Rhino's Psychedelic Trip

Some clueless dolt from LA called "Evan Dump" has chosen to attack this book, which I co-authored with Parke Puterbaugh. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, of course, but my mother always told me to "consider the source." So, let's "consider" what "Evan Dump" finds worthy of 5 stars, based on his other reviews prior to this one. He gave five stars to Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music. Anyone with even a tiny grasp of rock 'n' roll history knows that Reed released this 2-LP mess--nothing but feedback from his guitar, produced mostly when he was out of the room because even he couldn't bear to listen to it--in order to get out of a recording contract with RCA. It worked! They dropped him, and he went on to Arista. Dump also gave 5 stars to two "musical" acts that produce "sound collages." (Read: obnoxious noise). This, of course, makes him eminently qualified to pass judgement on a book that covers the music, art, journalism, literature, spiritual quests, drug taking and politics of an epochal time in American cultural history. At least it does in his own mind and, with easy access to a keyboard and mouse, on the Internet. Our book has received rave endorsements from John Sebastian, Felix Cavaliere, members of the Turtles and many others who have found it a spot on reassessment of those times. Dump's LSD fantasies have only exacerbated his tendencies to sulk and piss and moan because the music he loves has consistently cleared rooms and left him all alone, and sad. Boo hoo.

I was right there at the center of things in the SF Bay Area in the late '60s, saw Hendrix & Cream live, and of course all the SF acid groups, and I love this book, it is a quick, easy and colorful read of what was happening back then, entirely accurate and all the basics are covered. Well-written, well-designed, and full of interesting tidbits I never knew.