June 30, 1973 (Letter from Leslie)

Greetings dear friend!  This week has been really busy.  Dad and I couldn't finish the taping in time for the whole room to be finished so Mom said okay, no more, we will finish it when Robin goes.  So we painted the floor and moved the furniture back in.  Mom painted the woodwork (it's a mint green that looks good enough to eat and the walls will be the same color) and put u the summer curtains so it looks all of a piece and really nice in spite of the unfinished walls.

Robin and Barbara arrived Wednesday night about 2am.  What can I say, it's really nice seeing him and having him around for awhile.  It has been almost three years since Rob and I have been in the house at the same time.  Barb is great and has been and is really good for Rob because he looks fine, happy, and peaceful.  We were all prepared to like her and now we know how great she is.

Surprise, surprise -- Rob and Barb have asked me to come back to California with them and the family says I can go!  Wow, I'm going to California!  I will ride out with them in Rob's car and fly home probably sometime in August.  I plan to buy film for my camera on Monday and do all my necessary errands such as having a physical to send to Albany so I can register.  More on this later.

Last night Blood Sweat the Tears was at Saratoga with Curtis Mayfield.  I had wanted to see it, but didn't have tickets, so I didn't go.  It was pouring rain as it has everyday and night since Rob and Barb got here and therefore it was no advantageous to sitting on the lawn.  This morning there was a review and I'm glad I didn't go.  BS&T had trouble with the sound system and so that messed them up cause nobody could understand the singer plus they were rather lackluster so said the reviewer.  Curtis Mayfield didn't show at all -- his plane was delayed along the line, but his band was there and went on without him.  For another concert he was late so it sounds as if he is trying for a reputation of reliability.

Thursday I went to the movies with Marc, Bernie, and Doug to see the newest James Bond flick "Live and Let Die".  Title song by Paul and Linda McCartney.  I found parts of the film really funny and enjoyed the chase scenes, but it did have serious flaws that one should realize.  The main flaw was that it was racist and used stereotypes to depict the blacks.  The plot has to do with a new heroin supply and its distribution.  The black "dude" stereotype is used quite a bit and distributing night clubs are called "Fillet of Soul".  There are also some scenes on the island where the poppies being grown showing voodoo ceremonies.  Of course the movie was chauvinist and Bond always get his women.  Some of the gimmicks were incredible such as Bond's watch that could produce a powerful magnetic field that would deflect bullets but the worst was when one of the villains was blown up like a balloon with a compressed air pellet and burst.  It was the first time I had seen a James Bond film in the movies.  Roger Moore played Bond instead of Sean Connery.

Monday 2:July '73 -- Hello again.  A friend of my brother's gave him the biggest piece of hash I have ever seen so he and I smoked some last night.  Barb doesn't smoke because she falls asleep.  It was nice -- very cheerful stuff, but I don't think it was that strong -- I don't know, haven't smoke hash in a long time.

The picnic was fun once we finally left the house and got under the way.  The sun did come out and it was really hot.  I went swimming a couple of times.  There was lots of food, but I didn't eat too much -- trying not to be a pig.  I just love riding on the water in a boat, really relaxing.  There's quite a few sailboats and a couple of canoes, both of which I have never ridden in, and both of which I would like to.  Canoeing looks like such a peaceful way to travel and quiet.  I definitely have to go canoeing sometime.

On the radio I am listening to WGY with Ellen.  It is an enjoyable program.  Oh yes -- you wanted to know if the station was like that all of the time or if it was special program -- well it's a special program on Monday-Friday or Saturday from midnight to 5am.  The rest of the programming is much, much more conservative.

Rob tuned up my motorcycle and adjusted the clutch so she was running really sweet.  So I called my friend Chris and asked her if she wanted to go for a ride.  It was/is a really pleasant night for riding -- not cold, slightly humid, and not windy.  The air felt very soft.  We rode about an hour and a half around various local roads -- I felt like Easy Rider just cruising along.

Today I went to Albany to fill out an application to work part-time in the fall -- I hope I will be able to.  Walking to the library I became excited looking at the people and thinking of the new people I would meet and how it is a new environment to go to school in.  I talked to my advisor and made out a tentative schedule. Pre-registration is July 23-27 and I don't know if I will be back from California for that or not.  Otherwise I register on August 24 and am in the second to last group and get what I can take. I don't' know when I'm coming back from Cal.  And I don't know what is the best to do.

Whew -- I just keep yawning so I'm signing off for now.  Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite.

Tuesday 3:July '73 -- Hello -- I've been doing some more thinking on California -- the decision to go was easy but my decision not to go was/is hard.  I've told all kinds of people that I was going but anyway why am I not?  Well one of the reasons is/will be going by myself with Rob and Barb.  They will be working during the day so I will be on my own which would be okay for a few days but then I like to have company when I go to see things.  Plus their apartment is small so not much privacy for them or me.  Other big reason is money -- I just don't have the money to spend freely because of no job and my parents are not able to provide at this time and that would be in my mind so with heavy heart, but also with the optimism which says I will get out there sometime, I have decided not to go.

