Anne Murphy Maxwell and Dialectical Immaterialism

[Tremonius]

On the way to the racetrack with Neal and Anne in 1964, John Bryan reports
that Anne Murphy would scream back at the tune on the stereo featuring the
chorus "You're no good, you're no good, baby, you just ain't no good...":
"Yes, I am! Yes, I am!"

This isn't as clear in the age of the double negative, which is used by the
lower classes (`You ain't no good') and by the upper (`The bush league's
outrageous claim that Al Quida was behind the Canadian drug industry import
plot was a not unexpected defense of his pharmaceutical cash cow ...') so
it doesn't refute the claim. It says to some, "Yes, I'm no good.'

Then we have to define `good.'

Thanks to John Sands for copies of the interviews and excerpts by and about
Anne Murphy Maxwell.

[john sands]

you're welcome Tremonius. Of course, like I told u, a special thanks
to Dave Moore for his continual generosity. I wonder what ever
happened to JB, the girl Neal was with before his ill fated trip, or
am I going completely off the noodle for asking?

Post by Tremonius
On the way to the racetrack with Neal and Anne in 1964, John Bryan reports
that Anne Murphy would scream back at the tune on the stereo featuring the
"Yes, I am! Yes, I am!"
This isn't as clear in the age of the double negative, which is used by the
lower classes (`You ain't no good') and by the upper (`The bush league's
outrageous claim that Al Quida was behind the Canadian drug industry import
plot was a not unexpected defense of his pharmaceutical cash cow ...') so
it doesn't refute the claim. It says to some, "Yes, I'm no good.'
Then we have to define `good.'
Thanks to John Sands for copies of the interviews and excerpts by and about
Anne Murphy Maxwell.

[Tremonius]

John Sands asks: "I wonder what ever happened to JB, the girl Neal was with
before his ill fated trip, or am I going completely off the noodle for
asking?"

Someone tell me if this is a well-known part of the legend - I haven't read
about it since 1972, specifically the article in Rolling Stone with Carolyn
as the source which ran just before I came to Monte Sereno, in September.

Carolyn thought the lady was nuts, and the sense of it was pretty manifest
in the article. Although I'm not really sure now how much of the story was
in RS and how much Carolyn told me.

Carolyn had been contacted by the lady (JB? Was she the one with him in San
Miguel?) with the information that Neal had been cremated and she was
bringing his ashes. The assignation was a parking lot somewhere I don't
remember, and a friend took Carolyn to the site. They drove in, past a
hippy chick sitting passively on the curb by the entrance, went looking all
around the lot, then returned to the one on the curb, who rose and walked
over, said, "I knew you'd come back."

She had the urn, and handed it over. After the article ran, Carolyn
received a note from this lady. It read, in part, "Don't forget, Carolyn,
you are liable."

[Tremonius]

In the chapter called Cloud in Electric Koolaid Acid Test, the Pranksters
attend a Beatles concert at the Cow Palace. Neal Cassady is not there. The
boys, especially Babs and Kesey, freak out, as we used to say. They were
having a bad trip, man. Too much noise. Mountain Girl was disgusted. I
have to be here with old men who've never been to a rock concert before.
They all split early.

In outtakes from Anne Murphy Maxwell's autobiog Affair With A Viper, she
says she was there. She describes it very sketchily, and the only details
she provides are the same as in Electric Koolaid. There is no mention of
her, as far as I know, in that book, and certainly not that night at the Cow
Palace.

Do you believe she was there? Or is this another case of Tier barging, the
jumping of orbits like electrons in recall, in this case a retro implant
into historic events. Like the thousands of folks who claimed to be at the
Kennedy assassination.

[john sands]

yeah, she was probably there. Was probably one of those times that
Neal left for one of his cross country trips or something like that.
Did u notice that she mentions Peter Angel and Leon Tabori in the
book? Still would love to see this published but it is pretty risque,
with all the sex talk. Probably would need a publisher similer to the
one that published GOING DOWN WITH JANIS in the 70's. Remember that?
Do any publishers like that still exist??

