Back When

Thirty Years Ago I left San Diego at 1:00 p.m. on the 21st of July for Vancouver, British Columbia. I had been rapping about how much fun I was going to have for so long that the night before take-off, my good friend, Mike, signed on for the expedition. Solo hitching is easier, there's more opportunity to wheel and deal. Two people seldom get a ride in a Volkswagen bug, and Volkswagen bugs give a disproportionate amount of the rides to hitchhikers. -- "THUMBS UP!" Robert M. Cook, Jr., September 11, 1975

Twenty-Five Years Ago "In 1976 Archie Moore told us if we could find a good, strong white kid, he'd only have to be a fairly good boxer, and we could still do big things and make a truckload of money," says Ray Hamel. "We didn't realize then that we'd go through a truckload of our own money and a truckload of white guys lookin' for him." -- "PUNCH HARD, BUT DON'T GET HIT," Bill Owens, September 11, 1980

Twenty Years Ago Testimony in Hedgecock's criminal trial last week included the disclosure that former Channel 8 news anchorman Tom Lawrence was paid $2000 to coach Hedgecock on how to talk and look better in front of TV cameras.... Hedgecock, writes Lawrence, "exhibited a certain coolness ...as if not really open to questions or new thoughts." Hedgecock's performance improved as the session continued. Lawrence commended him for this "very positive kinds of responses...even your laugh is more open." -- "THE INSIDE STORY," Paul Krueger, September 12, 1985

Fifteen Years Ago While we tossed down brew after brew, gliding through the salt marshes south of Mexicali, the trick was to remain in control. Men. Partners. Compadres. Drinking as much as they could without losing control. I'm a stud. If you can't keep up with me, if you get sick -- if you can't maintain -- you're a wimp, a weasel, a fag. We were prisoners of traditions that extended much deeper than any lies we ever swapped about sexual prowess and appetite. -- "I TOOK MY LAST DRINK OF ALCOHOL OVER FOUR YEARS AGO," Hank Larson, September 13, 1990

Ten Years Ago Q: Did you meet the Beatles?

A: Not exactly. But I sang on the first Plastic Ono Band record, "Give Peace a Chance."

Q: ?

A: It was Jann Wenner's fault. He asked me to interview Timothy Leary for Rolling Stone in early 1969, after I'd left Crawdaddy! A few months later Tim called me at my commune in Mendocino and said he was going to run for governor of California and would I be campaign manager. First we went to San Luis Obispo, where he lectured to students in the gym and then to a rock festival in Hollywood, Florida, with the Grateful Dead and the Youngbloods and maybe Quicksilver Messenger Service. We found out that John and Yoko were planning to do a Bed-In for Peace in Montreal, like the one for their honeymoon in Amsterdam, subject of the Beatles' single "The Ballad of John and Yoko." We had to go to Montreal. Tim called Playboy and told his contact that I would conduct an interview with Tim and John at the Bed-In and got Playboy to front us plane tickets. -- "CRAWDADDY'S DADDY," Paul Williams, September 7, 1995

Five Years Ago We watched the 10:00 news while the baby performed gymnastics under my maternity shirt. "Wow," Jack said after a particularly large kick."I swear, this baby is going to fight his way out," I told him.

When Jack and I climbed into bed around 11:00, Jack reached over and stroked the hair that fell across my forehead. "I hope you get some sleep tonight," he said.

"Me too." -- KID STUFF: "GOOD NIGHT AGAIN," Anne Albright, September 7, 2000