1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,480 Speaker 1: This episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:05,760 Speaker 1: Please check the show notes for more information. 3 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 2: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. This is the 4 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:23,439 Speaker 2: story of River Phoenix, but once in a generation actor, 5 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:27,680 Speaker 2: big talent and big heart. It's also the story of 6 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:32,360 Speaker 2: a religious cult, a disappearing guitar player, hustlers out on 7 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 2: Vasilene Alley, and a deadly speedball and a death outside 8 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 2: the viper room. It's the story of not only a 9 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 2: great actor, but of that actor's friends who made great music. 10 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:48,040 Speaker 2: Unlike that music I played for you at the top 11 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 2: of the show. That wasn't great music. That was a 12 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:55,640 Speaker 2: preset loop for my mellotron called Oki Dokie Smokey Bear 13 00:00:56,400 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 2: MK two. I played you that loop because I can't 14 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:05,039 Speaker 2: afford the rights to dream Lover by Mariah Carey. Hey, 15 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:08,240 Speaker 2: why would I play you that specific slice of emotions 16 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 2: sampling cheese? Could I afford it? Because that was the 17 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 2: number one song in America on October thirty first, nineteen 18 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 2: ninety three, and that was the day that River Phoenix 19 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 2: died suddenly on the Sunset Boulevard sidewalk. On this episode, 20 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 2: religious cults, disappearing guitar players back Ally, Hustlers in the 21 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 2: Late Great River, Phoenix, Tom Jake Brennan, and This This 22 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:39,039 Speaker 2: Disgrace Land. 23 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:05,560 Speaker 1: Although some hadn't seen him in. 24 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 2: A few years, they all knew they would miss him forever. 25 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 2: Filmmakers like Gus van Zandt and Neil Jordan dedicated their 26 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:16,120 Speaker 2: latest movies to his memory. Arim dedicated their new album 27 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 2: Monster to him, and later a song Ebo The Letter 28 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:22,360 Speaker 2: bore an inscription with his name on the sleeve of 29 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 2: its single, The Cult, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Natalie Merchant, 30 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:30,680 Speaker 2: Belinda Carlyle, Rufus Wainwright, the Stereophonics, not a Serf. They 31 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:33,679 Speaker 2: all wrote songs that were directly about his legacy or 32 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 2: about the tragedy of his untimely death. And every person 33 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:40,680 Speaker 2: behind every song, every movie, and every other piece of 34 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 2: art that strived to quantify the sense of loss all 35 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:48,880 Speaker 2: acknowledged one truism. The most important thing is the hardest 36 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 2: thing to say, to paraphrase Stephen King. Anyway, he was 37 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:56,360 Speaker 2: only twenty three and the most talented actor of his generation. 38 00:02:56,919 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 2: His greatest roles lay ahead of him, and he was gone. 39 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 2: It was too soon. He was too young. How do 40 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:05,919 Speaker 2: you say that, how do you convey exactly what that 41 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:09,200 Speaker 2: all means? It was near the end of nineteen ninety 42 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:11,800 Speaker 2: three when River Phoenix walked into the Viper Room on 43 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:12,920 Speaker 2: Sunset Boulevard. 44 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: The room was dark. 45 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 2: It was always dark inside the Viper Room that Hollywood 46 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:20,960 Speaker 2: club way, so dark that the stars could disappear. 47 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: It had been that way since nineteen. 48 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 2: Oh three, eight eight two five Sunset Boulevard for over 49 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 2: one hundred years. The La Hideaway on the corner of 50 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:34,080 Speaker 2: Sunset and Larrabie was known by many names, The Cotton Club, 51 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:37,560 Speaker 2: Rue Angel, the Last Call, the Melody Room, Filthy mcnasty's, 52 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 2: the Central. In the nineteen forties, it was a hangout 53 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 2: for wise Guy Mickey Cohen, who ran dirty money through 54 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 2: the basement. In the nineteen fifties, it was a strip 55 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 2: joint again with Mobcash and Bob Mussel, until it was 56 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 2: shut down for violating obscenity laws. In the nineteen eighties, 57 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:55,200 Speaker 2: it was a dive bar where John Belushi could be 58 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 2: spotted in the shadows and off the radar and on 59 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 2: the rails. Once before River Phoenix walked inside on that 60 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:07,440 Speaker 2: fateful evening October thirtieth, going on thirty first, nineteen ninety three. 61 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 2: Johnny Depp had outbid both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Frank Stallone 62 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 2: to become the club's new owner. The address maintained it 63 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 2: to see and be seeing the lure, even if the 64 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 2: Vendi's low lit vibe made it hard to see anything 65 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 2: at all. Tom Petty played there Grottis on opening night. 66 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:29,920 Speaker 2: Unlike the story about Chris Chambers, the character River played 67 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:32,719 Speaker 2: and Stand by Me the Rob Reiner film, adapted from 68 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:36,280 Speaker 2: a Stephen King novella called The Body. River did encounter 69 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:39,279 Speaker 2: two men arguing inside the viper room when he entered, 70 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:42,160 Speaker 2: and there was no knife, and River wasn't stabbed in 71 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:44,000 Speaker 2: the throat as he tried to keep the peace, like 72 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 2: the fictional Chris Chambers had been. But River was the 73 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 2: kind of person to keep the peace. He was big 74 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 2: on peace, big on love, big on family and veganism 75 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,800 Speaker 2: and goodness to others and to the earth itself. He 76 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 2: was the kind of guy he wanted for a brother, 77 00:04:57,880 --> 00:04:59,799 Speaker 2: the kind of guy you could bring home to Mom. 78 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:01,960 Speaker 2: It's a kind of guy who was up for any adventure, 79 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:05,120 Speaker 2: the crazier the better. The kind of actor that directors 80 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:09,279 Speaker 2: only found once every generation if they were lucky. Rob 81 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:11,839 Speaker 2: Reiner found that actor when he cast River and stand 82 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:15,040 Speaker 2: By Me. That was nineteen eighty six. It was River's 83 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:18,159 Speaker 2: breakout role Coming of Age, Flick piss Up a rope Man, 84 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:20,799 Speaker 2: and that's all River had been doing up until that point. 