Clive Davis, Music Industry Starmaker, Has Died at 94
Herb Greene’s Photography Offers Much More Than Music Icons
In 'Janis,' Joplin Shown to Be a Tangle of Talents, Contradictions and Mythology
New Janis Joplin Biography Reveals The Hard Work Behind The Heart
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Into his later years, he was directing the careers of everyone from Barry Manilow to \u003cem>American Idol\u003c/em> winners Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson. And his exclusive pre-Grammys gala, held the Saturday night before the Sunday award show every year since 1975, continued to be an institution.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Clive’s talent has always been seeing and hearing what other people don’t,” former President Barack Obama said in a video message played at this year’s gala.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Brooklyn background\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Clive Jay Davis was born on April 4, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York, where he grew up in the Crown Heights neighborhood. His father was an electrician and traveling salesman. He attended New York University and then Harvard Law School, eventually landing a job as an in-house lawyer at Columbia Records.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Davis always had a knack for business, and by 1967, became president of the company, just seven years after being hired as an attorney. He cited attending the Monterey International Pop Festival that year as pivotal, specifically witnessing the powerhouse vocals of Janis Joplin (“I realized this was going to be the future,” he would later explain.) He signed Joplin’s band, Big Brother and the Holding Company. Other Bay Area groups like Santana and Sly & the Family Stone soon followed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Davis’ embrace of the new, young sound eventually led him to bringing Bruce Springsteen, Chicago, Neil Diamond and many other groups to the label — lending a counterculture spirit to a company that had resisted rock ‘n’ roll. (He maintained a close relationship with the Bay Area, signing the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/grateful-dead\">Grateful Dead\u003c/a> in 1977 and regularly sending his artists to recording studios like San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/12279498/hyde-street-rock-how-wally-heider-and-the-tenderloin-shaped-the-san-francisco-sound\">Wally Heider Studios\u003c/a> or Sausalito’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/12374448/running-the-record-plant-part-1-the-early-years\">Record Plant\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1298\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-sly.jpg\" alt=\"A white man wearing 1970s attire sits next to a Black man with a large afro and neck scarf. They are sitting outside on lawn chairs.\" class=\"wp-image-13990945\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-sly.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-sly-160x104.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-sly-768x498.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-sly-1536x997.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sly Stone and Clive Davis, hanging out on Sept. 27, 1972. (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Davis took big swings in the music industry, particularly in his support for Black artists, beginning when he signed Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International Records in 1971.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2015, the NAACP recognized Davis for his groundbreaking work by presenting him with the Vanguard Award. And last summer, Davis was presented with the Apollo Theater’s Apollo Legacy Award and inducted onto its Walk of Fame.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">An unrivaled career\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>His success stories were staggering, with Houston a crowning achievement and devastating tragedy: Davis signed her to his Arista record label when she was just a teen and turned her into America’s reigning pop princess.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Houston racked up multiple No. 1 hits and became one of the top-selling artists in pop history before drug abuse hobbled her career. She died in a Los Angeles hotel room in 2012, just hours before she was to appear at the annual pre-Grammy Awards gala hosted by Davis, who had been convinced she was turning her life around.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Maybe I should have been more skeptical,” Davis wrote in his 2013 memoir, \u003cem>The Soundtrack of My Life\u003c/em>, “but I’ve always been optimistic, and I felt hopeful. It felt like old times.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1357\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/whitney-clive-bobby.png\" alt=\"A Black man wearing a black bowler hat and fake fur coat smiles as a Black woman wearing a low cut purple suit jacket touches his chin. Next to them is an older white man wearing a striped tie and formal suit.\" class=\"wp-image-13990947\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/whitney-clive-bobby.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/whitney-clive-bobby-160x109.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/whitney-clive-bobby-768x521.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/whitney-clive-bobby-1536x1042.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston appear with Clive Davis, right, at a pre-Grammy party in New York on Feb. 24, 1998. (AP Photo/Stuart Ramson, File)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He also launched the career of multi-platinum, multiple-Grammy winner Keys — and was quick to note other talents he signed, including Joplin and Billy Joel, Blood Sweat & Tears and other “all-timers,” as he so often put it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I signed Patti Smith, the great Renaissance woman … I signed Lou Reed … I signed the Grateful Dead,” he proudly touted in an interview with The Associated Press in 1999.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He also signed the then up-and-coming producer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13954740/diddy-allegations-sean-combs-raids-sex-trafficking-cassie-joi-rod-harve-pierre-jane-doe\">Sean “Diddy” Combs\u003c/a> to a label deal with his Bad Boy Records. Under Davis, the label would have some of its biggest successes, most notably with late rap icon the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13847666/hip-hop-deserves-that-respect-honoring-the-notorious-b-i-g-wu-tang-clan-in-nyc\">Notorious B.I.G.\u003c/a> That was long before the hip-hop mogul Diddy would be incarcerated, convicted of violating the federal Mann Act, which bans transporting people across state lines for any sexual crime.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">An exec who built lifelong careers\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Davis didn’t simply have an eye for new talent — he also knew how to keep veterans relevant, decades after their first hit. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/tag/aretha-franklin\">Aretha Franklin\u003c/a>, whose legend was made at Atlantic Records, flourished in her later years at Arista, as did Luther Vandross, who made his last albums for another Davis label, J Records.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It was Davis who conceived of the 1999 album \u003cem>Supernatural\u003c/em>, which paired guitar god Santana with some of the day’s hottest talents. The record won a record-tying eight Grammys and gave Santana more success than he had ever enjoyed in his decades-long career.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And he had middle-aged star Rod Stewart trade in his rock hits for standards from \u003cem>The Great American Songbook\u003c/em>. The album, released in 2003, sold millions and was so successful it spawned four titles in all.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1312\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-willie.jpg\" alt=\"In a ballroom hosting a large dinner, a white man in a black suit points to the white shirt of a Black man, also wearing black tie.\" class=\"wp-image-13990949\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-willie.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-willie-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-willie-768x504.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-willie-1536x1008.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Clive Davis and Willie Brown, Former Mayor of San Francisco. (Photo by Larry Busacca/WireImage for J Records)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The label had huge success with a debut act — Milli Vanilli. But the male pop duo would become the embarrassment of the industry when, after winning a Grammy, it was revealed that they weren’t actually singing their songs (Davis blamed the debacle on the label’s European division, which he said signed them; the group was later stripped of its best new artist Grammy).\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 1999, as Arista was celebrating its 25th anniversary, Davis faced another crisis: The label’s then-parent company, BMG Entertainment, a division of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann, wanted him to retire; most of its executives were eased out by 60, and Davis was in his mid-60s.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2000, despite support from his superstar roster, the company ousted him in favor of producer and songwriter Antonio “L.A.” Reid, who would later become chairman of Island/Def Jam.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Still, Davis’ successes were many\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>However, instead of severing its ties with Davis, BMG helped him launch J Records in what BMG has described as the largest record company startup ever created. Vandross was one of his initial artists, along with forgettable acts like the boy-band O-Town.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>J Records was a success from the start, though, and only grew in stature with the arrival of a young singer named Keys, a piano-playing singer-songwriter with powerful pipes and dramatic R&B songs. Keys’ albums would go on to sell millions and win several Grammys.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>His influence grew even more when Davis was tapped for BMG’s U.S. division.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1328\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-diana.png\" alt=\"A very slender Black woman wearing a skintight black and floral dress stands on stage smiling and holding a microphone, as a white man in a black suit warmly kisses her hand. He is also holding a mic.\" class=\"wp-image-13990952\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-diana.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-diana-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-diana-768x510.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-diana-1536x1020.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Clive Davis kisses the hand of Diana Ross at his annual pre-Grammy party at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Saturday Feb. 12, 2005. (AP Photo/Chris Polk)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He became a key backer of the careers of the winners of \u003cem>American Idol\u003c/em>, guiding many albums to platinum status. The show’s link to Sony BMG came through a deal between Davis and 19 Recordings Unlimited, the label managed by \u003cem>Idol\u003c/em> creator Simon Fuller.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2007, however, Davis disagreed with the direction of Clarkson’s \u003cem>My December\u003c/em>, and she publicly criticized him. The album was a flop, and she later apologized.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2008, Sony BMG replaced Davis as chairman and chief executive officer of the BMG label group, giving him the title of chief creative officer.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He was serving as worldwide chief creative officer at Sony Music Entertainment up until his death.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A love-filled personal life\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In his memoir, Davis confirmed longtime rumors that he was bisexual and had been living with a man in recent years.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Do I feel I could have been similarly attracted to a woman?” Davis wrote. “The answer is yes.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He is survived by his four children, sons Fred, Doug and Mitchell, daughter Lauren, and his eight grandchildren Austin, Charlie, Matthew, Hayley, Harper, Sloane, Billie and Cody, two great grandchildren, cousin Jo Schuman and partner Greg Schriefer.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>His family shared a loving statement on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Through every chapter of his remarkable life, family remained Clive’s greatest pride and deepest joy. Today, we celebrate not only a towering figure whose influence changed music forever, but the man who led our family with grace, generosity, and kindness. We will miss him greatly, cherish him always, and carry his love with us for the rest of our lives.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Clive Davis, the record company lawyer who became one of the music industry’s most powerful figures, launching or resurrecting the careers of such superstars as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/janis-joplin\">Janis Joplin\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13806026/a-radiant-isolated-star-a-new-documentary-tells-whitney-houstons-story\">Whitney Houston\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/45101/interview-carlos-santana-at-mission-high-school\">Carlos Santana\u003c/a> and Alicia Keys, has died, his family confirmed. He was 94.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Clive Davis, the record company lawyer who became one of the music industry’s most powerful figures, launching or resurrecting the careers of such superstars as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/janis-joplin\">Janis Joplin\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13806026/a-radiant-isolated-star-a-new-documentary-tells-whitney-houstons-story\">Whitney Houston\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/45101/interview-carlos-santana-at-mission-high-school\">Carlos Santana\u003c/a> and Alicia Keys, has died, his family confirmed. He was 94.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Earlier this year, Davis was hospitalized following an upper respiratory issue and was released a few days later. His death, in his Manhattan apartment, was confirmed by his publicist Aliza Rabinoff, who also shared a statement from his family.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Earlier this year, Davis was hospitalized following an upper respiratory issue and was released a few days later. His death, in his Manhattan apartment, was confirmed by his publicist Aliza Rabinoff, who also shared a statement from his family.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“To the world, our father was the iconic music legend whose vision, instincts, and relentless pursuit of excellence shaped the soundtrack of countless lives. He discovered, mentored, and championed the greatest artists in modern music history, leaving an indelible mark on culture that will endure for generations,” the statement read.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“To the world, our father was the iconic music legend whose vision, instincts, and relentless pursuit of excellence shaped the soundtrack of countless lives. He discovered, mentored, and championed the greatest artists in modern music history, leaving an indelible mark on culture that will endure for generations,” the statement read.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/santana-davis-1.png\" alt=\"A Latino man wearing a hat and dark blue suit clutches four Grammy awards while looking to his left at a bald white man in a black suit. He is holding 3 Grammy awards.\" class=\"wp-image-13990942\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/santana-davis-1.png 1788w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/santana-davis-1-160x117.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/santana-davis-1-768x564.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/santana-davis-1-1536x1127.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Carlos Santana and producer Clive Davis pose with their Grammys at the 42nd Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, on Feb. 23, 2000.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/santana-davis-1.png\" alt=\"A Latino man wearing a hat and dark blue suit clutches four Grammy awards while looking to his left at a bald white man in a black suit. He is holding 3 Grammy awards.\" class=\"wp-image-13990942\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Carlos Santana and producer Clive Davis pose with their Grammys at the 42nd Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, on Feb. 23, 2000.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Unlike other record moguls whose influence waned as they got older, Davis’ might only seemed to grow, spanning multiple genres and labels. Into his later years, he was directing the careers of everyone from Barry Manilow to \u003cem>American Idol\u003c/em> winners Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson. And his exclusive pre-Grammys gala, held the Saturday night before the Sunday award show every year since 1975, continued to be an institution.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Unlike other record moguls whose influence waned as they got older, Davis’ might only seemed to grow, spanning multiple genres and labels. Into his later years, he was directing the careers of everyone from Barry Manilow to \u003cem>American Idol\u003c/em> winners Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson. And his exclusive pre-Grammys gala, held the Saturday night before the Sunday award show every year since 1975, continued to be an institution.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Clive’s talent has always been seeing and hearing what other people don’t,” former President Barack Obama said in a video message played at this year’s gala.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Clive’s talent has always been seeing and hearing what other people don’t,” former President Barack Obama said in a video message played at this year’s gala.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Clive Jay Davis was born on April 4, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York, where he grew up in the Crown Heights neighborhood. His father was an electrician and traveling salesman. He attended New York University and then Harvard Law School, eventually landing a job as an in-house lawyer at Columbia Records.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Clive Jay Davis was born on April 4, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York, where he grew up in the Crown Heights neighborhood. His father was an electrician and traveling salesman. He attended New York University and then Harvard Law School, eventually landing a job as an in-house lawyer at Columbia Records.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Davis always had a knack for business, and by 1967, became president of the company, just seven years after being hired as an attorney. He cited attending the Monterey International Pop Festival that year as pivotal, specifically witnessing the powerhouse vocals of Janis Joplin (“I realized this was going to be the future,” he would later explain.) He signed Joplin’s band, Big Brother and the Holding Company. Other Bay Area groups like Santana and Sly & the Family Stone soon followed.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Davis always had a knack for business, and by 1967, became president of the company, just seven years after being hired as an attorney. He cited attending the Monterey International Pop Festival that year as pivotal, specifically witnessing the powerhouse vocals of Janis Joplin (“I realized this was going to be the future,” he would later explain.) He signed Joplin’s band, Big Brother and the Holding Company. Other Bay Area groups like Santana and Sly & the Family Stone soon followed.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Davis’ embrace of the new, young sound eventually led him to bringing Bruce Springsteen, Chicago, Neil Diamond and many other groups to the label — lending a counterculture spirit to a company that had resisted rock ‘n’ roll. (He maintained a close relationship with the Bay Area, signing the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/grateful-dead\">Grateful Dead\u003c/a> in 1977 and regularly sending his artists to recording studios like San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/12279498/hyde-street-rock-how-wally-heider-and-the-tenderloin-shaped-the-san-francisco-sound\">Wally Heider Studios\u003c/a> or Sausalito’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/12374448/running-the-record-plant-part-1-the-early-years\">Record Plant\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Davis’ embrace of the new, young sound eventually led him to bringing Bruce Springsteen, Chicago, Neil Diamond and many other groups to the label — lending a counterculture spirit to a company that had resisted rock ‘n’ roll. (He maintained a close relationship with the Bay Area, signing the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/grateful-dead\">Grateful Dead\u003c/a> in 1977 and regularly sending his artists to recording studios like San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/12279498/hyde-street-rock-how-wally-heider-and-the-tenderloin-shaped-the-san-francisco-sound\">Wally Heider Studios\u003c/a> or Sausalito’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/12374448/running-the-record-plant-part-1-the-early-years\">Record Plant\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-sly.jpg\" alt=\"A white man wearing 1970s attire sits next to a Black man with a large afro and neck scarf. They are sitting outside on lawn chairs.\" class=\"wp-image-13990945\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-sly.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-sly-160x104.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-sly-768x498.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-sly-1536x997.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sly Stone and Clive Davis, hanging out on Sept. 27, 1972. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-sly.jpg\" alt=\"A white man wearing 1970s attire sits next to a Black man with a large afro and neck scarf. They are sitting outside on lawn chairs.\" class=\"wp-image-13990945\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sly Stone and Clive Davis, hanging out on Sept. 27, 1972. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Davis took big swings in the music industry, particularly in his support for Black artists, beginning when he signed Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International Records in 1971.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Davis took big swings in the music industry, particularly in his support for Black artists, beginning when he signed Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International Records in 1971.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In 2015, the NAACP recognized Davis for his groundbreaking work by presenting him with the Vanguard Award. And last summer, Davis was presented with the Apollo Theater’s Apollo Legacy Award and inducted onto its Walk of Fame.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In 2015, the NAACP recognized Davis for his groundbreaking work by presenting him with the Vanguard Award. And last summer, Davis was presented with the Apollo Theater’s Apollo Legacy Award and inducted onto its Walk of Fame.\u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": {
