Big Brother and the Holding Company, part four. January to June 68

This is the story of Big Brother and the Holding Company. This is the part where we go up, up, up.

               

January to June 1968

Linda McCartney took this photograph when she was Linda Eastman and a dear friend of mine.

 

We became vegetarians together. That way we wouldn’t eat each other.

Not for our health, as Isaac Bashevis Singer might say, but for the health of the chickens.

5 January 1968   Rainbow Ballroom    Fresno     California

6 January 1968      Sacramento State College       Steve Brown captured this lovely image of Janis.   I think she liked him.

12 January 1968           Shrine Auditorium      Los Angeles

13 January 1968       Barnes Park Bandshell         Monterey Park          California

16-21 January 1968     Golden Bear Club    Huntington Beach    California     I always liked playing here.

25 January 1968      Fillmore Auditorium     San Francisco

26-27 January 1968  Winterland  San Francisco    John Byrne Cooke, son of Alistair Cooke, Spanish major at Harvard, was our estimable road manager and good friend.

I don”t want to say that John is tall, but here he is hovering over Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, Mimi Fariña and Joan Baez.

John writes western novels, he’s a photographer, and he introduced us to a whole new world when we went East in 1967.

He is now writing a book about his days with Janis in Big Brother, the Kozmic Blues Band and Full Tilt.

John took this photograph of Debbie Green and Mimi Fariña.

Albert Grossman, the schvitzing Svengali, our manager, the gray cloud, and now he’s gone.

28 January 1968       Avalon Ballroom     San Francisco

Chet and Lori Helms with Bill Graham.   Bill is doing the talking. Imagine that.

2 February 1968     The Cheetah    Los Angeles

3 February 1968     Earl Warren Showgrounds     Santa Barbara

9 February 1968      Santa Clara County Fairgrounds        Santa Clara      California

10 February 1968       Community Concourse Exhibit Hall  San Diego

16 February 1968  Palestra  Philadelphia    A “palestra” was originally a wrestling school in Greece (palaistra). In Italian, the word now means “gymnasium.”

17 February 1968   Anderson Theatre  New York City

Elliott Landy took some very sweet photographs of nearly everyone at that time.

The lower East Side was a magic place to be in those days.

This restaurant was right next door to where we played.

Colors, smells, enthusiastic people who were personal, direct and kind, rather the opposite of the stereotype of New Yorkers.

Ukrainian easter eggs, Afghan coats, secondhand shops, it was like a giant bazaar.

23-24 February 1968   Psychedelic Supermarket Boston     I walked into a store in Boston, asked for yoghurt and the grocer almost spat at me.

25 February 1968  Rhode Island School of Design  Providence  Rhode Island       Yes, folks, there was a time when yoghurt was seen as exotic.

I lived in Paris 1962-1964 and a friend there was feeding yoghurt (“yaourt”) to his baby. First time I tasted it. Delicious. Tastier then… and there.

1-2 March 1968      The Grande Ballroom    Detroit   Michigan

Back in New York, in Albert Grossman’s office listening to what we did at The Grande. One of those moments of truth.

Bill Graham becomes the king of New York.

8 March 1968   Fillmore East opens.   Linda made this poster.

We were living in the Chelsea Hotel, once home of Mark Twain, Eugene O’Neill, Thomas Wolfe and many other heroes of our youth.

William Burroughs lived there. So did Brendan Behan, O. Henry, Virgil Thomson, Larry Rivers, Charles Bukowski, Patti Smith and let’s not forget Sid and Nancy.

Jane Fonda lived there. So did Julie Christie. I visited each of them there. We were just friends. Coworkers, really.

9 March 1968      Wesleyan University     Middletown   Connecticut       Janis is playing Combination of the Two.

15-17 March 1968   Electric Factory   Philadelphia      I always loved Philadelphia. The people I met there seemed very soulful. Still do.

Visiting the Columbia Records vault, New York City. Lots of treasure there.

And recording at the Black Rock.  Columbia Recording Studio.  I once did a session here at seven in the morning.

The Black Rock is at 52nd Street and Sixth Avenue.

I was very excited to be on this street and I walked west at night, hearing the ghosts of Monk, Bird, Diz, Bud Powell, Bill DeArengo, Milt Jackson, J.C. Heard, Ray Brown.

I walked 52nd Street whistling the tune they wrote and played here. That middle part is something else.

22-24 March 1968     The Cheetah       Chicago

2-6 April  The Generation  New York City     B.B. King inspired us this night with his sacred words and music.

7 April 1968  Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Guy, Richie Havens, Paul Butterfield, Joni Mitchell.

10 April 1968             Anaheim Convention Center

Tuning, always tuning.  In the Renaissance they said that if a lute player lived to be eighty, he would have spent sixty years tuning. That’s about right

11 April 1968       We play Summertime on ABC-TV Hollywood Palace.

11 April 1968             Fillmore Auditorium with Booker T and the MGs and Iron Butterfly.

12-13 April 1968     Winterland    San Francisco    Now we’re home with our friends, practiced, proficient, professional and prone to perilous propensities.

Don’t ask me what that means. Well, actually, I know what it means, but am loathe to elucidate.

This gig at Winterland was recorded.

14 April 1968             Carousel Ballroom

19 April 1968                   Selland Arena             Fresno

20 April 1968    University of California     Santa Barbara

24 April 1968            Straight Theatre          San Francisco

26 April 1968      Foothill College      Los Altos      California

27 April 1968     San Bernardino    California

1 May 1968   College Field   Chico State College   Chico  California    Chico is close to Paradise. I bet Donna Patterson can come up with a better line than that.

2 May 1968                 Carousel Ballroom                San Francisco

1968 3-4 May   The Shrine Expo Center      Los Angeles

3-5 May 1968

3-6 May 1068

10 May 1968       Cal-Poly State University     San Luis Obispo     California

11 May 1968

12 May 1968    San Fernando Valley State College     Northridge    California

15 May 1968

Fairly typical set list at this time.

16 May 1968    This doesn’t look like one of James’ usual guitars.

17 May 1968    Freeborn Hall   University of California at Davis

18 May 1968   Santa Clara County Fairgrounds  Santa Clara   Northern California Folk Rock Festival

This was a special gig, quite memorable.

Sunny, beautiful day, Janis relaxed and happy, sitting in the grass with me and the other children.

19 May 1968      Civic Auditorium  Pasadena   James singing Easy Rider.   “And I will even buy you some cardboard fruit.”