85 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:24,680 Speaker 2: Coming of Age, River was just fifteen. He was Chris 86 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 2: Chambers because he had already lived that role, just like 87 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 2: he had lived the role with Charlie Fox and Peter Weirs. 88 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 2: The Mosquito Coast, released later in eighty six, River played 89 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:36,919 Speaker 2: the son of a brilliant inventor, Harrison Ford, who rejects 90 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:39,680 Speaker 2: the commercialism of the United States and moves his family 91 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 2: to Central America. River was intimately familiar with that narrative. 92 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:46,039 Speaker 2: He could also relate to the role of Danny Pope 93 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 2: and Running on Empty, directed by veteran Sidney Lumett, who'd 94 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:53,120 Speaker 2: worked with everyone from Alpaccino to Paul Newman. In that 95 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 2: nineteen eighty eight film, River played the son of counterculture 96 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:58,680 Speaker 2: radicals who were on the run from the FBI and 97 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:01,920 Speaker 2: never stayed in one place for too long. River knew 98 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:04,880 Speaker 2: about counterculture just like he knew about the rejection. 99 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 1: Of American commercialism. 100 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 2: River pold from his own life experiences to make each 101 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:11,320 Speaker 2: character feel lived in. 102 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:13,040 Speaker 1: Unlike a lot of his. 103 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 2: Contemporaries, River had something unique, something special. He borrowed into 104 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:21,039 Speaker 2: his roles like the method actors of your and delivered 105 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,960 Speaker 2: performances that transcended his straight out of central casting good looks. 106 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:30,800 Speaker 2: That all changed after Halloween nineteen ninety three, shortly after 107 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:34,240 Speaker 2: River died on a sunset boulevard sidewalk. The tragedy of 108 00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 2: his death overshadowed all that other stuff, his talent, his choice, roles, 109 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 2: his goodness. Fame will do that because fame doesn't care 110 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:46,039 Speaker 2: about what movies you were in or the sort of 111 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:49,359 Speaker 2: impact you made while you were around. Fame just wants 112 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:52,560 Speaker 2: to know how it all ended. Fame wants the stuff 113 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:55,159 Speaker 2: from the dark room, the room where you disappeared, where 114 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:57,520 Speaker 2: your star went out, The room that you managed to 115 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:00,760 Speaker 2: emerge from, only to collapse on cold a fault under 116 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:04,680 Speaker 2: the pall of Hollywood light pollution. River's next role was 117 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:07,840 Speaker 2: supposed to have vent Daniel Molloy in Neil Jordan's adaptation 118 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:10,840 Speaker 2: of the Anne Riis novel Interview with the Vampire, a 119 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 2: role that ultimately went to Christian Slater. Excepting that role 120 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:18,520 Speaker 2: was a calculated move. It must River's image. He'd been 121 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:21,000 Speaker 2: mussing that image ever since his pin up photos graced 122 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 2: the pages of fan rags like teen Beat and Bob. 123 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:27,160 Speaker 2: His dedication to the cultivation of himself as an actor 124 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:29,560 Speaker 2: was at the center of the best stories about River, 125 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:32,840 Speaker 2: the stories people told to keep the memories alive, the 126 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:35,360 Speaker 2: ones that made the campfire circles and tracks out into 127 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 2: the woods were trains rumbled down nearby tracks and junkyard 128 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 2: dogs failed to live. 129 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:41,080 Speaker 1: Up to their legend. 130 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:45,880 Speaker 2: River lived up to his legend even when he was 131 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 2: denying his own legend. Gainesville, Florida, nineteen eighty nine. A 132 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 2: skinhead at the party made River Phoenix as the River Phoenix, 133 00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 2: the one who had just been at the Oscars, the 134 00:07:58,360 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 2: one who was trying to blend in with the low 135 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:04,120 Speaker 2: vocals play shows with his alt rock band Alekazattic, The 136 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 2: same one who'd spent the day tearing down some of 137 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 2: those old Tiger Beat pinup photos that Arrival band had 138 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:12,160 Speaker 2: stapled next to the flyers for his band's upcoming show 139 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:16,280 Speaker 2: at the Hardback. The skinhead knew he wasn't just another dude. 140 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:19,120 Speaker 2: He wasn't gonna let him slip into anonymity that easily. 141 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 2: But River was feeling contrarian. He was all method. He 142 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 2: slipped into a role. He told the skinhead that his 143 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:29,480 Speaker 2: name was Rio. You must be thinking of another guy, 144 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:33,200 Speaker 2: he said, I'm Rio, not River. Who's the difference? Another 145 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:35,960 Speaker 2: skin had got in on the debate. He summoned a third, 146 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:40,280 Speaker 2: and soon River was surrounded. Nah, man, you're full of shit, 147 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:43,640 Speaker 2: one of the skin had spat his head tilted, Why 148 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:47,040 Speaker 2: you full of shit? You got a fucking problem with me? No? 149 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:49,080 Speaker 1: River responded, no problem. 150 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:52,120 Speaker 2: He looked as three tormentors in the eyes, just not 151 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:55,600 Speaker 2: interested in having this conversation right now? And the skin 152 00:08:55,640 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 2: heads laughed, not interested, and they laughed some more, not interested? 