"text": "An unrivaled career",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">An unrivaled career\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">An unrivaled career\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>His success stories were staggering, with Houston a crowning achievement and devastating tragedy: Davis signed her to his Arista record label when she was just a teen and turned her into America’s reigning pop princess.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>His success stories were staggering, with Houston a crowning achievement and devastating tragedy: Davis signed her to his Arista record label when she was just a teen and turned her into America’s reigning pop princess.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Houston racked up multiple No. 1 hits and became one of the top-selling artists in pop history before drug abuse hobbled her career. She died in a Los Angeles hotel room in 2012, just hours before she was to appear at the annual pre-Grammy Awards gala hosted by Davis, who had been convinced she was turning her life around.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Houston racked up multiple No. 1 hits and became one of the top-selling artists in pop history before drug abuse hobbled her career. She died in a Los Angeles hotel room in 2012, just hours before she was to appear at the annual pre-Grammy Awards gala hosted by Davis, who had been convinced she was turning her life around.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Maybe I should have been more skeptical,” Davis wrote in his 2013 memoir, \u003cem>The Soundtrack of My Life\u003c/em>, “but I’ve always been optimistic, and I felt hopeful. It felt like old times.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Maybe I should have been more skeptical,” Davis wrote in his 2013 memoir, \u003cem>The Soundtrack of My Life\u003c/em>, “but I’ve always been optimistic, and I felt hopeful. It felt like old times.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/whitney-clive-bobby.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/whitney-clive-bobby-160x109.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/whitney-clive-bobby-768x521.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/whitney-clive-bobby-1536x1042.png 1536w",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/whitney-clive-bobby.png\" alt=\"A Black man wearing a black bowler hat and fake fur coat smiles as a Black woman wearing a low cut purple suit jacket touches his chin. Next to them is an older white man wearing a striped tie and formal suit.\" class=\"wp-image-13990947\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/whitney-clive-bobby.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/whitney-clive-bobby-160x109.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/whitney-clive-bobby-768x521.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/whitney-clive-bobby-1536x1042.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston appear with Clive Davis, right, at a pre-Grammy party in New York on Feb. 24, 1998.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/whitney-clive-bobby.png\" alt=\"A Black man wearing a black bowler hat and fake fur coat smiles as a Black woman wearing a low cut purple suit jacket touches his chin. Next to them is an older white man wearing a striped tie and formal suit.\" class=\"wp-image-13990947\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston appear with Clive Davis, right, at a pre-Grammy party in New York on Feb. 24, 1998.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He also launched the career of multi-platinum, multiple-Grammy winner Keys — and was quick to note other talents he signed, including Joplin and Billy Joel, Blood Sweat & Tears and other “all-timers,” as he so often put it.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>He also launched the career of multi-platinum, multiple-Grammy winner Keys — and was quick to note other talents he signed, including Joplin and Billy Joel, Blood Sweat & Tears and other “all-timers,” as he so often put it.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I signed Patti Smith, the great Renaissance woman … I signed Lou Reed … I signed the Grateful Dead,” he proudly touted in an interview with The Associated Press in 1999.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I signed Patti Smith, the great Renaissance woman … I signed Lou Reed … I signed the Grateful Dead,” he proudly touted in an interview with The Associated Press in 1999.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He also signed the then up-and-coming producer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13954740/diddy-allegations-sean-combs-raids-sex-trafficking-cassie-joi-rod-harve-pierre-jane-doe\">Sean “Diddy” Combs\u003c/a> to a label deal with his Bad Boy Records. Under Davis, the label would have some of its biggest successes, most notably with late rap icon the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13847666/hip-hop-deserves-that-respect-honoring-the-notorious-b-i-g-wu-tang-clan-in-nyc\">Notorious B.I.G.\u003c/a> That was long before the hip-hop mogul Diddy would be incarcerated, convicted of violating the federal Mann Act, which bans transporting people across state lines for any sexual crime.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>He also signed the then up-and-coming producer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13954740/diddy-allegations-sean-combs-raids-sex-trafficking-cassie-joi-rod-harve-pierre-jane-doe\">Sean “Diddy” Combs\u003c/a> to a label deal with his Bad Boy Records. Under Davis, the label would have some of its biggest successes, most notably with late rap icon the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13847666/hip-hop-deserves-that-respect-honoring-the-notorious-b-i-g-wu-tang-clan-in-nyc\">Notorious B.I.G.\u003c/a> That was long before the hip-hop mogul Diddy would be incarcerated, convicted of violating the federal Mann Act, which bans transporting people across state lines for any sexual crime.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "An exec who built lifelong careers",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">An exec who built lifelong careers\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">An exec who built lifelong careers\u003c/h2>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Davis didn’t simply have an eye for new talent — he also knew how to keep veterans relevant, decades after their first hit. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/tag/aretha-franklin\">Aretha Franklin\u003c/a>, whose legend was made at Atlantic Records, flourished in her later years at Arista, as did Luther Vandross, who made his last albums for another Davis label, J Records.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Davis didn’t simply have an eye for new talent — he also knew how to keep veterans relevant, decades after their first hit. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/tag/aretha-franklin\">Aretha Franklin\u003c/a>, whose legend was made at Atlantic Records, flourished in her later years at Arista, as did Luther Vandross, who made his last albums for another Davis label, J Records.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It was Davis who conceived of the 1999 album \u003cem>Supernatural\u003c/em>, which paired guitar god Santana with some of the day’s hottest talents. The record won a record-tying eight Grammys and gave Santana more success than he had ever enjoyed in his decades-long career.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>It was Davis who conceived of the 1999 album \u003cem>Supernatural\u003c/em>, which paired guitar god Santana with some of the day’s hottest talents. The record won a record-tying eight Grammys and gave Santana more success than he had ever enjoyed in his decades-long career.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And he had middle-aged star Rod Stewart trade in his rock hits for standards from \u003cem>The Great American Songbook\u003c/em>. The album, released in 2003, sold millions and was so successful it spawned four titles in all.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>And he had middle-aged star Rod Stewart trade in his rock hits for standards from \u003cem>The Great American Songbook\u003c/em>. The album, released in 2003, sold millions and was so successful it spawned four titles in all.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/image",
"attrs": {
"id": 13990949,
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"imageCredit": "Photo by Larry Busacca/WireImage for J Records",
"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-willie.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-willie-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-willie-768x504.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-willie-1536x1008.jpg 1536w",
"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-willie.jpg\" alt=\"In a ballroom hosting a large dinner, a white man in a black suit points to the white shirt of a Black man, also wearing black tie.\" class=\"wp-image-13990949\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-willie.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-willie-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-willie-768x504.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-willie-1536x1008.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Clive Davis and Willie Brown, Former Mayor of San Francisco.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-willie.jpg\" alt=\"In a ballroom hosting a large dinner, a white man in a black suit points to the white shirt of a Black man, also wearing black tie.\" class=\"wp-image-13990949\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Clive Davis and Willie Brown, Former Mayor of San Francisco.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The label had huge success with a debut act — Milli Vanilli. But the male pop duo would become the embarrassment of the industry when, after winning a Grammy, it was revealed that they weren’t actually singing their songs (Davis blamed the debacle on the label’s European division, which he said signed them; the group was later stripped of its best new artist Grammy).\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The label had huge success with a debut act — Milli Vanilli. But the male pop duo would become the embarrassment of the industry when, after winning a Grammy, it was revealed that they weren’t actually singing their songs (Davis blamed the debacle on the label’s European division, which he said signed them; the group was later stripped of its best new artist Grammy).\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In 1999, as Arista was celebrating its 25th anniversary, Davis faced another crisis: The label’s then-parent company, BMG Entertainment, a division of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann, wanted him to retire; most of its executives were eased out by 60, and Davis was in his mid-60s.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In 1999, as Arista was celebrating its 25th anniversary, Davis faced another crisis: The label’s then-parent company, BMG Entertainment, a division of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann, wanted him to retire; most of its executives were eased out by 60, and Davis was in his mid-60s.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In 2000, despite support from his superstar roster, the company ousted him in favor of producer and songwriter Antonio “L.A.” Reid, who would later become chairman of Island/Def Jam.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In 2000, despite support from his superstar roster, the company ousted him in favor of producer and songwriter Antonio “L.A.” Reid, who would later become chairman of Island/Def Jam.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Still, Davis’ successes were many",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Still, Davis’ successes were many\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Still, Davis’ successes were many\u003c/h2>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>However, instead of severing its ties with Davis, BMG helped him launch J Records in what BMG has described as the largest record company startup ever created. Vandross was one of his initial artists, along with forgettable acts like the boy-band O-Town.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>However, instead of severing its ties with Davis, BMG helped him launch J Records in what BMG has described as the largest record company startup ever created. Vandross was one of his initial artists, along with forgettable acts like the boy-band O-Town.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>J Records was a success from the start, though, and only grew in stature with the arrival of a young singer named Keys, a piano-playing singer-songwriter with powerful pipes and dramatic R&B songs. Keys’ albums would go on to sell millions and win several Grammys.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>J Records was a success from the start, though, and only grew in stature with the arrival of a young singer named Keys, a piano-playing singer-songwriter with powerful pipes and dramatic R&B songs. Keys’ albums would go on to sell millions and win several Grammys.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>His influence grew even more when Davis was tapped for BMG’s U.S. division.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>His influence grew even more when Davis was tapped for BMG’s U.S. division.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/image",
"attrs": {
"id": 13990952,
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-diana.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-diana-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-diana-768x510.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-diana-1536x1020.png 1536w",
"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-diana.png\" alt=\"A very slender Black woman wearing a skintight black and floral dress stands on stage smiling and holding a microphone, as a white man in a black suit warmly kisses her hand. He is also holding a mic.\" class=\"wp-image-13990952\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-diana.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-diana-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-diana-768x510.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-diana-1536x1020.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Clive Davis kisses the hand of Diana Ross at his annual pre-Grammy party at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Saturday Feb. 12, 2005.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-diana.png\" alt=\"A very slender Black woman wearing a skintight black and floral dress stands on stage smiling and holding a microphone, as a white man in a black suit warmly kisses her hand. He is also holding a mic.\" class=\"wp-image-13990952\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Clive Davis kisses the hand of Diana Ross at his annual pre-Grammy party at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Saturday Feb. 12, 2005.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He became a key backer of the careers of the winners of \u003cem>American Idol\u003c/em>, guiding many albums to platinum status. The show’s link to Sony BMG came through a deal between Davis and 19 Recordings Unlimited, the label managed by \u003cem>Idol\u003c/em> creator Simon Fuller.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>He became a key backer of the careers of the winners of \u003cem>American Idol\u003c/em>, guiding many albums to platinum status. The show’s link to Sony BMG came through a deal between Davis and 19 Recordings Unlimited, the label managed by \u003cem>Idol\u003c/em> creator Simon Fuller.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In 2007, however, Davis disagreed with the direction of Clarkson’s \u003cem>My December\u003c/em>, and she publicly criticized him. The album was a flop, and she later apologized.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In 2007, however, Davis disagreed with the direction of Clarkson’s \u003cem>My December\u003c/em>, and she publicly criticized him. The album was a flop, and she later apologized.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In 2008, Sony BMG replaced Davis as chairman and chief executive officer of the BMG label group, giving him the title of chief creative officer.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>In 2008, Sony BMG replaced Davis as chairman and chief executive officer of the BMG label group, giving him the title of chief creative officer.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He was serving as worldwide chief creative officer at Sony Music Entertainment up until his death.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>He was serving as worldwide chief creative officer at Sony Music Entertainment up until his death.\u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": {
"text": "A love-filled personal life",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A love-filled personal life\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A love-filled personal life\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In his memoir, Davis confirmed longtime rumors that he was bisexual and had been living with a man in recent years.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In his memoir, Davis confirmed longtime rumors that he was bisexual and had been living with a man in recent years.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He is survived by his four children, sons Fred, Doug and Mitchell, daughter Lauren, and his eight grandchildren Austin, Charlie, Matthew, Hayley, Harper, Sloane, Billie and Cody, two great grandchildren, cousin Jo Schuman and partner Greg Schriefer.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Through every chapter of his remarkable life, family remained Clive’s greatest pride and deepest joy. Today, we celebrate not only a towering figure whose influence changed music forever, but the man who led our family with grace, generosity, and kindness. We will miss him greatly, cherish him always, and carry his love with us for the rest of our lives.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The record company lawyer championed Bay Area artists including Janis Joplin and Carlos Santana.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Clive Davis, the record company lawyer who became one of the music industry’s most powerful figures, launching or resurrecting the careers of such superstars as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/janis-joplin\">Janis Joplin\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13806026/a-radiant-isolated-star-a-new-documentary-tells-whitney-houstons-story\">Whitney Houston\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/45101/interview-carlos-santana-at-mission-high-school\">Carlos Santana\u003c/a> and Alicia Keys, has died, his family confirmed. He was 94.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Earlier this year, Davis was hospitalized following an upper respiratory issue and was released a few days later. His death, in his Manhattan apartment, was confirmed by his publicist Aliza Rabinoff, who also shared a statement from his family.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“To the world, our father was the iconic music legend whose vision, instincts, and relentless pursuit of excellence shaped the soundtrack of countless lives. He discovered, mentored, and championed the greatest artists in modern music history, leaving an indelible mark on culture that will endure for generations,” the statement read.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1788\" height=\"1312\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/santana-davis-1.png\" alt=\"A Latino man wearing a hat and dark blue suit clutches four Grammy awards while looking to his left at a bald white man in a black suit. He is holding 3 Grammy awards.\" class=\"wp-image-13990942\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/santana-davis-1.png 1788w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/santana-davis-1-160x117.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/santana-davis-1-768x564.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/santana-davis-1-1536x1127.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1788px) 100vw, 1788px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Carlos Santana and producer Clive Davis pose with their Grammys at the 42nd Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, on Feb. 23, 2000. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Unlike other record moguls whose influence waned as they got older, Davis’ might only seemed to grow, spanning multiple genres and labels. Into his later years, he was directing the careers of everyone from Barry Manilow to \u003cem>American Idol\u003c/em> winners Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson. And his exclusive pre-Grammys gala, held the Saturday night before the Sunday award show every year since 1975, continued to be an institution.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Clive’s talent has always been seeing and hearing what other people don’t,” former President Barack Obama said in a video message played at this year’s gala.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Brooklyn background\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Clive Jay Davis was born on April 4, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York, where he grew up in the Crown Heights neighborhood. His father was an electrician and traveling salesman. He attended New York University and then Harvard Law School, eventually landing a job as an in-house lawyer at Columbia Records.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Davis always had a knack for business, and by 1967, became president of the company, just seven years after being hired as an attorney. He cited attending the Monterey International Pop Festival that year as pivotal, specifically witnessing the powerhouse vocals of Janis Joplin (“I realized this was going to be the future,” he would later explain.) He signed Joplin’s band, Big Brother and the Holding Company. Other Bay Area groups like Santana and Sly & the Family Stone soon followed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Davis’ embrace of the new, young sound eventually led him to bringing Bruce Springsteen, Chicago, Neil Diamond and many other groups to the label — lending a counterculture spirit to a company that had resisted rock ‘n’ roll. (He maintained a close relationship with the Bay Area, signing the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/grateful-dead\">Grateful Dead\u003c/a> in 1977 and regularly sending his artists to recording studios like San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/12279498/hyde-street-rock-how-wally-heider-and-the-tenderloin-shaped-the-san-francisco-sound\">Wally Heider Studios\u003c/a> or Sausalito’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/12374448/running-the-record-plant-part-1-the-early-years\">Record Plant\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1298\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-sly.jpg\" alt=\"A white man wearing 1970s attire sits next to a Black man with a large afro and neck scarf. They are sitting outside on lawn chairs.\" class=\"wp-image-13990945\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-sly.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-sly-160x104.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-sly-768x498.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-sly-1536x997.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sly Stone and Clive Davis, hanging out on Sept. 27, 1972. (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Davis took big swings in the music industry, particularly in his support for Black artists, beginning when he signed Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International Records in 1971.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2015, the NAACP recognized Davis for his groundbreaking work by presenting him with the Vanguard Award. And last summer, Davis was presented with the Apollo Theater’s Apollo Legacy Award and inducted onto its Walk of Fame.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">An unrivaled career\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>His success stories were staggering, with Houston a crowning achievement and devastating tragedy: Davis signed her to his Arista record label when she was just a teen and turned her into America’s reigning pop princess.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Houston racked up multiple No. 1 hits and became one of the top-selling artists in pop history before drug abuse hobbled her career. She died in a Los Angeles hotel room in 2012, just hours before she was to appear at the annual pre-Grammy Awards gala hosted by Davis, who had been convinced she was turning her life around.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Maybe I should have been more skeptical,” Davis wrote in his 2013 memoir, \u003cem>The Soundtrack of My Life\u003c/em>, “but I’ve always been optimistic, and I felt hopeful. It felt like old times.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1357\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/whitney-clive-bobby.png\" alt=\"A Black man wearing a black bowler hat and fake fur coat smiles as a Black woman wearing a low cut purple suit jacket touches his chin. Next to them is an older white man wearing a striped tie and formal suit.\" class=\"wp-image-13990947\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/whitney-clive-bobby.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/whitney-clive-bobby-160x109.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/whitney-clive-bobby-768x521.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/whitney-clive-bobby-1536x1042.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston appear with Clive Davis, right, at a pre-Grammy party in New York on Feb. 24, 1998. (AP Photo/Stuart Ramson, File)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He also launched the career of multi-platinum, multiple-Grammy winner Keys — and was quick to note other talents he signed, including Joplin and Billy Joel, Blood Sweat & Tears and other “all-timers,” as he so often put it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I signed Patti Smith, the great Renaissance woman … I signed Lou Reed … I signed the Grateful Dead,” he proudly touted in an interview with The Associated Press in 1999.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He also signed the then up-and-coming producer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13954740/diddy-allegations-sean-combs-raids-sex-trafficking-cassie-joi-rod-harve-pierre-jane-doe\">Sean “Diddy” Combs\u003c/a> to a label deal with his Bad Boy Records. Under Davis, the label would have some of its biggest successes, most notably with late rap icon the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13847666/hip-hop-deserves-that-respect-honoring-the-notorious-b-i-g-wu-tang-clan-in-nyc\">Notorious B.I.G.\u003c/a> That was long before the hip-hop mogul Diddy would be incarcerated, convicted of violating the federal Mann Act, which bans transporting people across state lines for any sexual crime.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">An exec who built lifelong careers\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Davis didn’t simply have an eye for new talent — he also knew how to keep veterans relevant, decades after their first hit. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/tag/aretha-franklin\">Aretha Franklin\u003c/a>, whose legend was made at Atlantic Records, flourished in her later years at Arista, as did Luther Vandross, who made his last albums for another Davis label, J Records.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It was Davis who conceived of the 1999 album \u003cem>Supernatural\u003c/em>, which paired guitar god Santana with some of the day’s hottest talents. The record won a record-tying eight Grammys and gave Santana more success than he had ever enjoyed in his decades-long career.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And he had middle-aged star Rod Stewart trade in his rock hits for standards from \u003cem>The Great American Songbook\u003c/em>. The album, released in 2003, sold millions and was so successful it spawned four titles in all.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1312\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-willie.jpg\" alt=\"In a ballroom hosting a large dinner, a white man in a black suit points to the white shirt of a Black man, also wearing black tie.