cool, and the hate run down 412 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:16,800 Speaker 1: and grungy was teeming with signs of the time. Flowers, 413 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:20,560 Speaker 1: wild and anarchists, heads, long haired, freaky people, kids like 414 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:25,240 Speaker 1: her who had escaped depressive families, ignorant towns, and regressive cultures. 415 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:29,119 Speaker 1: They walked together in street parades, danced together in public parks, 416 00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:32,040 Speaker 1: hashed out plans and living rooms, got their minds blown 417 00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:35,719 Speaker 1: in concert halls. But even though Janice didn't exactly conform 418 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:39,439 Speaker 1: to the nonconforming asset had clicked. San Francisco would introduce 419 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:42,240 Speaker 1: her to many other drugs, Drugs that would shut down 420 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:45,360 Speaker 1: her mind, not expanded stuff that she had sent directly 421 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:48,480 Speaker 1: to her veins, shots of vibrant insanity that would counteract 422 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:52,960 Speaker 1: the drazzy feelings she got from alcohol. Drugs were everywhere. 423 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:55,560 Speaker 1: The first head shop in the country was right there, 424 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:57,840 Speaker 1: smack dab in the middle of it all. To walk 425 00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:00,520 Speaker 1: into the psychedelic shop on Hate Street was to receive 426 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:04,639 Speaker 1: an AsSalt on the senses, pipes, posters, incense, a cosmic 427 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:08,840 Speaker 1: swirl of colors and aromas, and free floating ideas. The 428 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:12,800 Speaker 1: books they offered weren't exactly like reading tones on LSD, 429 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:17,520 Speaker 1: Eastern religion and metaphysics, and this straight up commerce wasn't 430 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:19,760 Speaker 1: your bag. You could get your stuff for free from 431 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:23,280 Speaker 1: the Diggers, an activist group who thought capitalism was the 432 00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:27,080 Speaker 1: death of humanity. They envisioned a communal economy devoid of 433 00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:30,120 Speaker 1: money and handed out free food, food that had been 434 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:33,320 Speaker 1: stolen from other local markets, because well, it all belonged 435 00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:35,959 Speaker 1: to the people anyway, right, so it wasn't really stealing, 436 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:40,040 Speaker 1: according to them. In San Francisco's local music scene was 437 00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:44,399 Speaker 1: equally expansive and challenging. The soundtrack of the Revolution was 438 00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:47,320 Speaker 1: free and big and big melting pot where genres could 439 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:50,359 Speaker 1: be boiled down and built back up. San Francisco had 440 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:53,720 Speaker 1: a sound in nineteen sixty six that was instantly definable, 441 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:55,840 Speaker 1: even if you couldn't put your finger on it. It 442 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:57,960 Speaker 1: was the sound of the Grateful Dead, Big Brother in 443 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:01,640 Speaker 1: the Holding Company and Jefferson Airplane, of Quicksilver Messenger Circus, 444 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:05,480 Speaker 1: Moby Grape, and the Charlatan's and so. On October six, 445 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:09,400 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty six, when the State of California officially criminalized 446 00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:12,359 Speaker 1: the possession of LSD, it felt like an attack to 447 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:15,040 Speaker 1: all the champions of strange who were working hard to 448 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:18,800 Speaker 1: make the counterculture a new reality. Even the date itself 449 00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:23,479 Speaker 1: was a bad sign. Ten six sixty six, six six six. 450 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:25,920 Speaker 1: It's right there, the number of the beast hiding in 451 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:29,800 Speaker 1: plain sight. The children of the Revolution decided they'd hold 452 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:33,600 Speaker 1: a peaceful protest on that very day, October six, nineteen 453 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:35,600 Speaker 1: sixty six, and so they dragged their ship a few 454 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:37,680 Speaker 1: blocks up from their communal pads and the hate to 455 00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:40,080 Speaker 1: the panhandle of the Golden Gate Park for the Love 456 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:43,679 Speaker 1: paget Rally organizers spread the word to the Oracle, an 457 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:46,439 Speaker 1: underground newspaper that had only published a few issues but 458 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:49,720 Speaker 1: was gaining a variety. The crowd was only around a 459 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:52,800 Speaker 1: thousand strong, and they dressed in free flowing clothes and 460 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:56,200 Speaker 1: tightened headbands with enough beads to make Bourbon Street jealous. 