I plan to pre-register on the 23rd, the first day in the morning.  When I talked with my advisor and had made up one schedule but I want to switch it around so that I have no  classes on Monday and Friday -- want to talk to my advisor about how it is having two classes on one day, twice a week.  Class meets only once a week.  More on this later.

Oh -- I forgot to mention that I sold my motorcycle for $750 today!  Wow I thought I would be stuck with it.  This morning I paid my insurance premium and had it inspected and this afternoon this woman who is a friend of one of my mother's friends came by with Rick (my brother's friend) and bought it and took it home.  So I quick called to cancel the insurance and have to turn in my plates.

Will continue later.

Friday 6:July '73 -- Greetings.  I'm going to mail this today so I'm going to finish up.   Yesterday I bought Get Off in Chicago for $1.99 an am very happy to have it in my possession.  Today I want to buy Jack Bruce Songs for a Tailor also $1.99 and Larry Coryell's Offering at the usual price.  I got Gary Burton Quartet Duster out of my library because I saw Coryell's name.  Haven't listened to it yet.  Will discuss in more detail later.  Take care of yourself.

June 16, 1973 (Letter from Leslie)

Greetings!  Things keep happening that I want to tell you, so I'm going to start writing so they don't get out of hand.  (Right now I'm listening to Ziggy Stardust -- Moonage Daydream).  I'm been playing Tyranny and Mutation by Blue Oyster Cult a lot lately along with Brian Auger's Second Wind.  Will try and get the Coryell album soon so I can hear the sex, but  right at the moment I still have no job and money is not floating around.

I have gone to a couple of concerts.  Last Friday I saw Seals and Crofts at Saratoga.  They were fantastic and played a variety of materials that I wasn't expecting.  They played a jazzy piece with Seals on sax and Crofts on electric piano that was out of this world.  At the end they played hootenanny country & western with Seals playing the fiddle.  Quite a few of the songs from Summer Breeze album were played.  A thoroughly enjoyable concert.

I also saw Pink Floyd on Sunday.  Incredible, I don't' know how to describe it.  The visual effects were fantastic with lot of lights and dry ice -- a gong with a ring of fire around it and one of those multi-faced balls that sparkle when light shines on them and they are turning and just sends out many rays like a giant eye when not turning.  They played the whole first side of Dark Side of the Moon plus other material that I was familiar with, but don't know off which albums or the title.  The sound system was quadraphonic and we were lucky to get seats in the amphitheater.  Not all of what they played was music, but it was all incredible to watch to shut your eyes and be overwhelmed by the sounds.

I just put on the other side of Ziggy Stardust which reminds me, I had a dream in which I was in a huge record library and I was trying to remember all of the records you have mentioned to me so that I could take them out and listen.  The first and only one I picked up was Rio Grande Mud -- the dream ended but I don't remember how.

This Friday I am going to see Allman Bros. with my friend Chris.  I'm really looking forward to it.  Other good people are coming that I would like to see:  America, Beach Boys, Blood Sweat and Tears and some more that I can't remember right now.

The radio station you heard with the woman disc jockey was WGY 810 and the show is Ellen at midnight and she is on from midnight to 5 am all week.  Since you mentioned it and another friend mentioned it, I've been listening and enjoying.  Last Sunday WGY played really nice jazz in the afternoon.  On the whole, though, radio has been very repetitive.  There is a relatively new station WGFM -- rock 99 (affiliated with WGY) which started out very promising but is now playing the same stuff over and over again such as Hocus Pocus and You Can't Always Get What You Want (Rolling Stones).  It gets very tiring to hear the same stuff even if you like it.



Of the jazz people you mentioned the only one I am at all familiar with is Cal Tjader -- Mon has some records with him playing which I haven't heard in awhile, so when I get time I will dig them out, listen, adn make some comments.  Freddy Hubbard is another familiar name, but I have no music to go to the name -- I'm sorry but I don't remember the song you were referring to by him.  I'll try and look up the other names in my old issues of Downbeat to see what I can find.

I'm going to stop for the moment -- more later.



Hi ya.  I'm catching the end of the "American Top 40".  Actually catching isn't the right verb because I've been listening to it from the beginning.  #4 was Billy Preston's "Will it go 'Round in Circles", one of my favorite songs.  Really like dancing to it.

I went to the Allman Bros quite fucked up but it was fun.  Chris and I have been friends since high school -- she's a Scorpio, too.  They were incredible!  (I think that maybe that is the only adjective I know?)  The first band the Marshall Tucker (or Trucker) was really nice -- very pleasant and what a lead in because they played the same type of music.



Allman Bros. just played and played.  People were yelling out requests and the lead guitarists said not to bother because they were going to play everything.  They just about did, it was so good!  All of the songs were long and some were at least 20 minutes.  From the Live at Fillmore East album they played "You Don't Love Me", "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed", and "Whipping Post".  They played a lot from Eat a Peach but I don't know the titles, plus they played a new song.  They played for a good hour, took a regulation set break and were back for at least an hour and a half.  The concert didn't end until about 12:30 am and there were 25,000 people.