\" class=\"wp-image-13990949\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-willie.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-willie-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-willie-768x504.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-and-willie-1536x1008.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Clive Davis and Willie Brown, Former Mayor of San Francisco. (Photo by Larry Busacca/WireImage for J Records)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The label had huge success with a debut act — Milli Vanilli. But the male pop duo would become the embarrassment of the industry when, after winning a Grammy, it was revealed that they weren’t actually singing their songs (Davis blamed the debacle on the label’s European division, which he said signed them; the group was later stripped of its best new artist Grammy).\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 1999, as Arista was celebrating its 25th anniversary, Davis faced another crisis: The label’s then-parent company, BMG Entertainment, a division of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann, wanted him to retire; most of its executives were eased out by 60, and Davis was in his mid-60s.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2000, despite support from his superstar roster, the company ousted him in favor of producer and songwriter Antonio “L.A.” Reid, who would later become chairman of Island/Def Jam.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Still, Davis’ successes were many\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>However, instead of severing its ties with Davis, BMG helped him launch J Records in what BMG has described as the largest record company startup ever created. Vandross was one of his initial artists, along with forgettable acts like the boy-band O-Town.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>J Records was a success from the start, though, and only grew in stature with the arrival of a young singer named Keys, a piano-playing singer-songwriter with powerful pipes and dramatic R&B songs. Keys’ albums would go on to sell millions and win several Grammys.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>His influence grew even more when Davis was tapped for BMG’s U.S. division.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1328\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-diana.png\" alt=\"A very slender Black woman wearing a skintight black and floral dress stands on stage smiling and holding a microphone, as a white man in a black suit warmly kisses her hand. He is also holding a mic.\" class=\"wp-image-13990952\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-diana.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-diana-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-diana-768x510.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/clive-diana-1536x1020.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Clive Davis kisses the hand of Diana Ross at his annual pre-Grammy party at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Saturday Feb. 12, 2005. (AP Photo/Chris Polk)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He became a key backer of the careers of the winners of \u003cem>American Idol\u003c/em>, guiding many albums to platinum status. The show’s link to Sony BMG came through a deal between Davis and 19 Recordings Unlimited, the label managed by \u003cem>Idol\u003c/em> creator Simon Fuller.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2007, however, Davis disagreed with the direction of Clarkson’s \u003cem>My December\u003c/em>, and she publicly criticized him. The album was a flop, and she later apologized.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2008, Sony BMG replaced Davis as chairman and chief executive officer of the BMG label group, giving him the title of chief creative officer.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He was serving as worldwide chief creative officer at Sony Music Entertainment up until his death.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A love-filled personal life\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In his memoir, Davis confirmed longtime rumors that he was bisexual and had been living with a man in recent years.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Do I feel I could have been similarly attracted to a woman?” Davis wrote. “The answer is yes.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He is survived by his four children, sons Fred, Doug and Mitchell, daughter Lauren, and his eight grandchildren Austin, Charlie, Matthew, Hayley, Harper, Sloane, Billie and Cody, two great grandchildren, cousin Jo Schuman and partner Greg Schriefer.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>His family shared a loving statement on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Through every chapter of his remarkable life, family remained Clive’s greatest pride and deepest joy. Today, we celebrate not only a towering figure whose influence changed music forever, but the man who led our family with grace, generosity, and kindness. We will miss him greatly, cherish him always, and carry his love with us for the rest of our lives.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Herb Greene’s Photography Offers Much More Than Music Icons",
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"content": "\u003cp>I couldn’t give a tiny rat’s ass about the Grateful Dead. There. I said it. Ordinarily, I’d shy away from announcing such a thing publicly, at the risk of awakening an army of pitchfork-wielding Deadheads. (Not the most measured of fanbases.) However, it would be wrong not to mention it before I start talking about a new exhibit of photography by Herb Greene given that Herb Greene is primarily remembered for his Grateful Dead portraits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you are indeed a Deadhead, or someone who is still reveling in a musical moment that existed over half a century ago, you don’t need me to explain the selling points of \u003cem>The Haight-Ashbury Experience and the Pursuit of Happiness: The Photography of Herb Greene\u003c/em>. You will go for the perfectly lovely photographs of the Grateful Dead, their former outfit The Warlocks and Janis Joplin. You might also go for the expertly composed portraits of Jefferson Airplane, Led Zeppelin, The Jeff Beck Group and The Charlatans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925411\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13925411\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Grace-Slick-by-Herb-Greene_1920-1-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"A pretty young woman kneels on a green and purple couch, twisting her head up towards the camera.\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Grace-Slick-by-Herb-Greene_1920-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Grace-Slick-by-Herb-Greene_1920-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Grace-Slick-by-Herb-Greene_1920-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Grace-Slick-by-Herb-Greene_1920-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Grace-Slick-by-Herb-Greene_1920-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Grace-Slick-by-Herb-Greene_1920-1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Grace Slick in her Jefferson Airplane heyday. \u003ccite>(Herb Greene/ Courtesy of the Haight Street Art Center)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If you are under the age of 60 or wondering why on God’s green earth San Francisco needs \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13039627/de-young-summer-of-love-50th-anniversary\">yet another exhibition glorifying the Summer of Love\u003c/a>, I have some news that might pleasantly surprise you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13039627']First and foremost, in addition to his rock photography, Greene also made a habit of immortalizing the street life in the Haight when it was just another San Francisco neighborhood. He photographed the small businesses, local children, families and elderly residents already there when the hippie invasion first began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These images present the neighborhood before it was a tie-dye-soaked tourist attraction and, crucially, capture the exact moment the first wave of disaffected youth arrived and changed the area forever. Though there is an entire wall of this kind of street photography at \u003cem>The Photography of Herb Greene\u003c/em>, I found myself wishing they inhabited the whole space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925638\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13925638\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/H1_Ohio_to_SF-Haight07-1-800x808.jpeg\" alt=\"A flute-playing hippie and a bohemian friend, both male, walk along a tree lined street. Behind them a man in a suit and hat walks under a sign that reads 'Sher Real Estate INCOME TAX.’\" width=\"800\" height=\"808\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/H1_Ohio_to_SF-Haight07-1-800x808.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/H1_Ohio_to_SF-Haight07-1-160x162.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/H1_Ohio_to_SF-Haight07-1-768x775.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/H1_Ohio_to_SF-Haight07-1.jpeg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Income tax with a side of street flautist. Haight Street in the ’60s. \u003ccite>(Herb Greene/ Courtesy of Haight Street Art Center)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This exhibit also deserves kudos for painting a picture of the bohemian community of kids who were hanging around the Haight at the time. Yes, there are the requisite shots here of naked young people dancing and children clutching flowers at The Human Be-In. But Greene’s photographs also introduce us to the hitchhikers, street musicians and young optimists who migrated to San Francisco in the late 1960s and reveled in the new freedoms it offered. I am indefatigable when it comes to looking at subculture-immersed young people, no matter what era they’re from, and Greene’s photos more than do the Summer of Love kids justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925639\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13925639\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/82548-4-800x822.jpeg\" alt=\"Three teenagers, two females wearing embroidered shawls and long dresses and one young man wearing slacks and a jacket stand on a street corner huddled together. The word ASHBURY is carved into the sidewalk.\" width=\"800\" height=\"822\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/82548-4-800x822.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/82548-4-160x164.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/82548-4-768x789.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/82548-4.jpeg 961w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Three teens hanging in the Haight, 1960s. \u003ccite>(Herb Greene/ Courtesy of Haight Street Art Center)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One of Greene’s favorite places to photograph these young people was in front of the distinctive hieroglyph-covered wall in his studio, where he also shot famous musicians. \u003cem>The Photography of Herb Greene\u003c/em> condenses many of these portraits down onto a single collage board of images. The format hammers home that the hieroglyph wall itself was a great leveler. Famous or not, Greene treated all of his subjects the same in front of it — they became individual characters, each as important as the last.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13920973']Viewed as a collection now, it also reflects the monoculture of that scene. Though Greene himself was Chicano, every single person featured in the wall collage appears to be white.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That lack of diversity runs through much of Greene’s 1960s photography, a reflection of the Bay Area rock ’n’ roll scene of the time. (A portrait of Taj Mahal and his dog offers a particularly beautiful exception.) As such, Greene’s 1970s-era portraits of Sly and the Family Stone and the Pointer Sisters reflect how the mainstream music world began to open up once the Summer of Love ended. These images, shot in color, inject some vibrancy into \u003cem>The Photography of Herb Greene\u003c/em>. The original photo that Sly Stone used for the cover of 1975’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.discogs.com/release/1071382-Sly-Stone-High-On-You\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>High on You\u003c/em>\u003c/a> is a genuine joy to behold in real life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925643\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 496px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13925643\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Taj-Majal.jpg\" alt=\"A Black man with cornrows sits in a wooden chair wearing a tie-dye shirt and slacks. He is leaning forward as if in conversation. At his side is a shaggy white dog.\" width=\"496\" height=\"492\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Taj-Majal.jpg 496w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Taj-Majal-160x159.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 496px) 100vw, 496px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Taj Majal and his dog. \u003ccite>(Herb Greene/ Courtesy of Haight Street Art Center)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Greene also documented the artists (including Rick Griffin, Stanley Mouse, Victor Moscoso and Alton Kelley), writers (like Neal Cassady), concert promoters (Bill Graham and Chet Helms) and roadies who helped turn what was going on in the Haight into a national moment. Their inclusion here offers a glimpse behind the scenes — and an essential reminder that the bands didn’t do it all on their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Photography of Herb Greene\u003c/em>, then, is about much more than the musicians still eulogized on Haight Street today. It’s about the larger community that made the scene what it was. It’s about how music changes and evolves over time. And it’s about a neighborhood of regular people who inadvertently got caught up in a movement. \u003ci>That’s\u003c/i> worth giving a rat’s ass about, even if you don’t care for the Grateful Dead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘The Haight-Ashbury Experience and the Pursuit of Happiness: The Photography of Herb Greene’ is on view at the Haight Street Art Center (215 Haight St.) through May 29, 2023. \u003ca href=\"https://haightstreetart.org/pages/the-haight-ashbury-experience-and-the-pursuit-of-happiness-the-photography-of-herb-greene\">Exhibition details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>I couldn’t give a tiny rat’s ass about the Grateful Dead. There. I said it. Ordinarily, I’d shy away from announcing such a thing publicly, at the risk of awakening an army of pitchfork-wielding Deadheads. (Not the most measured of fanbases.) However, it would be wrong not to mention it before I start talking about a new exhibit of photography by Herb Greene given that Herb Greene is primarily remembered for his Grateful Dead portraits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you are indeed a Deadhead, or someone who is still reveling in a musical moment that existed over half a century ago, you don’t need me to explain the selling points of \u003cem>The Haight-Ashbury Experience and the Pursuit of Happiness: The Photography of Herb Greene\u003c/em>. You will go for the perfectly lovely photographs of the Grateful Dead, their former outfit The Warlocks and Janis Joplin. You might also go for the expertly composed portraits of Jefferson Airplane, Led Zeppelin, The Jeff Beck Group and The Charlatans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925411\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13925411\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Grace-Slick-by-Herb-Greene_1920-1-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"A pretty young woman kneels on a green and purple couch, twisting her head up towards the camera.\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Grace-Slick-by-Herb-Greene_1920-1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Grace-Slick-by-Herb-Greene_1920-1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Grace-Slick-by-Herb-Greene_1920-1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Grace-Slick-by-Herb-Greene_1920-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Grace-Slick-by-Herb-Greene_1920-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Grace-Slick-by-Herb-Greene_1920-1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Grace Slick in her Jefferson Airplane heyday. \u003ccite>(Herb Greene/ Courtesy of the Haight Street Art Center)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If you are under the age of 60 or wondering why on God’s green earth San Francisco needs \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13039627/de-young-summer-of-love-50th-anniversary\">yet another exhibition glorifying the Summer of Love\u003c/a>, I have some news that might pleasantly surprise you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>First and foremost, in addition to his rock photography, Greene also made a habit of immortalizing the street life in the Haight when it was just another San Francisco neighborhood. He photographed the small businesses, local children, families and elderly residents already there when the hippie invasion first began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These images present the neighborhood before it was a tie-dye-soaked tourist attraction and, crucially, capture the exact moment the first wave of disaffected youth arrived and changed the area forever. Though there is an entire wall of this kind of street photography at \u003cem>The Photography of Herb Greene\u003c/em>, I found myself wishing they inhabited the whole space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925638\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13925638\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/H1_Ohio_to_SF-Haight07-1-800x808.jpeg\" alt=\"A flute-playing hippie and a bohemian friend, both male, walk along a tree lined street. Behind them a man in a suit and hat walks under a sign that reads 'Sher Real Estate INCOME TAX.’\" width=\"800\" height=\"808\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/H1_Ohio_to_SF-Haight07-1-800x808.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/H1_Ohio_to_SF-Haight07-1-160x162.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/H1_Ohio_to_SF-Haight07-1-768x775.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/H1_Ohio_to_SF-Haight07-1.jpeg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Income tax with a side of street flautist. Haight Street in the ’60s. \u003ccite>(Herb Greene/ Courtesy of Haight Street Art Center)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This exhibit also deserves kudos for painting a picture of the bohemian community of kids who were hanging around the Haight at the time. Yes, there are the requisite shots here of naked young people dancing and children clutching flowers at The Human Be-In. But Greene’s photographs also introduce us to the hitchhikers, street musicians and young optimists who migrated to San Francisco in the late 1960s and reveled in the new freedoms it offered. I am indefatigable when it comes to looking at subculture-immersed young people, no matter what era they’re from, and Greene’s photos more than do the Summer of Love kids justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925639\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13925639\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/82548-4-800x822.jpeg\" alt=\"Three teenagers, two females wearing embroidered shawls and long dresses and one young man wearing slacks and a jacket stand on a street corner huddled together. The word ASHBURY is carved into the sidewalk.\" width=\"800\" height=\"822\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/82548-4-800x822.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/82548-4-160x164.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/82548-4-768x789.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/82548-4.jpeg 961w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Three teens hanging in the Haight, 1960s. \u003ccite>(Herb Greene/ Courtesy of Haight Street Art Center)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One of Greene’s favorite places to photograph these young people was in front of the distinctive hieroglyph-covered wall in his studio, where he also shot famous musicians. \u003cem>The Photography of Herb Greene\u003c/em> condenses many of these portraits down onto a single collage board of images. The format hammers home that the hieroglyph wall itself was a great leveler. Famous or not, Greene treated all of his subjects the same in front of it — they became individual characters, each as important as the last.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Viewed as a collection now, it also reflects the monoculture of that scene. Though Greene himself was Chicano, every single person featured in the wall collage appears to be white.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That lack of diversity runs through much of Greene’s 1960s photography, a reflection of the Bay Area rock ’n’ roll scene of the time. (A portrait of Taj Mahal and his dog offers a particularly beautiful exception.) As such, Greene’s 1970s-era portraits of Sly and the Family Stone and the Pointer Sisters reflect how the mainstream music world began to open up once the Summer of Love ended. These images, shot in color, inject some vibrancy into \u003cem>The Photography of Herb Greene\u003c/em>. The original photo that Sly Stone used for the cover of 1975’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.discogs.com/release/1071382-Sly-Stone-High-On-You\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>High on You\u003c/em>\u003c/a> is a genuine joy to behold in real life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13925643\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 496px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13925643\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Taj-Majal.jpg\" alt=\"A Black man with cornrows sits in a wooden chair wearing a tie-dye shirt and slacks. He is leaning forward as if in conversation. At his side is a shaggy white dog.\" width=\"496\" height=\"492\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Taj-Majal.jpg 496w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Taj-Majal-160x159.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 496px) 100vw, 496px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Taj Majal and his dog. \u003ccite>(Herb Greene/ Courtesy of Haight Street Art Center)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Greene also documented the artists (including Rick Griffin, Stanley Mouse, Victor Moscoso and Alton Kelley), writers (like Neal Cassady), concert promoters (Bill Graham and Chet Helms) and roadies who helped turn what was going on in the Haight into a national moment. Their inclusion here offers a glimpse behind the scenes — and an essential reminder that the bands didn’t do it all on their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Photography of Herb Greene\u003c/em>, then, is about much more than the musicians still eulogized on Haight Street today. It’s about the larger community that made the scene what it was. It’s about how music changes and evolves over time. And it’s about a neighborhood of regular people who inadvertently got caught up in a movement. \u003ci>That’s\u003c/i> worth giving a rat’s ass about, even if you don’t care for the Grateful Dead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘The Haight-Ashbury Experience and the Pursuit of Happiness: The Photography of Herb Greene’ is on view at the Haight Street Art Center (215 Haight St.) through May 29, 2023. \u003ca href=\"https://haightstreetart.org/pages/the-haight-ashbury-experience-and-the-pursuit-of-happiness-the-photography-of-herb-greene\">Exhibition details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "In 'Janis,' Joplin Shown to Be a Tangle of Talents, Contradictions and Mythology",