461 00:25:56,600 --> 00:26:00,000 Speaker 1: They brought tambourines and handmade signs and carried little children 462 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:03,200 Speaker 1: were spitting images of themselves. They held hands and swung 463 00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:07,480 Speaker 1: around in circles, rings of people and constant motion. Ken 464 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:10,040 Speaker 1: Kezi and his Mary Pranksters rolled up in their day 465 00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:14,520 Speaker 1: low international harvester bus, kids packed inside and sitting on top, 466 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:18,400 Speaker 1: playing flutes and flying flags, just back from across country 467 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:20,520 Speaker 1: track where they annoyed the ever loving ship out of 468 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:23,520 Speaker 1: old school squares and every town they traded through. That 469 00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:27,680 Speaker 1: was their freak. They had names like Mountain Girl, Cool, Breeze, Black, Mariah, 470 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:31,960 Speaker 1: and Gut. They called Kesi the Chief and the Grateful 471 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:34,399 Speaker 1: Dead and Big Brother in the holding company performed the 472 00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:37,480 Speaker 1: music that mirrored the action in the park. Janice held 473 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:39,760 Speaker 1: the microphone stand so tight it looked like she was 474 00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:42,760 Speaker 1: trying to throttle it. The veins in her neck at large, 475 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:44,879 Speaker 1: and her head whipped from side to side as she 476 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:47,159 Speaker 1: and the boys primed the audience with the sorts of 477 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:50,760 Speaker 1: turned on truisms. They all desired to be knocked, socked, 478 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:53,840 Speaker 1: and rocked into the throngs gathered at the Panhandle that 479 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:57,920 Speaker 1: October afternoon. It was a peaceful battle pride, and Janice 480 00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:00,680 Speaker 1: was their microphone. She was knockings, she was rocking, and 481 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:02,920 Speaker 1: she was socking, and she was spreading the good word. 482 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:06,400 Speaker 1: But two people like Richard Rogers and the highway patrolman 483 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:09,479 Speaker 1: in Nebraska, and the working class audience at Mother Blues, 484 00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:12,920 Speaker 1: the scene was a freak ship, an unfortunate sign of 485 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:15,760 Speaker 1: those times, a dangerous moment of things to come, of 486 00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:18,840 Speaker 1: a society that was slipping. Even some of those at 487 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:21,320 Speaker 1: the very epicenter of the whole seismic Moonman in the 488 00:27:21,359 --> 00:27:23,720 Speaker 1: Greater Bay area thought that Janie was about to get 489 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:26,760 Speaker 1: a little too loud and a little too conceited for 490 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:52,560 Speaker 1: her own good. Bill Graham stood at the top of 491 00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:56,040 Speaker 1: the stairs leading into the film or auditorium. His arms 492 00:27:56,040 --> 00:27:59,119 Speaker 1: were crossed, his legs read wide and an unfunck with 493 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:03,080 Speaker 1: ther bull stands. Janice Joplin was halfway up the stairs, 494 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:07,400 Speaker 1: and despite Graham's body language. She kept climbing. No one 495 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:10,960 Speaker 1: told Janice Joplin what to do, least of all a man, 496 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:16,280 Speaker 1: and especially not a square like Bill Graham. Graham was pissed. 497 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:19,560 Speaker 1: Janice could tell, and she figured he would be a 498 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:22,679 Speaker 1: recent interview she gave to The Mojo Navigator, a local 499 00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:25,159 Speaker 1: zine included a quote where she sang the praises of 500 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:28,480 Speaker 1: the Avalon Ballroom over the film More. She didn't give 501 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:31,040 Speaker 1: the film more announce of love, and of course Graham 502 00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:33,520 Speaker 1: read it, and of course he wouldn't forget what she said. 503 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:38,000 Speaker 1: Graham was a number one a plus grudge holder, no matter, 504 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:40,960 Speaker 1: Janice was getting inside the film More. That night, the 505 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:44,480 Speaker 1: bill included not just the Butterfield Blues Band and Jefferson Airplane, 506 00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:50,080 Speaker 1: but Big Mama Thornton. Big Mama Thornton, Janice idolized her. 507 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:52,560 Speaker 1: She wanted to sing like her, wanted to be fearless 508 00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:55,320 Speaker 1: like her. When Janice first heard her saying ball and Change, 509 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:57,240 Speaker 1: she went up to Thornton after her show and asked 510 00:28:57,240 --> 00:29:00,160 