21 May 1968        Bermuda Palms     San Rafael    California  I used to play saxophone in this building with a big band.

24-26 May 1968   Carousel Ballroom with the Clara Ward Singers.     Five errors ?   Dave, Janis, Sam, James and Peter.  That was easy.

31 May 1968

9 June 1968   Whisky-A-Go-Go    Hollywood

Always so much going on at The Whisky.

13 June 1968     Fillmore Auditorium

14-15 June 1968     Winterland      San Francisco

16 June 1968      Fillmore            Matrix Benefit

22-23 June 1968        Carousel Ballroom

Owsley Stanley put us on tape many times. SONY has just released his recording of this engagement.

24 June 1968      Burlingame Country Club     Burlingame  California

26-29 June 1968                   Denver

Part five next week.   I love you all, you know that, right ?  OK, just making sure.

Sam Andrew

_________________________________________________________________________________

Big Brother history, part four, January to June 1968

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This is the story of Big Brother and the Holding Company.

January to June 1968

 

Linda McCartney took this photograph when she was Linda Eastman.  Linda and I and quite a few other people became vegetarians at this time, not for our health, as Isaac Bashevis Singer might say, but for the health of the chickens.

Hey, I get to be Kermit the Frog.

5 January 1968   Rainbow Ballroom    Fresno     California

6 January 1968      Sacramento State College       Steve Brown captured this lovely image of Janis.

12 January 1968           Shrine Auditorium      Los Angeles

beach

13 January 1968       Barnes Park Bandshell         Monterey Park          California

a plea

GB

16-21 January 1968     Golden Bear Club    Huntington Beach    California

ANTI-VIETNAM WAR PROTESTERS

25 January 1968      Fillmore Auditorium     San Francisco

parade

26-27 January 1968  Winterland  San Francisco    John Byrne Cooke, son of Alistair Cooke. John studied Romance Languages at Harvard. He was our estimable road manager and has remained a good friend.

I don’t want to say that John is tall, but here he is hovering over Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, Mimi Fariña and Joan Baez.

65-18-c5

John writes western novels, he’s a photographer, he sings Louvin Brothers songs and he introduced us to a whole new world.

John is now writing a book about his days with Janis in Big Brother, the Kozmic Blues Band and Full Tilt.

John took this photograph of Debbie Green and Mimi Fariña.

rock tangerine

28 January 1968       Avalon Ballroom     San Francisco

We’re playing Oh, Sweet Mary.

Chet and Lori Helms with Bill Graham.   Bill is doing the talking. Imagine that.

rain

2 February 1968     The Cheetah    Los Angeles

3 February 1968     Earl Warren Showgrounds     Santa Barbara

azalea

9 February 1968      Santa Clara County Fairgrounds        Santa Clara      California

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10 February 1968       Community Concourse Exhibit Hall  San Diego

16 February 1968  Palestra  Philadelphia

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A palestra was originally a wrestling school in Greece (palaistra). In Italian, the word now means gymnasium.

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17 February 1968   Anderson Theatre  New York City

This restaurant was right next door to where we played so we spent a lot of time there.

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Tastes, feelings, colors, smells, enthusiastic people who were personal, direct and kind, the people we encountered were the opposite of the stereotype of New Yorkers.

Ukrainian easter eggs, Afghan coats, secondhand shops, it was like a giant bazaar.

Skateboarding in NYC, 1960s

23-24 February 1968   Psychedelic Supermarket Boston     I walked into a store in Boston, asked for yoghurt and the grocer almost spat at me. Yes, folks, there was a time when yoghurt was seen as exotic, something that only a Democrat would eat.

25 February 1968  Rhode Island School of Design  Providence  Rhode Island

yaourt

I lived in Paris 1962-1964 and a friend there was feeding yoghurt (yaourt) to his baby. First time I tasted it. Delicious. Tastier then… and there. We often had it with meals in the student cafeteria at the Sorbonne.

1-2 March 1968      The Grande Ballroom    Detroit   Michigan

BG 8 Mar Fill East

8 March 1968   Fillmore East opens.   Linda Eastman (McCartney) made this poster.

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We were living in the Chelsea Hotel.

Jane Fonda lived in the Chelsea at that time. So did Julie Christie.

Combination of the Two

middle

9 March 1968      Wesleyan University     Middletown   Connecticut

mierleUkeles

15-17 March 1968   Electric Factory   Philadelphia

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22-24 March 1968     The Cheetah       Chicago

Sam Janis James bed

Stork-Naked

© Jim Marshall Photography LLC

2-6 April  The Generation  New York City

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king

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7 April 1968  Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Guy, Richie Havens, Paul Butterfield. B.B. King inspired us that night with his sacred words and music.

Anaheim-California

10 April 1968             Anaheim Convention Center

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11 April 1968       We play Summertime on ABC-TV Hollywood Palace.

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11 April 1968             Fillmore Auditorium with Booker T and the MGs and Iron Butterfly

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12-13 April 1968     Winterland    San Francisco

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14 April 1968             Carousel Ballroom

19 April 1968                   Selland Arena             Fresno

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20 April 1968    University of California     Santa Barbara

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24 April 1968            Straight Theatre          San Francisco

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26 April 1968      Foothill College      Los Altos      California

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27 April 1968     San Bernardino    California

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1 May 1968   College Field   Chico State College   Chico  California

2 May 1968                 Carousel Ballroom                San Francisco

1968   3-4 May   The Shrine Expo Center      Los Angeles

yavno-la-streettalk

3-6 May 1968

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10 May 1968       Cal-Poly State University     San Luis Obispo     California

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Sam Berdofsky

Sam Berdofsky drew this poster for our gig in Santa Rosa.

11 May 1968

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12 May 1968    San Fernando Valley State College     Northridge    California

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15 May 1968

Fairly typical set list at this time.

16 May 1968    That doesn’t look like one of James’ usual guitars.

park mass

17 May 1968    Freeborn Hall   University of California at Davis

santa clara

18 May 1968   Santa Clara County Fairgrounds  Santa Clara   Northern California Folk Rock Festival

This was a special gig, quite memorable.  The weather was beautiful and there was a spirit of togetherness.

figli

clown

pasadena_convention

19 May 1968      Civic Auditorium  Pasadena   James singing Easy Rider.   “And I will even buy you some cardboard fruit.”

B

21 May 1968        Bermuda Palms     San Rafael    California   One dollar seemed to be the going rate for these Angels affairs.  Would be about $10 now.