"headTitle": "In ‘Janis,’ Joplin Shown to Be a Tangle of Talents, Contradictions and Mythology | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>In 1969, \u003cem>Newsweek\u003c/em> bestowed this honorific on Janis Joplin: “The first female superstar of rock music.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13868998 alignright\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/10/Screen-Shot-2019-10-28-at-12.11.17-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"290\" height=\"436\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/10/Screen-Shot-2019-10-28-at-12.11.17-PM.png 290w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/10/Screen-Shot-2019-10-28-at-12.11.17-PM-160x241.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\">It’s also a claim that Holly George-Warren sets out to prove in \u003cem>Janis\u003c/em>, her new biography of the iconic Texan singer who rocketed to fame after becoming the frontwoman of the San Francisco blues-rock group Big Brother and the Holding Company—only to die four years later at the age of 27, a casualty of the freewheeling ’60s, the decade she came to embody.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joplin was born in 1943 in Port Arthur, Texas, where she would spend much of her brief life. As a child, her tomboy brusqueness and outspoken charm complemented her complexity of mind and spirit; Port Arthur was a segregated “cultural backwater,” according to George-Warren, that only served to heighten Joplin’s independence and curiosity. After falling under the sway of blues and rock music as a teenager, she leapt eagerly into the beatnik scene. Beat author Jack Kerouac’s \u003cem>On the Road\u003c/em> floored her in 1957, and its exploration of freedom and countercultural notions set her soul ablaze. From there, sex and drugs became staples of her life, a progression that often feels formulaic in accounts of Boomer coming-of-age. But George-Warren’s deep research, eye for detail, illuminating contextualization, and clarity of delivery all make for a far more rounded and convincing image of Joplin’s precocity in the heady decades of post-World War II America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it was Joplin’s pilgrimage to San Francisco in 1966 to join the up-and-coming psychedelic band Big Brother and the Holding Company that catapulted her to the pop-culture pantheon. Her gritty, gutsy, godlike voice didn’t mesh well with the group at first; they had to bend their more progressive tendencies in order to accommodate their new singer’s far more direct and impactful sound. Big Brother’s searing appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival in the summer of 1967 cemented her stardom, and their hit single “Piece of My Heart,” an Erma Franklin cover, from their best-selling 1968 album \u003cem>Cheap Thrills \u003c/em>became an anthem for hippies and feminists everywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uG2gYE5KOs\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>George-Warren traces this rise meticulously, citing contemporaneous interviews as well as fresh sources in order to paint Joplin’s ascendance far more fully than has ever been accomplished before. And her riotous anecdotes splash color on the canvas, from the time Joplin started a massive bar-brawl thanks to her sensuous dancing one night in Austin to the snapshot of her getting into a fistfight with one of her heroes, Jerry Lee Lewis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>George-Warren’s prior work includes biographies of other troubled rockers with cult followings, most recently Big Star’s Alex Chilton in her book \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2014/03/27/289062063/the-backwards-life-of-alex-chilton-in-destruction\">\u003cem>A Man Called Destruction\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. Her knack for capturing conflicted subjects is uncanny; in \u003cem>Janis\u003c/em>, she digs into Joplin’s layered emotions, fluid sexuality, unshakably low self-esteem, and unquenchable urge to transcend her racist, restricted Port Arthur upbringing. Joplin left Big Brother in early 1969 to strike out on her own, and her solo career accelerated everything in her life, good and bad, toward a terminal velocity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Janis \u003c/em>captivatingly tells the story of her two solo albums, 1969’s \u003cem>I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!\u003c/em> and 1971’s posthumous \u003cem>Pearl\u003c/em>, as well as the latter’s chart-topping hit “Me and Bobby McGee,” rendering the backdrop and behind-the-scenes genesis of these recordings with crystalline insight. Joplin’s death on Oct. 4, 1970, of an accidental heroin overdose seems like a tragic inevitability, the byproduct of a life spent leaning into the boundaries of expression and art. At \u003cem>Janis\u003c/em>‘s heart is Joplin’s voice—a ragged, sensitive, elemental howl that the singer herself explained by saying, “I just opened my mouth and that’s what I sounded like.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Domestic earth mother” versus “tough biker chick”: By book’s end, George-Warren has boiled down Joplin’s complicated psyche into this simple, vivid dichotomy. But the author is far from reductive as she does so. In encapsulating Joplin’s dual nature so concisely, George-Warren delivers the definitive portrait of one of pop culture’s most misunderstood martyrs. Joplin was both a product and an architect of her times; in dwelling so sympathetically on her tangle of talents, contradictions, and mythology, \u003cem>Janis \u003c/em>brings one of rock’s most enduring legends down to earth while holding her justly up to the light.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Jason Heller is a Hugo Award-winning editor and author of the new book \u003c/em>Strange Stars: David Bowie, Pop Music, and the Decade Sci-Fi Exploded. \u003cem>He’s on Twitter: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/jason_m_heller\">\u003cem>@jason_m_heller\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=In+%27Janis%2C%27+Joplin+Shown+To+Be+A+Tangle+Of+Talents%2C+Contradictions+And+Mythology&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In 1969, \u003cem>Newsweek\u003c/em> bestowed this honorific on Janis Joplin: “The first female superstar of rock music.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13868998 alignright\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/10/Screen-Shot-2019-10-28-at-12.11.17-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"290\" height=\"436\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/10/Screen-Shot-2019-10-28-at-12.11.17-PM.png 290w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/10/Screen-Shot-2019-10-28-at-12.11.17-PM-160x241.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\">It’s also a claim that Holly George-Warren sets out to prove in \u003cem>Janis\u003c/em>, her new biography of the iconic Texan singer who rocketed to fame after becoming the frontwoman of the San Francisco blues-rock group Big Brother and the Holding Company—only to die four years later at the age of 27, a casualty of the freewheeling ’60s, the decade she came to embody.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joplin was born in 1943 in Port Arthur, Texas, where she would spend much of her brief life. As a child, her tomboy brusqueness and outspoken charm complemented her complexity of mind and spirit; Port Arthur was a segregated “cultural backwater,” according to George-Warren, that only served to heighten Joplin’s independence and curiosity. After falling under the sway of blues and rock music as a teenager, she leapt eagerly into the beatnik scene. Beat author Jack Kerouac’s \u003cem>On the Road\u003c/em> floored her in 1957, and its exploration of freedom and countercultural notions set her soul ablaze. From there, sex and drugs became staples of her life, a progression that often feels formulaic in accounts of Boomer coming-of-age. But George-Warren’s deep research, eye for detail, illuminating contextualization, and clarity of delivery all make for a far more rounded and convincing image of Joplin’s precocity in the heady decades of post-World War II America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it was Joplin’s pilgrimage to San Francisco in 1966 to join the up-and-coming psychedelic band Big Brother and the Holding Company that catapulted her to the pop-culture pantheon. Her gritty, gutsy, godlike voice didn’t mesh well with the group at first; they had to bend their more progressive tendencies in order to accommodate their new singer’s far more direct and impactful sound. Big Brother’s searing appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival in the summer of 1967 cemented her stardom, and their hit single “Piece of My Heart,” an Erma Franklin cover, from their best-selling 1968 album \u003cem>Cheap Thrills \u003c/em>became an anthem for hippies and feminists everywhere.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/7uG2gYE5KOs'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/7uG2gYE5KOs'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>George-Warren traces this rise meticulously, citing contemporaneous interviews as well as fresh sources in order to paint Joplin’s ascendance far more fully than has ever been accomplished before. And her riotous anecdotes splash color on the canvas, from the time Joplin started a massive bar-brawl thanks to her sensuous dancing one night in Austin to the snapshot of her getting into a fistfight with one of her heroes, Jerry Lee Lewis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>George-Warren’s prior work includes biographies of other troubled rockers with cult followings, most recently Big Star’s Alex Chilton in her book \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2014/03/27/289062063/the-backwards-life-of-alex-chilton-in-destruction\">\u003cem>A Man Called Destruction\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. Her knack for capturing conflicted subjects is uncanny; in \u003cem>Janis\u003c/em>, she digs into Joplin’s layered emotions, fluid sexuality, unshakably low self-esteem, and unquenchable urge to transcend her racist, restricted Port Arthur upbringing. Joplin left Big Brother in early 1969 to strike out on her own, and her solo career accelerated everything in her life, good and bad, toward a terminal velocity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Janis \u003c/em>captivatingly tells the story of her two solo albums, 1969’s \u003cem>I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!\u003c/em> and 1971’s posthumous \u003cem>Pearl\u003c/em>, as well as the latter’s chart-topping hit “Me and Bobby McGee,” rendering the backdrop and behind-the-scenes genesis of these recordings with crystalline insight. Joplin’s death on Oct. 4, 1970, of an accidental heroin overdose seems like a tragic inevitability, the byproduct of a life spent leaning into the boundaries of expression and art. At \u003cem>Janis\u003c/em>‘s heart is Joplin’s voice—a ragged, sensitive, elemental howl that the singer herself explained by saying, “I just opened my mouth and that’s what I sounded like.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Domestic earth mother” versus “tough biker chick”: By book’s end, George-Warren has boiled down Joplin’s complicated psyche into this simple, vivid dichotomy. But the author is far from reductive as she does so. In encapsulating Joplin’s dual nature so concisely, George-Warren delivers the definitive portrait of one of pop culture’s most misunderstood martyrs. Joplin was both a product and an architect of her times; in dwelling so sympathetically on her tangle of talents, contradictions, and mythology, \u003cem>Janis \u003c/em>brings one of rock’s most enduring legends down to earth while holding her justly up to the light.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Jason Heller is a Hugo Award-winning editor and author of the new book \u003c/em>Strange Stars: David Bowie, Pop Music, and the Decade Sci-Fi Exploded. \u003cem>He’s on Twitter: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/jason_m_heller\">\u003cem>@jason_m_heller\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=In+%27Janis%2C%27+Joplin+Shown+To+Be+A+Tangle+Of+Talents%2C+Contradictions+And+Mythology&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>In the 1960s, Janis Joplin was an icon of the counterculture, a female rock star at a time when rock was an all-boys’ club.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At that point in time there weren’t too many women taking center stage,” biographer Holly George-Warren says. “Janis created this incredible image that went along with her amazing vocal ability. … [She] was very, very different than most of the women that came before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside tag='summer-of-love' label='More Stories For You']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On stage, Joplin oozed confidence, sexuality and exuberance. It all seemed so effortless, but George-Warren describes Joplin as a bookworm who worked hard to create her “blues feelin’ mama” musical persona.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She was a real scholar of music. … She didn’t want people to know how hard she worked,” George-Warren says. “She wanted people to think she was just this vessel, or this megaphone, or something that was just up there on stage, and the music and emotions were just coming out of her.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>George-Warren says she decided to write about Joplin after listening to tapes from the Columbia Records vault of the singer’s recording session with producer Paul Rothchild for the album \u003cem>Pearl. \u003c/em>(The album was released posthumously in 1971, following Joplin’s fatal overdose in 1970.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Rothchild [is] known for being this very authoritarian producer, but … Janis was just coming up with idea after idea,” George-Warren says. “She was basically co-producing this record with him. And that turned my head around. … I realized that that part of her story had not been told.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>George-Warren’s new biography is \u003cem>Janis\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch3>Interview highlights\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On Janis Joplin as a live performer \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What made Janis really different as a live performer is that she connected with her audiences by tapping into her deepest feelings. And there was this authenticity that came across. She wasn’t just standing up there singing — she was basically emptying out her guts through that amazing voice of hers, and touching her audience members like they had never been touched before. I’ve talked to people who saw her back in 1966, ’67 and they talk about it as if it was yesterday — especially women, I think, because she was able to express deep-down emotions, shame, disappointments, hurts that I think a lot of women in her audience couldn’t express themselves. And Janis was not only just singing to them; she was singing for them. And I think that kind of deep connection was very, very unique at that time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the sexual energy she exuded onstage \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can look to two major influences that Janis had that I think affected her sexuality and the way she expressed it onstage. One was, of course, the great \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/15404953/bessie-smith\">Bessie Smith,\u003c/a> whose lyrics Janis knew by heart. … She started performing Bessie Smith songs around 1963, and those kind of lyrics of sexuality, of sexual longing, sexual betrayal: Those very much informed Janis’ own songwriting and the songs that she chose to sing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The other major influence was \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/15802310/otis-redding\">Otis Redding\u003c/a>. She was a huge Otis fan until the day she died, and she got to see him perform live three nights in a row at the Fillmore back in 1966, and it transformed her. He was a very sexual performer and he was able to emit this heat on stage that Janis herself was able to do through her own way of manifesting these feelings that she had while singing these songs. Janis … compared singing on stage to having an orgasm. She blew some journalists’ minds when she used that expression, but it was a very sexual experience for her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the black artists that influenced her sound \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Janis took her own vocals for granted until she discovered \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2015/02/21/387566023/that-blew-my-mind-raiding-the-lead-belly-vault\">Lead Belly\u003c/a>. She just thought: Oh, anybody can sing soprano. She sang in the church choir and the glee club. But when she heard Lead Belly’s voice, she wanted to experiment with roughing up her sound and making it more raw and she was a mimic. She discovered \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/97739742/odetta\">Odetta, \u003c/a>who had kind of the round tones, and she started trying to sing like Odetta on her records. But she was mostly inspired by Lead Belly, until she discovered, of course, Bessie Smith, and then that was all she wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the sexism she faced in the music industry \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once she was a public figure, the press would, of course, be amazed by her vocals, and critics would be talking about what a great singer she was. But they were often singling out her body parts and talking about her physical appearance in a way that, of course, male singers, rock singers, were really not getting that kind of attention from the press.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, she really had to bust down barriers to be able to have control, to do what she wanted to do, because she loved being in Big Brother and the Holding Company, for example — the band with whom she catapulted to fame — but she was such a restless spirit as far as a musician goes. She wanted to keep exploring different sounds, different kinds of music, and when she did that, it was really awful in that the boys’ club of music critics just kind of raked over the coals for dropping her band and going off on her own, and they tried to say she was selling out and going showbiz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On how Joplin’s experience with the “kozmic blues” connected with her alcohol use\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was an introspective person deep down, and she didn’t like her thoughts. She was a fatalist. She had learned this kind of existential, dark philosophy from her father, who called it the “Saturday night swindle,” which was basically the idea that no matter how hard you work, how much you try to achieve your goals, you’re never really going to be happy. There’s always going to be a let-down. There’s always going to be disappointments — which was [a] pretty dark attitude when you think about that whole ’50s positivism etc., post-World War II America. Janis called this idea the “kozmic blues,” and it really did dog her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think between that philosophy and all the pressures of leading a band, being in the spotlight, being a star, having to always live up to her image night after night on stage and, of course, in the recording studio, she wanted something that was going to numb those kind of feelings of anxiety and fear. … She started drinking when she was a teenager. So early on, she realized that if something can kind of take you away from yourself, take you out of your head, it could be a good thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On Joplin’s addiction to heroin \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Janis started turning to heroin as a way to just kind of numb herself from all the pressures and the fear of what it was like being a solo artist at that point [in] time in her career. Again, she was still very much a focal point of media. There was articles about her all the time and she had developed this whole hard-drinking blues mama image that she had. So this was a secret vice of hers that she picked up. Unfortunately, heroin was pretty prevalent. No one really realized at the time, and so she gradually got addicted to heroin in 1969. …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She tried to kick heroin a few times. She finally did almost for good in 1970, right about the time she had put together a new band which became called Full Tilt Boogie Band. And she got off heroin for a while actually by going to Brazil for Carnival, and I mean — it’s so hard to believe that she was a massive rock star, but she was hitchhiking around in Brazil for a while, totally cleaned up, really loved the feeling of being clean and back to her old self again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sadly, she relapsed when she got back to California, and then finally she quit in the spring of 1970 and she stayed off of it for about four or five months, until tragically she relapsed again while recording \u003cem>Pearl \u003c/em>in Los Angeles, got a very strong dose. … It was much more pure than she had ever used before, and her tolerance was down. She was by herself, overdosed and died on Oct. 4, 1970. … A lot of musicians were using that drug and people didn’t realize it. But when Janis overdosed on heroin, I think it was a wake-up call — but soon sadly forgotten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Lauren Krenzel and Seth Kelley produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Patrick Jarenwattananon adapted it for the Web.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2019 Fresh Air. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/\">Fresh Air\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=New+Janis+Joplin+Biography+Reveals+The+Hard+Work+Behind+The+Heart+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In the 1960s, Janis Joplin was an icon of the counterculture, a female rock star at a time when rock was an all-boys’ club.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At that point in time there weren’t too many women taking center stage,” biographer Holly George-Warren says. “Janis created this incredible image that went along with her amazing vocal ability. … [She] was very, very different than most of the women that came before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On stage, Joplin oozed confidence, sexuality and exuberance. It all seemed so effortless, but George-Warren describes Joplin as a bookworm who worked hard to create her “blues feelin’ mama” musical persona.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She was a real scholar of music. … She didn’t want people to know how hard she worked,” George-Warren says. “She wanted people to think she was just this vessel, or this megaphone, or something that was just up there on stage, and the music and emotions were just coming out of her.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>George-Warren says she decided to write about Joplin after listening to tapes from the Columbia Records vault of the singer’s recording session with producer Paul Rothchild for the album \u003cem>Pearl. \u003c/em>(The album was released posthumously in 1971, following Joplin’s fatal overdose in 1970.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Rothchild [is] known for being this very authoritarian producer, but … Janis was just coming up with idea after idea,” George-Warren says. “She was basically co-producing this record with him. And that turned my head around. … I realized that that part of her story had not been told.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>George-Warren’s new biography is \u003cem>Janis\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch3>Interview highlights\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On Janis Joplin as a live performer \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What made Janis really different as a live performer is that she connected with her audiences by tapping into her deepest feelings. And there was this authenticity that came across. She wasn’t just standing up there singing — she was basically emptying out her guts through that amazing voice of hers, and touching her audience members like they had never been touched before. I’ve talked to people who saw her back in 1966, ’67 and they talk about it as if it was yesterday — especially women, I think, because she was able to express deep-down emotions, shame, disappointments, hurts that I think a lot of women in her audience couldn’t express themselves. And Janis was not only just singing to them; she was singing for them. And I think that kind of deep connection was very, very unique at that time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the sexual energy she exuded onstage \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can look to two major influences that Janis had that I think affected her sexuality and the way she expressed it onstage. One was, of course, the great \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/15404953/bessie-smith\">Bessie Smith,\u003c/a> whose lyrics Janis knew by heart. … She started performing Bessie Smith songs around 1963, and those kind of lyrics of sexuality, of sexual longing, sexual betrayal: Those very much informed Janis’ own songwriting and the songs that she chose to sing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The other major influence was \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/15802310/otis-redding\">Otis Redding\u003c/a>. She was a huge Otis fan until the day she died, and she got to see him perform live three nights in a row at the Fillmore back in 1966, and it transformed her. He was a very sexual performer and he was able to emit this heat on stage that Janis herself was able to do through her own way of manifesting these feelings that she had while singing these songs. Janis … compared singing on stage to having an orgasm. She blew some journalists’ minds when she used that expression, but it was a very sexual experience for her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the black artists that influenced her sound \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Janis took her own vocals for granted until she discovered \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2015/02/21/387566023/that-blew-my-mind-raiding-the-lead-belly-vault\">Lead Belly\u003c/a>. She just thought: Oh, anybody can sing soprano. She sang in the church choir and the glee club. But when she heard Lead Belly’s voice, she wanted to experiment with roughing up her sound and making it more raw and she was a mimic. She discovered \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/97739742/odetta\">Odetta, \u003c/a>who had kind of the round tones, and she started trying to sing like Odetta on her records. But she was mostly inspired by Lead Belly, until she discovered, of course, Bessie Smith, and then that was all she wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the sexism she faced in the music industry \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once she was a public figure, the press would, of course, be amazed by her vocals, and critics would be talking about what a great singer she was. But they were often singling out her body parts and talking about her physical appearance in a way that, of course, male singers, rock singers, were really not getting that kind of attention from the press.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, she really had to bust down barriers to be able to have control, to do what she wanted to do, because she loved being in Big Brother and the Holding Company, for example — the band with whom she catapulted to fame — but she was such a restless spirit as far as a musician goes. She wanted to keep exploring different sounds, different kinds of music, and when she did that, it was really awful in that the boys’ club of music critics just kind of raked over the coals for dropping her band and going off on her own, and they tried to say she was selling out and going showbiz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On how Joplin’s experience with the “kozmic blues” connected with her alcohol use\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was an introspective person deep down, and she didn’t like her thoughts. She was a fatalist. She had learned this kind of existential, dark philosophy from her father, who called it the “Saturday night swindle,” which was basically the idea that no matter how hard you work, how much you try to achieve your goals, you’re never really going to be happy. There’s always going to be a let-down. There’s always going to be disappointments — which was [a] pretty dark attitude when you think about that whole ’50s positivism etc., post-World War II America. Janis called this idea the “kozmic blues,” and it really did dog her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think between that philosophy and all the pressures of leading a band, being in the spotlight, being a star, having to always live up to her image night after night on stage and, of course, in the recording studio, she wanted something that was going to numb those kind of feelings of anxiety and fear. … She started drinking when she was a teenager. So early on, she realized that if something can kind of take you away from yourself, take you out of your head, it could be a good thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On Joplin’s addiction to heroin \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Janis started turning to heroin as a way to just kind of numb herself from all the pressures and the fear of what it was like being a solo artist at that point [in] time in her career. Again, she was still very much a focal point of media. There was articles about her all the time and she had developed this whole hard-drinking blues mama image that she had. So this was a secret vice of hers that she picked up. Unfortunately, heroin was pretty prevalent. No one really realized at the time, and so she gradually got addicted to heroin in 1969. …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She tried to kick heroin a few times. She finally did almost for good in 1970, right about the time she had put together a new band which became called Full Tilt Boogie Band. And she got off heroin for a while actually by going to Brazil for Carnival, and I mean — it’s so hard to believe that she was a massive rock star, but she was hitchhiking around in Brazil for a while, totally cleaned up, really loved the feeling of being clean and back to her old self again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sadly, she relapsed when she got back to California, and then finally she quit in the spring of 1970 and she stayed off of it for about four or five months, until tragically she relapsed again while recording \u003cem>Pearl \u003c/em>in Los Angeles, got a very strong dose. … It was much more pure than she had ever used before, and her tolerance was down. She was by herself, overdosed and died on Oct. 4, 1970. … A lot of musicians were using that drug and people didn’t realize it. But when Janis overdosed on heroin, I think it was a wake-up call — but soon sadly forgotten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Lauren Krenzel and Seth Kelley produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Patrick Jarenwattananon adapted it for the Web.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2019 Fresh Air. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/\">Fresh Air\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=New+Janis+Joplin+Biography+Reveals+The+Hard+Work+Behind+The+Heart+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Six Historic Venues from 1967 That Weren't the Fillmore",
