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(More customer reviews)> "The Bay area Vortex," is what some insiders called the Haight-Ashbury district during the hippy revolution. The area was a whirlpool that attracted psychedelic drugs and druggies, hippies, politicos, and soon-to-be famous bands, among other American oddities.
Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and the Hell's Angels could be found at dance-hall scenes lit by psychedelic light shows. It was a two-year span, from 1964 to 1966, of acid, Timothy Leary and the Vietnam War. Song lyrics held secret and not so secret messages of drugs and protest. "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times," as Dickens would say.
The Haight-Ashbury: A History starts out a little slow, especially if you are not familiar with that time and place in history. Perry was an insider of the happenings during the, "summer of love," as Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead calls the two-year span, and Perry knows vernacular of the time and place which is much like a foreign language to those of us who are uninformed. He knows the names, businesses, bands, people and the happenings. If all this is news to you, it's a little hard to trudge through this information and make sense of it.
But, if you remember the period, or are curious about the drug culture of the 60s, or if the history of rock bands intrigues you, this is definitely a book for you. There is a 71-page section where Perry writes a journal of the events that happened April through October of 1967. Local police were getting tough on drugs; residents of the Haight were tiring of tour busses full of people invading their space. The darker side of the Haight was emerging. I found this one section to be an interesting essay on society in general.
Toward the book's end, Perry ties the Haight-Ashbury events with what was happening and what had happened around the world and understanding of the "Bay area Vortex," becomes clearer. I went back and reread the opening chapters that seemed confusing at first, but now they made sense. Despite the, " . . .bitterest disappointments and most violent disruption, . . ." noted, Perry ends the book with an uplifting message and uses the history of Haight-Ashbury as an example of a Phoenix that arises from the ashes. An intriguing concept.
Sixteen pages of black and white photographs will bring memories of the events and people to the minds of those who saw this time. For those who are just learning about the era the photographs make the message clearer. You can see a young Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead. Timothy Leary shows a faint smile for the photographer and George Harrison is surrounded by admirers on Hippie Hill, August 7, 1967. Samples of the clothes, the art and the hair abound.
Educated at Princeton University and the University of California, Berkeley, Perry followed the psychedelic subculture from 1965 until 1968, when he applied for a job at the Rolling Stone Magazine. Later, he became interested in the history of Middle Eastern food and is now an internationally known authority on this subject.
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2005 marks the 40th anniversary of San Franciscos Haight-Ashbury district. The psychedelic community was probably the most widely written-about phenomenon of the 1960s apart from the Vietnam War. As unexpected as it was inevitable, the whole eventfrom public manifestation to gaudy collapsehappened in less than two years. In this acclaimed, definitive work, Charles Perry examines the history, the drama, and the energy of counter-cultures defining moment. First published by Rolling Stone Press in 1984 and now re-releasedwith a new introduction by the Grateful Deads Bob Weirto time with Haight-Ashburys 40th anniversary, this highly acclaimed work is a must-have for anyone interested in the original sex, drugs, and rock n roll lifestyle.
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