Bless Its Pointed Little Head.......

[willie]

Fat angle for example, Kantner sings, Balin plays bass and Casady plays rhythm, all better...

Say wha?

I never knew that JA switched instruments like that before!

Where did you get this informatioinc?

I sent an e-mail to Jeff Tamarkin, he should know I thought. He did, rather embarassingly the reply pointed me to Tamarkins book 'Got a revolution', the same book I got the e-mail address from.
Anyhow, there it is page 182...........

Fat Angel, the Donovan-penned song that included the by-then oft-quoted 'fly Jefferson Airplane' reference, had been a staple of the Airplane's shows since they'd heard it two years earlier. Now transformed into a raga-like excursion through mysterious psychic lands, it was a highlight of Airplane shows and an unusual number in that Marty strapped on Jack's Guild Starfire II bass and Jack switched over to a Fender Telecaster to play rhythm guitar. Paul, who sang the song, spent most of it coaxing drone sounds out of his Rickenbacker 12-string while Jorma played an exotic lead. The live album was a perfect home for "Fat Angel,"and a seven-and-a-half-minute take was culled from the Fillmore East tapes.

[FirstBassman]

I was going to respond to some of the early questions about BIPLH but was away on vacation. But back now.

As far as Rock Me Baby goes, as Jeff also points out in his book, the "Traditional" authorship put on the record label is a litle, huh ...

Rock Me Baby is usally attributed to BB King or another blues guy who's name escapes me at the moment. If I had the book in front of me I could tell you.

[psychhead]

Cool reads thanx you all!!!

[The Other Side]

Well, Willie, if that's what Tamarkin says, it must be so. It would imply three guitars and a bass on that track, which means that henceforth I'll be listening to FAT ANGEL with an entirely new perspective.

I always thought that the chicken-scratch rhythm was Kaukonen, when not playing the "lead" fills. Hmmm. In any case, good job tracking down the straight scoop!

[willie]

There you go. Did you also know thats Paul Robeson singing falsetto on Bear Melt?

[Morninggloryseed]

Ok, what do we know about this fantastic Airplane offering? What don't we know? What would we like to know? etc.
For example, why is 'Clergy' so called? Why not Intro or Kong or....Armadillo? What's 3/5's all about? What do we know about Philip Whalen, Fred Neil or Owsley.
Anything interesting will do even you think it obvious. No competeing for who knows most.

Owsley was a black-market LSD and methamphetamine cook. I am also near 100% positive he is responsible for introducing "STP" (aka DOM, DesOxyMethyl, or 4-methyl-2,4-dimethoxyphenylisopropylamine) to the consumers. It was discovered by Dr. Alexander Shulgin, and Owsley probably read of it when Dr. Shulgin published a paper on the extremely potent substance.

The problem with his "STP" was the pills first appeared with a whopping dose of 20mg! The 'standard' dosage for DOM is 3-10mg. Another issue was the 'hippies' were used to LSD, which makes an appearance 15-20 minutes after dosing. Like many of the psychedelic phenethylamines (mescaline-related), DOM takes a few hours to develop. Peak effects may not be felt for 5 hours and it can last an exausting 18 hours or more...depending on dosage. Thus, so used to LSD, many took a second or third dose after an hour..when DOM would hardly have taken effect. This lead to many severe panic reactions, and numerous hospitalizations! Although no deaths ever occured...the psychedelic gained a bad reputation. It is however (at the right dosage) a rather extrodinary psychedelic

Later, Owsley became soundman for the Grateful Dead.

Anyway, I love BHPLH. The only thing lacking is sound quality...at least based on the newer Fillmore album. But it is a toss-up as to which album is better. Live at the Fillmore, or this one.

They both are fanastic examples of the live Airplane.

[lenceel]

owsley manufactured lsd - he was part of the merry pranksters scene with ken kesey and neal cassady and became involved with the grateful dead when they became the house band for the acid tests. here's a short bio from erowid which is a fine web site.

Erowid Character Vaults
Owsley Stanley
Bear
Jan 19, 1935 -
Summary
Owsley Stanley was the first underground chemist to mass produced high-quality LSD in the 1960s. Born Augustus Owsley Stanley III, but known to most simply as Owsley or Bear. He served 18 months in the Air Force during the 50s. In 1963 he began attended U.C. Berkeley where he tried his first psychoactive and decided to produce methedrine. Police eventually raided his lab in 1965 but found only precursors.

Owsley moved to L.A. to pursue the production of LSD. He used his methedrine proceeds to buy bulk lysergic acid and produced somewhere between 300,000 and 10 million doses of LSD. Once finished, he returned to the bay area where he supplied LSD to Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters for their acid tests. Through them he also met the Grateful Dead in 1966 and began supporting them both financially and as a sound man.

Owsley soon hooked up with Tim Scully and together they continued to produce LSD as well as STP (DOM). Owsley's best known acid was "White Lightning" (300,000 doses) made in 1966-1967. Another popular run included "Monterey Purple" (14,000 doses). Most of his LSD was produced in large batches and either pressed into tablets or encapsulated. He produced a few grams of LSD in Los Angeles in 1965, more than that in Point Richmond in 1966, and the rest in Denver in 1967. Owsley Stanley's total production has been estimated to be around 460 grams of LSD. In 1967, Owsley's lab was raided and he was eventually sentenced to 3 years in prison. The same year, he officially shortened his name to "Owsley Stanley".

Owsley Stanley went on to do more sound work for the Grateful Dead after he was released from prison. He now lives in Australia.