Esotouric

Singer-songwriter Ruthann Friedman is our special guest on Esotouric's June 28 Where the Action Was tour, sharing her memories of the Sunset Strip scene of the 1960s and gracing Amoeba's stage for a free post-tour concert. Click here to buy a ticket on the bus. We asked Ruthann to give us a preview of some of the people who come to mind when she thinks back on those heady days.

Van Dyke Parks: Mentor...boyfriend...fearless leader at the first Renaissance Fair where we (he, several of the Association members and I) walked arm in arm over the dusty roads and flowering hills selling our fresh picked "psychedelic" flowers...(everything there was being sold as "psychedelic")...and singing "Mister Tambourine Man" over and over again...some things have lodged in my memory and are always readily available to make me feel cheerful...this is one of those memories. I have always been thankful for the time I spent with him as he is such an enormous talent and brilliant musician, composer, lyricist and friend.

Doctor John (Mac Rebennack) : We were together for a short time. He was one of the absolutely nicest and most gentle people I remember, also one of the most talented and hard working... He used to leave cryptic notes on the windshield of my Volkswagen beetle...(I almost spelled it Beatle... talk about having a major effect on the English language...) He brought his friends up from New Orleans and put them all up in a hotel on Melrose Avenue. I was about 21 at the time and walking in to that room with all the blinds down scared me so much I backed away...

The Association: Lived with Russ Giguere and Jim Yester and Gary Alexander in an old house off Melrose near Vermont Avenue in L.A. Had many good times. We had visitors like Donovan and Tandyn Almer and lots of folks who later became famous (like they did)...It was a wild time...we were poor but happy. I once had a boyfriend sleep over who was gone in the morning but left a full sized portrait of himself on the ceiling...ooo was I in trouble.

The Jefferson Airplane: Dated Jorma Kaukonen for a very short while...Lived on the corner of Fell and Cole in the Haight with Marty Balin and Jack Cassidy and his girlfriend Ginger Jackson (who became one of my best friends for life)...At the time I thought I was going to replace Signe Anderson as their singer but...they found Grace Slick and that was that...No blame...she was much more ready than I to make them a big success...and she did...

David Crosby: Kind to let me stay in the downstairs apartment in his house in Beverly Glenn. It was there I wrote "Windy" and then got together with Jorma's brother Peter Kaukonen after which we set about forming our band Petrus.

Neil Young: Met him through Dickie Davis who was the first "manager" for the Buffalo Springfield. The band members from Canada were all staying in a cheap motel in Hollywood and Neil got sick so Dickie asked me if I could put him up...so I played earth mother and slept on the couch so he could recover on my bed...Saw him several times after that and I believe he would remember who I am without much trouble...

Steven Stills: I don't remember where we met but I do remember him wanting a girl to sing with him...I don't recall if it was as a duo or background...but I did not sing "black" enough for him...he was absolutely certain that he was going to be successful in the music business and he worked very hard to achieve what he did...(he once came to my house looking for dinner)...

Frank Zappa: Another musician who was certain of his eventual success. I met him when I was playing at a very late hoot at the Troubadour...He came up to me afterwards and told me I didn't "play like a girl"...at the time I was flattered but now I would probably say something rude in return...His band played at the Action a small club on Santa Monica Blvd. He moved his band "The Mother's" (the record company had not yet added "of invention" to their name to make it more palatable for middle America)...across the street from my place in on of those old fairyland complexes built in the twenties with peaked roofs and gingerbread leaded windows. That is another story for another time. We hung out some...

Ken Kesey: We spent a weekend in my place on Wonderland Avenue in Laurel Canyon along with my friend Ginger (who had been one of his Merry Pranksters)...ordered food up from Greenblatt's Deli down the hill and wasted three days cozying up to a tank of nitrous oxide...

Spent an evening cruising Filmore with Janis Joplin and PigPen looking for hot smokey links and sipping Southern Comfort...

Want to hear more of Ruthann's stories, or ask questions about your favorite sixties people? Get on the Where the Action Was bus at noon on June 28, then hear her free 3pm concert at Amoeba Music in Hollywood. Click here to buy a ticket on the bus.