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As the dust starts to settle we can see the long and winding road
we have been travelling. But at least we have not been alone. With
an appreciative glance over our shoulders we gaze backwards down
the trail towards the saints and the sinners, the shamen and the
conmen, the movers and the shakers who have risked their all
to lead us further on down . . . .

is 1956 and grey is the colour that year. The grey rolling
clouds of World War Two have cleared to reveal the

In the future, this is the way history will be told. None of your treaties and trading agreements, no dates (only hot smoochy ones) — just straight down the line truth. But for the moment we are stuck with the traditional view of world history. Or are we? In this introduction to the the first two parts of Coffeehouse Culture’s major series on the development of the alternative culture of which we are all a part, we unravel the strands of our past and reknit them into a whole new cardigan of enlightenment.

grey incinerated soul of humanity. Grey, sad faces of long
dead heroes and grey shades of long forgotten victims still fill
the global mind. Depression is the mood of the year and
suicides run high. War is over but the grey metallic shells cut
through the morning mists in Korea and Malaya. A thin, chill

miasma creeps westwards from the
Soviet Union as it withdraws and
restores. Ike is in the White House and
Great Britain is governed by a crowd
of jolly good chaps under the ultimate
jolly good chap, Harold Macmillan. In
the Home of the Free, grey gabardine
is the fabric of choice and a shoulder
holster is the accoutrement no G-man
can be without.

were being conditioned by that very
same generation to be grateful that
so many had died ‘so that they could
be free.’ It was an innocent demand
for acknowledgement of a generat-
ion’s sacrifice, a call to respect and
honour the dead, but somehow it
created an expectation that could
only lead to trouble.
Freedom is a state of mind and there
are many ways to express it. One of
the easiest ways, however, is through
the use of substances that society
regards as anti-social. It was that
easy. Or was it? For in giving the
world a beat ethos, Kerouac seemed
to provide a catayst for revolutionar-
ies. It is interesting to note that for
many beatniks, using drugs was just a
harmless expression of a rebellion

If things seem bad it is because they
are. Freedom is on the decline and
repression is heading up the charts.
The war they fought for freedom has
left them raddled and cynical,
disillusioned and dissipated. Minds
are in retreat and thinking is banned.
Oh, shit, it is a Terry Gillam movie.
But, no, this is for real.
But, behind the long grey curtain of
time, a cast of thousands is waiting in
the wings. There, among the ravers,
ramblers, rebels and hell raisers,
ripples of energy are galvanising the
chorus into action. As the orchestra
strikes up and the curtain parts, we
realise that the stage is set for a
musical performance the like of
which the world has never before
seen.
Already pelvic anarchy is sweeping
the apple pie homelands of middle-
America but they ain’t seen nothin’
yet. In the intellectual badlands,

saw reflections of their own psyches.
In the artistic and intellectual comm-
unities based around San Francisco’s
North Beach, Los Angeles’ Venice
West and New York City’s Greenwich
Village, ‘On the Road’ redefined a
lifestyle that had previously been no
more than bohemian.
The Beat Generation was born as a
literary soundbite that became a soc-
ial phenomenon.
It was not so much the lifestyle, which
many were living anyway, but its
identification and definition that
produced the social reverberations we
are still feeling from Kerouac’s class-
ic. In drawing together the strands of
the unconventional, bohemian way of
life and redefining them as ‘beat’,
Jack Kerouac provided the platform
for the first truly alternative cultural
event. As the aliens and alienated
emerged from the woodwork and
assumed with a new confidence their

that had more sinister aspects. They
were, indeed, almost to man anarch-
ists and reactionaries, urban guerr-
illas and ‘freedom fighters’, with the
emphasis on ‘fighters’. In those far
off days when politics was still in the
process of revealing itself as a gross
and indecent misrepresentation of the
honest and the true, there seemed to
be something worth overthrowing.
And, of course, at the time of its
publication, ‘On the Road’ was,
indeed, a singularly anarchic treatise.
But this was the anarchy of individ-
ual freedom. It was certainly no
political manifesto.Yet, its political
implications, as we will see, were
profound and influential.
As influential as the book itself were
the real-life characters involved in its
creation and who appear in its pages.
They were the new missionaries
spreading the doctrine of hip. Among
Kerouac’s circle of intimates were
Allen Ginsberg, beat poet, emissary

of consciousness and pot
prophet; Neal Cassady, the
real Dean Moriarty, a speed
freak of prodigious habits
who careered through the
American sub-culture for
over 30 years; William
Burroughs, the original
mackintosh man with
delusions of insect infilt-
ration; poets Gregory
Corso and Lawrence
Ferlinghetti. And many
‘bit’ players who had

where the crazy people come from,
anarchy of a significantly higher
order is about to break out.

