After to have offered us his memories on Ben Cartland here (http://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2010/01/ben-cartland-at-101-st-stephens-gardens.html), TEB fan and Sixties witness David Aragon writes me again in reply to a post of Andy ("I see you mention Lyn Dobson as being in the Tribe of the Sacred Mushroom - wasn't that Lyn Darnton, or were they the same people? I'm very interested in the Tribe of the Sacred Mushroom and would welcome info from anyone reading this blog - you can get me at meugher@googlemail.com. Happy Trails, Andy"):
"Hi Luca.
Many thanks for posting my memories !
I am interested in Andy's comment about Lynn Darnton and Tribe of the Sacred Mushroom. I am thinking maybe it was Lynn Darnton I met - I do remember the 'Sacred Mushroom' connection. Also, Lynn Darnton did some posters for the Third Ear Band. So, it is possible I have confused him with Lyn Dobson, as Lyn Dobson played with Third Ear Band. The Lynn I met, I didn't know as a musician at the time, but did know as being connected with the Tribe of the Sacred Mushroom. I think it's not likely they are the same person, but it would be interesting if they were!! Also, the name 'Lynn Darnton' stirs something in my memory. Hopefully Lyn Dobson can clear it up! And, apologies to him if he never was at 101,or a friend of Pam! The more I think about it, the more I am sure it was Lynn Darnton I met. Oh well, there is still a TEB connection there!
By the way, I was reading the blog, and I came upon the name of Dick Dadem, the trombone player who played at one time with the Third Ear Band. I definitely did know Dick, not in London, but in Glastonbury. He lived with a lady called Joyce Chapman, a lovely eccentric person who I knew well. They lived in a caravan in Glastonbury, and I would visit them often, sitting in their caravan, smoking and talking for hours on end. Dick was very conventional in his appearance, compared to most of us, and Joyce looked more like a hippie than most of us, so they made an odd couple! He was playing his trombone then, and I believe he was playing in either an orchestra or a brass band locally. A very nice guy, friendly to me and good to talk to.The last I saw of Joyce, she was living in the Old Police House in Coxley, near Glastonbury, with her children.This would be early 70s. I wonder what happened to her, and if anyone else remembers Joyce? I don't know what happened to Dick, sadly, and had more or less lost him from my memory until I saw his name there. It brought back some good feelings for me!
Best wishes,
David Aragon".
no©2010 Luca Ferrari-David Aragon
Many thanks for posting my memories !
I am interested in Andy's comment about Lynn Darnton and Tribe of the Sacred Mushroom. I am thinking maybe it was Lynn Darnton I met - I do remember the 'Sacred Mushroom' connection. Also, Lynn Darnton did some posters for the Third Ear Band. So, it is possible I have confused him with Lyn Dobson, as Lyn Dobson played with Third Ear Band. The Lynn I met, I didn't know as a musician at the time, but did know as being connected with the Tribe of the Sacred Mushroom. I think it's not likely they are the same person, but it would be interesting if they were!! Also, the name 'Lynn Darnton' stirs something in my memory. Hopefully Lyn Dobson can clear it up! And, apologies to him if he never was at 101,or a friend of Pam! The more I think about it, the more I am sure it was Lynn Darnton I met. Oh well, there is still a TEB connection there!
By the way, I was reading the blog, and I came upon the name of Dick Dadem, the trombone player who played at one time with the Third Ear Band. I definitely did know Dick, not in London, but in Glastonbury. He lived with a lady called Joyce Chapman, a lovely eccentric person who I knew well. They lived in a caravan in Glastonbury, and I would visit them often, sitting in their caravan, smoking and talking for hours on end. Dick was very conventional in his appearance, compared to most of us, and Joyce looked more like a hippie than most of us, so they made an odd couple! He was playing his trombone then, and I believe he was playing in either an orchestra or a brass band locally. A very nice guy, friendly to me and good to talk to.The last I saw of Joyce, she was living in the Old Police House in Coxley, near Glastonbury, with her children.This would be early 70s. I wonder what happened to her, and if anyone else remembers Joyce? I don't know what happened to Dick, sadly, and had more or less lost him from my memory until I saw his name there. It brought back some good feelings for me!
Best wishes,
David Aragon".
[An easy research on the Web let us to get a site (at http://www.meditationinbristol.org/chippenham/index.htm) with a such Lynn Darnton as a Buddhist teacher of meditation and this portrait... Is he just him?
About Dick Dadem... apparently no tracks around...]
About Dick Dadem... apparently no tracks around...]
no©2010 Luca Ferrari-David Aragon
Thanks very much for the comments on Lyn Darnton and the Tribe. I'd be interested in *any* recollections about them, whatsoever. I believe the guy from the Buddhist centre is the gut from the Tribe but I've emailed him twice over a period of a couple fo months so think he's probably not into discussing his past, which is a pity because this sort of stuff is a 'hidden history' of the counterculture which badly needs recording.
ReplyDeleteLynn Darnton apparently lived at the Rxploding Galaxy commune on Balls Pond Road in late 67 before being thrown out for breaching the 'no drugs' rule. If that rings a bell with anyone?