153 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:02,240 Speaker 2: Are you interested in my fist in your face? Are 154 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:04,280 Speaker 2: you interested in my boot up your fucking ass? Or 155 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 2: are you too good for that too? 156 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:06,560 Speaker 1: Look? 157 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:08,720 Speaker 2: River said, you want to beat the shit out of me? 158 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:09,360 Speaker 1: Fine? 159 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:11,360 Speaker 2: Why do you want to beat the shit out of me? 160 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:13,959 Speaker 2: Because I look like someone else? Because I am someone else? 161 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:16,360 Speaker 2: Because you think I'm not telling you the truth? The 162 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:20,160 Speaker 2: skinheads paused, Wait, they were confused. Did not want to 163 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:21,600 Speaker 2: beat the shit out of him? Was he actually not 164 00:09:21,679 --> 00:09:23,480 Speaker 2: the person that he thought he was. Was he telling 165 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:27,760 Speaker 2: the truth? Too many questions? The confrontation had become all 166 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:31,600 Speaker 2: pretzel logic and was therefore rope in the process. However, 167 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:36,880 Speaker 2: River Phoenix had become someone completely different right there before 168 00:09:36,920 --> 00:10:07,400 Speaker 2: their eyes. Hollywood, February nineteen seventy one. John McVie looked 169 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:10,280 Speaker 2: out the window of his room at the Hollywood Hawaiian Hotel. 170 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:15,319 Speaker 2: Yuka Street was eerily calm, but John's anxiety was on eleven. 171 00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 1: His English band. 172 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:20,040 Speaker 2: Fleetwood Mac had just rolled into town on their American tour. 173 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:23,200 Speaker 2: It was supposed to be a rebirth, their first record 174 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:25,360 Speaker 2: and tour without founding member Peter Green. 175 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:27,199 Speaker 1: They had a lot to prove. 176 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:29,040 Speaker 2: And they were scheduled to prove it for three straight 177 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:31,640 Speaker 2: nights at the Whiskey at Go Go. There was one 178 00:10:31,679 --> 00:10:36,920 Speaker 2: major problem. Fleetwood Max guitarist and singer Jeremy Spencer was missing. 179 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:39,760 Speaker 2: He left after they checked into the hotel, said he 180 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:42,400 Speaker 2: was going to the grocery store. When hours passed and 181 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:45,319 Speaker 2: it was obvious that Jeremy wasn't coming back, the band 182 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:48,520 Speaker 2: went into panic mode. They called the British Consulate, they 183 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:51,520 Speaker 2: called the LAPD, they called their label Warner Brothers. They 184 00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:54,720 Speaker 2: even got the whiskey's owner, Elmer Valentine, a former Chicago 185 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:57,520 Speaker 2: cop with a storied history of losing and finding guys 186 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:00,839 Speaker 2: via his connections in organized crime, to join the search, 187 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:04,440 Speaker 2: but no Dice. There would be no Fleetwood Mac shows 188 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:08,560 Speaker 2: at the Whiskey that week. Three days later, the phone 189 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:11,720 Speaker 2: in John's hotel room rang. It was the band's manager, 190 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:15,320 Speaker 2: Clifford Davis. The voice on the other end of the 191 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:17,640 Speaker 2: line was frantic, John, You're not going to believe this. 192 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:20,040 Speaker 2: They found him, They found Jeremy. You're not going to 193 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:23,520 Speaker 2: believe this. Jeremy had gone tropo with the Jesus Freaks. 194 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:27,559 Speaker 2: He was found dancing, chanting, and praying alongside four hundred 195 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:30,480 Speaker 2: others at a four story building in LA's gritty downtown, 196 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:34,840 Speaker 2: the makeshift headquarters of the Children of God, a pseudorevolutionary 197 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:39,760 Speaker 2: religious sect that preached change through rejecting societal norms. Jeremy's 198 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:42,960 Speaker 2: hair was cut short, he was wearing a sackcloth. He 199 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:45,200 Speaker 2: had given his two hundred dollars over to the Children 200 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:48,480 Speaker 2: of God, or more accurately, to its self appointed prophet. 201 00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:52,400 Speaker 2: David Brandt. Burg Berg was a pastor who had fallen 202 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:56,079 Speaker 2: from grace. Booted from an evangelical church on suspicions of 203 00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:00,840 Speaker 2: sexual misconduct, he rebounded by attracting impressionable hippies along the 204 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:04,840 Speaker 2: beaches of Greater la to what he called Teens for Christ. 205 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:08,720 Speaker 2: The hippies called him Father David, or Moses, or eventually 206 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:12,400 Speaker 2: just Moe. By the time Jeremy Spencer was absorbed into 207 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:15,800 Speaker 2: Moe's fold, Teens for Christ had morphed in two Children 208 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:20,160 Speaker 2: of God. This membership was growing exponentially. Moe was seizing 209 00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:23,520 Speaker 2: the attention not to mention the worldly possessions of twenty 210 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:26,679 Speaker 2: something counterculture types who continued to desperately seek out the 211 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:29,600 Speaker 2: hippie dream, the same hippie dream that had begun its 212 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:32,559 Speaker 2: death spiral a few years earlier at the Rolling Stones 213 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:37,440 Speaker 2: deadly Altamont festival. John and the others in Fleetwood Mac 214 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:40,680 Speaker 2: hardly recognized their bandmate. All it took was a few 215 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:44,160 Speaker 2: days for Jeremy to become someone else. He had nothing, 216 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:47,400 Speaker 2: he wanted nothing, He said very little. They asked Jeremy 217 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:50,760 Speaker 2: to return, but he refused. He renounced Fleetwood Mac. He 218 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:54,360 Speaker 2: renounced materialism, He renounced his wife and his two children. 219 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:57,440 Speaker 1: He was an ever turning back. He was a child 220 00:12:57,600 --> 00:12:58,079 Speaker 1: of God. 221 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:07,200 Speaker 2: Now Crockett, Texas, nineteen seventy two, Fleetwood Max Sentimental Lady 222 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:10,640 Speaker 2: crackled from the speakers as John Bottom drove his VW 223 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:14,800 Speaker 2: down I forty five. Sitting behind him, his wife Arlen 224 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:18,040 Speaker 2: held their two year old boy, River Jude, and sang along. 225 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:22,200 Speaker 2: River was their first child, though they were currently expecting another. 