In the second half the lead guitarist played straight for three songs, just coming down to a plateau and then taking off again.  Watching the drummers was a real trip because there were two different styles of drumming, but they really played together and just kept everything cooking.

The work on the house continues.  Dad and I are going the taping -- he knows more than me, but we are both amateurs.  Mom painted the woodwork and the room is starting to pick up.  My aunt called and she is in Joliet, Ill and said that Bob called and they had trouble so they probably couldn't' get to Joliet until Monday night, so they won't get here until Wednesday or Thursday.  I'm really getting excited!  That will give us more time to get the house together.

There is some discussion of sleeping arrangements because they are not married but are living together.  I think it will all work out -- the easiest is for them to stay in Nana's room because she has two beds, but anyway....

Last night my friends called and said they were trying to think of something to do, so they would come and pick me up.  This time the total group came to seven (Marc, Dave, Bernie, Laurie, Garry, Doug, and me).  We ended up going to the Super 50 Drive-In so named because it is on rte. 50.  Both pictures were shit but one was better than the other and we all had fun mocking them out.  Perhaps you have seen the titles in the newspaper:  "Bummer" and "The Hitchhikers".

"Bummer" was a bummer.  The story was about groupies and what could happen to them.  The second flick "The Hitchhikers" was better but it had no plot.  It was about a hippy gang (several girls and the male leader) who stuck up people who picked up girls hitching.  A lot of it was funny because of the cliches used.  For instance they wreck the truck one night while having a "wild" party where everybody was really messed up.  Oh yeah after they mugged the victims they left a sign which said Have a nice day.  Oh well so much for an evening of enlightenment.

Monday 25:June '72 -- Yay!  Guess who I got a letter from today!?!  I was hoping I would hear from you soon.  Last night I had a dream about you -- you had come to visit me -- the locale was a conglomeration of here, Buffalo and other places.

I really enjoyed your letter.  I can tell that you feel about the country the same way I do.  I really love it here because the land is beautiful and there are lots of birds singing.  Lately I've been seeing lots of broken eggs -- the only one I can identify is the speckled light blue of a robin's egg.  (I think of my brother Robin everytime I see one.)  We also have squirrels or at least one squirrel living here now plus some pigeons that must be from the city (Schenectady) who liked the country and went back and brought their friends.  I love cities but the country is my home.

I still haven't travelled much, though there is so much that I haven't seen yet.  I really want to see all of the country that the U.S. has.  I really flip out when I think of going overseas and seeing Greece, Rome, the pyramids, Stonehenge, plus the Incan cities in the Andes.  (I hope I got that right -- I always mix then all up.)

I agree with your discussion on drugs.  I don't regret my experiences -- they have brought me a lot and have helped me to overcome some of my inhibitions quicker than I probably would have at a normal state.  In this respect drugs are similar to dreams -- with both my feelings are very intense but I am becoming more able to feel intensely at my normal state.  I also agree with sharpness.  If I first lieten to something new when I'm stoned, I have to listen to it straight to see if I really liked it or not.  I don't think I will stop all drinking and smoking because both are something that I like to do with people I'm close with but the enjoyment, not as a compulsion.  I feel fortunate that for almost all of the things I have experienced I have no regrets.

Earlier this evening my friend Chris came over to visit.  It ws really nice -- I played records for her -- Blue Oyster Cult's Tyranny and Mutation, Beach Boys' Holland, 1st side of Brian Auger's Second Wind, and 1st side of Frank Zappa's Hot Rats.  Now I have on Yes' Fragile.  A lot of her friends are married so she really enjoyed just sitting, listening, and shooting the shit.  You were the first person I had met who really enjoyed that.

Do you know how you are going to live in Pittsburgh?  Are y ou going to be in an apartment or the dorms?  I'm nervous and excited at the same time and I want to do well.  Tomorrow I'm going to Albany to fill out an application to work part time in the fall in the university's library system.  Did I tell you that I also applied at the Saratoga County Library?  I'm closer to the Schenectady library, but I am a resident of Saratoga County so I couldn't work there.  (Tried to apply about 5 years ago at the Schenectady library.)  Also my friend Marc is going to introduce me to a friend of his who is in Albany's school.  I will be able to buy his textbooks if the same ones are used plus a lot of the work is independently interviewing people and Mike (Marc's friend) works in the state library and he know good people to interview.  This is an unexpected lucky break.  I also have to have a physical and send to to SUNYA to finish up my last admission requirement.

Tomorrow I'm going to meet my friend Evelyn for lunch.  She is a friend but also acts like a mother because she has a daughter my age.  I met her two summers ago when I worked in the Schenectady branch of the New York State Employment Service.  She has finally gotten her wish to be transferred from Schenectady to Amsterdam, where she lives.

Did I tell you I got a B in German?  What a nice surprise.  Glad to be finished with that.

Well it is getting late so I'm going to end now and put this in an envelope.  Take care of yourself and write back as soon as you can.

Enclosed is a picture of me taken last summer when I was in Yonkers visiting Vicki.  I'm such a toughie.