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"content": "\u003cp>When people talk about San Francisco as the epicenter of hippie culture in 1967, Bill Graham’s Fillmore Auditorium is invariably mentioned as the scene’s musical focal point. A 1,000-capacity hall that was once a roller-skating rink, the Fillmore served as training grounds for bands like Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, and Big Brother and the Holding Company. By many accounts, the “San Francisco Sound” came from the Fillmore’s stage — and as young people came to San Francisco in droves, Graham’s shows were practically tourist attractions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/programs/summer-of-love/\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-13338499\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Summer-of-Love-300x300JPG.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Summer-of-Love-300x300JPG.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Summer-of-Love-300x300JPG-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Summer-of-Love-300x300JPG-240x240.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Summer-of-Love-300x300JPG-32x32.jpg 32w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Summer-of-Love-300x300JPG-50x50.jpg 50w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Summer-of-Love-300x300JPG-64x64.jpg 64w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Summer-of-Love-300x300JPG-96x96.jpg 96w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Summer-of-Love-300x300JPG-128x128.jpg 128w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Summer-of-Love-300x300JPG-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the Fillmore wasn’t the only stage during the Summer of Love. Once the San Francisco Sound became mainstream, all kinds of new clubs popped up, providing gigs for groups who weren’t on that week’s bill at the Fillmore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There were so many dives that popped up out of nowhere, and because the [Grateful] Dead had done one show there, they were the new club on the map,” Flamin’ Groovies guitarist Cyril Jordan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not all those places had an impact on the music, but the ones that did have stories worth telling. Here’s just a few.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13333481\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13333481\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Avalon-Ballroom-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The entrance to the former Avalon Ballroom\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Avalon-Ballroom-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Avalon-Ballroom-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Avalon-Ballroom-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Avalon-Ballroom-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Avalon-Ballroom-by-Estefany-Gonzalez.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Avalon-Ballroom-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Avalon-Ballroom-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Avalon-Ballroom-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Avalon-Ballroom-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Avalon-Ballroom-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The entrance to the former Avalon Ballroom. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The Avalon Ballroom\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 1966, when asked by the \u003ca href=\"http://www.rockmine.com/Archive/Library/MojoNav/Mojo08.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mojo Navigator\u003c/a> where would she would rather play — the Fillmore or the Avalon — Janis Joplin said the acoustics at the Avalon were better, and that the last time her band played the Fillmore, the audience members “weren’t really into the music” and “would walk around trying to pick each other up, sailors and all that…”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those comments led to Joplin and Big Brother And The Holding Company being unofficially banned from Graham’s stage for about seven months. It didn’t matter — they were managed by Chet Helms, who also ran the Avalon, the hall with the better sound.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tall, bearded, and with hair to his shoulders before it was a hippie standard, Helms was a messiah-like figure with a religious view of music that he was hell-bent on preaching. Helms was also Joplin’s earliest supporter, and he believed in her so much that he drove to Texas to bring her back with him to San Francisco — twice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxdTnLL2fec\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After putting on a few shows with a little help from Bill Graham, Helms broke out on his own and, while working with a local commune called the Family Dog, secured permits to rent the Avalon Ballroom, a former dance hall on Sutter. Helms had the phrase “May the baby Jesus shut your mouth and open your mind” painted above the entrance, and went on to book a series of concerts that focused not just on music but an entire experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you come to the Avalon, some of the time, you just get entertainment, but very often, you get a connection with people. In a sense, an oceanic experience of being unified with something larger than yourself, that is essentially ultimately regenerating and renewing and is what the word recreation means in its true sense,” Helms said \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2016/04/28/chet-helms-on-bringing-janis-to-s-f-starting-music-scene-1998-qa/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">during a 1998 interview\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From \u003ca href=\"http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/FD%20Shows.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">January 1966 to March of ’69\u003c/a>, Helms booked bands of all stripes at the Avalon, including psychedelic rock pioneers like the 13th Floor Elevators and Captain Beefheart and almost-forgotten-by-then blues musicians like Bo Diddley and Buddy Guy. He gave Moby Grape and the Steve Miller Band their first big breaks, and — like the Fillmore — every show was advertised with eye-catching, multi-colored psychedelic posters that now go for hundreds of dollars. Ask anybody who was alive back then and they’ll tell you the Avalon wasn’t appropriating the hippie culture — it was the real deal. It’s why many call Helms the “father of the Summer of Love.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC8tlP4N6uc\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But noise complaints brought the Avalon’s fun times to an end. Helms relocated Family Dog Productions to a space on the Great Highway, and other promoters who tried to book the hall afterward could never recreate the same vibe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, the Regency Ballroom, a live music venue right next door, is often mistaken for the Avalon. In actuality, the old Avalon is now an office space — and, for a brief time, the shell of the Avalon \u003ca href=\"http://www.sfgate.com/homeandgarden/slideshow/S-F-Real-World-house-in-old-Avalon-Ballroom-75179.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">served as living quarters\u003c/a> for the cast of MTV’s \u003cem>The Real World\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13333482\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13333482\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Matrix-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The Matrix \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Matrix-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Matrix-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Matrix-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Matrix-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Matrix-by-Estefany-Gonzalez.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Matrix-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Matrix-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Matrix-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Matrix-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Matrix-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Matrix. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The Matrix\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Matrix came to be after \u003ca href=\"http://web.archive.org/web/20050222091301/http://www.geocities.com/balinmiracles/hightimesart.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Marty Balin convinced three guys\u003c/a> he met randomly at a bar to put up $3,000 each for a club he wanted to start. He then found a former pizza place in the Marina, signed a lease, and, before opening, enlisted some friends to paint a gigantic mural of the four horsemen on the wall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Balin later said he opened the Matrix so he could start a band and have a place to play. That band turned out to be the Jefferson Airplane, and they were the first group to play the club. On opening night, a publicist convinced local jazz critic Ralph Gleason to come to the show. Gleason fell in love with the band that night, and not only did he dedicate an entire column in the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em> to them, he would go onto be the group’s biggest cheerleader.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t long before the place started packing in all the local eccentrics, who would be treated to early performances from the Doors, Grateful Dead and the Steve Miller Blues Band in an intimate setting (the club sat about 100 people). An early Matrix regular was gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, who immortalized the club in his book, \u003ci>Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas\u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkaJzNwQUTM\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One huge bonus for bands playing the Matrix was the high-quality recording setup used to capture performances. Almost every group’s set was put to tape, and recordings of Steppenwolf, Santana, the Great Society (Grace Slick’s first band) and the Velvet Underground were later released as live albums. But many tapes never saw the light of day, like the recording of fuzz-rock legends Blue Cheer, who played the club once as a six-piece. According to the band’s Leigh Stephens, the Matrix recording convinced the group that they needed to pare down to a trio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We listened to [our recording] back and three guys were playing the songs one way and the other three were somewhere else,” Stephens said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx9f0IAKYYI\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Balin’s share was eventually bought out by two of the other partners, and after a few different bookers, the club closed in 1972. Now, the building is an “ultralounge” concept, still called the Matrix, which is owned by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s company, the Plumpjack Group. For a short time it hosted live bands, but now only DJs provide the tunes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>(Bonus link: An interview with the singers of The Only Alternative and His Other Possibilities on the \u003ca href=\"https://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/210748\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">San Francisco Bay Area Television Archive\u003c/a>.)\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13333479\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13333479\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/California-Hall-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"California Hall\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/California-Hall-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/California-Hall-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/California-Hall-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/California-Hall-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/California-Hall-by-Estefany-Gonzalez.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/California-Hall-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/California-Hall-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/California-Hall-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/California-Hall-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/California-Hall-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California Hall \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>California Hall\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Chet Helms used this large rental hall for a few shows, as did many activists raising funds for various causes — the end of marijuana prohibition, for instance, or sexual liberation. The Hells Angels also once held a party there, and Blue Cheer played “A Tribute to J. Edgar Hoover” (not a genuine celebration of the former head of the F.B.I.).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13333872\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 538px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13333872\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Cal-Hall-19670210-2.jpg\" alt='Flyer from \"A Tribute to J. Edgar Hoover\"' width=\"538\" height=\"757\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Cal-Hall-19670210-2.jpg 538w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Cal-Hall-19670210-2-160x225.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Cal-Hall-19670210-2-240x338.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Cal-Hall-19670210-2-375x528.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Cal-Hall-19670210-2-520x732.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 538px) 100vw, 538px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flyer from “A Tribute to J. Edgar Hoover.” \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Chicken on a Unicycle)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>There are some heaven-sent lineups that happened at the California Hall — a fundraiser for the Sexual Freedom League is a standout, which featured the Doors, Captain Beefheart and the 13th Floor Elevators. But you won’t hear much about California Hall from those in the scene, as it simply wasn’t a great place to see shows. Housed inside a 1912 building, the hall itself didn’t have great acoustics. Its lack of soundproofing made it sound “boomy,” which you can hear in a live recording of Big Brother and the Holding Company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was the worst gig in town,” Jordan said. “Everybody who played there sounded like shit. I remember bands playing their first show there and breaking up afterward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What the hall is remembered more for are non-musical activities. In 1965, the “\u003ca href=\"https://www.lgbtran.org/Exhibits/CRH/Room.aspx?RID=3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Council on Religion and the Homosexual\u003c/a>,” which brought together gay men and religious leaders, tried to host a Mardi Gras-themed drag party at the hall to raise funds. When police caught wind of the plans, they attempted to force the hall’s owners to shut it down. When that failed, officers stood outside the hall and took pictures of attendees in an attempt to intimidate them. Some of the ministers from the event held a press conference the next day and described the police as being like the Gestapo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RScBsb0vYOc\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco Police attracted more bad press at California Hall decades later in 1984, when they held a graduation party for new recruits at the Rathskeller, a restaurant in the basement. During the party, a shy recruit was \u003ca href=\"http://articles.latimes.com/1985-04-15/news/mn-13956_1_police-department\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">handcuffed to a chair and made to receive a blowjob\u003c/a> from a prostitute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, whenever a new music scene popped up in the city, as punk did in the ’80s, its bands would hold shows at the California Hall. U2 played there in 1981. The hall now houses fashion classes for the Academy of Art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13333480\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13333480\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Straight-Theater-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The Goodwill where the Straight Theater once stood\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Straight-Theater-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Straight-Theater-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Straight-Theater-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Straight-Theater-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Straight-Theater-by-Estefany-Gonzalez.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Straight-Theater-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Straight-Theater-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Straight-Theater-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Straight-Theater-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Straight-Theater-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Goodwill where the Straight Theater once stood \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The Straight Theater\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Straight Theater holds the honor of being the only live venue actually located in the Haight-Ashbury during the neighborhood’s hippie heydays. Opened as the Haight Theater in 1910, it operated as the ‘hood’s main movie house until it closed in 1964, after two of its owners turned it into an experimental gay theater. For the crime of risqué decor and showing movies like Ed Wood’s \u003ca href=\"http://hoodline.com/2015/07/from-haight-theater-to-goodwill-the-history-of-1700-haight-street\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003ci>Glen or Glenda\u003c/i>, the owners were run out of town by locals in a matter of weeks\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taoDcurT738\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years later, in 1966, five hippie artists had the idea to buy the theater and turn it into a performing arts space. The Grateful Dead and Country Joe played fundraising concerts at the Avalon, and as many as 20 people supposedly invested in the theater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the neighborhood didn’t take kindly to the idea. It hadn’t been long since locals ran out the owners who’d showed a movie about a crossdresser, and now they had a hippie problem on their hands. A place for lovey-dovey hippie music was expected to make the neighborhood’s “problems” worse, and the San Francisco Police Department denied the Straight’s application for performance permits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The buyers kept fighting. At a Permit Appeals board hearing, Dame Judith Anderson, considered one of the greatest classical stage actors of the 20th century, testified in support of the club. As the stepmom of one of the five buyers, Anderson told the board that there would be nothing wrong with hippies coming to the theater for rock ‘n’ roll, since they would be exposed to culture in the process — the owners had planned to host poetry readings and even Shakespeare. (Anderson was also clear that she wasn’t a fan of the “hippie cult,” citing their “sick faces and hideous behavior.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rx9Gz34BFMQ\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The owners won their permit, and by June of ’67, the Straight hosted shows for the Steve Miller Band, Clover (pre-Huey Lewis and the News) and the Grateful Dead, who in the beginning had to bill their concerts as “dancing lessons” because the owners didn’t yet have the proper permits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>True to Anderson’s testimony, the hall hosted a wide variety of entertainment, including film screenings like the 5am premiere of the Beatles’ \u003ci>Magical Mystery Tour\u003c/i>. It’s also where Kenneth Anger had 1,500-feet of his famous film \u003ci>Lucifer Rising\u003c/i> stolen after a multimedia event called “Equinox of the Gods.” The theft left \u003ca href=\"http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/kenneth-anger-no-rest-for-the-wicked-9185690.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Anger so distraught \u003c/a>that he announced he was dead in the pages of the \u003cem>Village Voice\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Straight also hosted quite a few “nude theater” events, one of which took place in the middle of a conference on runaway children. According to reports, with over 400 juveniles in attendance during a discussion on why teens run away from home, members of the Jane Lapiner Dance Group came on stage and began doing their thing, naked. Two officers accosted the performers but were stopped by the crowd. Other audience members then surrounded the dancers and escorted them off stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the theater held memorable shows, it always struggled for money. Within a year, it turned to fundraising concerts to keep the doors open. It shut down in 1969 and sat empty for over a decade before it was torn down. A Goodwill is now on Haight St. where the 1,400-seat Straight once stood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13333483\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13333483\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Ark-photo-project-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The lot where the Ark once stood\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Ark-photo-project-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Ark-photo-project-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Ark-photo-project-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Ark-photo-project-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Ark-photo-project-by-Estefany-Gonzalez.