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I used to play saxophone in this building with a big band.

Five errors ?   Dave, Janis, Sam, James and Peter.  That was easy.

CW

24-26 May 1968   Carousel Ballroom with the Clara Ward Singers

paris

31 May 1968

Whisky

mystery

9 June 1968   Whisky-A-Go-Go    Hollywood

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13 June 1968     Fillmore Auditorium

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14-15 June 1968     Winterland      San Francisco

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16 June 1968      Fillmore            Matrix Benefit

22-23 June 1968        Carousel Ballroom

Owsley Stanley put us on tape many times. SONY released his recording of this engagement.

dance

24 June 1968      Burlingame Country Club     Burlingame  California

eliz

26-29 June 1968                   Denver

Janis Joplin

symbols-bianco-cornucopia

See you next week?

Sam Andrew

___________________________________________________

Big Brother and the Holding Company, part three. July to December 1967

Well, hello, everybody !

July to Decmber 1967

This is the continuing story of Big Brother and the Holding Company.

The third of twenty-five chapters.

1 July 1967     Avalon Ballroom    Quicksilver      Mount Rushmore      Horns of Plenty

“Big Brother and the Holding Company ?”        How did you get a name like that ?

2 July 1967         Mount Tamalpais          Marin County, California.

I remember I had a hard time driving down off that mountain after this gig. We had a 1955 Cadillac hearse which was unwieldy anyway, and I didn’t know Marin County yet, and especially Mount Tamalpais, so I had a fun time negotiating all those curves, peaks and valleys.

Anyway, on a beautiful spring day in 1965, Chet Helms held in his hands two legal tablets full of quirky, eccentric, purposefully puerile names.

Names like Tom Slow and his Sarcastic Grand Mo. Or Big Bother and the Folding Company. Or Country Schmo and The Knish. Or Quicksliver Military Service.

4-6 July 1967         Fillmore              Bo Diddly        Big Joe Williams

7-8 July 1967    Circle Star Theatre     San Carlos    California

Theatres in the round can be quite tricky. Westbury Music Fair on Long Island is another one. When they begin revolving there is a slight jerk that you should be ready for.

On one legal tablet, Chet had the name “Big Brother,” no doubt prompted by a recent reading of  Orwell.

14-15 July 1967               Continental Ballroom grand opening.

20-21 July 1967  Avalon Ballroom  Mount Rushmore   On another legal tablet page, Chet had the words “The Holding Company.”

Holding ? Why Holding ?

23 July 1967   Straight Theatre    San Francisco  Grand Opening  Freedom Highway    The Phoenix    Wildflower    Grateful Dead

Mount Rushmore  Quicksilver Messenger Service   New Salvation Army Band   Mother Earth  Country Joe and The Fish   The Charlatans   Blue Cheer

28-30 July 1967     California Hall      San Francisco

“Holding” was slang at that time for “possessing,” as in, “Hey, man, are you holding any drugs ?”

31 July 1967                     Haight Ashbury Free Clinic Benefit

8 August 1967  Denver Dog   Denver    Colorado  A band at this event played Bye, Bye, Baby. The guitar player even copied my mistakes. First time I heard that.

10 August 1967  Kaiser Dome San Bernardino   So, on one yellow tablet Chet had “Big Brother” and on the other he had “the Holding Company.”

11-12 August 1967  Continental Ballroom   Santa Clara   California          ”Big Brother ?”         “Holding Company ?”

13 August 1967  Avalon Ballroom    ”Big Brother” was big government. “”Holding Company” was corporate government. Corporations weren’t people yet.

16 August 1967  Golden Gate Park       The Supreme Court was still an honorable institution.

Sharrie Gomez and I doing a Macy’s ad.

24-27 August 1967           Avalon Ballroom              Bo Diddly        Bukka White        The Salvation Army Banned

28 August 1967  Lindley Meadow   Golden Gate Park          ”Big Brother ?”     “Holding Company ?”      Very political.

Country Joe and The Fish were a political group, but their name was non political. They should have had our name and we should have had theirs.

Country Janis and The Fish would have been perfect.

We were not “political” at all in the Berkeley sense. We were political just by being who we were. Our politics were non proselytizing, spiritual, private.

Joe MacDonald had a difficult time understanding this then and he may still.

So…       “Big Brother ?”      ”The Holding Company ?”  For a group of people like us ?

We had a shoot in Sausalito at the Heliport with Irving Penn, master of photography, another not overtly yet intensely political artist.

This is the way Irving Peen’s portrait of us and the Grateful Dead looks on the walls of The National Portrait Gallery, London.

1-3 September 1967     Straight Theatre    Haight Ashbury             San Francisco.

4 September 1967   La Dolphine Estate  Debutante Party   Burlingame  California

6 September 1967

8-9 September 1967  Family Dog  Denver

You probably cannot see that Janis and I are committing some kind of nefarious act over there under the tree.

Talk about truth in advertising.

15 September 1967  Canceled.      Anyway, so Chet put the names together. Big Brother and the Holding Company.

James Gurley said, “Hey, how is a name that long going to fit on a marquee or a record label ?”

And I thought, “You mean there’s going to be a marquee… and a record label ?”

September 16, 1967     Monterey Jazz Festival     T-Bone Walker   B. B. King   Richie Havens   The Clara Ward Singers    Afternoon Blues Show

T-Bone Walker was my guitar hero when I was 14, him and Charlie Christian, so I was very excited to see him here.

19-24 September 1967       Golden Bear       Huntington Beach   California with Big Mama Thornton.

5  October 1967   The Matrix  San Francisco     James Gurley’s question was prescient. Big Brother and the Holding Company has always been a difficult fit.

On marquees, on record labels, on book titles, philosophically, spiritually… a difficult fit.

6 October 1967  The Ark   Sausalito   California

7 October 1967      Avalon Ballroom             See ?  The version below might fit us a bit bother, I mean, better.

8 October 1967             Santa Clara Fairgrounds              Santa Clara          California

13-14 October 1967     Eagles Auditorium      Seattle   This engagement was also canceled, I believe, and we played at The Ark instead.

To make the name Big Brother and the Holding Company fit on a poster, we have to squeeze it, so that our name is smaller. Boo, hoo.