226 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:25,439 Speaker 2: He was born at a peppermin farm in Madris, Oregon, 227 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:28,720 Speaker 2: which John and Arland stumbled upon while driving around with 228 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:32,600 Speaker 2: their DIY mobile commune. With Arlind nearing her due date, 229 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:35,160 Speaker 2: they had put down stakes for a spell, and the 230 00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:38,400 Speaker 2: couple's commune members worked the farm in exchange for a 231 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:42,240 Speaker 2: place to crash. The idealism of their hippymo is what 232 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:44,720 Speaker 2: led John and Arland to Oregon in the first place, 233 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:49,000 Speaker 2: and also what led them to Texas. Now they were wanderers, 234 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:51,440 Speaker 2: peace and lovers, and they knew there was more to 235 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:54,960 Speaker 2: life than materialism. There was a higher consciousness out there 236 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:58,079 Speaker 2: for the taking. War was over if you wanted it, 237 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:01,440 Speaker 2: And they were searching for something, something real, something true, 238 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:04,200 Speaker 2: and they would know it when they found it, Just 239 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:07,800 Speaker 2: like he John Bottom had known that she Arlen Dunetts 240 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:10,559 Speaker 2: was Lee one when he first saw her standing on 241 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:13,280 Speaker 2: the edge of Santa Monica Boulevard back in nineteen sixty 242 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:16,240 Speaker 2: seven film Stuck out in the dry Los Angeles are 243 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:20,320 Speaker 2: She took his breath away. He pulled the VW over, 244 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:23,880 Speaker 2: offered her a ride, and that was that brother, and 245 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:26,160 Speaker 2: they started a new journey together in that moment. 246 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:27,040 Speaker 1: It was fate. 247 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 2: From there, Fate gave him a mobile commune, and then 248 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:33,880 Speaker 2: the Peppermint Firm, and then River arrived, and then cut 249 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:37,160 Speaker 2: to another epic VW odyssey with John and Arln River 250 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:41,040 Speaker 2: and tow of course, still searching for that thing, that honest, 251 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:45,240 Speaker 2: real thing, somewhere away from the trappings of stuff, free 252 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:50,040 Speaker 2: from political and economic ideologies that smothered creativity and individuality. 253 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:52,160 Speaker 1: And they would know it when they found it. 254 00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:56,480 Speaker 2: And in Crockett, Texas, in nineteen seventy two, they thought 255 00:14:56,640 --> 00:15:00,720 Speaker 2: they'd found it. The Children of God Community Crockett was 256 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:02,880 Speaker 2: one of over one hundred that had popped up across 257 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:05,840 Speaker 2: the United States and Canada in the early seventies, and 258 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:09,440 Speaker 2: at each one, members were expected to follow the same rules. 259 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:14,640 Speaker 2: Reject society, reject materialism, give up all your worldly possessions, 260 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:19,080 Speaker 2: don't pay taxes, and don't vote. David Brandtberg aka Father 261 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:24,560 Speaker 2: David aka MO. So called children were also expected to proselytize, 262 00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:28,080 Speaker 2: and they sang songs, they bore witness, they handed out pamphlets. 263 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:30,960 Speaker 2: John and Arlin were put in the group's leadership track, 264 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:33,440 Speaker 2: and soon they were seeing the world and spreading the 265 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:37,040 Speaker 2: word from Mexico to Puerto Rico to Venezuela. And during 266 00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:40,600 Speaker 2: their four year tenure as proselytizers, their family grew a girl, 267 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:43,640 Speaker 2: Rain Joan of Arc and then another boy, Joaquin Raphael, 268 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:47,240 Speaker 2: and then another girl, Liberty Mariposa River and Rain took 269 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:49,920 Speaker 2: the street corners of Caracas with a guitar and sang 270 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,920 Speaker 2: songs to scrounge up tips. And there was a darker 271 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:57,280 Speaker 2: reasoning behind MO. Their leaders called to live lean and 272 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:00,920 Speaker 2: live communally. The apocalypse was near and it was best 273 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:04,440 Speaker 2: to unburden yourself of such meaningless flotsam and jetsam before 274 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:07,920 Speaker 2: the biblical shit hit the fan. But families like the 275 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 2: Bottoms were being duped by Mo's cult, because that's what 276 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:14,120 Speaker 2: it was a cult. They weren't told about everything that 277 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:17,200 Speaker 2: was going on behind the scenes. There were unspeakable things 278 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:21,000 Speaker 2: happening in the darkness behind closed doors. Some light was 279 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:23,360 Speaker 2: shed on the true nature of MOA's cult when he 280 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:26,320 Speaker 2: sent around a missive to his flock that encouraged women 281 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:30,520 Speaker 2: to freely practice what he dubbed flirty fishing, in other words, 282 00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:33,840 Speaker 2: find wealthy and powerful men, sleep with them, and convince 283 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:35,880 Speaker 2: them to turn their money and their bodies over to 284 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:39,520 Speaker 2: the Children of God. When that piece of mail arrived 285 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:42,520 Speaker 2: in the Bottom's mailbox, the wool was pulled from their eyes. 286 00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:45,120 Speaker 2: They began to see the cult for what it really was, 287 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:49,280 Speaker 2: and it wasn't that real true thing they had searched 288 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,280 Speaker 2: so long for on the road, and they severed their 289 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:57,200 Speaker 2: ties with the Children of God for good. It wasn't 290 00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:00,320 Speaker 2: until much later that more of the cult's truth emerged. 291 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:04,440 Speaker 2: Mo had been openly promoting incest and pedophilia in the ranks. 292 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:08,399 Speaker 2: Children were encouraged to experiment sexually with other children, and 293 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:11,840 Speaker 2: according to mo it wasn't taboo for adults to engage 294 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:16,680 Speaker 2: in sexual acts with kids either. Back in nineteen seventy eight, 295 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:20,840 Speaker 2: the Bottom family split for good from David Bramptberg aka 296 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:23,240 Speaker 2: Moe and his Children of God when they boarded a 297 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:27,119 Speaker 2: cargo ship in Caracas and sale to Miami, and they 298 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 2: would search for a better reality. They would make a 299 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:32,879 Speaker 2: fresh start, and they cleansed the past by adopting a 300 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:37,200 Speaker 2: new surname, Phoenix, which was rich and meaning for river. 