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Ark-photo-project-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Ark-photo-project-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Ark-photo-project-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Ark-photo-project-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Ark-photo-project-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The lot where the Ark once stood \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The Ark\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Built in 1916, the Charles Van Damme was a steamboat that shuttled commuters from Richmond to San Rafael for over 20 years. After being decommissioned and stripped of its parts, the old ferry sat landlocked on Sausalito’s waterfront, in the middle of the town’s thriving houseboat community, still sporting its paddlewheel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Infamous \u003ca href=\"http://www.pressdemocrat.com/csp/mediapool/sites/PressDemocrat/News/story.csp?cid=2291971&sid=555&fid=181\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">North Bay restaurateur Juanita Musson\u003c/a> housed her late-night diner Juanita’s Galley there for three years before taking her famous clientele and irreverent hijinks to Sonoma Valley. Fred “Marti” Martinez and Frank McGinnis then bought the Van Damme, cleaned up the boat’s interior, and by 1965 they had turned it into a plush after-hours nightclub. The Ark was born.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite never charging a cover and paying the bands with food — breakfast, usually, since the shows either started or ended at 2am — many seminal groups came to play the Ark. Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Charlatans, and the West Coast Pop Experimental Band played there often, and in attendance would sometimes be stars like David Crosby, Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix. Even Otis Redding came down to the club when he was living in a Sausalito houseboat and writing his hit, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the Ark’s biggest contribution to Bay Area music was serving as the incubator for Moby Grape, the band that could’ve ruled the world were it not for bad luck and a host of issues, drugs among them. Moby Grape played their first shows at the Ark and used the boat as a rehearsal space in the daytime. Neil Young and Stephen Stills occasionally jammed with the band on stage, and Young would later say that his song “Mr. Soul” was simply a melding of two Moby Grape tracks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffDNfpn7b4Y\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another band that became an Ark favorite was the Sparrow, a Canadian band featuring a singer named John Kay. After the Sparrow broke up, Kay moved to Los Angeles and started Steppenwolf, the riff-tastic rockers behind the rebel anthem “Born to Be Wild.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1968, during one of its 2-6am weekend shows, someone set fire to the Ark. Subsequent repairs forced the club to shut down for a little while, but the owners tried to keep it going for a few months more until closing it for good. When asked why decades later, \u003ca href=\"http://www.marinij.com/general-news/20060410/famed-ferrys-final-voyage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Martinez said\u003c/a> that the muddy lot where the Ark sat clashed with the club’s fancier vibe, keeping it from fulfilling its potential, so they moved on. (Martinez then started the classy waterfront restaurant Ondine.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years after its time as the Ark, the Charles Van Damme would serve as a center for the local houseboat community. Bands like the Redlegs would play and use the cover charges to help keep up the deteriorating boat. In the early ’80s it was condemned by local authorities, and after an unsuccessful attempt to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for restoration, it was bulldozed. Locals didn’t make the demolition easy, as dozens laid in front of the bulldozers and were arrested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The site where the Ark once stood is now just a dirt lot, and \u003ca href=\"http://www.charlesvandammeferry.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">local houseboat activists \u003c/a>continue to care for its paddlewheel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13333484\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13333484\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Jabberwock-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The corner where the Jabberwock used to be\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Jabberwock-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Jabberwock-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Jabberwock-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Jabberwock-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Jabberwock-by-Estefany-Gonzalez.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Jabberwock-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Jabberwock-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Jabberwock-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Jabberwock-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Jabberwock-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The corner where the Jabberwock used to be. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The Jabberwock\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As San Francisco was becoming a breeding ground for psychedelic rock, Berkeley was still enjoying its reputation as \u003ca href=\"http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Berkeley%20Art.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">part of the folk circuit\u003c/a>. Throughout the ’60s, folk musicians flocked to Berkeley from around the country to clubs like the Blind Lemon, Steppenwolf and the Cabale, and for over a decade it hosted the Berkeley Folk Music Festival, a major event for the genre.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of Berkeley’s folk venues were short-lived. Among the shortest-lived but most beloved was the Jabberwock, a former jazz club on Telegraph Avenue. Bill Ehlert, a.k.a. the “Jolly Blue Giant,” bought the place in 1965, and Cal students and local musicians regularly packed the place for bills that read today like a Roots Music Hall of Fame; John Fahey, Doc Watson, Skip James and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott are just a few legends that graced its stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A roots-music aficionado from Los Angeles named Joe McDonald lived next to the Jabberwock and was a regular, playing in the house “pickup” group, the Instant Action Jug Band, with a guitarist named Barry Melton. McDonald, Melton and a few others would end up recording a song McDonald wrote in a matter of minutes called “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag.” Released on an EP, the song — a satire-laden protest of the Vietnam War — became a regional hit, so McDonald and Melton began playing at the Jabberwock as Country Joe McDonald and the Fish. Three years later, they’d play “Fixin’-To-Die” at Woodstock, with a \u003ca href=\"http://www.countryjoe.com/cheer.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cheer heard ’round the world\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyr7P8VCPDg\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bands that developed in the Jabberwock seemed to embrace a dark sense of humor with their Americana. Another notable song from the Jabberwock’s scene was “Friendly Neighborhood Narco Agent” by \u003cem>Berkeley Barb\u003c/em> writer Jef Jaison. \u003ca href=\"http://www.eljefe.net/fnnafaq.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Inspired by a pot dealer\u003c/a> who ripped off some undercover police officers at a Berkeley pizza shop by selling them a large quantity of Jasmine tea for hundreds of dollars, it became of a staple on Dr. Demento’s legendary comedy music show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqjSG4YPIG0\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Jabberwock closed in 1967 when Ehlert couldn’t afford to bring the club up to code. Doc Watson played its final show, and the club was immortalized by Jaison in the \u003cem>Berkeley Barb\u003c/em>. By 1969, the corner of Telegraph and Russell where the Jabberwock once stood was a barren lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Special thanks to Ross Hannan for expertise and connections. Hannan and Corry Arnold created the \u003ca href=\"http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chicken on a Unicycle website\u003c/a>, a one-stop source for information on the Bay Area’s live music scene during the ’60s.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Everyone knows about the Fillmore Auditorium — but what about the smaller clubs crucial to San Francisco's music scene in the Summer of Love?",
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"title": "Six Historic Venues from 1967 That Weren't the Fillmore | KQED",
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"headline": "Six Historic Venues from 1967 That Weren't the Fillmore",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When people talk about San Francisco as the epicenter of hippie culture in 1967, Bill Graham’s Fillmore Auditorium is invariably mentioned as the scene’s musical focal point. A 1,000-capacity hall that was once a roller-skating rink, the Fillmore served as training grounds for bands like Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, and Big Brother and the Holding Company. By many accounts, the “San Francisco Sound” came from the Fillmore’s stage — and as young people came to San Francisco in droves, Graham’s shows were practically tourist attractions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/programs/summer-of-love/\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-13338499\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Summer-of-Love-300x300JPG.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Summer-of-Love-300x300JPG.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Summer-of-Love-300x300JPG-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Summer-of-Love-300x300JPG-240x240.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Summer-of-Love-300x300JPG-32x32.jpg 32w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Summer-of-Love-300x300JPG-50x50.jpg 50w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Summer-of-Love-300x300JPG-64x64.jpg 64w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Summer-of-Love-300x300JPG-96x96.jpg 96w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Summer-of-Love-300x300JPG-128x128.jpg 128w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Summer-of-Love-300x300JPG-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the Fillmore wasn’t the only stage during the Summer of Love. Once the San Francisco Sound became mainstream, all kinds of new clubs popped up, providing gigs for groups who weren’t on that week’s bill at the Fillmore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There were so many dives that popped up out of nowhere, and because the [Grateful] Dead had done one show there, they were the new club on the map,” Flamin’ Groovies guitarist Cyril Jordan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not all those places had an impact on the music, but the ones that did have stories worth telling. Here’s just a few.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13333481\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13333481\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Avalon-Ballroom-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The entrance to the former Avalon Ballroom\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Avalon-Ballroom-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Avalon-Ballroom-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Avalon-Ballroom-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Avalon-Ballroom-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Avalon-Ballroom-by-Estefany-Gonzalez.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Avalon-Ballroom-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Avalon-Ballroom-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Avalon-Ballroom-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Avalon-Ballroom-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Avalon-Ballroom-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The entrance to the former Avalon Ballroom. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The Avalon Ballroom\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 1966, when asked by the \u003ca href=\"http://www.rockmine.com/Archive/Library/MojoNav/Mojo08.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mojo Navigator\u003c/a> where would she would rather play — the Fillmore or the Avalon — Janis Joplin said the acoustics at the Avalon were better, and that the last time her band played the Fillmore, the audience members “weren’t really into the music” and “would walk around trying to pick each other up, sailors and all that…”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those comments led to Joplin and Big Brother And The Holding Company being unofficially banned from Graham’s stage for about seven months. It didn’t matter — they were managed by Chet Helms, who also ran the Avalon, the hall with the better sound.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tall, bearded, and with hair to his shoulders before it was a hippie standard, Helms was a messiah-like figure with a religious view of music that he was hell-bent on preaching. Helms was also Joplin’s earliest supporter, and he believed in her so much that he drove to Texas to bring her back with him to San Francisco — twice.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/yxdTnLL2fec'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/yxdTnLL2fec'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>After putting on a few shows with a little help from Bill Graham, Helms broke out on his own and, while working with a local commune called the Family Dog, secured permits to rent the Avalon Ballroom, a former dance hall on Sutter. Helms had the phrase “May the baby Jesus shut your mouth and open your mind” painted above the entrance, and went on to book a series of concerts that focused not just on music but an entire experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you come to the Avalon, some of the time, you just get entertainment, but very often, you get a connection with people. In a sense, an oceanic experience of being unified with something larger than yourself, that is essentially ultimately regenerating and renewing and is what the word recreation means in its true sense,” Helms said \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2016/04/28/chet-helms-on-bringing-janis-to-s-f-starting-music-scene-1998-qa/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">during a 1998 interview\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From \u003ca href=\"http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/FD%20Shows.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">January 1966 to March of ’69\u003c/a>, Helms booked bands of all stripes at the Avalon, including psychedelic rock pioneers like the 13th Floor Elevators and Captain Beefheart and almost-forgotten-by-then blues musicians like Bo Diddley and Buddy Guy. He gave Moby Grape and the Steve Miller Band their first big breaks, and — like the Fillmore — every show was advertised with eye-catching, multi-colored psychedelic posters that now go for hundreds of dollars. Ask anybody who was alive back then and they’ll tell you the Avalon wasn’t appropriating the hippie culture — it was the real deal. It’s why many call Helms the “father of the Summer of Love.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/iC8tlP4N6uc'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/iC8tlP4N6uc'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>But noise complaints brought the Avalon’s fun times to an end. Helms relocated Family Dog Productions to a space on the Great Highway, and other promoters who tried to book the hall afterward could never recreate the same vibe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, the Regency Ballroom, a live music venue right next door, is often mistaken for the Avalon. In actuality, the old Avalon is now an office space — and, for a brief time, the shell of the Avalon \u003ca href=\"http://www.sfgate.com/homeandgarden/slideshow/S-F-Real-World-house-in-old-Avalon-Ballroom-75179.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">served as living quarters\u003c/a> for the cast of MTV’s \u003cem>The Real World\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13333482\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13333482\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Matrix-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The Matrix \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Matrix-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Matrix-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Matrix-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Matrix-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Matrix-by-Estefany-Gonzalez.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Matrix-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Matrix-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Matrix-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Matrix-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Matrix-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Matrix. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The Matrix\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Matrix came to be after \u003ca href=\"http://web.archive.org/web/20050222091301/http://www.geocities.com/balinmiracles/hightimesart.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Marty Balin convinced three guys\u003c/a> he met randomly at a bar to put up $3,000 each for a club he wanted to start. He then found a former pizza place in the Marina, signed a lease, and, before opening, enlisted some friends to paint a gigantic mural of the four horsemen on the wall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Balin later said he opened the Matrix so he could start a band and have a place to play. That band turned out to be the Jefferson Airplane, and they were the first group to play the club. On opening night, a publicist convinced local jazz critic Ralph Gleason to come to the show. Gleason fell in love with the band that night, and not only did he dedicate an entire column in the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em> to them, he would go onto be the group’s biggest cheerleader.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t long before the place started packing in all the local eccentrics, who would be treated to early performances from the Doors, Grateful Dead and the Steve Miller Blues Band in an intimate setting (the club sat about 100 people). An early Matrix regular was gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, who immortalized the club in his book, \u003ci>Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas\u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/QkaJzNwQUTM'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/QkaJzNwQUTM'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>One huge bonus for bands playing the Matrix was the high-quality recording setup used to capture performances. Almost every group’s set was put to tape, and recordings of Steppenwolf, Santana, the Great Society (Grace Slick’s first band) and the Velvet Underground were later released as live albums. But many tapes never saw the light of day, like the recording of fuzz-rock legends Blue Cheer, who played the club once as a six-piece. According to the band’s Leigh Stephens, the Matrix recording convinced the group that they needed to pare down to a trio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We listened to [our recording] back and three guys were playing the songs one way and the other three were somewhere else,” Stephens said.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/Tx9f0IAKYYI'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/Tx9f0IAKYYI'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Balin’s share was eventually bought out by two of the other partners, and after a few different bookers, the club closed in 1972. Now, the building is an “ultralounge” concept, still called the Matrix, which is owned by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s company, the Plumpjack Group. For a short time it hosted live bands, but now only DJs provide the tunes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>(Bonus link: An interview with the singers of The Only Alternative and His Other Possibilities on the \u003ca href=\"https://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/210748\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">San Francisco Bay Area Television Archive\u003c/a>.)\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13333479\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13333479\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/California-Hall-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"California Hall\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/California-Hall-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/California-Hall-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/California-Hall-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/California-Hall-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/California-Hall-by-Estefany-Gonzalez.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/California-Hall-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/California-Hall-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/California-Hall-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/California-Hall-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/California-Hall-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California Hall \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>California Hall\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Chet Helms used this large rental hall for a few shows, as did many activists raising funds for various causes — the end of marijuana prohibition, for instance, or sexual liberation. The Hells Angels also once held a party there, and Blue Cheer played “A Tribute to J. Edgar Hoover” (not a genuine celebration of the former head of the F.B.I.).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13333872\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 538px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13333872\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Cal-Hall-19670210-2.jpg\" alt='Flyer from \"A Tribute to J. Edgar Hoover\"' width=\"538\" height=\"757\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Cal-Hall-19670210-2.jpg 538w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Cal-Hall-19670210-2-160x225.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Cal-Hall-19670210-2-240x338.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Cal-Hall-19670210-2-375x528.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Cal-Hall-19670210-2-520x732.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 538px) 100vw, 538px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flyer from “A Tribute to J. Edgar Hoover.” \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Chicken on a Unicycle)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>There are some heaven-sent lineups that happened at the California Hall — a fundraiser for the Sexual Freedom League is a standout, which featured the Doors, Captain Beefheart and the 13th Floor Elevators. But you won’t hear much about California Hall from those in the scene, as it simply wasn’t a great place to see shows. Housed inside a 1912 building, the hall itself didn’t have great acoustics. Its lack of soundproofing made it sound “boomy,” which you can hear in a live recording of Big Brother and the Holding Company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was the worst gig in town,” Jordan said. “Everybody who played there sounded like shit. I remember bands playing their first show there and breaking up afterward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What the hall is remembered more for are non-musical activities. In 1965, the “\u003ca href=\"https://www.lgbtran.org/Exhibits/CRH/Room.aspx?RID=3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Council on Religion and the Homosexual\u003c/a>,” which brought together gay men and religious leaders, tried to host a Mardi Gras-themed drag party at the hall to raise funds. When police caught wind of the plans, they attempted to force the hall’s owners to shut it down. When that failed, officers stood outside the hall and took pictures of attendees in an attempt to intimidate them. Some of the ministers from the event held a press conference the next day and described the police as being like the Gestapo.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/RScBsb0vYOc'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/RScBsb0vYOc'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>San Francisco Police attracted more bad press at California Hall decades later in 1984, when they held a graduation party for new recruits at the Rathskeller, a restaurant in the basement. During the party, a shy recruit was \u003ca href=\"http://articles.latimes.com/1985-04-15/news/mn-13956_1_police-department\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">handcuffed to a chair and made to receive a blowjob\u003c/a> from a prostitute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, whenever a new music scene popped up in the city, as punk did in the ’80s, its bands would hold shows at the California Hall. U2 played there in 1981. The hall now houses fashion classes for the Academy of Art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13333480\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13333480\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Straight-Theater-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The Goodwill where the Straight Theater once stood\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Straight-Theater-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Straight-Theater-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Straight-Theater-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Straight-Theater-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Straight-Theater-by-Estefany-Gonzalez.