15-16 October 1967                Avalon Ballroom

20 October 1967           Contra Costa College     San Pablo    California

27 October 1967   Cal State    Hayward    California

28 October 1967        McNear’s Beach             San Rafael         California

28-29 October 1967       Peacock Country Club            San Rafael

31 October 1967   Trip Or Freak  Hallowe’en Ball    Winterland    San Francisco

2-3 November 1967      Fillmore          San Francisco            Richie Havens

?  November 1967           Golden Bear Club            Huntington Beach          California

4 November 1967           Winterland             San Francisco           Richie Havens    Pink Floyd

4 November 1967    The Ark          Baltimore Steam Packet       Moby Grape

13 November 1967         Avalon Ballroom             Grateful Dead        Quicksilver Messenger Service

16 November 1967           Cubist stock certificate.

Lisa Law took this one in San Geronimo Valley not far from where I am sitting now.

This event never happened.  In any year.      I wish it would have.

23-25 November 1967     The Family Dog presents Thanksgiving Turkey Strut and Trot at The Avalon.

24 November 1967   California Hall           San Francisco

25 November 1967          Avalon Ballroom           Mount Rushmore

1 December 1967   The Matrix    San Francisco    Sandy Bull    Dan Hicks

2 December 1967

14-17 December 1967                      Whisky-A-Go-Go                    Hollywood

17 December 1967

18 December 1967             California Hall

19 December 1967       Shrine Auditorium      Los Angeles    We became acquainted with Connie and Renee Pappas somewhere along here.

They were good friends and the next time we played the Golden Bear or the Shrine, they had a party for us at their house.

20 December 1967            Whisky-A-Go-Go              Hollywood

22 December 1967             Turlock Fairgrounds             Turlock           California

25 December 1967                   Sokol Hall                Christmas Party

26-31 December 1967                    Winterland              San Francisco

31 December 1967

Happy New Year !

Part four next week. See you then.

Sam Andrew

Big Brother and the Holding Company   Alain Bertrand painted this.   Notice the billboard down the street to your left.

     Alain, je te remercie mille fois. My good friend.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Big Brother history, part three, July to December 1967

July to Decmber 1967

1 July 1967     Avalon Ballroom    Big Brother and the Holding Company   Quicksilver      Mount Rushmore      Horns of Plenty

“Big Brother and the Holding Company ?”        How did you get a name like that ?  Well, on a beautiful spring day in 1965, Chet Helms held in his hands two legal tablets full of quirky, eccentric, purposefully puerile names.  Names like Tom Slow and his Sarcastic Grand Mo. Or Country Schmo and The Knish. Or Quicksilver Military Service. The Grapefruit Head. The Jefferson’s Bear Pain.

orwell-183x300

On one legal tablet, Chet had the name “Big Brother,” no doubt prompted by a recent reading of  Orwell.  On another legal tablet page, Chet had the words “The Holding Company.”   ‘Holding ?’  Why Holding ?  “Holding” was slang at that time for “possessing,” as in, “Hey, man, are you holding any drugs ?”

1945_Powell_Turnaround_p153

So, on one yellow tablet Chet had “Big Brother” and on the other he had “the Holding Company.”   “Big Brother ?”   “Holding Company ?”  “Big Brother” was big government. “”Holding Company” was corporate government. Corporations weren’t people yet. Their ‘free speech’ hadn’t yet become protected by the Supreme Court, which was still an honorable institution.

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“Big Brother ?”     “Holding Company ?”      Very political.  Country Joe and The Fish were a political group, but their name was non political. They should have had our name and we should have had theirs.  Country Janis and The Fish would have been something to consider, even if we didn’t have Janis yet.

chick street

James Gurley said, “Hey, how is a name like Big Brother and the Holding Company going to fit on a marquee or a record label ?”

Big-Bother-300x154

And I thought, “You mean there’s going to be a marquee… and a record label ?”

2 July 1967         Mount Tamalpais          Marin County, California.

I had a difficult time driving down off Mount Tamalpais after this gig. We had a 1955 Cadillac hearse which was unwieldy anyway, and I didn’t know Marin County yet, and especially Tamalpais, so I had a fun time negotiating all those curves, peaks and valleys after cocktails and cannabis.

bear

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4-6 July 1967         Fillmore              Bo Diddley        Big Joe Williams     Quicksilver       Big Brother

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Circle bill

7-8 July 1967    Circle Star Theatre     San Carlos    California    Theatres in the round, such as the Circle Star, can be quite tricky. Westbury Music Fair on Long Island is another one. When they begin revolving there is a slight jerk that you should be ready for or otherwise you could spill your Bombay martini.

a quick

14-15 July 1967               Continental Ballroom grand opening.

We’re playing Cuckoo here, a song that became Oh, Sweet Mary on Cheap Thrills.

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20-21 July 1967  Avalon Ballroom      Big Brother and the Holding Company     Mount Rushmore

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23 July 1967   Straight Theatre    San Francisco  Grand Opening   Big Brother and the Holding Company  Freedom Highway    The Phoenix    Wildflower    The Grateful Dead  Mount Rushmore  Quicksilver Messenger Service   New Salvation Army Band   Mother Earth  Country Joe and The Fish   The Charlatans   Blue Cheer

The Gurley man

blue girl janis

28-30 July 1967     California Hall      San Francisco

Eddy and Josie

Josie and Eddy

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31 July 1967        Haight Ashbury Free Clinic Benefit

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8 August 1967  Denver Dog   Denver    Colorado  A band at this event played Bye, Bye, Baby. The guitar player even copied my mistakes. First time I heard that.

oceana

10 August 1967  Kaiser Dome San Bernardino

a guit

11-12 August 1967  Continental Ballroom   Santa Clara   California

13 August 1967  Avalon Ballroom

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16 August 1967  Golden Gate Park

Sharrie Gomez and I doing a Macy’s ad.

BoDiddley-PP004

Bo and his balalaika

24-27 August 1967           Avalon Ballroom          Big Brother    Bo Diddley        Bukka White        The Salvation Army Banned

speed0583

28 August 1967  Lindley Meadow   Golden Gate Park

68144964_130242372788

hunter

Hunter S. Thompson

Lillian-Andrew-Okinawa

rg

We had a shoot in Sausalito at the Heliport with Irving Penn.

This is the way Irving Penn’s portrait of us and the Grateful Dead looks on the wall at The National Portrait Gallery, London.

janis portuguese

artists

1-3 September 1967     Straight Theatre    Haight Ashbury             San Francisco

La Dolphine 1760 Manor Drive

4 September 1967   La Dolphine Estate  Debutante Party   Burlingame  California

hbowl2

6 September 1967

8-9 September 1967  Family Dog  Denver

bobby-shad

Truth in advertising

You probably cannot see that Janis and I are committing some kind of nefarious act over there under the tree.