301 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:40,919 Speaker 2: It was his first experience becoming someone new. 302 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:47,480 Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this. We're were were. 303 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:54,480 Speaker 2: The club kids came from the suburbs. They came from 304 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:57,400 Speaker 2: Gresham and Beaverton, and they came across the Columbia River 305 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:00,439 Speaker 2: from Vancouver. When they made it to port into the 306 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:04,200 Speaker 2: City nightclub on Northwest Thirteenth Avenue, the boys could finally 307 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:06,800 Speaker 2: take their shirts off, and the girls could ignore the boys, 308 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:09,080 Speaker 2: and they all could feel free to be whoever they 309 00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:14,119 Speaker 2: truly were. Gay, bye, stray, curious, unsure, whatever. Most nights, 310 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:16,919 Speaker 2: the line to get inside the alcohol free all ages 311 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:20,240 Speaker 2: clubs stretched down the sidewalk, and the anticipation to get 312 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:23,680 Speaker 2: beyond the front door was palpable. Each time the door 313 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:26,920 Speaker 2: would open to let in another guest, unrelenting bass would 314 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:30,080 Speaker 2: ooze out into the night, so with a steady waft 315 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:32,800 Speaker 2: of close cigarettes, the club kid at the front of 316 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:34,959 Speaker 2: the line would get the customary pat down and then 317 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:37,959 Speaker 2: would walk inside past the sign of the front office, 318 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:41,760 Speaker 2: the one that prohibited over heterosexual behavior, and then on 319 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:44,600 Speaker 2: into the main room, a dance floor heaving to the 320 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:47,959 Speaker 2: rhythm of house music and the flash of strobes, boys 321 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:50,920 Speaker 2: and wigs, girls with shaved heads, studded collars. 322 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:52,120 Speaker 1: Next to pop preppy callers. 323 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:55,560 Speaker 2: From ten pm to two am, every Wednesday through Sunday, 324 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:59,560 Speaker 2: anything went. The City Nightclub was the only place in 325 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:02,879 Speaker 2: Portland and where marginalized kids between the ages of fifteen 326 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:06,359 Speaker 2: and twenty five felt comfortable being themselves. In the early 327 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:10,200 Speaker 2: nineteen nineties. It was an important gathering place for gay 328 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:13,359 Speaker 2: teens and kids who had nowhere else to go, and 329 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:15,679 Speaker 2: the City Nightclub offered a room where they could live 330 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:20,680 Speaker 2: out loud without fear of judgment. August nineteen ninety River 331 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:23,880 Speaker 2: Phoenix stood in the City Nightclub's long line, just another 332 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:27,679 Speaker 2: twenty year old anticipating the transformative powers of deep bass, 333 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:32,080 Speaker 2: flashing lights, and sweaty bodies. But unlike the other clubgoers 334 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:34,800 Speaker 2: looking to be part of something bigger than themselves, River 335 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:37,360 Speaker 2: was looking to disappear. He didn't want to be River 336 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,400 Speaker 2: Phoenix that night. He wanted to be another anonymous Portland 337 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:42,720 Speaker 2: street kid looking for something they couldn't be found in 338 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:47,280 Speaker 2: the daylight. His locks of blonde hair were cut short, 339 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:51,920 Speaker 2: his tiger beet pinup style replaced with something greasy and haggard, thin, 340 00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:55,080 Speaker 2: sunken eyes. He wore a dirty barn jacket. He was 341 00:19:55,119 --> 00:19:58,720 Speaker 2: a fallen j crue angel. The River was disappearing into 342 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:02,520 Speaker 2: research for his next My Own Private Idaho, directed by 343 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:06,320 Speaker 2: Portland's hot indie filmmaker Gus van Zant, whose last film, 344 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:10,000 Speaker 2: Drugstore Cowboy, took home awards for Best Picture and Best 345 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:13,560 Speaker 2: Director from the National Society of Film Critics. In My 346 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:17,520 Speaker 2: Own Private Idaho, River would play Mikey Waters, a narcoleptic 347 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:20,359 Speaker 2: street hustler who hits the road with co star Keanu 348 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:23,399 Speaker 2: reeves to seek out some idealized version of his mother. 349 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:26,880 Speaker 2: For both River and Keanu, then best known as one 350 00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:29,440 Speaker 2: half of the excellent Bill and Ted, the roles were 351 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:33,360 Speaker 2: daring choices that broke from their established tiger beat tight 352 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:36,560 Speaker 2: The role was such a dramatic shift that River's agent, 353 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:38,440 Speaker 2: Iris Burton, didn't want River. 354 00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:39,760 Speaker 1: Taking the role in the first place. 355 00:20:40,119 --> 00:20:41,920 Speaker 2: She was worried it would destroy him. 356 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:43,080 Speaker 1: It was worth the risk. 357 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:46,080 Speaker 2: Maybe if the role destroyed anything, it would be his 358 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:50,879 Speaker 2: teeny bopper image to deliver a faithful character on screen, 359 00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:54,760 Speaker 2: something dark and desperate, unlike anything he'd played before. River 360 00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:58,240 Speaker 2: lost himself in the city underworld street culture of Portland. 361 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:01,880 Speaker 2: He got into heroin using hard drugs like cocaine, since 362 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:04,800 Speaker 2: he was fifteen, freebasing at an age when his peers 363 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:08,200 Speaker 2: were experimenting with zema, and so it was easy enough 364 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:11,680 Speaker 2: for River to go even harder. Important smack was everywhere, 365 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:15,000 Speaker 2: especially in the cities underworld of dealers, users and hustlers, 366 00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:18,640 Speaker 2: and at places like the City Nightclub. 367 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:19,560 Speaker 1: He sought out the. 368 00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:22,240 Speaker 2: Action going on above the big communal dance party on 369 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:25,040 Speaker 2: the first floor. He was looking for what was happening 370 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:29,600 Speaker 2: upstairs in the smaller room, the room with a darker soundtrack, 371 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:34,160 Speaker 2: more alien sex fiend than Frankie Knuckles. Because like all 372 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:37,080 Speaker 2: great things, the City Nightclub had a flip side, a 373 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:41,000 Speaker 2: dark side. It lurked upstairs. It blended in among the 374 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:44,639 Speaker 2: shadows of the wallflowers, coke, heroin and pills, or the 375 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:49,200 Speaker 2: currency creepy old men going incognito or trying to go incognito, 376 00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:52,159 Speaker 2: though they always stuck out like sore thumbs, and they 377 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:54,560 Speaker 2: were looking to take advantage of younger boys hard up 378 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:57,439 Speaker 2: for attention or for a few bucks. The boys, on 379 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:00,080 Speaker 2: the other hand, were playing their own grift. Soon they 380 00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:02,320 Speaker 2: were the ones propositioning the older men in order to 381 00:22:02,359 --> 00:22:04,680 Speaker 2: make a quick buck in one of the bathroom's stalls. 