....................................° ° ° ° ° °
If you want to trace the roots of this
culture back into the veils of time, it
is possible to do so. After all the
history of consciousness goes back
all the way. But, in truth, it is not
necessary to look too far into the past
to see where we came from and how
we got here. Unlike most cultures,
the genesis of ours can be pinned to
just one event, just one point in time,
from which all other events spin out
in ever increasing intricacy. It is,
however, a pivotal point rather than a
beginning.
The publication, in 1957, of Jack
Kerouac’s seminal novel of sex,
drugs, sore feet and modern jazz,
‘On the Road’ was a low-key literary
event by any standards. The undis-
ciplined tale of the travels of a group
of young hipsters pursuing love, life
and reefer across America received
few accolades. Experimental writing?
You know how it is. Nobody’s going
to read it but someone has to write it,
anyway.

However, ‘On the Road’ was the
exception. For many did read it.
Within the stream of consciousness
ramblings of its hero, Dean Moriarty
(stunningly played in real life by Neal
Cassady), America’s disenfranchised

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....`.

mantles of hipness, their immediate
associations were with the other sub-
cultures that existed outside of con-
ventionality. It was with black, sub-
criminal, sexual deviant and other
‘excluded’ cultures that the Beats
shared a natural affinity. In aspiring
to hipness, the Beats aped the
vocabulary of the mainly black jazz
musicians who inspired them, both
musically and in their use of drugs.

And here, at
last, we come
to the pivotal
factor that
created the
Beat Gener-
ation and all
that followed
— drugs.
Although the
term ’beat’
had originally
referred to the
hard travelling
that to many epitomised the ‘free-
doms’ that defined the lifestyle, the
term quickly took on a new and
distinctly drug-related meaning
expressing the ‘beatific’ level of
spirituality associated with height-
ened awareness. Few, how-
ever, realised that. For them it
defined an attitude, a philosophy. a
social position in opposition to
society’s main thrust. And, in their
droves, the new adherents to
Kerouac’s vision and terminology,
lined up behind something that
seemed like a social phenomenon.
There were a lot of people who
did not want to emulate their
heroes in the aimless wandering
lifestyle they pursued. They were
not refugees from the 1930s that
had spawned Woody Guthrie and
his accolades to unemployment,
poverty and railway trains. The
older ones had seen the devastating
effects of war created by egomanic
despots intent upon world dominat-
ion. They had seen a half a generat-
ion perish on the sands of Jiwajima
and in the trenches of Europe and
they knew they did not want it again.
And all the while the youngsters
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.....

not yet disgraced themselves enough to make it to the centre of the stage. (In 1961, a certain Timothy Leary has a ‘walk-on’ in the Kerouac story with a handful of psychedelics.)
Like a secret cabal machinating
behind the throne of straight Amer-
ica, Kerouac’s coterie of unconscious
conspirators took the fabric of the
society they so despised and recut it
into a suit that fitted a whole lot
better.Through years of cultural
expansion they provided a focal point
for more vocal and more vigorous
protagonists to the system as they
networked outwards from their orig-
inal narrow literary base. And on the
way they took all the major figures
and movements of the last few
decades.
Although this is, essentially, a tale
set in the second half of the 20th
century, it does not start there. In the
science lab of sociological change,
the events we shall be describing
constituted an explosive reaction
created by simple elements combined
in the right proportion. It was an
explosion of such magnitude that it
not only made the test tubes rattle but
reached to the very foundations of
society. It produced a social phenom-
enon like few others. But such events
do not happen without some pretty
powerful precipitants. It is no mere
coincidence that Kerouac’s text
inspired, galvanised and mobilised a
whole generation. The conditions
were right. And they were conditions
that had been established decades
before.
In the first parts of this series we
look at the factors which created the
backdrop against which our passion
play is to be acted. It is a mono-
chromatic story we have to tell, in
shades of grey, with the sound of a
lonely harmonica playing in the
distance. But there will come a point
-- trust us -- when, like in the Wizard
of Oz, we will switch into glorious
technicolor. And will follow the
yellow brick road little realising what
it is or where it leads.
And all along we’ll be hitching down
Freedom Highway.

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.......

