tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post6779623616675103210..comments2024-03-16T06:44:23.745-07:00Comments on Grateful Dead Sources: February 6, 1966: Acid Test, Unitarian Church, Northridge CALight Into Asheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post-11668436779536198412017-06-30T16:04:43.938-07:002017-06-30T16:04:43.938-07:00Since it took place at night, it might not have in...Since it took place at night, it might not have interrupted regular services, and I wonder how much of the congregation participated. Sawyer was known to be an open-minded reverend, and the church held other unorthodox events as well. <br />From the book The Visionary State: <br />"Sawyer was caught up in Los Angeles's thriving arts and culture scene, and he wanted the Onion's 'church in the round' to open its doors to the innovative theatrical and musical performances that he believed fleshed out the life of the spirit. Under his exuberant guidance, the Onion hosted jazz services, absurdist plays, and poetry readings by the likes of Robert Duncan, the Bay Area's Gnostic modernist... <br />Sawyer had met Kesey at a Unitarian convention held the previous year at Asilomar, a lovely state park in Monterey. The theme of the conference was 'Shaking the Foundations,' and Sawyer thought Kesey, who at one point stomped and burned an American flag, shook them pretty well. (Other ministers agreed, and were not amused.) When the Pranksters [came to LA] in early 1966, Ken Babbs...called Sawyer up on the spur of the moment. Without informing his congregation, Sawyer agreed to host [the acid test]." <br />https://books.google.com/books?id=EQzj3rAWWtEC&pg=PA175&lpg=PA175&dq=reverend+paul+sawyer&source=bl&ots=fBeLBfRxjR&sig=-zECPnV0SYxElJq0HOAMnmfemzc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiCz7mt0ebUAhUBFWMKHVpJBR4Q6AEIVjAJ#v=onepage&q=reverend%20paul%20sawyer&f=false <br />(Unfortunately I couldn't read the next page, which might have more on the event.)<br /><br />According to one account, "It was not that strange of a request for the facility, because the church leaned heavily to the left, and was a gathering place for anti-war rallies and activist forums... Sawyer said it would be okay as long as LSD wasn’t passed out to the crowd. This request was ignored and acid was served as dessert following an opening meal’s main course, which was a Prankster concoction known as Pineapple Chili."<br /><br />Sawyer was committed to social-justice causes, and remained friends for years with Paul Krassner and Wavy Gravy.Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post-46995293031963147032017-06-30T15:32:39.376-07:002017-06-30T15:32:39.376-07:00There's no mention of the Dead here, but I'...There's no mention of the Dead here, but I've posted it since it's the longest contemporary (pre-Tom Wolfe) description of an Acid Test that I've seen.<br />The LA Free Press was an underground paper with surprisingly in-depth reporting. One striking thing here (and in the later LA Free Press article I've posted) is that there's no mention of LSD. Unless mass public drug use was considered not worthy of note, this must be intentional - Ralph Gleason had also left out LSD in his acid test report, so I'm guessing some journalists courteously decided not to bring it up in public. Those 'in the know' would know what an "Acid Test" was. (On the other hand, when Life magazine sent photographer Lawrence Schiller to cover the acid tests, all they cared about was the LSD use. Schiller recalled, "Everybody who went knew they were going to drop acid there or knew there was acid there.") <br />Granted, the Pranksters themselves may have kept coy. Ken Babbs later claimed, "We never passed out acid to anybody. It was strictly a personal thing. In those days it was legal. Where it came from, I don’t know. We didn’t have access to any of that kind of stuff. We’d get stuff once in a while and go turn on ourselves... It’s not like we didn’t know people were taking acid. We weren’t the supplier, though. The raison d’être of the Acid Tests was not to pass out acid and get people high; that was just something people did." Which sounds bogus to me; but it's possible the Pranksters kept up a layer of deniability while they were serving "electric Kool-Aid" to one and all. <br /><br />The LA Weekly reported in 2004: "Reverend Paul Sawyer offered to let the Pranksters stage their first L.A. Acid Test at his Unitarian Universalist Church in North Hills. His only requirement was that LSD not be served, since his congregation would be participating. 'I was kind of concerned that the thing would become a publicity ploy,' he says... Sawyer met Kesey in 1965 at San Francisco State University, where Kesey was giving a speech about Sometimes a Great Notion. Afterward, Kesey invited Sawyer, his wife and kids up to La Honda for a ride on the bus... Later that year, Sawyer and Kesey were invited to speak at Asilomar, a new-age conference center." <br />http://www.laweekly.com/news/the-day-glo-effect-2139302 <br /><br />Robbins, reporting on the first LA acid test, was firmly in favor of the event, and this is a very positive review. In Kesey's absence, no one else was well-known yet, but a few notables are named in the article, and Lee Quarnstrom is quoted on the acid test policy. Neal Cassady is called "a poet" rapping to the crowd. <br />It's mentioned that Kesey's group is making a film (they're not called the Pranksters here), and that the police are hassling them to little effect. "The Acid Test will be here about two weeks," it's said - the Pranksters were able to put on a few more LA acid tests before drifting away at the end of March in a cloud of paranoia. <br /><br />There's no indication of a single band playing; rather, the impression is that instruments were all over and anyone could play. There's references to "a particularly beautiful musical session," and "musicians tastefully [trying] musical possibilities until all were in the same place at once" - the impression is that all who came could join in and perform, which as Robbins emphasizes, was the point. (The SF Chronicle reported of the Fillmore acid test, "On stage there was a rock group; anybody could play with them. It was a kind of social jam session.")<br />I've noticed that nowhere is there any memory of the Dead playing at this acid test, and it's odd that Robbins doesn't mention a rock group. Possibly they did play, but it could be one of the tests where they didn't feel like playing.Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post-39948526460307513062017-06-30T15:04:12.213-07:002017-06-30T15:04:12.213-07:00I've always wondered what Paul Sawyer's re...I've always wondered what Paul Sawyer's regular congregation made of this event taking over their Sunday service. It must have tested their open-mindedness. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com