ReplyDeleteIt's just occurred to me that people might think I'm a stalker or something! I'm interested because I wriote a book about the history of LSD in Britain (Albion Dreaming, 2008) and I'm now writing another one about various aspect of the English underground, one chapter of which will be on the Tribe. For my acid book I interviewed Dave Tomlin who played with TEB I believe, so there's another connection.
ReplyDeleteHave you got a contact with Dave Tomlin? I'd like to interview him...
ReplyDeleteLuca
I have an email address on another computer Luca, I'll try and find it over the next few days
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot, Andy. It'll be very useful to me...
ReplyDeletePlease, which is the title of your book on the English underground?
Cheers.
Luca
The new book hasn't been written yet Luca, so no title! Can you send me your email address so I don't have to put Dave T's email in a public forum. I'm at meugherATgooglemail.com. It might be a few days before I can lo.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Andycate the hard drive that his email address is on
Andy you wrote "Lynn Darnton apparently lived at the Rxploding Galaxy commune on Balls Pond Road in late 67 before being thrown out for breaching the 'no drugs' rule. If that rings a bell with anyone?"
ReplyDeleteYes, it does, but not as you have written it. It seems to me like Lynn has been set up as a fall guy for something else that needs to be investigated. I'll get back to you.
Lynn Darnton created the artwork for the Third Ear Band record "Experiences", and hand painted the colour separations for producing a silk-screened poster. The poster was printed by "The Word" printers in Blenheim Crescent, the shop later becoming the Family Dog shop. See the link at http://the-rockin-rex.com/shop/index.php?main_page=popup_image&pID=23
ReplyDeleteThanks 'anonymous'- any further info on Darnton and the Exploding Galaxy? Also, do you or any other readers have any info on The Process cult and their time in London?
ReplyDeleteYes I knew Lyn Darnton.
ReplyDeleteI lived at 99 Balls Pond Rd.
My name is Steve.
I had a piano frame in my room.
It was part of the music section of The Bird Ballet. A performance at the Roundhouse.
I was the Flamingo.
Where is Lyn these days?
Steve,
ReplyDeleteI spent weekends with the Exploding Galaxy and visited 99 Balls Pond Road in about 1968, I was introduced to them by Michael Chapman. I was also with them at the Roundhouse when they did the Hippopotamus Festival. I remember the piano frame, and the carton of ping pong balls that were cascaded over it. Fabulous times. I later founded The Shiny Bum Singers in Australia, so the ripples are still spreading. Would love to hear more of them.
Chris Clarke
Hi Steve and Andy
ReplyDeleteI know the current owners of 99 Balls Pond Road. Please get in touch via email as we would love to hear what it was like in 67. sameoldsamo@gmail.com
Cheers
P
www.gettyimages.com/detail/3286452/Hulton-Archive?Language
ReplyDeleteMore exploding galaxy
Steve
Hi, I met Lynn Darnton in the 60s just after the Tribe of The Sacred Mushroom was disbanded. The next time I saw him was on TV when he had transformed into a computer expert. Barry Miles in "London Calling" seems to think Lynn is a woman! I am currently researching for a Phd on 1960s arts. One of my themes will be the problems that arise when remembering this era, so it is interesting reading all your blogs!
ReplyDeleteClair, Did you live a few houses down from 101 St Stephens Gardens? If so we knew each other back then.
DeleteDana
Thanks you for having written here. The topic of your Phd is quite interesting... As a biographer (and interviewer) I have intrigued by this dimension of memory, too. Sometimes it's difficult to realize when a person has effectively got drugs (if then or now)!
ReplyDeleteLyn Darnton visited Findhorn about 1969/1970. He brought with him a silkscreen poster for the Third Ear Band. He said he had made thirty copies. It was accompanied by a Roneoed typescript translation of the hieroglyphics. He gave the poster to Sabina Brook who was staying there and Sabina passed it on to me when she left. I treasured it as it was a SILKSCREEN print and I wanted to go to college to learn how to do that. Lyn was very quiet and said he was a shaman and belonged to a society called "The Magic Mushroom".
ReplyDeleteThanks for your memories about Lynn. Any chance to have a contact with him? What's happened to the silkscreen poster?
ReplyDeleteLynn Darnell appeared on a BBC documentary in the mid 70s about the demise of the hippy dream.
ReplyDeleteHi there,
ReplyDeleteto Lynn, Chris and sameoldsamo
New book about the Exploding Galaxy
http://www.englandgallery.com/exhibitions.htm
Steve, (Rag Doll)
Nimbin, Australia
Thanks for this, Steve. I'm sure many fans will be glad of it.
ReplyDeleteHi Luca,
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=189146304440279&set=o.134246273289979&type=3&theater
Did you ever meet Vali?
Such an unforgettable, beautiful place - Positano
Yes I met Rudi & Vali - I visited them at home in Il Porto a few times.
ReplyDeleteI was the DJ at the Quicksilver Club in Positano -1968 '69 & '70
Rudi & Vali would be there most nights.
see: http://www.giannimenichetti.com/
have a good day,
Steve
Did anyone here ever meet Michael Hollingshead, the guy who turned Leary on and who later ran the ill starred and short lived World Psychedelic Centre in Chelsea? Any opinions, thoughts, whatever, most welcome. Meugher@gmail.com
ReplyDelete