.The Cast List

Lile every major epic, this one has a cast of thousands.
And that is just the featured players. With bit players running
into the hundreds of thousands and the extras into millions,
this is a production like few others. It is amazing what one
can do with no budget but lots of imagination.
A CAST OF THOUSANDS

The famous and the infamous, the saints and the sinners, the good, the bad and the ugly. Here
are just some of the people you will be meeting further on up the road

Charles Baudalaire

Leading French gunrunner, symbolist
poet and member of the Club des
Hashishins.

Peter Stafford

Psychedelic author. His authorative
masterwork, The Psycedelics Encylo-
peadia is invaluable.

John Lennon

All we are saying is give peace a
chance.

The CIA

Where would we be without them.
They certainly have all the best drugs.

Lyndon Johnson

American President and chief coon
caytcher.

Hermann Hesse

Visionary author and manic depress-
ive. More suicides than Sweden.

Jerry Garcia

Formerly, leader of the Grateful
Dead. Now just dead.

Robert Kennedy

JFK's little brother and, as Attorney
general, the real power behind reform.

Alan Watts

Beat icon, Zen Master.

Richard Alpert

Timmo's mate. A Harvard hedonist.

Michael Hollingshead

The man with the mayonnaise jar.

Tom Wolfe

Chronicler of the Kesey Kult.

Leadbelly

First of the hobo musicians. One of
the most influential negroes ever.

Humphrey Osmond

Pioneering psychologist. Invented
the term 'psychedelic.' Mate of Huxley.

Martin Luther King

Another pretty influential negro.

Abbie Hoffman

Political activiist and Yippie.

Emile Zola

French author. Another member of
the Club des Hashishins.

Jim Morrison

Heir to the French symbolist poets.
Singer with the Doors.

William James

The religious experiences pick'n'
mix man.

Robert Crumb

Cartoonist and commentator. Not the
creator of the Fabulous Furry Freaks.

ALbert Hoffman

St. Albert of Sandoz. The man who
really did turn on the world.

Robert Heinlein

A stranger in a strange land. Sci-Fi
author of influence.

Neil Cassady

It isn't Captain Bloodknock, so it
must be Moriarty. Dean Moriarty.

Woody Guthrie

Invented the term 'Hard Travellin'
and then wrote a song about it.

John F. Kennedy

The man who screwed Monroe and
then got screwed by the CIA.

Aldous Huxley

First man to cross the Abyss & write
about it. Patron Saint of Myoptics.

Gary Snyder

Proto-type beat poet and Zen Master.

Paul McCartney

Star of the cartoon, Yellow Submarine.

Gregory Corso

Proto-type beat poet.

Neil Armstrong

A giant leap for mankind. Ooppps.

Timothy Leary

Who?

Hunter S. Thompson

Fear & loathing. Friend of the Angels.

Autaud Rimbaud

Poet and buddy of Baudalaire and
Zola. Hashish eater.

Allan Ginsberg

Poet, pot activist, mystic, visionary
and space cadet. Friend of Kerouac.

Ron L Hubbard

Meglomanic, delusional space cadet.
Inventor of Scientology.

Alexander Dumas

The man who wrote The Count of
Monte Cristo. A hashish eater.

Cisco Houston

The man in the middle in pictures of
Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly.

Jimi Hendrix

Revolutionary guitarist and 60's icon.
responsible for the term 'Foxy Lady.'

Ken Kesey

Author of 'One Flew Over the
Cuckoos Nest.' Chief Prankster.

David Soloman

Pioneering dope activist. Co-author of
The Marijuana Papers. Acid casualty.

Jan Wenner

'Hi, I'm the Publisher of Rolling Stone'.

P. D. Ouspenski

East European mystic and odd person.

Jack Kerouac

Usually to be found lying in the road
rather than walking down it.

George Harrison

If only the Norwegian would maybe
the guitar would stop sobbing . . . .

Michael Lang

One of the organisers of Woodstock.

Ralph Metzner

Leading SF doper and activist.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Poet and publisher. Owner of SF's
City Lights Bookshop.

Anaïs Nin

Erotic authoress and pioneering acid
user with an unpronouncable name.

Lou Adler

Record producer/manager and org-
aniser of the Monterey Festival.

William Burroughs

The original macintosh man. Author,
smack addict, weird person.

Keith Richards

The man who taught the world the
true meaning of tastefully wasted.

Pablo Estobar

Favourite advertising jingle: 'Things
go better with coke.'