Post by Tremonius
In the chapter called Cloud in Electric Koolaid Acid Test, the Pranksters
attend a Beatles concert at the Cow Palace. Neal Cassady is not there. The
boys, especially Babs and Kesey, freak out, as we used to say. They were
having a bad trip, man. Too much noise. Mountain Girl was disgusted. I
have to be here with old men who've never been to a rock concert before.
They all split early.
In outtakes from Anne Murphy Maxwell's autobiog Affair With A Viper, she
says she was there. She describes it very sketchily, and the only details
she provides are the same as in Electric Koolaid. There is no mention of
her, as far as I know, in that book, and certainly not that night at the Cow
Palace.
Do you believe she was there? Or is this another case of Tier barging, the
jumping of orbits like electrons in recall, in this case a retro implant
into historic events. Like the thousands of folks who claimed to be at the
Kennedy assassination.

[Tremonius]

Now, I'm not too proud to admit I read Going Down With Janus years ago. I'd
like to say it was all there was available in my jail cell, but I picked it
when I might've gone to Jane Austen. It began with a note sure to inspire
the sort of audience they were seeking.

`She could have had anyone in the world,' says the author. `But all she
wanted was me.'

This is the sort of self-serving tripe tier-jumpers are known for. I
remember W C Fields and Me in which one of the wives of the comedian
attempted to insert herself into front row center in that star cluster. (I
also remember a pleasant argument I had with Carolyn Cassady over that book.
I saw it on the shelves at City Lights, and sneered at how the marginal
witnesses always attempted to seize the retro spotlight.

Carolyn: Isn't that what I'm doing?
Me: No, no, you were a part of it!)

The book on Janis had a scene which represents for me just exactly what I'm
hinting at with the Murphy Maxwell excerpts. The girlfriend of the author
is presented with a new motorcycle on her birthday, and she impulsively
fires it up and roars outside her shop and begins cutting doughnuts in the
pavement out on the street. An intersection, in fact. In fact, the most
famous intersection in America in the sixties: Haight and Ashbury.

I'm suggesting there is a slight possibility that the tale is told with the
enhancement of history in mind. There is great pressure to romance oneself
into the central nexus of world events. What is the sense of cutting
choggies on a cycle unless it's at the epicenter of the countercultural
revolution?

Here's an actual conversation. The time is September of 1972. The place is
Anne Murphy Maxwell's Kearney Street apartment. I am fresh from the Texas
plains. In the night, I tell Carolyn and Anne about the event I had read of
sometime before in which Neal Cassady comes across Lenny Bruce in North
Beach.

"I think I was with him," says Anne.

Electric Kool Aid Acid Test tells of the noise at the Cow Palace, and the
teenyboppers fainting and being passed out to the exits by the crowd, and
the Pranksters leaving early. Anne Murphy Maxwell reports those features.
And nothing else.

John Sands, is anybody reading this but you and me?

[john sands]

yes, it seems that u and I are the only two, but keep writing and I
will keep reading. Notice that I posted those 3 sites relating to Neal
and no one seems interested? What happened to all the old Neal talk?
Funny, Anne saying "I think I was there". Come on Anne, we need more
specifics than that. I have wondered for a long time, how was Neal's
neeting (if any) with Janis? It seems that they would have met, since
there is a lot of stuff written abt the Pranksters being at shows that
featured Big Brother, but nothing I could find of an actual meeting
between Pearl and Sir Speeed Limit. I often wonder if Neal balled her,
or maybe (wow) a 3 way w/Peggy Casserta. I have wondered abt this for
a long time and I'm not just trying to be outrageous!!!!!

Thanks for listening Tremonius...................