15 September 1967         Canceled

jefferson-airplane-1967

September 16, 1967     Monterey Jazz Festival    Big Brother  T-Bone Walker   B. B. King   Richie Havens   The Clara Ward Singers    Afternoon Blues Show

T-Bone Walker was my guitar hero since I was 14, so I was very excited to see him here.

beauty bear

bear VW

Huntington Beach Realty - 1906

19-24 September 1967       Golden Bear       Huntington Beach   California with Big Mama Thornton.

5  October 1967   The Matrix  San Francisco

at table

6 October 1967  The Ark   Sausalito   California

Man and Woman in Haight-Ashbury District

7 October 1967      Avalon Ballroom

8 October 1967             Santa Clara Fairgrounds              Santa Clara          California

worry

13-14 October 1967     Eagles Auditorium      Seattle   This engagement was canceled, I believe, and we played at The Ark instead.

15-16 October 1967                Avalon Ballroom

20 October 1967           Contra Costa College     San Pablo    California

Miss Sunhine

27 October 1967   Cal State    Hayward    California

28 October 1967        McNear’s Beach             San Rafael         California

goddard

28-29 October 1967       Peacock Country Club            San Rafael

31 October 1967   Trip Or Freak  Hallowe’en Ball    Winterland    San Francisco

2-3 November 1967      Fillmore          San Francisco            with  Richie Havens

beauty

bear yoga

November 1967           Golden Bear Club            Huntington Beach          California

felicia

4 November 1967           Winterland             San Francisco           with Richie Havens  and  Pink Floyd

James Gurley plays an F# minor.

4 November 1967    The Ark         with Baltimore Steam Packet and  Moby Grape

sally by rosie mcgee

Sally Mann photographed by Rosie McGee

Way Beck when

Way Beck in the old days

13 November 1967         Avalon Ballroom           Big Brother and the Holding Company     The Grateful Dead        Quicksilver Messenger Service

16 November 1967           Cubist stock certificate

gia

This event never happened.  In any year.      I wish it would have.

23-25 November 1967     The Family Dog presents Thanksgiving Turkey Strut and Trot at The Avalon.

Wandervogel_Dance

24 November 1967   California Hall           San Francisco

black hawk

25 November 1967          Avalon Ballroom           Mount Rushmore

1 December 1967   The Matrix    San Francisco    with Sandy Bull  and  Dan Hicks

2 December 1967          1st L.A. appearance, it says.  I didn’t realize that.

pandorasbox

madonna

17 December 1967

a black and white

18 December 1967             California Hall

19 December 1967       Shrine Auditorium      Los Angeles

marilyn

20 December 1967            Whisky-A-Go-Go              Hollywood

bird mural

turlock1

22 December 1967             Turlock Fairgrounds             Turlock           California

paulette

25 December 1967                   Sokol Hall                Christmas Party

26-31 December 1967                    Winterland              San Francisco

Happy New Year !          31 December 1967

desnuda

See you next week?

Sam 1967 TV shoot

Sam Andrew

____________________________________________

Big Brother and the Holding Company, part two. January to June 1967

January to June 1967

     I found this photograph tacked to a telephone pole. By whom? Why ? I have no idea.

     Palais des Beaux Arts.   San Francisco.

A lot of our inspiration was coming from KMPX radio. They had a beautifully adventurous playlist which was the soundtrack to our lives at this time. Erik Satie, then Quicksilver, then Telemann, then Mississippi John hurt, then, well, it could go anywhere.

     Howard Hessman didn’t only play a DJ on TV. He was one in real life, and a good one too.

    Chet Helms about the time that we shared a house in Bernal Heights, San Francisco.

1 January 1967            Golden Gate Park             “New Year’s Day Wail” with the Grateful Dead and the Orkustra

     Fayette Hauser’s Cockettes in the Panhandle, Golden Gate Park.

     The Panhandle in the 1890s.

Diane Vitalich playing in the Park, probably with the Ace of Cups, a good band.

The Wizard Martoon, Martin Gorak, artist, gentle soul, great human being, soul brother. He taught me a lot about how the stars move across the sky. Great painter.

9 January 1967              Straight Theatre

     Rehearsing with James Gurley.

We took an early group photograph in Golden Gate Park by one of these windmills out near the ocean.

       A very appropriate symbol come to think of it.

12 January 1967

13 January 1967     Santa Venetia Armory      San Rafael     California       Ralph and Al Pepe presented Moby Grape, Morning Glory and us.

     I remember John Cipollina at this one, talking my ear off , explaining what Leos and Virgos were. Full speed. Quicksilver.

     Hey ! It’s Janis ! In San Rafael.

   This is Peter’s school. He majored in photography here. Light is faster than sound.

14 January 1967             Human Be-in                Golden Gate Park             San Francisco

15 January 1967                   Shrine Auditorium                     Los Angeles

     The Merry Pranksters were along for this one.

17-22 January 1967                      The Matrix                              San Francisco

       Amazing what happened in this tiny room.     Steve Miller was also on this bill.

24-26 January 1967                       Soul City Club                           Dallas                Texas

28 January 1967       Continental Ballroom      Santa Clara, Calilfornia.

How it felt, how it looked.

29 January 1967                    Avalon Ballroom                  San Francisco

     Allen Ginsberg, Grateful Dead, Moby Grape.

Chet Helms, the high priest.

31 January to 5 February 1967          Matrix

     I’ve noticed that a lot of really good singers have very wide, generous mouths.

3 February 1967  A Benefit for Hairy Harry       California Hall           Head Lights does the light show.

4-5  Feburary 1967                                     Matrix          Where did they go ? All those sounds we played in that small room ?

10-11 February 1967                                 Golden Sheaf Bakery                Berkeley

12 February 1967                      California Hall

14 February 1967

         We played with Moby Grape and Jack the Ripper.

15 February 1967                     California Hall

     Papa made the set list. Mama read the papers.

17-18 February 1967        Avalon Ballroom            Tribal Stomp

     Bob Seideman took this photograph of James.

19 February 1967                        Matrix

Mojo Navigator           There is a beautiful magazine now in the UK called MOJO. I wonder if they ever give any props to their ancestor ?