Cary Grant

Star of stage, screen and therapy
couch. Acid pioneer.

Fiorello LaGuardia

Flying into JFK? It used to be
LaGuardia until his drugs report.

Abraham Lincoln

The President of the USA with the
tallest hat.

Bill Graham

Concert promotor. The man who put
SF music on the map.

Jane Fonda

Henry Fonda's daughter. Anti-war
protester and anarchist.

Marshall Macluhan

Visionary and mystic. Inventor of the
geodesic dome.

Sir Humphrey Davy

The man who had the last laugh.
He discovered nitrous oxide.

Simon Vinkenoog

Dutch poet and intellectual. Co-author
of The Marijuana Papers.

Charles Manson
Squeaky Fromme

Shari Lewis and Lambchop it ain't.
But it is freaky for Squeaky.

Sonny Terry
Brownie McGee

The statuatory black guys in photos
of the Guthrie clan.

Joe MacDonald

Gi' me a 'J,' gi'me an 'O,' gi'me an
'E.' Oh, never mind.

Yoko Ono

Oh no, not Yoko. But, yes, it is Yoko
doing what she does best.

Pete Seeger

Freedom Fighter, communist, folk-
singer and anarchist.

Richard Nixon

The man who taught us the truth
about politics and politicians.

Augustus Stanley
...........................Owsley III

Underground chemist extraordinaire.
The sort of guy we all need to know.

Ed Rosenthal
Mel Franks

The guys who helped make grass
what it is today.

Malcome X

The man who kidnapped Timothy
Leary and tried to sell him to the CIA.

Tallulah Bankhead

Early movie star who showed the rich
what to spend their money on.

Honoré Balzac

French author. Ever heard the
phrase:'What a load of Balzac?'

Ulysses S. Grant

He wished he was in Dixie. But
instead he became US President.

John Allegro

The man who gave magic mush-
rooms to Jesus.

Alexander Shulgin

For 'e's a jolly good fellow. 'Cause he
gave us Ecstasy.

Frank Zappa

Influential commentator and musician.

Andy Warhol

Extremely weird.

John Hopkins (Hoppy)

Founder of England's International
Times and leading trendsetter.

Lenny Bruce

Comedian. Outrageous but only
because he was sooooo stoned.

Peter Fonda

Son of Henry Fonda; brother of Jane.
Star of Easy Rider. Marijuana activist.

Carlos Castenada

Don Juan, Two, Three and Four.
Didn't those books keep coming?

Harry J. Anslinger

The man we have to thank for the
criminalisation of cannabis.

G Gordon Liddy

Famous as the man who went down
for Watergate, he also busted Leary.

Richard Evans Schultes

Botanist. One those kind people who
helped us avoid the poisons.

Barry Miles

Leading London underground figure.
Manager of the Indica Bookshop.

Gertrude Stein

German intellectual and brownie eater.

Eugene MacCarthy

Damn the 5th Amendment.

Fitz Hugh Ludlow

Proto-type drug researcher and all
round party guy.

Caroline Coon

Founder of Release, the UK drug
support charity, and a nice lady.

John Dunbar

Husband of Marianne (Un)Faithful
and owner of the Indica gallery.

Steve Abrams

UK cannabis activist. Put the famed
leagalise dope ad into The Times.

Booker T. Washington

Influential negro intellectual and
commentator.

Max Yasgur

Owner of the farm where the Wood-
stock Festival was held.

John Sinclair

Poet and writer. Manager of the
MC5. Marijuana martyr.

Mick Jagger

Jumping Jack Flash, it's the man with
child bearing lips.

Hugh Romney

Better known as Wavy Gravy.

Marylin Monroe

OK to JFK & most of the Kennedys.

Nick Sand

Underground chemsist and member
of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love.

Allen Cohen

Haight Ashbury activist. Founding
hippy. Publisher of the SF Oracle.

Grace Slick

Lead singer with Jefferson Airplane
and a leadingHaight Ashbury figure.

Peter Asher

Half of singing duo Peter & Gordon.
Confident of the Beatles.

Michael X

London-based criminal and ararchic
opportunist.

Emmett Grogan

Founder of the Diggers and leading
Haight Ashbury figure .

Tariq Ali

Anarchic communist protester in UK.

Richard Neville

Australian publisher of Oz magazine.

Michael Wadleigh

Another Woodstock organiser.

Alexis Koerner

Professional dope smoker & guitarist.

Napoleon

Short of stature, tall of ambition.