Speaker 1: permission for Big Brother to cover it. She felt out 511 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:03,320 Speaker 1: to connection, knew she could do the song justice. Thornton 512 00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:05,880 Speaker 1: gave her her blessing, but with a caveat. Don't suck 513 00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:09,560 Speaker 1: it up the way Elvis fucked up hound. Janice continued 514 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:11,840 Speaker 1: to scale the stairway at the film more. She could 515 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:15,000 Speaker 1: feel the music pulsating from the inside. She could smell 516 00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:17,480 Speaker 1: the venue, the smell of sweat and beer and crinkled 517 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:21,160 Speaker 1: up dollar bills, But Graham wasn't budging back. The funk up, 518 00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:24,240 Speaker 1: Janice Moore, You're not coming in here tonight? The funk 519 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:27,040 Speaker 1: i a bill? She held back. Isn't there a ragging 520 00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:29,960 Speaker 1: town that needs a quote from a desperate singer? Graham responded, 521 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:32,240 Speaker 1: his arms now held out in front of his body, 522 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:35,360 Speaker 1: as Janice got closer. Maybe the Avalon needs masses in 523 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:39,320 Speaker 1: their seats tonight. Janice reached the top of the stairs, 524 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:42,080 Speaker 1: uttered another fuck you bill as she panted for breath 525 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:45,480 Speaker 1: and tried to muscle her way inside. Graham wasn't having it. 526 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:48,000 Speaker 1: He grabbed Janice by the arms and turned her around, 527 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:51,440 Speaker 1: redirected her back towards the stairs. Janice could hear Big 528 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:53,680 Speaker 1: Mama Thornton. Now could hear the strains have let your 529 00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:56,560 Speaker 1: tears fall, baby, rumbling from the stage and rattling up 530 00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:59,600 Speaker 1: the walls. Graham put his weight into it and hustled 531 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:02,440 Speaker 1: Janice down the stairs. The two picked up momentum as 532 00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:05,400 Speaker 1: they descended, the beads around Janie's neck clicking together and 533 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:08,800 Speaker 1: discordant rhythm. A few steps from the street, Graham shoved 534 00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:10,720 Speaker 1: her off like she was a stalled out car that 535 00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:13,480 Speaker 1: needed a push to get going, and Janie tripped down 536 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:15,440 Speaker 1: the last few steps and wound up on her ass 537 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:19,560 Speaker 1: and on Gary Boulevard. Get the funk out of my club, Janice, 538 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:22,800 Speaker 1: Graham spat, annoyed by her persistence and by the hustle 539 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:25,959 Speaker 1: he had to put into keeping her out. Fucking Janie 540 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:29,560 Speaker 1: thought she didn't need Bill Graham and the increasingly mainstream 541 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:32,120 Speaker 1: scene at the Film Wore to provide her with validation 542 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:35,520 Speaker 1: to make her feel a part of what was happening. Besides, 543 00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:38,280 Speaker 1: Janice would rather guzzle some cheap wine and drop out 544 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 1: on a cup full of ghost kool aid. She'd be 545 00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:42,680 Speaker 1: a part of what was happening, but she wasn't about 546 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:45,640 Speaker 1: to conform to any heads rules or any squares, neither 547 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:49,440 Speaker 1: denied by Graham at the Film Wore. Jannis turned to 548 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:52,720 Speaker 1: the San Francisco chapter of the Hell's Angels, a group 549 00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:55,880 Speaker 1: that existed on the fringe of the fringe, Big Brother 550 00:30:55,920 --> 00:30:58,560 Speaker 1: made nice with them. Sure Angels like Free Will and 551 00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:01,280 Speaker 1: Frank and Frisco Pete where it's some of Ken kiss 552 00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:05,040 Speaker 1: acid parties, but the Motorcycle Club offered a more dangerous 553 00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:08,840 Speaker 1: and nihilistic worldview than the acids soap populist that was 554 00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:13,360 Speaker 1: seemingly multiplying on a daily basis. Janie grew up a 555 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:16,480 Speaker 1: tomboy or whole life and often chose to hang with 556 00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:20,160 Speaker 1: the boys. She talked fast, talked loud, talk crew. She 557 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:22,600 Speaker 1: was right up the Angels alley. She was their speed. 