21 February 1967                          California Hall

23 February 1967                              The Ark

24 February 1967                          Glide Memorial Church                San Francisco

25 February 1967                       The Barn                   Scott’s Valley              California

     This was a most interesting scene down near Santa Cruz in the magical town of Scott’s Valley. The Hershey Gumbo played downstairs at the same time as we did upstairs, and they were attracting a large audience. Janis and James and I went down to see what was going on. Ralph Saunders, a steel guitar player, was holding forth and there seemed to be some kind of intrigue in the air. Scott’s Valley has now become a wealthy enclave, in places a gated community seemingly unaware of its exotic past.

26 February 1967                          Glide Memorial Church              Sunday morning service

          The Reverend Cecil Williams was a hero to us.

Then, that evening, we drove to Merced and played at The  American Legion Hall.

2 March 1967

4 March 1967                 Steininger Auditorium            University of California Medical Center          San Francisco     with Steve Miller.

      I loved this gig. I was fascinated by Steve, already a great player and very advenurous.

5 March 1967                        Avalon Ballroom    A Benefit for Newstage & the Straight Theatre   Moby Grape     Country Joe and The Fish      The Sparrow

 

10 March 1967                Chessall High School Gymnasium            Ukiah            California

12 March 1967                      Fillmore Auditorium         San Francisco

14-16 March 1967                   The Matrix

17-18 March 1967             The Avalon

     Charles Lloyd            The Sir Douglas Quintet

 

21-26 March 1967                     The Rock Garden         San Francisco

 I was talking to Arthur Lee, “Boy, that was a great set you did !”   He replied, “Who you calling boy ?”

31 March to 1 April 1967       Avalon Ballroom      Charlatans    Blue Cheer

     Herb Greene took this beautiful photograph of these beautiful people, The Charlatans.

8 April 1967                    Mount Tamalpais Outdoor Theatre           Marin County

     Quicksilver Messenger Service           The Sparrow           The Charlatans

9 April 1967                     Longshoremen’s Hall                     San Francisco

10-11 April                     Fillmore Auditorium                    San Francisco         We played that afternoon 10 April on Mount Tamalpais.

12-13 April 1967                  Winterland and the Fillmore

15 April 1967      Spring Mobilization            Kezar Stadium         San Francisco

16 April 1967                      Stockton Civic Auditorium             Stockton          California       The New Breed played on the bill with us.

21 April 1967                           In Athens there was also counter revolution and questioning of authority.

       There was a wave of protest washing over the world. Even the Red Guards in China, misguided as they were, were part of this.

We must all stand together or surely we will all hang separately.   Benjamin Franklin.

21-22 April 1967        Fillmore Auditorium           with the mighty Howlin’ Wolf

23 April 1967

     The light show was Aurora Glory Alice.

The Diggers. There were two leaders of this organization. One died of a heroin overdose in the 1980s. The other became a leading man in films. It seems like every documentary voice over I hear is by Peter Coyote.

25 April 1967             Live in studio performance at KQED “Come Up The Years”                  San Francisco

When Janis saw this shot she said, “Gosh, Sam, you are such a fan.”

      Hey, I knew where the camera was at all times… and so did she.

25-27 April 1967                    Matrix

28-29 April 1967                California Hall                 with Willie Mae Big Mama Thornton          The Weeds

5-7 May 1967                          Avalon Ballroom

11 May 1967                        The Fillmore        Vanguard Records throws a party for the release of an LP by Country Joe and the Fish.

12-13 May 1967                              California Hall

25 May 1967                         Carousel Ballroom                 San Francisco

26-27 May 1967                  The Fillmore              with Steve Miller

30 May 1967              Haight Ashbury Legal Organization Benefit                Winterland

      Jefferson Airplane   Quicksilver Messenger Service   The Charlatans     Grateful Dead

31 May 1967              Filming   Petulia              The Fairmont Hotel                   San Francisco

Peter auditioning for Hard Days Night, part two.

It was fun getting to know Julie Christie and Richard Chamberlain who turned out to be a decent man and not at all “plastic,” deadly term of opprobrium in those days.

We filmed right in the Fairmont lobby.

     The theme in the film for this event was driving safety, so we performed Road Block.

The director was Richard Lester. He had worked with other musicians, so he knew what to expect.

2-3 June 1967                             California Hall

8-11 June 1967                               Avalon Ballroom

        Canned Heat, still a great band. We play with them frequently.

One of my favorite phoographs of Janis.

10-11 June 1967

17-18 June 1967                               The Monterey Pop Festival

     I was so in love with Rita Bergman. She was the flower in the sun. She was the one to call on me. She was the farewell.

Singing Road Block.

What a thrill this was.

Some guys will do anything to get a little reverb.

Ravi Shankar, Otis Redding and Jimi Hendrix were the people I wanted to see and they didn’t disappoint.

Janis was great. We all felt good and happy to be there.

21 June 1967                      Polo Field                 Golden Gate Park            San Francisco           Summer Solstice Festival        Embarcadero & Lombard Streets

24 June 1967                   The Avalon

25 June 1967                        The Fillmore                      with Gabor Szabo and Jimi Hendrix

27 June 1967            Benefit for Lick-Wilmerding School        Avalon Ballroom

28 June 1967               Western Front         San Francisco

29 June 1967               California Hall

29 June-2 July 1967           Avalon Ballroom

30 June 1967             Napa Fairgrounds               Napa          California

        James Gurley, one of the most interesting people I have ever known.

Next week part three. See you then.

Sam Andrew

      Ooops, there I go again.

Big Brother and the Holding Company

____________________________________________________________________________

Big Brother and the Holding Company, part one. 1965-1966

1965 – 1966

Since I was 14 or so, I have been in one kind of a musical group or another. Guitar groups.

Vocal groups.

The Cool Notes              Okinawa                  Japan.

At the University of San Francisco I played trumpet, saxophone and a lot of typewriter, because I edited the literary magazine.

Things were coalescing.

We were listening to Skip James, Ma Rainey, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Victoria Spivey, Mance Lipscomb, Bessie Smith, Mississippi John Hurt, LaVern Baker, Joe Turner.

           And Peter Albin was playing like John Lee Hooker.

Big Brother and the Holding Company             1965-2012    …and counting…                Golden Anniversary soon.      This is our history.

Peter and I started playing as Big Brother in this house… 1090 Page Street          San Francisco.            1965.

The image below might be the earliest photograph we have of all of our friends. See anyone you know there ? If you know everyone there, call me immediately.

