Jefferson Airplane’s Grace Slick allegedly once plotted to sneak LSD into President Richard Nixon’s system during a trip to the White House in 1970.

In 1970, Jefferson Airplane were the embodiment of the rising youth counter culture in the States. They were living outside of the constraints that previous generations had accepted and the group were idolized by masses throughout the country who looked up to how they were tearing up the rule-book and deviating from societies expectations.

President Nixon, on the other hand, was the antithesis the band stood up for and was the human form of what they detested. Nixon was seen as a venomous figure in the hippie communities which Jefferson Airplane were born out of in San Francisco because of his stringent anti-drug policies. Add that to his seemingly unstoppable love of war with his Vietnam policy and Nixon was taking America back to the strict conservative state it was in the ’50s.

President Nixon hadn’t invited Slick to the White House to perform with her band Jefferson Airplane, her invite had nothing to do with the then leader of the free world. Slick’s invite had instead come from Nixon’s daughter, Tricia, who didn’t invite the singer-songwriter on the strength of 1969s Volunteers by Jefferson Airplane. Instead, she invited because both she and Tricia had attended Finch, which was a women’s college in New York City.

Neither Slick or Nixon had actually managed the feat of graduating from the esteemed college and studied around 10 years apart so we’re not even contemporaries of another. However, this didn’t stop the First Daughter deciding to throw a gathering for Finch alumni at the White House.

Slick had been invited under her maiden name of Grace Wing so White House officials had not made the connection between the hell-raising leader of Jefferson Airplane and the Finch alumni, an oversight which almost saw her spike President Nixon with LSD.

Slick told journalist Phyllis Pollack in 2009: “I’m not really an alumni, because I didn’t graduate. I got an invitation in the mail. ‘Grace Wing, we cordially invite you to a tea…Tricia Nixon at the White House.’ And I thought, ‘Oh yeah, I think Tricky Dick needs a little acid.’”

Slick decided to invite social activist Abbie Hoffman as her date to the event, Hoffman was one of the most notorious members of the counterculture movement and had recently been on trial for inciting unrest at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, advocated dumping LSD into the Washington, D.C. water supply, and was a known quantity to the government.

The FBI and the Nixon White House had numerous files on both Grace Slick and Abbie Hoffman, who they perceived to be domestic security risks, however, they somehow didn’t clock that Grace Wing and Grace Slick were, in fact, the same person until the day of the event.

The duo would show up at the White House for tea on April 24, 1970. Slick allegedly had 600 micrograms of LSD powder in her pocket, which would have provided Nixon with the trip of his life. Her plan was to tuck the powder under her long fingernail and slyly drop the substance into Nixon’s teacup during a conversation.

Alas, the plan would never come to fruition as Hoffman was instantly recognized by White House guards in who immediately told Slick: “We checked and you’re a security risk.”

Slick, Hoffman and the alleged LSD were turned away at the door and never got to have their union with the Nixon's, the President wouldn’t even make an appearance at the event so the plan would have been impossible to pull off even if they made it to the party.

The singer later discussed this incident with the Wall Street Journal in 2011 and expressed a nuanced look at the LSD culture that she was once an advocate of: “LSD was new then,” she said.

“It opened up our heads and gave us new insight into the fact that reality isn’t just one thing. That excited us. But it’s also terrifying if your head isn’t in the right place. So in hindsight, our advocating for LSD was kind of dangerous.”

Joe Taysom - https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/

Rock ‘n’ roll giant Little Richard is expected to be honored with a statue outside his childhood home in Macon, Georgia. US news outlets have reported that the decision was announced during a Zoom meeting by the Little Richard House Resource Centre Facebook page.

The announcement follows Richard’s death from bone cancer in Nashville at the age of 87 on 9 May. He was buried on 19 May at his Alma mater of Oakwood University Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Huntsville, Alabama.

His passing prompted generous tributes from right across the music community, including from superstars that he influenced in their early years, from Paul McCartney to Bob Dylan and from Elton John to Mick Jagger.