382 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:08,440 Speaker 2: River had already been given a crash course in the 383 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:09,400 Speaker 2: grift game. 384 00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:12,680 Speaker 1: That happened earlier that night. 385 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:15,639 Speaker 2: When Scott Green, a former Portland street kid who was 386 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:18,680 Speaker 2: part of the inspiration for the character of Mikey Waters, 387 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:22,360 Speaker 2: took River down to a four block stretch of Southwest Stark. 388 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:27,719 Speaker 2: Portland's gay community referred to it as Vassaline Alley, the 389 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,800 Speaker 2: Pied Piper, Somebody's place gay bars and hotels, where impulsive 390 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:34,320 Speaker 2: trysts were just as likely to happen in a lobby 391 00:22:34,359 --> 00:22:37,800 Speaker 2: bathroom as they were in a paid hourly room. River 392 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:40,680 Speaker 2: and Scott took their spots against the wall of a building. 393 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:45,040 Speaker 2: The paint was peeling, cigarettes burned between their fingers, the 394 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:48,520 Speaker 2: pavement was wet from a recent storm. Scott gave River 395 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:51,719 Speaker 2: pointers on his posture. Posture was everything. Posture could make 396 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:54,280 Speaker 2: a brick a deal, And they watched a kid climb 397 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:56,399 Speaker 2: into the passenger seat of a sedan that had just 398 00:22:56,440 --> 00:22:58,760 Speaker 2: pulled over into a handicapped spot on the side of 399 00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:03,080 Speaker 2: the road. Bumper was dented on the driver's side. Headlights cut, 400 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:06,400 Speaker 2: muffler rumbling, and the kid closed the door behind him. 401 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:09,840 Speaker 2: How old is he, River asked, Scott shrugged. A few 402 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:11,840 Speaker 2: minutes later, the kid was out of the car, stuffing 403 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:13,960 Speaker 2: a bill into the pocket of his jeans. He lit 404 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:17,679 Speaker 2: a cigarette and disappeared into the shadows on Stark where up. 405 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:20,119 Speaker 2: Scott said to River as a Vovo station. 406 00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:21,679 Speaker 1: Where I can pulled up next to them. 407 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:24,560 Speaker 2: The middle aged bald man at the wheel was making 408 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:28,160 Speaker 2: discreete eye contact. Just remember if he box at the price. 409 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:30,200 Speaker 2: Remind him that he's welcome to drive back home without 410 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:30,840 Speaker 2: getting anything. 411 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:32,040 Speaker 1: You've got the upper hand. 412 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:37,800 Speaker 2: River and Scott never actually followed through with any of 413 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:39,840 Speaker 2: the Johns they met on the side of the street. 414 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:42,320 Speaker 2: River just wanted to see how the deals were made. 415 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:44,439 Speaker 2: The two would bail on the Johns as soon as 416 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:47,040 Speaker 2: the deals were struck, laughing and screaming as they tore 417 00:23:47,119 --> 00:23:51,200 Speaker 2: ass down the back streets of Vasiline Alley. Now standing 418 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:54,880 Speaker 2: in line for the City nightclub, River looked across Thirteenth Avenue. 419 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:58,280 Speaker 2: He was distracted by a small group of protesters lining 420 00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:02,439 Speaker 2: the opposite sidewalk, and they were silent and pointed handmade signs. 421 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:05,399 Speaker 2: Of the crowd of club kids repent read one of them, 422 00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:08,960 Speaker 2: the letters surrounded by a cartoon depiction of Hell, and 423 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:11,400 Speaker 2: the doorman had to yell to get River's attention. 424 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:13,080 Speaker 1: He was next in line. 425 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:17,200 Speaker 2: There was an issue. River wasn't carrying his wallet, immersing 426 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:19,520 Speaker 2: himself in the research of the role. He wasn't carrying 427 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:22,240 Speaker 2: anything that would identify him as his true self, and 428 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:24,520 Speaker 2: since he and Scott had bailed on all the Johns 429 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:26,920 Speaker 2: that night after sealing each deal, he didn't have any 430 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:29,359 Speaker 2: cash on him either. He couldn't pay the cover charge. 431 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:33,040 Speaker 2: Against his best judgment, he told the doorman under his 432 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:36,520 Speaker 2: breath that he was, in fact River Phoenix, researching a 433 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:39,199 Speaker 2: new role, Gus van Zan and all that. Surely that 434 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:42,239 Speaker 2: name meant something here, right, drunk store cowboy? You know? 435 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:44,119 Speaker 2: Could you let him in for a quick look around? 436 00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:48,600 Speaker 2: And the doorman asked for id and the River had nothing. Listen, 437 00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:50,840 Speaker 2: the door man said, you know you got the five 438 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:53,080 Speaker 2: bucks to get inside or you don't, But we gotta 439 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:54,640 Speaker 2: move this line along. And if you really are who 440 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:56,240 Speaker 2: you say you are you should ask some idea on 441 00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:58,360 Speaker 2: you proven that to be true. I think I would 442 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:00,440 Speaker 2: know River Phoenix when I see him. Let me tell 443 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:03,800 Speaker 2: you you ain't him. 444 00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:21,119 Speaker 3: Media Smoller Saller, Slower, slower, slower, slower. 445 00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:31,320 Speaker 2: In the early nineteen nineties, the Sunset Strip in Hollywood 446 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:34,439 Speaker 2: was a twenty four to seven pharmacy. Whatever you wanted 447 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:36,520 Speaker 2: you could get. He just had to know where to 448 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:37,119 Speaker 2: look or. 449 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:37,840 Speaker 1: Who to ask. 450 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:40,560 Speaker 2: Sometimes you didn't even have to look for it, and 451 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:41,760 Speaker 2: the pharmacy would find you. 452 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:43,119 Speaker 1: Did you need anything? 