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Straight-Theater-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Straight-Theater-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Straight-Theater-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Straight-Theater-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/Straight-Theater-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Goodwill where the Straight Theater once stood \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The Straight Theater\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Straight Theater holds the honor of being the only live venue actually located in the Haight-Ashbury during the neighborhood’s hippie heydays. Opened as the Haight Theater in 1910, it operated as the ‘hood’s main movie house until it closed in 1964, after two of its owners turned it into an experimental gay theater. For the crime of risqué decor and showing movies like Ed Wood’s \u003ca href=\"http://hoodline.com/2015/07/from-haight-theater-to-goodwill-the-history-of-1700-haight-street\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003ci>Glen or Glenda\u003c/i>, the owners were run out of town by locals in a matter of weeks\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/taoDcurT738'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/taoDcurT738'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Two years later, in 1966, five hippie artists had the idea to buy the theater and turn it into a performing arts space. The Grateful Dead and Country Joe played fundraising concerts at the Avalon, and as many as 20 people supposedly invested in the theater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the neighborhood didn’t take kindly to the idea. It hadn’t been long since locals ran out the owners who’d showed a movie about a crossdresser, and now they had a hippie problem on their hands. A place for lovey-dovey hippie music was expected to make the neighborhood’s “problems” worse, and the San Francisco Police Department denied the Straight’s application for performance permits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The buyers kept fighting. At a Permit Appeals board hearing, Dame Judith Anderson, considered one of the greatest classical stage actors of the 20th century, testified in support of the club. As the stepmom of one of the five buyers, Anderson told the board that there would be nothing wrong with hippies coming to the theater for rock ‘n’ roll, since they would be exposed to culture in the process — the owners had planned to host poetry readings and even Shakespeare. (Anderson was also clear that she wasn’t a fan of the “hippie cult,” citing their “sick faces and hideous behavior.”)\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/rx9Gz34BFMQ'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/rx9Gz34BFMQ'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>The owners won their permit, and by June of ’67, the Straight hosted shows for the Steve Miller Band, Clover (pre-Huey Lewis and the News) and the Grateful Dead, who in the beginning had to bill their concerts as “dancing lessons” because the owners didn’t yet have the proper permits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>True to Anderson’s testimony, the hall hosted a wide variety of entertainment, including film screenings like the 5am premiere of the Beatles’ \u003ci>Magical Mystery Tour\u003c/i>. It’s also where Kenneth Anger had 1,500-feet of his famous film \u003ci>Lucifer Rising\u003c/i> stolen after a multimedia event called “Equinox of the Gods.” The theft left \u003ca href=\"http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/kenneth-anger-no-rest-for-the-wicked-9185690.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Anger so distraught \u003c/a>that he announced he was dead in the pages of the \u003cem>Village Voice\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Straight also hosted quite a few “nude theater” events, one of which took place in the middle of a conference on runaway children. According to reports, with over 400 juveniles in attendance during a discussion on why teens run away from home, members of the Jane Lapiner Dance Group came on stage and began doing their thing, naked. Two officers accosted the performers but were stopped by the crowd. Other audience members then surrounded the dancers and escorted them off stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the theater held memorable shows, it always struggled for money. Within a year, it turned to fundraising concerts to keep the doors open. It shut down in 1969 and sat empty for over a decade before it was torn down. A Goodwill is now on Haight St. where the 1,400-seat Straight once stood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13333483\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13333483\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Ark-photo-project-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The lot where the Ark once stood\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Ark-photo-project-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Ark-photo-project-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Ark-photo-project-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Ark-photo-project-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Ark-photo-project-by-Estefany-Gonzalez.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Ark-photo-project-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Ark-photo-project-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Ark-photo-project-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Ark-photo-project-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Ark-photo-project-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The lot where the Ark once stood \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The Ark\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Built in 1916, the Charles Van Damme was a steamboat that shuttled commuters from Richmond to San Rafael for over 20 years. After being decommissioned and stripped of its parts, the old ferry sat landlocked on Sausalito’s waterfront, in the middle of the town’s thriving houseboat community, still sporting its paddlewheel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Infamous \u003ca href=\"http://www.pressdemocrat.com/csp/mediapool/sites/PressDemocrat/News/story.csp?cid=2291971&sid=555&fid=181\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">North Bay restaurateur Juanita Musson\u003c/a> housed her late-night diner Juanita’s Galley there for three years before taking her famous clientele and irreverent hijinks to Sonoma Valley. Fred “Marti” Martinez and Frank McGinnis then bought the Van Damme, cleaned up the boat’s interior, and by 1965 they had turned it into a plush after-hours nightclub. The Ark was born.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite never charging a cover and paying the bands with food — breakfast, usually, since the shows either started or ended at 2am — many seminal groups came to play the Ark. Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Charlatans, and the West Coast Pop Experimental Band played there often, and in attendance would sometimes be stars like David Crosby, Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix. Even Otis Redding came down to the club when he was living in a Sausalito houseboat and writing his hit, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the Ark’s biggest contribution to Bay Area music was serving as the incubator for Moby Grape, the band that could’ve ruled the world were it not for bad luck and a host of issues, drugs among them. Moby Grape played their first shows at the Ark and used the boat as a rehearsal space in the daytime. Neil Young and Stephen Stills occasionally jammed with the band on stage, and Young would later say that his song “Mr. Soul” was simply a melding of two Moby Grape tracks.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/ffDNfpn7b4Y'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/ffDNfpn7b4Y'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Another band that became an Ark favorite was the Sparrow, a Canadian band featuring a singer named John Kay. After the Sparrow broke up, Kay moved to Los Angeles and started Steppenwolf, the riff-tastic rockers behind the rebel anthem “Born to Be Wild.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1968, during one of its 2-6am weekend shows, someone set fire to the Ark. Subsequent repairs forced the club to shut down for a little while, but the owners tried to keep it going for a few months more until closing it for good. When asked why decades later, \u003ca href=\"http://www.marinij.com/general-news/20060410/famed-ferrys-final-voyage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Martinez said\u003c/a> that the muddy lot where the Ark sat clashed with the club’s fancier vibe, keeping it from fulfilling its potential, so they moved on. (Martinez then started the classy waterfront restaurant Ondine.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years after its time as the Ark, the Charles Van Damme would serve as a center for the local houseboat community. Bands like the Redlegs would play and use the cover charges to help keep up the deteriorating boat. In the early ’80s it was condemned by local authorities, and after an unsuccessful attempt to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for restoration, it was bulldozed. Locals didn’t make the demolition easy, as dozens laid in front of the bulldozers and were arrested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The site where the Ark once stood is now just a dirt lot, and \u003ca href=\"http://www.charlesvandammeferry.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">local houseboat activists \u003c/a>continue to care for its paddlewheel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13333484\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13333484\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Jabberwock-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The corner where the Jabberwock used to be\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Jabberwock-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Jabberwock-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Jabberwock-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Jabberwock-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Jabberwock-by-Estefany-Gonzalez.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Jabberwock-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Jabberwock-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Jabberwock-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Jabberwock-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/The-Jabberwock-by-Estefany-Gonzalez-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The corner where the Jabberwock used to be. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The Jabberwock\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As San Francisco was becoming a breeding ground for psychedelic rock, Berkeley was still enjoying its reputation as \u003ca href=\"http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Berkeley%20Art.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">part of the folk circuit\u003c/a>. Throughout the ’60s, folk musicians flocked to Berkeley from around the country to clubs like the Blind Lemon, Steppenwolf and the Cabale, and for over a decade it hosted the Berkeley Folk Music Festival, a major event for the genre.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of Berkeley’s folk venues were short-lived. Among the shortest-lived but most beloved was the Jabberwock, a former jazz club on Telegraph Avenue. Bill Ehlert, a.k.a. the “Jolly Blue Giant,” bought the place in 1965, and Cal students and local musicians regularly packed the place for bills that read today like a Roots Music Hall of Fame; John Fahey, Doc Watson, Skip James and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott are just a few legends that graced its stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A roots-music aficionado from Los Angeles named Joe McDonald lived next to the Jabberwock and was a regular, playing in the house “pickup” group, the Instant Action Jug Band, with a guitarist named Barry Melton. McDonald, Melton and a few others would end up recording a song McDonald wrote in a matter of minutes called “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag.” Released on an EP, the song — a satire-laden protest of the Vietnam War — became a regional hit, so McDonald and Melton began playing at the Jabberwock as Country Joe McDonald and the Fish. Three years later, they’d play “Fixin’-To-Die” at Woodstock, with a \u003ca href=\"http://www.countryjoe.com/cheer.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cheer heard ’round the world\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/oyr7P8VCPDg'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/oyr7P8VCPDg'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>The bands that developed in the Jabberwock seemed to embrace a dark sense of humor with their Americana. Another notable song from the Jabberwock’s scene was “Friendly Neighborhood Narco Agent” by \u003cem>Berkeley Barb\u003c/em> writer Jef Jaison. \u003ca href=\"http://www.eljefe.net/fnnafaq.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Inspired by a pot dealer\u003c/a> who ripped off some undercover police officers at a Berkeley pizza shop by selling them a large quantity of Jasmine tea for hundreds of dollars, it became of a staple on Dr. Demento’s legendary comedy music show.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/zqjSG4YPIG0'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/zqjSG4YPIG0'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>The Jabberwock closed in 1967 when Ehlert couldn’t afford to bring the club up to code. Doc Watson played its final show, and the club was immortalized by Jaison in the \u003cem>Berkeley Barb\u003c/em>. By 1969, the corner of Telegraph and Russell where the Jabberwock once stood was a barren lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Special thanks to Ross Hannan for expertise and connections. Hannan and Corry Arnold created the \u003ca href=\"http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chicken on a Unicycle website\u003c/a>, a one-stop source for information on the Bay Area’s live music scene during the ’60s.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "de-young-summer-of-love-50th-anniversary",
"title": "At the de Young, the 'Summer of Love Experience' Is a Broken Record",
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"headTitle": "At the de Young, the ‘Summer of Love Experience’ Is a Broken Record | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>It was a stormy evening on Thursday, April 6, but inside the lobby of the \u003ca href=\"https://deyoung.famsf.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">de Young Museum\u003c/a>, a warm glow emanated from lava lamps propped on the makeshift bar. Large, flower-adorned peace signs topped a pair of appetizer tables (pita and hummus, couscous salads, goblets of shrimp) while an ambiguous psychedelic tribute band—decked out in bell-bottoms, colorful vests and questionable Afro wigs—swayed on platforms and played bongos in front of a neon-lit wall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, this was the press preview/donor reception for the museum’s new exhibit celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love. \u003ca href=\"https://deyoung.famsf.org/summer-love-art-fashion-and-rock-roll\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003ci>The Summer of Love Experience: Art, Fashion, and Rock & Roll\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, on view now through Aug. 20, is the kind of programming every San Francisco institution is apparently required to produce by law (a.k.a. a strong promotion from \u003ca href=\"http://www.sftravel.com/summer-love-2017\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the city’s tourism bureau\u003c/a>) during the summer of 2017. Haven’t you heard? There are concerts, talks, and photo shows. There’s a \u003ca href=\"https://magicbussf.com/tour/anniversary-summer-of-love/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Magic Bus Experience\u003c/a>. There’s an ongoing \u003ca href=\"http://summerof.love/event/love-boutique-opening-reception-penthouse-five-inside-neiman-marcus-union-square/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">’60s fashion boutique at the Neiman Marcus penthouse in Union Square\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13042303\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13042303\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/0864-Deyoung-170406_1200.jpg\" alt=\"Performers "protesting" at 'The Summer of Love Experience' donor reception at de Young Museum.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/0864-Deyoung-170406_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/0864-Deyoung-170406_1200-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/0864-Deyoung-170406_1200-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/0864-Deyoung-170406_1200-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/0864-Deyoung-170406_1200-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/0864-Deyoung-170406_1200-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/0864-Deyoung-170406_1200-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/0864-Deyoung-170406_1200-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/0864-Deyoung-170406_1200-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/0864-Deyoung-170406_1200-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Performers “protesting” at ‘The Summer of Love Experience’ donor reception at de Young Museum. \u003ccite>(Devlin Shand for Drew Altizer Photography)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And, for an hour or so on Thursday night at the de Young—as the band turned into a team of cutesy, costumed “protesters” who picked up “Make Love Not War” signs and paraded groovily through the party with their bongos \u003ci>at the precise moment\u003c/i> every journalist in the room got a push notification announcing the U.S. had just launched missiles into Syria—there was a degree of tone-deafness that bordered on surreal. It was, in fact, the perfect encapsulation of the entire exhibition’s myopia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s get one thing out of the way: We are not convinced any of this summer’s grand re-telling is necessary. As California natives in our early 30s, we’ve grown up in the persistent shadow of the Summer of Love, a specter of San Francisco in the sixties as sacred text—the prophets Jerry Garcia, Ken Kesey and Bill Graham untouchable in their retroactive glory. These people, and this era, are not lacking memorialization: the stories of the Haight-Ashbury, the Human Be-In, the drugs, the free love—they have been told many times, by many people, in books and movies and American history courses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13042313\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13042313\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/2017_DEY_SOL_Exhibition_Install_V59_1200.jpg\" alt=\"Installation view of Haight Street Gallery in 'The Summer of Love Experience.'\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/2017_DEY_SOL_Exhibition_Install_V59_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/2017_DEY_SOL_Exhibition_Install_V59_1200-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/2017_DEY_SOL_Exhibition_Install_V59_1200-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/2017_DEY_SOL_Exhibition_Install_V59_1200-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/2017_DEY_SOL_Exhibition_Install_V59_1200-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/2017_DEY_SOL_Exhibition_Install_V59_1200-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/2017_DEY_SOL_Exhibition_Install_V59_1200-960x720.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/2017_DEY_SOL_Exhibition_Install_V59_1200-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/2017_DEY_SOL_Exhibition_Install_V59_1200-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/2017_DEY_SOL_Exhibition_Install_V59_1200-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Installation view of Haight Street Gallery in ‘The Summer of Love Experience.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of FAMSF)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The way yet another rehashing might justify itself, then, is by adding something new to this fairly recent history. (See BAMPFA’s excellent \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2017/02/28/at-bampfa-hippie-modernism-proves-the-fight-for-utopia-is-far-from-over/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia\u003c/a>\u003c/i>, for example.) Give us an exhibit that offers a clear-eyed critique of what truthfully was a brief social experiment, notes its shortcomings along with its joys. Give us context. At the very least, give us some intellectual honesty: an exploration of what really happened, who it affected, why it ended, and how it shaped the San Francisco (and United States) we currently inhabit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps some of this summer’s yet-unopened exhibits will offer this. \u003ci>The Summer of Love Experience\u003c/i> at the de Young does not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13042304\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13042304\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/1202-DeYoung-170406_1200.jpg\" alt=\"A museum-goer inside Bill Ham's 'Kinetic Light Painting, 2016-2017.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/1202-DeYoung-170406_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/1202-DeYoung-170406_1200-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/1202-DeYoung-170406_1200-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/1202-DeYoung-170406_1200-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/1202-DeYoung-170406_1200-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/1202-DeYoung-170406_1200-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/1202-DeYoung-170406_1200-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/1202-DeYoung-170406_1200-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/1202-DeYoung-170406_1200-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/1202-DeYoung-170406_1200-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A museum-goer inside Bill Ham’s ‘Kinetic Light Painting, 2016-2017. \u003ccite>(Drew Altizer Photography)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What it does provide is a bright, colorful celebration of the aesthetics of the time period, and if you are fascinated by those, as many will be, by all means go see it. Over the long, weaving course of 10 galleries—including one selfie-ready space designed by liquid light show veteran Bill Ham—we get psychedelic rock show posters on top of posters, a giant bedspread once intended for Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir, record sleeves, book covers, and pins (so many pins). Somehow overwhelming without diving beneath the surface of the era’s aesthetics, the show seems intent on proving it’s possible to have, at the same time, too much and not enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ll allow there are interesting artifacts to behold: The collection of nearly 150 posters and handbills from Bay Area music venues anchors the exhibition, and many of them are indeed beautiful. The area devoted to demonstrating the lithographic process by which they were made is also worthwhile; Stanley Mouse, Wes Wilson and their compatriots from this era of poster art deserve all the recognition they’ve received over the past 50 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13042306\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13042306\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/Schnepf_Summer-of-Love_1200.jpg\" alt=\"Left: Bob Schnepf, 'Summer of Love/City of San Francisco,' 1967. Right: Victor Moscoso, Pablo Ferro film advertisement, 1967.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"802\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/Schnepf_Summer-of-Love_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/Schnepf_Summer-of-Love_1200-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/Schnepf_Summer-of-Love_1200-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/Schnepf_Summer-of-Love_1200-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/Schnepf_Summer-of-Love_1200-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/Schnepf_Summer-of-Love_1200-1180x789.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/Schnepf_Summer-of-Love_1200-960x642.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/Schnepf_Summer-of-Love_1200-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/Schnepf_Summer-of-Love_1200-375x251.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/Schnepf_Summer-of-Love_1200-520x348.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Bob Schnepf, ‘Summer of Love/City of San Francisco,’ 1967. Right: Victor Moscoso, Pablo Ferro film advertisement, 1967. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of FAMSF)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But after reading a short explanation of \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2016/11/10/hyde-street-rock-how-wally-heider-and-the-tenderloin-shaped-the-san-francisco-sound/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The San Francisco Sound\u003c/a>, one is also left with the feeling that we’re being asked (yet again) to revere this era for the sake of reverence, in the name of pure rose-colored folklore, and in the dullest kind of vacuum. Sure, the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane have come to represent not just a musical moment but a tribe, a lifestyle. Can we discuss what came after? What bands they influenced, or even what they stood for? Where can their nonconformist message still be felt in present-day San Francisco, where capitalism run amok has made it difficult if not impossible for artists to survive? Put bluntly: \u003cem>Why are we still talking about this\u003c/em>? If it’s for reasons other than to tickle donors and tourists who came of age during this period and will smile fondly at the memories, please show us those.