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Image courtesy of Tsunami Books

Ken Babbs

Ken Babbs was a founding member of the Merry Pranksters and Ken Kesey’s closest friend and fellow psychedelic provocateur. Together, they spread a gospel of fun, kindness, spiritual development, enlightenment, and expanded consciousness. All of this was meant as an antidote and alternative path to the world as it was.

Of course, LSD and other drugs played a big part in the Prankster vision. And it was at Babbs’s house in Soquel, California, that the Prankster’s first Acid Test went down on November 27, 1965. A few buckets of laced Kool-Aid was the centerpiece of the Test. But the Grateful Dead, still known as the Warlocks at that point, played along with Babbs and some of the other Pranksters. Film of the Pranksters 1964 cross country trip in Furthur, a light show, audio effects, and costumed revelers also helped complete the scene.

A little over a month later, Babbs was also responsible for getting the Dead their first gig at the Fillmore Auditorium. There, on January 8, 1966, the Dead first took the Fillmore stage as part of another Acid Test with Babbs in his usual role as psychedelic emcee and engineer.

For the Trips Festival just two weeks later, Babbs developed the sound system that allowed 10,000 people at San Francisco’s Longshoremen’s Hall to clearly hear the Dead along with Big Brother and the Holding Company, Jefferson Airplane, and others. One of the first large music amplification systems that retained sound quality, Babbs’s innovation became a model and starting point for many of the San Francisco bands’ concert setups, including the Dead’s. 

As you would expect, Babbs was close friends with the Dead. He even worked for them for a time, serving as the “warehouse-man for the Grateful Dead in Novato” in 1969, as he described it in his autobiography, Cronies. And it is in that book that he relates a story about driving across the Golden Gate Bridge in his bus with Jerry when the vehicle broke down. Babbs hopped out and “opened the hood to suss the problem. Jerry stood alongside, peering into the oil-splattered guts.” Quickly realizing what the issue was, Babbs needed another hand to fix it.

“Jerry,” I said, “reach in here and hold this rod with your finger, will you?” He didn’t say anything or make a move. I turned and looked. He stood holding up his hand, fingers extended, revealing a space where one finger had been cut in half. He shook his head. “Can’t do it man. Can’t take a chance on hurting any more fingers.”

Fortunately, Babbs was able to make the fix with his own two hands and a screwdriver in his mouth.

While here at Grateful Dead of the Day we have Babbs listed as a guest for five shows, he surely appeared with the Dead more than that. Babbs was at every Acid Test and frequently played his trusty bass there with the Pranksters, the Dead, and whoever else while contributing poetry, rapping, and other vocals. Babbs also attended dozens – hundreds? – of other Dead shows over the years. And rarely was he just a face in the crowd. Instead, he put on light shows, photographed, introduced the band, kept the audience entertained during tuning and equipment delays, and played bass or drums on at least a few more occasions. 

For a sampling of Babbs’s guest contributions to the Dead, you can check out Babbs’s human slide whistle on Bobby’s Yellow Dog Story and his rapping intro to Baby Blue at McArthur Court in May 1969. And of course, there is Babbs’s inimitable ramblings and intro before the Dead’s set at Woodstock

Babbs was also usually involved whenever the Thunder Machine made an appearance at a show. The Thunder Machine, a massive percussive instrument big enough to crawl into, was originally made for the Acid Tests by Ron Boise. Whether played from inside or outside, the machine created all sorts of psychedelic sounds. It also had microphones and pickups that funneled the sound into the mixing board to be further manipulated. For example, listen to Babbs playing it along with Ken and Zane Kesey on May 8, 1984, at Eugene’s Silva Hall.

All of us who love the Grateful Dead owe at least some debt to Ken Babbs and the rest of the Merry Pranksters.

If you are interested in checking out Babbs’s autobiography, Cronies, we recommend picking it up direct from the publishers, Tsunami Books, a beloved independent bookstore in Eugene, Oregon, not far from Babbs’s home. What’s more is that they have signed copies for ten bucks off the list price.

Shows Ken Babbs was a guest at:

Comments

One response to “Ken Babbs”

  1. Marc Lawrence Avatar
    Marc Lawrence

    How is Veneta 72 not on the list?

    Still some kids out there looking for their mittens, likely…

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