Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ok basically in '59, Ken Kesey (1935-2001), who graduated from Stanford University in creative writing, volunteered to take part in a government drug research program at Menlo Park Veterans Hospital that tested a variety of psychoactive drugs such as LSD, which was legal at the time, psilocybin, mescaline, and amphetamine IT-290. After several weeks, Kesey ingested these hallucinogens and wrote of his drug-induced experiences for government researchers. It was this experience that fundamentally altered Kesey, personally and professionally. From this experience, Kesey wrote his most celebrated novel, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, and began his own experimentations with psychedelic drugs. His goal was to break through conformist thought and ultimately forge a reconfiguration of American society. In the early '60s, Neal Cassady showed up to meet the famous author and became the most celebrated member of Kesey's group, the Merry Pranksters. Much of the hippie aesthetic that would dawn on the San Francisco scene in the late sixties can be traced back to the Merry Pranksters who openly used psychoactive drugs, wore outrageous attire, performed bizarre acts of street theater, and engaged in peaceful confrontation with not only the laws of conformity, but with the mores of conventionality. Kesey and his Merry Pranksters became notorious for their "Acid Tests" and use of LSD and other drugs. By '66, when Kesey had been apprehended as a fugitive from the law, he denounced the curative powers of LSD as temporary and delusional, but nothing he said could stop the psychedelic era that was about to explode in San Francisco.

That is pretty much the story of Ken Kesey...and the Merry Pranksters. He eventually moved from San Francisco upon release from jail to a farm in Pleasant Hill, Oregon and raised his family there. I suggest you all read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, I did two years ago, I loved it and also as I have said before, check out Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test which showcases Kesey and the Pranksters. Both are great reads especially if you are interested in learning more about the hippie movement.

And also...with the commercial success of his first novel in '62, Kesey moved to La Honda, in the mountains outside of San Francisco. He frequently entertained friends with parties he called "Acid Tests" involving music (such as Kesey's favorite band, The Warlocks, later known as the Grateful Dead...yay!), black lights, fluorescent paint, strobes, and other "psychedelic" effects, and of course LSD. So pretty much Kesey usually had The GD blasting with mega amps during these acid tests.

And I always give credit where it is deserved and right now my dad and his friend Crazy Tom (I kid you not) helped me fill in some of the holes I came across when trying to put together my scattered thoughts. Thanks!

Hopefully this adequately conveys Ken Kesey and his influence on the band and the '60s which is also important when realizing The GD's sound and style.