453 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:47,119 Speaker 2: Coke, ecstasy, weed, uppers, downers, junk was a bad scene 454 00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:48,960 Speaker 2: for someone who was doing more drugs than he was 455 00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:52,520 Speaker 2: letting on, perhaps even self medicating as he navigated the 456 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:53,080 Speaker 2: demons of. 457 00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:54,800 Speaker 1: His past and the pressures of fame. 458 00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:58,960 Speaker 2: While researching his role from my own private Idaho, River 459 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:02,800 Speaker 2: disappeared a little too far into his fictional character, so 460 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:05,640 Speaker 2: far that when the shoot was over, he didn't fully 461 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:09,480 Speaker 2: return to who he was before his recreational drug use 462 00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:12,680 Speaker 2: had become unchecked. He would often binge for hours or 463 00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:15,680 Speaker 2: days and then swear off drugs when another Sunday morning 464 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:18,680 Speaker 2: came down, and this was a cycle that played out 465 00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:21,879 Speaker 2: over and over again. He ran that cycle sometimes with 466 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:25,560 Speaker 2: John Fruchante, guitarists for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the 467 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:28,400 Speaker 2: La band River had become friendly with as he continued 468 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:31,760 Speaker 2: to make a go of it with Alkaz Attic Pruschante 469 00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:35,399 Speaker 2: really left that faded pink mansion up Laurel Canyonway, the 470 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:38,480 Speaker 2: one that everyone called Houdini's Mansion, even though it was 471 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:42,280 Speaker 2: Erro Flynn who had lived there, not Houdini. Fruschante had 472 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:44,639 Speaker 2: gone on hiatus from his stay job with the Chili 473 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:46,960 Speaker 2: Peppers and was spending most of his days and nights 474 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:49,880 Speaker 2: at the so called Houdini's mansion doing the so called 475 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:57,359 Speaker 2: disappearing act. The River was interested in that disappearing Hollywood, 476 00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:02,439 Speaker 2: October thirty first, nineteen ninety three, twelve twenty seven, Am 477 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:05,360 Speaker 2: River carried his guitar as he made his way inside 478 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:07,960 Speaker 2: the Viper Room. It was his intention to get on 479 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:10,280 Speaker 2: stage as part of the pickup band that Johnny Depp 480 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:13,520 Speaker 2: had assembled to perform songs of his band p As 481 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:16,840 Speaker 2: in the letter that evening, every performer in the band 482 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:18,800 Speaker 2: was looking for the same thing River was looking for 483 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:22,280 Speaker 2: to play against type to be reborn, if only for 484 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:26,320 Speaker 2: the evening to disappear, And there was Johnny Depp, actor 485 00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:28,800 Speaker 2: by day and Viper Room owner by night, playing the 486 00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:32,480 Speaker 2: role of singer and guitarist Al Jurgensen, ditching his standard 487 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:37,000 Speaker 2: industrial fare and ministry for something far less transgressive. Gibby Haynes, 488 00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:39,520 Speaker 2: frontman for the Butthole Surfers, seeing what it was like 489 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:42,880 Speaker 2: to not be the sole frontman for once, Ben montyche 490 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:46,320 Speaker 2: keyboardist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, down shifting from 491 00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:49,359 Speaker 2: sold out arenas to slummet with the cool kids. And 492 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:52,480 Speaker 2: there was Flea, bass player for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, 493 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:54,840 Speaker 2: who wanted a jam with a unique roster of la 494 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:57,880 Speaker 2: cats and gleaned some new insight into the art of collaboration. 495 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:02,560 Speaker 2: Flea's usual collabiter, Jean Fruchante, had already attempted to play 496 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:05,600 Speaker 2: an opening set, but he had brought that Houdini Mansion 497 00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:08,200 Speaker 2: vibe with him down from the hills. He was high 498 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:10,840 Speaker 2: as shit. He barely made it through one psalm before 499 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:13,879 Speaker 2: we stopped and puked on the stage. And the Viper 500 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:16,359 Speaker 2: Room stage was as tiny as the pickup band's roster 501 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:19,080 Speaker 2: was deep. There just wasn't enough room for River to 502 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:23,600 Speaker 2: take part, so he took a seat guitar aside. It 503 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:26,200 Speaker 2: wasn't in the cards to become another version of himself 504 00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:29,040 Speaker 2: on stage alongside all the other versions of all the 505 00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:31,840 Speaker 2: other performers who were better known for doing things besides 506 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:35,000 Speaker 2: being in a pickup band called p And though the 507 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:38,160 Speaker 2: room was dark, this wasn't the streets of Gainesville or 508 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:41,680 Speaker 2: the meaner streets of Portland. This was Hollywood, and inside 509 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:44,520 Speaker 2: the viper room, he was made as the River Phoenix 510 00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:48,320 Speaker 2: by those who walked by his table. Not even thirty 511 00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:51,120 Speaker 2: minutes later, however, almost as soon as River had been 512 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:54,160 Speaker 2: made by those in attendance as a celebrity that he was, 513 00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:56,960 Speaker 2: River was gone again. He'd split. 514 00:28:57,440 --> 00:28:58,480 Speaker 1: He wasn't at his table. 515 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:01,200 Speaker 2: He wasn't standing in the tight packed crowd in front 516 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:04,160 Speaker 2: of the small stage absorbing the ripple of sound waves 517 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:09,480 Speaker 2: coming from Johnny Depp's band. Where was River Phoenix. He 518 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:11,840 Speaker 2: had slipped out the back door of the viper room, 519 00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:16,360 Speaker 2: undetected by most inside. He remained anonymous on the outside too, 520 00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:19,680 Speaker 2: And that's where he was, on his back on the 521 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:24,880 Speaker 2: sunset boulevard sidewalk. The seizures started. His arms flailed, his 522 00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:28,680 Speaker 2: legs kicked, his head banged against the pavement, and the 523 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:31,560 Speaker 2: rumble of Johnny Depp's pickup rock show seeped out from 524 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:35,320 Speaker 2: the Viper Room's black walls. Hollywood revelers taking advantage of 525 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:38,520 Speaker 2: a Saturday night to celebrate Halloween one night Early side 526 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:41,560 Speaker 2: stepped around River's convulsing body, and they were used to 527 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:45,000 Speaker 2: random encounters with derelicts tweaking on the sidewalk, but they 528 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:47,600 Speaker 2: had no idea who was literally dying right. 