558 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:26,200 Speaker 1: They're kind of no bullshit. Brad Janis and Big Brother 559 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:28,120 Speaker 1: threw up a big middle finger at the film war 560 00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:30,320 Speaker 1: and signed on to play a party at Soko Hall 561 00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:34,080 Speaker 1: in November twelfth six. It was a party thrown by 562 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:36,440 Speaker 1: the Angels and organized by one of their own, a 563 00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:39,680 Speaker 1: guy they called Chocolate George Hendricks. He got the nickname 564 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:42,400 Speaker 1: because he liked to drink chocolate milk spiked with vodka. 565 00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:46,240 Speaker 1: Talk about Kissman vodka spiked chocolate milk. That was a 566 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:50,640 Speaker 1: concoction that Janis Joplin could get behind. And the party 567 00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:53,480 Speaker 1: was loud. It was rowdy, and Big Brothers road weary 568 00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:56,480 Speaker 1: rock and roll was the perfect soundtrack. It was rough 569 00:31:56,520 --> 00:31:59,200 Speaker 1: around the edges, torn in places, the kind of music 570 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:01,040 Speaker 1: that was thrilling because it felt like it was in 571 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:03,240 Speaker 1: need of a bandage or some tape or some glue, 572 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:06,840 Speaker 1: and its nineteen sixty six turned into nineteen sixty seven 573 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:10,160 Speaker 1: and the revolution in San Francisco picked up steam. The 574 00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:13,440 Speaker 1: relationships that Janice was making and molding would in turn 575 00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:16,760 Speaker 1: cementered place in the scene at large, the scene that 576 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:19,800 Speaker 1: would soon give the world a summer to remember. She 577 00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:22,840 Speaker 1: would prove herself invaluable to the angels and a musical 578 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:26,120 Speaker 1: savior to Chocolate George, and she'd even get her revenge. 579 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:31,720 Speaker 1: John Bill Graham, I'm Jake Brennan, and this is the 580 00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:46,280 Speaker 1: twenty seven Club, all right. This episode of The seven 581 00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:48,720 Speaker 1: Club is brought to you by disgrace Land, the award 582 00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:51,480 Speaker 1: winning music and true crime podcast that I also host. 583 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:54,680 Speaker 1: Disgrace Land is available only on the free Amazon Music 584 00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:57,240 Speaker 1: app to hear tons of insane stories about your favorite 585 00:32:57,280 --> 00:33:01,200 Speaker 1: musicians getting away with murder and behaving very badly. Nirvana, Prince, 586 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:04,480 Speaker 1: Jerry y Lewis is a Grateful Dead, Rolling Stones, card Beaten, 587 00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:08,040 Speaker 1: many many more go to Amazon dot com, slash Disgrace, 588 00:33:08,520 --> 00:33:10,640 Speaker 1: or if you have an Echo device, just say hey 589 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:14,800 Speaker 1: Alexa play the Disgrace and podcast. The twenty seven Club 590 00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:17,920 Speaker 1: is hosted and co written by me Jake Brennan. Zeth 591 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:21,000 Speaker 1: Wandi is the lead writer and co producer. Matt Boden 592 00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:24,400 Speaker 1: mixes the show. Additional music and score olements by Ryan 593 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:27,520 Speaker 1: Spraaker and Henry Anna. The twenty seven Club is produced 594 00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:30,840 Speaker 1: by myself for Double Elvis and partnership with iHeart Radio. 595 00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:34,520 Speaker 1: Sources for this episode are available at double Elvis dot com. 596 00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:38,000 Speaker 1: When the twenty seven Club series page, our previous season's 597 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:40,400 Speaker 1: on Jimmy Hendrix and Jim Morrison are available for you 598 00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:43,600 Speaker 1: to binge right now whereherever you game podcasts. Then if 599 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:45,560 Speaker 1: you're like what you're here, please be sure to find 600 00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:48,200 Speaker 1: and follow the twenty seven Club on the iHeart Radio, 601 00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:51,520 Speaker 1: Apple podcast or wherever you get shows. And if you'd 602 00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:53,800 Speaker 1: like to what a free twenty seven Club poster designed 603 00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:56,560 Speaker 1: by the man himself, Nick Gonzalez, and then leave a 604 00:33:56,600 --> 00:33:59,600 Speaker 1: review for twenty seven Club on Apple podcast or hashtag 605 00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:03,640 Speaker 1: subs gribe to club on social media. I will pick 606 00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:06,360 Speaker 1: two winners each week and announce them on the Double 607 00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:09,600 Speaker 1: Elevee Instagram page, but that's at Double Evince. Give that 608 00:34:09,719 --> 00:34:11,759 Speaker 1: a fall. So get out there and spread the word 609 00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:13,360 Speaker 1: of a twenty seven club and you can talk to 610 00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:16,759 Speaker 1: me per usual on Instagram and Twitter at disgrace Land, 611 00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:22,840 Speaker 1: pod Rock Corolla, what's up for your is