“A lot of people call me the architect of rock ’n’ roll,” Richard once said. “I don’t call myself that, but I believe it’s true.” He was among the first group of inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its inaugural year of 1986.

“Monumental, instrumental”

Friends of the Little Richard House board member Antonio Williams said: “Little Richard’s contribution to music as a whole, to all the genres of music, was monumental and very instrumental in a lot of people’s careers.”

The statue will be paid for by a fund established by Friends of the Little Richard House and the Community Foundation of Central Georgia. The site will also feature a replica of Little Richard’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Rep. James Beverly, D-Macon, said the fund will also help support organizations providing music education to low- and moderate-income students across Bibb County and Middle Georgia.

Organizers have a target date in mind for the statue, which they hope will be erected in time for Richard’s birth date of 5 December. That will also be named Little Richard Penniman Day by proclamation of Macon Mayor Robert Reichert.

https://www.udiscovermusic.com/ - Paul Sexton

Joe Walsh has announced the launch of his own Old-Fashioned Rock & Roll Radio Show on public radio. The Eagles guitarist will host the show on local Los Angeles-based station 88.5 FM.

This announcement comes after the Eagles were forced to cancel their summer tour. In the meantime, Walsh has been looking for a way to help fill the musical void caused by COVID-19.

After the outbreak of COVID-19, Walsh reached out to the station’s programmers to ask how he could help as the pandemic decimated music industry revenue. As a regular contributor to the publicly-funded station, Walsh was aware of how the outbreak of COVID-19 would affect the station’s income. In an effort to help keep the station afloat, and to keep up the formatting choices that have reeled Walsh in as a regular listener, he proposed the weekly, hour-long program on 88.5 FM.

“This public radio station serves the community I live in and is funded by listeners,” Walsh said in a statement. “I like that men with ties don’t decide what I listen to. My show will be a mixture of music I love, music I think people will want to hear and stories behind some of these songs that I’m pretty sure no one knows about. Hopefully, the show will generate some more listeners and support for the station, and we will have a lot of fun in the process.”

According to the station’s general manager Patrick Osburn, Walsh will have “free reign” over the airwaves on 88.5 FM every Saturday at 6 pm. Walsh will also combine his love for music with his vast knowledge of music as he shares anecdotes from his time as a multi-Grammy winner and two time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.

“His playlist and blend of stories and anecdotes should make for an engaging 60 minutes,” Osburn said. “Being entertainment royalty and one of the many local fixtures of the SoCal/Hollywood community, we anticipate Joe’s Rolodex of potential guests runs deep, so we feel great about giving him the keys to the car! It’s flattering to have rock legends listening and financially supporting the station.”

Listeners outside the station’s FM reach can also tune into Joe Walsh’s Old-Fashioned Rock & Roll Radio Show Saturdays at 6 pm PT on the 88.5 FM website: https://www.885fm.org/

CREDITS: Michael Broerman - https://liveforlivemusic.com/

Grace Potter has shared a new single, “Eachother”, whichincludes featured vocals from Marcus King, Jackson Browne,and Lucius’ Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig. The track also featuresEric Valentine on drums, Alex Proctor on bass, and JonathanWilson, Dylan Day, Marcus King and Grace Potter on guitar.The song, written by Potter, is a sincere ode to the currentsituation in which the world finds itself.

Beginning with Graceherself, each of the featured vocalists takes on a portion of thesong, which depicts the sights and emotions of today’snecessarily isolated world with vivid accuracy.Marcus King also offers up a brief but soulful guitar solo aheadof his verse.

In the end, however, it’s not until they all cometogether on the final chorus that the folk ballad truly hits itsemotional mark: “I don’t know where we’re going / But if thegoing gets rough / We’ve got Eachother / And for now, that’senough”.

As Grace Potter noted in a Facebook post about the new track,“The onset of Covid-19 was a shock to humanity’s system andhas brought on so many reality checks. We may not all beaffected in the same ways, but we are all going through thispandemic together as a human race. It’s incredibly humbling.It’s invited me to really take account of the things that mattermost; which aren’t things at all…they’re people.

liveforlivemusic.com - Andrew O'Brien