Post by Tremonius
Now, I'm not too proud to admit I read Going Down With Janus years ago. I'd
like to say it was all there was available in my jail cell, but I picked it
when I might've gone to Jane Austen. It began with a note sure to inspire
the sort of audience they were seeking.
`She could have had anyone in the world,' says the author. `But all she
wanted was me.'
This is the sort of self-serving tripe tier-jumpers are known for. I
remember W C Fields and Me in which one of the wives of the comedian
attempted to insert herself into front row center in that star cluster. (I
also remember a pleasant argument I had with Carolyn Cassady over that book.
I saw it on the shelves at City Lights, and sneered at how the marginal
witnesses always attempted to seize the retro spotlight.
Carolyn: Isn't that what I'm doing?
Me: No, no, you were a part of it!)
The book on Janis had a scene which represents for me just exactly what I'm
hinting at with the Murphy Maxwell excerpts. The girlfriend of the author
is presented with a new motorcycle on her birthday, and she impulsively
fires it up and roars outside her shop and begins cutting doughnuts in the
pavement out on the street. An intersection, in fact. In fact, the most
famous intersection in America in the sixties: Haight and Ashbury.
I'm suggesting there is a slight possibility that the tale is told with the
enhancement of history in mind. There is great pressure to romance oneself
into the central nexus of world events. What is the sense of cutting
choggies on a cycle unless it's at the epicenter of the countercultural
revolution?
Here's an actual conversation. The time is September of 1972. The place is
Anne Murphy Maxwell's Kearney Street apartment. I am fresh from the Texas
plains. In the night, I tell Carolyn and Anne about the event I had read of
sometime before in which Neal Cassady comes across Lenny Bruce in North
Beach.
"I think I was with him," says Anne.
Electric Kool Aid Acid Test tells of the noise at the Cow Palace, and the
teenyboppers fainting and being passed out to the exits by the crowd, and
the Pranksters leaving early. Anne Murphy Maxwell reports those features.
And nothing else.
John Sands, is anybody reading this but you and me?

[Tremonius]

Ah, John, you stir up another memory from the old foggy banks...

There is a Grateful Dead live performance album which features a voice
screaming at the intro of the first tune. I never heard it; I was told this
by Anne Murphy Maxwell, who said it was Neal's voice. She was not positive
of that. I guess because of all the drugs, she wasn't sure of a lot that
happened back then.

Like...the Angel Incident. I've mentioned this before. Neal was very fast
on his feet, but not a scuffler. He double parks in front of City Lights to
go inside for a minute. Probably for another "loan." While he is inside,
one of the Hell's Angels arrives and begins hitting on Anne Murphy Maxwell,
who is waiting in the parked vehicle. Neal exits City Lights, and is
incensed that his lady is being wooed.

He slams the guy, then takes off running, 'round and 'round the vehicle,
with the Angel chasing him. When the Angel tires, Neal jumps in and roars
off.

Do you believe this? I've seen no confirmation of it from any source, and
Anne doesn't mention it in the excerpts you forwarded. The first and only
time I heard of it was the night in September 1972 when Carolyn and I
visited her Kearney Street apartment in the City.

Memory drifts, coalesces, reforms like clouds...

[john sands]

wow, another cool story. I wonder if this angel is Gypsy, who became
Neal's buddy later on????

Post by Tremonius
Ah, John, you stir up another memory from the old foggy banks...
There is a Grateful Dead live performance album which features a voice
screaming at the intro of the first tune. I never heard it; I was told this
by Anne Murphy Maxwell, who said it was Neal's voice. She was not positive
of that. I guess because of all the drugs, she wasn't sure of a lot that
happened back then.
Like...the Angel Incident. I've mentioned this before. Neal was very fast
on his feet, but not a scuffler. He double parks in front of City Lights to
go inside for a minute. Probably for another "loan." While he is inside,
one of the Hell's Angels arrives and begins hitting on Anne Murphy Maxwell,
who is waiting in the parked vehicle. Neal exits City Lights, and is
incensed that his lady is being wooed.
He slams the guy, then takes off running, 'round and 'round the vehicle,
with the Angel chasing him. When the Angel tires, Neal jumps in and roars
off.
Do you believe this? I've seen no confirmation of it from any source, and
Anne doesn't mention it in the excerpts you forwarded. The first and only
time I heard of it was the night in September 1972 when Carolyn and I
visited her Kearney Street apartment in the City.
Memory drifts, coalesces, reforms like clouds...