Christopher Isherwood

English writer and mystic.

Jim Haynes

Founder of the London Arts Lab and
leading mover and shaker.

Howard Marks

On your marks, Go. First one home
with a suitcase of hash gets the prize.

Karl Marx

The man who helped us realise that
self-interest rules.

Yogananda

One of the first teachers from India to
cross the bridge. Many followed.

Michael English

Influential UK designer and hippy.

Marianne Faithful

Not quite what the nuns expected.

Robert Mitchum

Hollywood star. Busted for dope
when dope didn't even exist.

Suzy Creamcheese

Crackers? But only a little. Girlfriend
of Hoppy.Made famous by Zappa.

Alice B. Toklas

Friend of Gertrude Stein. Famed for
her brownies.

Terrence McKenna

Explorer of Inner Space. Champion
of the 90s psychedelic explosion.

John Griggs

Founding member of the Brotherhood
of Eternal Love.

Jane Ormsby Gore

Daughter of the British Ambassador
to the US, during JFK's term.

Rosemary Leary

Mr Leary's most enduring partner.

Terry Southern

Hunter S. Thompson goes Dixie.

Peter Orlofsky

Mr Ginsberg's most enduring partner.

Edie Sedgewick

Empty icon of Warhol's Factory.

Dennis Hopper

Star of Easy Rider with Peter Fonda.
Also fonda dope.

Johnny Rotten

Punk Pioneer. Member of the Sex
Pistols.

Ken Babbs

Very Merry Prankster.

Janis Joplin

Spotty girl makes good.

Sonny Barger

The first angel from Hell.

Art Kleps

The one and only Chief Boo Hoo.

Paul Krassner

Publisher of The New Realist.

Chet Helms

Arch hippy and Family Dog dude.

Stewart Brand

Visonary and Publisher of the Whole
Earth Catalogue.

Ashley Brilliant

Early Haight Ashbury hippy and
commentator. Nice name and it's real.

Sid Vicious

The second notable gun in the Sex
Pistols holster.

Bertram Russell

Peace protester, philosopher, intell-
ectual and libertine.

Jerry Rubin

Political activist and Yippie.

Marlon Brando

Still too slim to be the Godfather.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

The man who taught us how to get
high without drugs.

James Dean

Rebel without a cause but with a very,
very fast car.

Bill Hitchcock

Leary's patron. The Millbrook heir.

Brian Jones

Not a great swimmer.

R. D. Laing

Britsh psychedelic psycho(ologist.)

David Bailey

Photographer and trendsetter.

Errol Flynn

The biggest . . er . . dilettante in town.

Dick Gregory

The black Lenny Bruce.

Jack Moore

Light show lion and Zappa freak.

Robert Fraser

London gallery owner and drug user.

Mick Farren

A social deviant.

Germaine Greer

The sexy lady who invented women.

Harry Fainlight

Mac-wearing London poet.

Chris Jagger

His granny took a trip.

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TOP OF PAGE

MUSIC THROUGHOUT THIS HISTORY WILL BE PROVIDED BY:
The Doors The Band Jefferson Airplane The Grateful Dead The Animals Joan Baez Bob Dylan The Rolling Stones Dion & the Belmonts Jimi Hendrix Jefferson Airplane Cream The Mamas & the Papas Quicksilver Messenger Service Steppenwolf The Steve Miller Band The Beach Boys Paul Butterfield Elvis Presley Jerry Lee Lewis The Beatles Pink Floyd Mezz Mezzrow Donovan	The Who Buffalo Springfield Dizzy Gillespie Procol Harem The Mothers of Invention Country Joe & the Fish Pete Seeger Louis Armstrong Big Brother & the Holding Co. Lovin’ Spoonful MC5 Muddy Waters Blues Incorporated Bruse Springsteen The Social Deviants Miles Davis Thelonius Monk Cab Calloway Neil Young Jimmy Smith Crosby, Stills & Nash Joni Mitchell The Yardbirds John Coltrane	Santana Sly & the Family Stone Patti Smith The Cyril Davis Blues Band Charlie Parker The Soft Machine The Incredible String Band Herman’s Hermits The Crazy World of Arthur Brown The Dave Clarke Five The Kinks The Sex Pistols U2 John Lee Hooker Eric Clapton The Third Ear Band Leonard Cohen Velvet Underground The Fugs The Byrds Scott McKenzie Captain Beefheart Moby Grape Vanilla Fudge
and many, many more. TOP OF PAGE

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