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime: Right this way, please. We have Jerry Garcia’s hat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Summer of Love Experience\u003c/i> does devote a considerable amount of floorspace to the era’s clothing designers and trends, a welcome bit of tangibility in an otherwise ephemera-filled exhibition. Mannequins sport customized jeans, maxi peasant dresses and Native American-inspired leather fringe; Birgitta Bjerke’s crocheted work is a standout. Behind this vitrine—drumroll please—we even have the companion piece to Garcia’s Uncle Sam headgear: Janis Joplin’s handbag, intricately embroidered by Linda Gravenites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13042314\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13042314\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_6_2_V5_8_1200.jpg\" alt=\"Linda Gravenites, Handbag, ca. 1967.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1883\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_6_2_V5_8_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_6_2_V5_8_1200-160x251.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_6_2_V5_8_1200-800x1255.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_6_2_V5_8_1200-768x1205.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_6_2_V5_8_1200-1020x1601.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_6_2_V5_8_1200-1180x1852.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_6_2_V5_8_1200-960x1506.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_6_2_V5_8_1200-240x377.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_6_2_V5_8_1200-375x588.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_6_2_V5_8_1200-520x816.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Linda Gravenites, Handbag, ca. 1967. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of FAMSF)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But in these textiles, another missed opportunity: The exhibition catalog mentions the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency’s 1960s campaign to destroy the historically black Fillmore neighborhood—but only in the context of the boon this displacement provided to the city’s thrift stores, and hence, to the hippies fashioning creative costumes from flea market finds. Really. In the exhibition itself, this shameful “urban renewal” in the Fillmore bears no mention. (Also in the catalog but not in the show: the draft-dodging origins of tie-dye at the Haight’s Free Store, explored in Detour’s immersive \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2016/01/13/haight-ashbury-peter-coyote-tour/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Haight-Ashbury Walking Tour\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final gallery, before the exhibition empties into \u003ci>The Summer of Love Experience\u003c/i> gift shop, tries to sum up the politics of the era in a grab-bag of issues: the Black Panthers, the Pill, Vietnam War protests, draft resistance, sex positivity. If it’s intended to be a summation, a nod to the era’s enduring legacy and a connecting thread to the present, the result is tepid at best—especially with the wall text’s vague rah-rah claim that “fifty years later, government policies resulting from such interventions render a way of life in the West that would have been unimaginable to all but the surest of sixties visionaries.” This final gallery would have benefited from a few more pieces and a lot more breathing room, especially considering the overwhelming whiteness and maleness of the characters we’ve been taught to celebrate from this time period in San Francisco’s history—none of whom receive substantial critique in the preceding rooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13042305\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13042305\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_15_1_V1_8_1200.jpg\" alt=\"Birgitta Bjerke (100% Birgitta), 'Pioneer,' ca. 1972-1973.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"959\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_15_1_V1_8_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_15_1_V1_8_1200-160x128.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_15_1_V1_8_1200-800x639.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_15_1_V1_8_1200-768x614.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_15_1_V1_8_1200-1020x815.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_15_1_V1_8_1200-1180x943.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_15_1_V1_8_1200-960x767.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_15_1_V1_8_1200-240x192.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_15_1_V1_8_1200-375x300.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_15_1_V1_8_1200-520x416.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Birgitta Bjerke (100% Birgitta), ‘Pioneer,’ ca. 1972-1973. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of FAMSF)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Panthers, in particular—who had, by the summer of 1967, opened a storefront in Oakland, published their Ten-Point Program, and garnered national attention for entering the California State Assembly carrying guns to protest the Mulford Act—are represented only by a handful of Ruth Marion Baruch and Pirkle Jones photographs, unless we missed something. The movement was far better represented in the \u003ca href=\"http://museumca.org/gallery/all-power-people-black-panthers-50\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oakland Museum of California’s sprawling and comprehensive 2016 exhibit\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back upstairs on Thursday night, the party—“anti-war protesters” and all—was just getting going. While attendees drank lime green Midori-and-tequila cocktails labeled “battery acid” to the sounds of “White Rabbit,” we asked one of the sign-carrying protesters if he was, in fact, pulling double duty as part of the band. The be-wigged gentleman, carrying light-up bowling pins, answered, “We’re all in the band called life, man.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Near the exit, a de Young employee handed us each a bright Gerbera daisy. Then we made our way through the rain and wind to the faux street signs marking the entrance to the building—each one noting an “intersection” of the past and present: hippie and hipster, free love and marriage equality. A strong gust whipped the flowers from our hands right about then, which was fine. There were new notifications on our phones to check. Likely, there was something fresh worth protesting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"Q.Logo.Break\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘The Summer of Love Experience: Art, Fashion, and Rock & Roll’ is on view at San Francisco’s de Young Museum through Aug. 20. For tickets and more information, \u003ca href=\"https://deyoung.famsf.org/summer-love-art-fashion-and-rock-roll\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">click here\u003c/a>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "In honor of the Summer of Love's 50th anniversary, the museum rehashes surface-level aesthetics, fashion and ephemera from 1967 — with barely any connection to today.",
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"title": "At the de Young, the 'Summer of Love Experience' Is a Broken Record | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It was a stormy evening on Thursday, April 6, but inside the lobby of the \u003ca href=\"https://deyoung.famsf.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">de Young Museum\u003c/a>, a warm glow emanated from lava lamps propped on the makeshift bar. Large, flower-adorned peace signs topped a pair of appetizer tables (pita and hummus, couscous salads, goblets of shrimp) while an ambiguous psychedelic tribute band—decked out in bell-bottoms, colorful vests and questionable Afro wigs—swayed on platforms and played bongos in front of a neon-lit wall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, this was the press preview/donor reception for the museum’s new exhibit celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love. \u003ca href=\"https://deyoung.famsf.org/summer-love-art-fashion-and-rock-roll\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003ci>The Summer of Love Experience: Art, Fashion, and Rock & Roll\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, on view now through Aug. 20, is the kind of programming every San Francisco institution is apparently required to produce by law (a.k.a. a strong promotion from \u003ca href=\"http://www.sftravel.com/summer-love-2017\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the city’s tourism bureau\u003c/a>) during the summer of 2017. Haven’t you heard? There are concerts, talks, and photo shows. There’s a \u003ca href=\"https://magicbussf.com/tour/anniversary-summer-of-love/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Magic Bus Experience\u003c/a>. There’s an ongoing \u003ca href=\"http://summerof.love/event/love-boutique-opening-reception-penthouse-five-inside-neiman-marcus-union-square/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">’60s fashion boutique at the Neiman Marcus penthouse in Union Square\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13042303\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13042303\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/0864-Deyoung-170406_1200.jpg\" alt=\"Performers "protesting" at 'The Summer of Love Experience' donor reception at de Young Museum.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/0864-Deyoung-170406_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/0864-Deyoung-170406_1200-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/0864-Deyoung-170406_1200-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/0864-Deyoung-170406_1200-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/0864-Deyoung-170406_1200-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/0864-Deyoung-170406_1200-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/0864-Deyoung-170406_1200-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/0864-Deyoung-170406_1200-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/0864-Deyoung-170406_1200-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/0864-Deyoung-170406_1200-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Performers “protesting” at ‘The Summer of Love Experience’ donor reception at de Young Museum. \u003ccite>(Devlin Shand for Drew Altizer Photography)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And, for an hour or so on Thursday night at the de Young—as the band turned into a team of cutesy, costumed “protesters” who picked up “Make Love Not War” signs and paraded groovily through the party with their bongos \u003ci>at the precise moment\u003c/i> every journalist in the room got a push notification announcing the U.S. had just launched missiles into Syria—there was a degree of tone-deafness that bordered on surreal. It was, in fact, the perfect encapsulation of the entire exhibition’s myopia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s get one thing out of the way: We are not convinced any of this summer’s grand re-telling is necessary. As California natives in our early 30s, we’ve grown up in the persistent shadow of the Summer of Love, a specter of San Francisco in the sixties as sacred text—the prophets Jerry Garcia, Ken Kesey and Bill Graham untouchable in their retroactive glory. These people, and this era, are not lacking memorialization: the stories of the Haight-Ashbury, the Human Be-In, the drugs, the free love—they have been told many times, by many people, in books and movies and American history courses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13042313\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13042313\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/2017_DEY_SOL_Exhibition_Install_V59_1200.jpg\" alt=\"Installation view of Haight Street Gallery in 'The Summer of Love Experience.'\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/2017_DEY_SOL_Exhibition_Install_V59_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/2017_DEY_SOL_Exhibition_Install_V59_1200-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/2017_DEY_SOL_Exhibition_Install_V59_1200-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/2017_DEY_SOL_Exhibition_Install_V59_1200-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/2017_DEY_SOL_Exhibition_Install_V59_1200-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/2017_DEY_SOL_Exhibition_Install_V59_1200-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/2017_DEY_SOL_Exhibition_Install_V59_1200-960x720.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/2017_DEY_SOL_Exhibition_Install_V59_1200-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/2017_DEY_SOL_Exhibition_Install_V59_1200-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/2017_DEY_SOL_Exhibition_Install_V59_1200-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Installation view of Haight Street Gallery in ‘The Summer of Love Experience.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of FAMSF)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The way yet another rehashing might justify itself, then, is by adding something new to this fairly recent history. (See BAMPFA’s excellent \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2017/02/28/at-bampfa-hippie-modernism-proves-the-fight-for-utopia-is-far-from-over/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia\u003c/a>\u003c/i>, for example.) Give us an exhibit that offers a clear-eyed critique of what truthfully was a brief social experiment, notes its shortcomings along with its joys. Give us context. At the very least, give us some intellectual honesty: an exploration of what really happened, who it affected, why it ended, and how it shaped the San Francisco (and United States) we currently inhabit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps some of this summer’s yet-unopened exhibits will offer this. \u003ci>The Summer of Love Experience\u003c/i> at the de Young does not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13042304\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13042304\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/1202-DeYoung-170406_1200.jpg\" alt=\"A museum-goer inside Bill Ham's 'Kinetic Light Painting, 2016-2017.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/1202-DeYoung-170406_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/1202-DeYoung-170406_1200-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/1202-DeYoung-170406_1200-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/1202-DeYoung-170406_1200-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/1202-DeYoung-170406_1200-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/1202-DeYoung-170406_1200-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/1202-DeYoung-170406_1200-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/1202-DeYoung-170406_1200-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/1202-DeYoung-170406_1200-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/1202-DeYoung-170406_1200-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A museum-goer inside Bill Ham’s ‘Kinetic Light Painting, 2016-2017. \u003ccite>(Drew Altizer Photography)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What it does provide is a bright, colorful celebration of the aesthetics of the time period, and if you are fascinated by those, as many will be, by all means go see it. Over the long, weaving course of 10 galleries—including one selfie-ready space designed by liquid light show veteran Bill Ham—we get psychedelic rock show posters on top of posters, a giant bedspread once intended for Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir, record sleeves, book covers, and pins (so many pins). Somehow overwhelming without diving beneath the surface of the era’s aesthetics, the show seems intent on proving it’s possible to have, at the same time, too much and not enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ll allow there are interesting artifacts to behold: The collection of nearly 150 posters and handbills from Bay Area music venues anchors the exhibition, and many of them are indeed beautiful. The area devoted to demonstrating the lithographic process by which they were made is also worthwhile; Stanley Mouse, Wes Wilson and their compatriots from this era of poster art deserve all the recognition they’ve received over the past 50 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13042306\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13042306\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/Schnepf_Summer-of-Love_1200.jpg\" alt=\"Left: Bob Schnepf, 'Summer of Love/City of San Francisco,' 1967. Right: Victor Moscoso, Pablo Ferro film advertisement, 1967.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"802\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/Schnepf_Summer-of-Love_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/Schnepf_Summer-of-Love_1200-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/Schnepf_Summer-of-Love_1200-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/Schnepf_Summer-of-Love_1200-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/Schnepf_Summer-of-Love_1200-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/Schnepf_Summer-of-Love_1200-1180x789.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/Schnepf_Summer-of-Love_1200-960x642.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/Schnepf_Summer-of-Love_1200-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/Schnepf_Summer-of-Love_1200-375x251.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/Schnepf_Summer-of-Love_1200-520x348.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Bob Schnepf, ‘Summer of Love/City of San Francisco,’ 1967. Right: Victor Moscoso, Pablo Ferro film advertisement, 1967. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of FAMSF)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But after reading a short explanation of \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2016/11/10/hyde-street-rock-how-wally-heider-and-the-tenderloin-shaped-the-san-francisco-sound/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The San Francisco Sound\u003c/a>, one is also left with the feeling that we’re being asked (yet again) to revere this era for the sake of reverence, in the name of pure rose-colored folklore, and in the dullest kind of vacuum. Sure, the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane have come to represent not just a musical moment but a tribe, a lifestyle. Can we discuss what came after? What bands they influenced, or even what they stood for? Where can their nonconformist message still be felt in present-day San Francisco, where capitalism run amok has made it difficult if not impossible for artists to survive? Put bluntly: \u003cem>Why are we still talking about this\u003c/em>? If it’s for reasons other than to tickle donors and tourists who came of age during this period and will smile fondly at the memories, please show us those.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime: Right this way, please. We have Jerry Garcia’s hat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Summer of Love Experience\u003c/i> does devote a considerable amount of floorspace to the era’s clothing designers and trends, a welcome bit of tangibility in an otherwise ephemera-filled exhibition. Mannequins sport customized jeans, maxi peasant dresses and Native American-inspired leather fringe; Birgitta Bjerke’s crocheted work is a standout. Behind this vitrine—drumroll please—we even have the companion piece to Garcia’s Uncle Sam headgear: Janis Joplin’s handbag, intricately embroidered by Linda Gravenites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13042314\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13042314\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_6_2_V5_8_1200.jpg\" alt=\"Linda Gravenites, Handbag, ca. 1967.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1883\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_6_2_V5_8_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_6_2_V5_8_1200-160x251.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_6_2_V5_8_1200-800x1255.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_6_2_V5_8_1200-768x1205.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_6_2_V5_8_1200-1020x1601.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_6_2_V5_8_1200-1180x1852.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_6_2_V5_8_1200-960x1506.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_6_2_V5_8_1200-240x377.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_6_2_V5_8_1200-375x588.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_6_2_V5_8_1200-520x816.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Linda Gravenites, Handbag, ca. 1967. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of FAMSF)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But in these textiles, another missed opportunity: The exhibition catalog mentions the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency’s 1960s campaign to destroy the historically black Fillmore neighborhood—but only in the context of the boon this displacement provided to the city’s thrift stores, and hence, to the hippies fashioning creative costumes from flea market finds. Really. In the exhibition itself, this shameful “urban renewal” in the Fillmore bears no mention. (Also in the catalog but not in the show: the draft-dodging origins of tie-dye at the Haight’s Free Store, explored in Detour’s immersive \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2016/01/13/haight-ashbury-peter-coyote-tour/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Haight-Ashbury Walking Tour\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final gallery, before the exhibition empties into \u003ci>The Summer of Love Experience\u003c/i> gift shop, tries to sum up the politics of the era in a grab-bag of issues: the Black Panthers, the Pill, Vietnam War protests, draft resistance, sex positivity. If it’s intended to be a summation, a nod to the era’s enduring legacy and a connecting thread to the present, the result is tepid at best—especially with the wall text’s vague rah-rah claim that “fifty years later, government policies resulting from such interventions render a way of life in the West that would have been unimaginable to all but the surest of sixties visionaries.” This final gallery would have benefited from a few more pieces and a lot more breathing room, especially considering the overwhelming whiteness and maleness of the characters we’ve been taught to celebrate from this time period in San Francisco’s history—none of whom receive substantial critique in the preceding rooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13042305\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13042305\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_15_1_V1_8_1200.jpg\" alt=\"Birgitta Bjerke (100% Birgitta), 'Pioneer,' ca. 1972-1973.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"959\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_15_1_V1_8_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_15_1_V1_8_1200-160x128.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_15_1_V1_8_1200-800x639.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_15_1_V1_8_1200-768x614.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_15_1_V1_8_1200-1020x815.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_15_1_V1_8_1200-1180x943.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_15_1_V1_8_1200-960x767.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_15_1_V1_8_1200-240x192.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_15_1_V1_8_1200-375x300.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/04/L16_56_15_1_V1_8_1200-520x416.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Birgitta Bjerke (100% Birgitta), ‘Pioneer,’ ca. 1972-1973. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of FAMSF)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Panthers, in particular—who had, by the summer of 1967, opened a storefront in Oakland, published their Ten-Point Program, and garnered national attention for entering the California State Assembly carrying guns to protest the Mulford Act—are represented only by a handful of Ruth Marion Baruch and Pirkle Jones photographs, unless we missed something. The movement was far better represented in the \u003ca href=\"http://museumca.org/gallery/all-power-people-black-panthers-50\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oakland Museum of California’s sprawling and comprehensive 2016 exhibit\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back upstairs on Thursday night, the party—“anti-war protesters” and all—was just getting going. While attendees drank lime green Midori-and-tequila cocktails labeled “battery acid” to the sounds of “White Rabbit,” we asked one of the sign-carrying protesters if he was, in fact, pulling double duty as part of the band. The be-wigged gentleman, carrying light-up bowling pins, answered, “We’re all in the band called life, man.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Near the exit, a de Young employee handed us each a bright Gerbera daisy. Then we made our way through the rain and wind to the faux street signs marking the entrance to the building—each one noting an “intersection” of the past and present: hippie and hipster, free love and marriage equality. A strong gust whipped the flowers from our hands right about then, which was fine. There were new notifications on our phones to check. Likely, there was something fresh worth protesting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"Q.Logo.Break\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘The Summer of Love Experience: Art, Fashion, and Rock & Roll’ is on view at San Francisco’s de Young Museum through Aug. 20. For tickets and more information, \u003ca href=\"https://deyoung.famsf.org/summer-love-art-fashion-and-rock-roll\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">click here\u003c/a>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"mindshift": {
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"order": 12
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
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"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"pri-the-world": {
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"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
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"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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},
"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
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},
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