People I know in this photograph: Peter Albin, Sam Andrew, Rita Bergman, Mike Ferguson, Dave Getz, Martin Gorak, Hongo Gurley, James Gurley, Nancy Gurley,  Phil Hammond, Chet Helms, Lori Helms, Dan Hicks, David Homage, George Hunter, Janis Joplin, Alton Kelley, Mortimer Lindner (veterinarian),  James Moylanin, Richie Olsen, Paula Preston, Sancho (the family dog), Mike Wilhelm.

Chet Helms, our big brother.

Our first promotional photograph. We are in the cable car barn.       San Francisco, 1966.

        Chet Helms, Sam Andrew, Peter Albin, Chuck Jones, James Gurley.

November 1965               We play a gig on Clement Street, but we are not called Big Brother yet.

Later in November 1965           We play in the Panhandle of Golden Gate Park as Big Brother and the Holding Company.

     Mike Ferguson and Lynn Hughes.

10 January 1966                We held auditions at The Matrix on Fillmore Street, San Francisco.

15 January 1966             Our first public performance.        Open Theatre              Berkeley.

      Lynn Hughes actually auditioned for us at one point. Here she is with Jesse Cahn.

21-23 January 1966             Longshoreman’s Hall               San Francisco

12 February 1966                Fillmore Auditorium              San Francisco

19 February 1966

     George Conger, Ritchie Olsen, George Hunter.

26 February 1966                  The Family Dog at the Fillmore.

Darby Slick wrote this. I was TEACHING the lesson. Jerry Garcia and I were both guitar teachers at this point.

Chet Helms and James Gurley in one of Herb Greene’s beautiful photographs.

One of our glamour poses. Not glamor, glamour, please.

1=6  March 1966                The Matrix      Chet was our brother and the Matrix was our mother.

12 March 1966                    The Matrix

18-20 March 1966                Fillmore Auditorium        San Francisco

     

19 March 1966         The Firehouse

     James Gurley.

1 April 1966          Harmon Gymnasium           Berkeley          Delano Grape Strikers Benefit

2 April 1966

2 April 1966                  Geary Temple

4-6 April 1966                  Matrix

9 April 1966                                       Longshoreman’s  Hall.

       

29-30 April 1966                     Avalon Ballroom

Peter Albin learning his craft.

6 May 1966

6 May 1966

It was a big thrill to see our name in the San Francisco Chronicle.

13-14 May 1966                 Red Dog Saloon                  Virginia City             Nevada

21 May 1966                  Muir Beach                 Marin County

That was fun, to be finding our way, not sure of where we were going.

Janis was a trouper. She was a real musician and she supported the band as much as we supported her.

         

21 May 1966                     Avalon Ballroom

27-28 May 1966                Red Dog Saloon            Virginia City               Nevada

Hairy ?

30 May 1966                  Winterland                San Francisco

3-4 June 1966            Avalon Ballroom

10-11 June 1966                  Red Dog Saloon                  Virginia City

     Janis and Dorothy Joplin.

19 June 1966               Timothy Leary Benefit at the St. Francis Hotel             San Francisco

24-25 June 1966  Avalon Ballroom  Janis Joplin’s first engagement with Big Brother unless Chet made a special place for her at the Avalon on 10 June. I can’t remember.

We did all kinds of gigs. This one was for our friend Dennis Nolan.

Dennis drew this poster.   One of my favorites.

I’ve done a few paintings of this band.

1 July 1966                            Fillmore Auditorium               San Francisco

Rodney Albin, another big brother. Rodney once asked us to turn down… at gunpoint. The only way you can make guitar players turn down, despite an old joke that says otherwise.

2 July 1966              Monterey Fairgrounds

8-9 July 1966                   Red Dog Saloon            Virginia City

14 July 1966                  Fillmore

15-16 July 1966                This one didn’t happen.

                          

Nancy Gurley and her son Hongo who grew to be a fine man. Nancy was a free spirit.

22 July 1966

Lisa Law did some plein air photography of  Big Brother out in the San Geronimo Valley of Marin County.

                

28 July 1966                 California Hall                   San Francisco

29-30 July 1966                Garden Auditorium          Pacific National Exhibition         Vancouver       British Columbia

29-30-31 July 1966

Ken Babbs in control at The Trips Festival.

Playing in Golden Gate Park.     It always seemed to be sunny and blue.

2-3-4- August 1966                    Losers South

5-6 August 1966        Avalon Ballroom

       Sancho, often misspelled “Soncho,” put his pawprint on this poster.

Keeping an eye on things at The Mojo Navigator which was the first psychedelic rock magazine.

7 August 1966               with Grateful Dead, Grass Roots, Sunshine, Jook Savages, PH Phactor, Si Perkoff Jazz Quintet, San Francisco Mime Troupe.

                                 

12 August 1966    afternoon show in the Park.

12-13 August 1966           Avalon Ballroom

Figuring out what we’re going to do when we sign with Mainstream Records.

Chicago !                 Our first big road trip. We were there from 25 August to 19 September 1966.

16 September 1966      Chicago Sun Times

I saw Howlin’ Wolf, Junior Wells, Muddy Waters, and a lot of other good people up close and personal. Wolf said to me, “You have more soul than I have on my shoe.” First time I heard that expression.

                                    

19 September 1966

Stanley Mouse did this beautiful work on my guitar.

23-24 September 1966              Avalon Ballroom.        Wolf canceled this gig, so Grass Roots replaced him.

Another beautiful work by Dennis Nolan.

6 October 1966        The Ark      Sausalito, California.       We also played in Golden Gate Park that afternoon.

The Ark              Sausalito, California

The Charles van Damme, alias, The Ark a few years later.

7-8 October 1966             Avalon Ballroom          Sutter and Van Ness, San Francisco, California.

13-14 October 1966

15-16 October 1966

Backstage in our elegant dressing room.

22 October 1967                  Winterland              San Francisco

On one of our pilgrimages to Fritz Maytag’s Anchor Steam Brewery in San Francisco.

We played 1-6 November 1966 at The Matrix.

and 4 November 1966 at The Ark, Sausalito.

Drinking Champagne and being happy backstage.

The artists then were so exuberant and industrious that they would often do two, three or four posters for the same event. The creative juices were flowing.

11 November 1966               We taped a “POW” TV show in San Francisco and played the Trip Room in Sacramento.

We always had a lot of fun at Sokol Hall which was right down the street from 1090 Page where Peter and I started the band.

12 November 1966          Sokol Hall       739 Page Street         San Francisco.

Peter Albin wears satin.