529 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:48,160 Speaker 1: In front of them. 530 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:52,000 Speaker 2: Neither did anyone still inside the Viper Room, and by 531 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:54,840 Speaker 2: the time the paramedics arrived, River had been having a 532 00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:58,440 Speaker 2: series of seizures for about fifteen minutes straight. He was 533 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:01,720 Speaker 2: out cold, no pop yes, they administered a shot of 534 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:05,320 Speaker 2: narcan CPR. They took him to Cedar Sinai, and he 535 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:09,400 Speaker 2: was pronounced dead at one fifty one am Halloween morning. 536 00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:13,840 Speaker 2: Official cause of death an overdose of cocaine and heroin. 537 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:18,120 Speaker 2: News of River's death hit the wires and the disappearing 538 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:18,920 Speaker 2: started again. 539 00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:20,760 Speaker 1: John Fruschante locked. 540 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:23,520 Speaker 2: Himself from the Houdini mansion up the hill, Johnny Depp 541 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:25,920 Speaker 2: skipped town, and the Viper Room closed down for a 542 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:29,640 Speaker 2: week and became a makeshift shrine to River's memory. Steve Lightfoot, 543 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:32,160 Speaker 2: an unemployed cook who drove a van around town that 544 00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:35,160 Speaker 2: read Stephen King shot John Lennon See the photos that 545 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:38,280 Speaker 2: prove it, peddled a crackpot theory that River was secretly 546 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:41,960 Speaker 2: murdered by the American government for his crusades against animal cruelty. 547 00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:47,600 Speaker 2: Years later, another particularly explosive murder theory bombshell, was dropped 548 00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:51,520 Speaker 2: by someone close to River. Director William Reichart, who had 549 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:53,960 Speaker 2: worked with River on the nineteen eighty eight film A 550 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:56,640 Speaker 2: Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon and at the 551 00:30:56,720 --> 00:30:59,600 Speaker 2: time of River's death was preparing to work with him 552 00:30:59,640 --> 00:31:01,880 Speaker 2: again on his upcoming version of The Man in the 553 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:05,680 Speaker 2: Iron Mask, gave an interview to writer Gavin Edwards in 554 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:10,360 Speaker 2: twenty thirteen. Edwards was speaking to Reikert as research for 555 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:13,280 Speaker 2: his book about River called Last Night at the Viper Room. 556 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:17,680 Speaker 2: In that interview, Reichart claims that shortly after River entered 557 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:21,200 Speaker 2: the Viper Room, and immediately before he began to have convulsions, 558 00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:24,160 Speaker 2: a friend of his, a guitarist, stopped by his table 559 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:26,520 Speaker 2: it gave him a cup and told him to drink it. 560 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:29,920 Speaker 2: Reichardt's story goes that River did as he was told, 561 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:32,160 Speaker 2: but that he had no clue that the cup contained 562 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:36,240 Speaker 2: a dissolved speedball that's cocaine and heroin, and not just 563 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:39,960 Speaker 2: any speedball, but one that was eight times a lethal dose. 564 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:43,640 Speaker 2: You can easily go online and find many zealous defenders 565 00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:47,120 Speaker 2: of this theory, the theory that River Phoenix was actually killed, 566 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:51,160 Speaker 2: whether intentionally or not, by someone that he knew. These 567 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:54,240 Speaker 2: theories from William Reichart and Stephen Lightfoot, regardless if you 568 00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:56,160 Speaker 2: believe them or not, regardless of whether or not they 569 00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:58,440 Speaker 2: are real or fake, they do do the same thing. 570 00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:02,480 Speaker 2: They displaced the pin and draw our focus instead to 571 00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:04,959 Speaker 2: the scandal and the shame of it all, and they 572 00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:08,240 Speaker 2: also get to a more profound truth, the truth that 573 00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:11,280 Speaker 2: the most important things are the hardest things to say. 574 00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:15,320 Speaker 2: And sometimes it's easier to mask grief behind a scandalous 575 00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:18,000 Speaker 2: claim or a makeshift sign on a white van than 576 00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:20,680 Speaker 2: it is to state what we really feel. That it 577 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:24,040 Speaker 2: sucks that River Phoenix is no longer with us, and 578 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:28,840 Speaker 2: how do you convey exactly what all that means? When 579 00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:31,880 Speaker 2: we watch as intoxicating jaunt as a young Harrison Ford 580 00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:34,280 Speaker 2: in the opening scene of Indiana Jones in the Last 581 00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:37,120 Speaker 2: Crusade or as nuanced comedic turns and I Love You 582 00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:40,640 Speaker 2: to Death and the vastly underrated Sneakers we all think 583 00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:46,040 Speaker 2: the same thing. Will miss them forever because River Phoenix 584 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:50,680 Speaker 2: ought to be here, but he's not, and that is 585 00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:51,360 Speaker 2: a disgrace. 586 00:32:54,040 --> 00:33:10,880 Speaker 4: I'm Jake Brennan in this is disgrace Land. All right, guys, 587 00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:13,120 Speaker 4: thanks for checking out this episode. 588 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:13,600 Speaker 1: On River Phoenix. 589 00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:16,200 Speaker 2: I called River a once in a generation actor in 590 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:18,800 Speaker 2: this episode, but Wizzy, do you guys agree? Do you 591 00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:19,160 Speaker 2: think so? 592 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:21,360 Speaker 1: And I want to know for you, guys, the question 593 00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:24,200 Speaker 1: of the week is who is the greatest. 594 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:28,000 Speaker 2: Actor from the nineteen nineties and why? Six one seven 595 00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:30,720 Speaker 2: nine oh six six six three eight. Leave me a voicemail, 596 00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:32,240 Speaker 2: sent me a text and let me know. You can 597 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:35,840 Speaker 2: also reachweet at disgracelamd pod as well on Instagram, X 598 00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:36,760 Speaker 2: and Facebook. 599 00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:38,840 Speaker 1: Leave a review for the show on Apple Podcasts or 600 00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:41,479 Speaker 1: Spotify and you can win some free merch. All right, 601 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:42,760 Speaker 1: here comes some credits. 602 00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:46,720 Speaker 2: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in 603 00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:50,160 Speaker 2: partnership with Double Elvis. 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