13 November 1966   Avalon Ballroom

19 November 1966               The Barn          Scotts Valley            Santa Cruz

23 November 1966          California Hall    625 Polk Street       San Francisco, California.

                                   

25-26 November 1966            The Avalon Ballroom             Isn’t this a beautiful poster ?

3 December 1966                  Wilbur Hall       Stanford University      A Happening in the Wilburness

9-10 December 1966            Avalon Ballroom

 

16-17 December 1966              Winterland          San Francisco

18 December 1966           We played the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

25 December 1966               We had a Christmas party at our house in Lagunitas. Lisa Law took this photograph of us by the kitchen door.

26 December 1966                The Ark          Sausalito

27 December 1966                  Avalon Ballroom

31 December 1966              Kezar Pavilion        Golden Gate Park

Next week, part two. See you then !

Sam Andrew

Big Brother and the Holding Company

___________________________________________________________________________

April Fools.

1 April 2012

But if you had been able to anticipate the grand march of human progress and poetic feeling by fifty years, and asked her to sing

You made me love you, I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to do it,

she would have asked a policeman to remove you to a third class carriage.      (George Bernard Shaw, writing about his mother).

 

Lord, what fools these mortals be.

     1090 Page Street         San Francisco

     This was what it cost to see Peter Albin and me play in 1965.

When I first walked into 1090 Page Street in the spring of that year, these are the lines that I declaimed from the staircase down into the Victorian gloom of the foyer:

Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote

The droghte of Marche hath perced to the roote,

And bathed every veyne in swich licour,

Of which vertu engendred is the flour;

Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth

Inspired hath in every holt and heeth

The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne

Hath in the Ram his halfe cours y-ronne,

And smale fowles maken melodye,

That slepen al the night with open ye,

So priketh hem nature in hir corages:

Than longen folk to goon on pilgrimages.

What do you want ? I had been an English major and was now studying linguistics in graduate school at UC Berkeley.

When this prologue is pronounced more or less the way it would be spoken in the fifteenth century, the rhythm and the music of the lines can be overwhelming.

In 1582, Charles IX, king of France, introduced the Gregorian Calendar into his country, and New Year’s Day was moved from 1 April to 1 January.

Many people, even in France, only learned of this change years later. Some are still not sure about it.

The first day of April seems like a far better time to start a new year than the first day of January.

Actually, to me, the first day of September would be best. This is the beginning of the year in many cultures.

The people who were too ignorant or too stubborn to accept 1 January as the  new new year were labeled “fools” by everyone else and were mocked with fool errands, fool invitations and fool parties.

The butts of these pranks were called “poissons d’avril,” April fish.

A young fish is easily caught.

So, on the first of April, it was common to hook a paper fish on the back of someone as a joke.

  You think he noticed it ?

In the 18th century, this lovely custom reached England, and was introduced into the American colonies by the English and the French. Here is a visual and literal pun on “poison” (poison) and “fish” (poisson).

Below is a ticket to see the “washing of the lions,” something that never happened, so this is an April fools trick in earnest.

In Scotland they take “butts” of jokes literally, so April Fools is devoted to spoofs involving the buttocks and is called Tally Day.

The origins of the “Kick Me” sign can be blamed on the Scots.

In Rome, this holiday was called Festival of Hilaria and it celebrated the return of the god Attis on 25 March, which was also called Roman Laughing Day. Hilaria was also called Cybele.

Another Hilaria in South America: OK, children, tell this pupil Aldo what are the requirements for being a congresswoman? To be Peruvian by birth and older than 25.

The Huli Festival in India comes on 31 March and is a celebration of Spring. People play jokes on each other and smear colors on their friends.

Perhaps because the cold winter is ebbing and the beautiful spring is springing, in many cultures there are lighthearted feasts around this time. One of them is the Jewish Purim which fell on 7 March this year at sundown.

Queen Esther Palin… April Fools !

Japanese style:

Things that happened on April first:

On 1 April 527, Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Justinianus became the emperor of Byzantium (Constantinople, Istanbul), the eastern part of the Roman Empire.

In 1578 on April first, William Harvey discoverer of the circulation of the blood, was born.

The ruins of Pompei were found on 1 April 1748.

On April Fools Day 1778, so the story goes, a New Orleans businessman Oliver Pollock created the $ symbol.

Another possible and much more interesting and ancient origin of the dollar sign is a kind of map made by the Phoenicians of the Pillars of Hercules. This was the Greek name of the promontories on the entrance to the straits of Gibraltar. When the Lebanese traders sailed by these eminences on their way out into the giant Atlantic ocean, the map they made of their threading the pillars was like a dollar sign. The Phoenicians were nothing if not a commercial race, so they took this map to heart.

King Ferdinand was able to make Gibraltar part of the Spanish estates in 1492 and he adopted the symbol of the pillars of Hercules. Later, King Charles V used it in his coat of arms and the symbol in combination with two hemispheres was printed on coins made of the silver and gold that was brought from America by the counquistadores. These coins then spread to America and Europe and the symbol adopted as a currency symbol.

Edmond Rostand who wrote Cyrano de Bergerac was born 1 April 1868.

Paul Gauguin the painter left Marseilles for Tahiti on 1 April 1891.

One fool that should have been kept in jail: 1 April 1924 Hitler was sentenced to five years labor, but General Ludendorff, a coconspirator in the Munich Putsch was acquitted. Herr Schickelgruber used his jail time to write a book.

Louis Marx introduced the Yo-Yo on April Fools 1929, the same day that Luis Buñuel released Un Chien Andalou. By the way, “yoyo” spelled backwards is “oyoy.”

Some other YoYos.

On 1 April 1930, the film Der Blaue Engel (Blue Angel) premiered in America.

Jimmy Cliff first saw the beautiful light of Jamaica on 1 April 1948.

 

Hey, it looks as if he is playing my Hummingbird… and right handed too.

Big Brother and the Holding Company played a Delano Grape Strikers Benefit on 1 April 1966 with The Great Society and Quicksilver Messenger Service.

     Three Slicks.

1 April 1967, we played at The Avalon Ballroom with The Charlatans and Blue Cheer.

April Fools Day 1973, John and Yoko perpetrate the hoax that they are having dual sex change operations.

2003, April first, Big Brother and the Holding Company play at Musiktheater Rex, Lorsch, Germany.

The President playing Peoria.

Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.                   George Bernard Shaw.

I will see you again on 8 April when the first chapter of my history of Big Brother and the Holding Company will appear.  All the best to you.

Sam Andrew.

Big Brother and the Holding Company

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