Last month marked 60 years since Ken Kesey, Neal Cassady and the rest of the Merry Prankster crew made their infamous bus trip to New York. There was a celebration at the WOW Hall in Eugene to record that fact and John Allen Cassady was invited along. He shared this report of people and proceedings with Rock and the Beat Generation…
Email, March 24th, 2024
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the infamous Bus trip to New York in 1964. Who was driving?
The chauffeur knew right where to find me at 28532 Gimpl Hill Road, Eugene, OR. He was cool, and just said, ‘I know this farm.’
The party was in a huge hall downtown, and I sat at a table with Ken Babbs, Faye and Sunshine Kesey and a bunch of other old-timers, whose names I don't recall at the moment. Trixie Garcia and George Walker were no-shows, but it was a great night. They had a great band playing, but the bar was downstairs, so they had to send girls up to my table. (I don't really need the cane, but it's great for the ‘sympathy vote’. My bad...?
We all autographed a bunch of ‘Acid Test’ posters, some of which someone will probably sell on eBay for major denaro, but I didn't ask. They gave me one to keep for the wall.
I asked Faye, ‘Didn't you run off to Texas with that Larry McMurtry guy?’ (author of Lonesome Dove, 1985, Terms of Endearment, 1975, The Last Picture Show, 1966, Buffalo Girls, 1990, the list goes on and on. Lightweight writer, ha ha!). Larry was Kesey's pal at Stanford, and they became life-long friends.
Faye said, ‘Good memory, Johnny.’ I didn't know that he died in 2021 at age 84 until someone told me later, so I felt kind of embarrassed. I tried to find Faye to apologize for sounding insensitive, but she had already left the building. (Just like Elvis, darn).
I've told this story before, but I think it's worth repeating. I was visiting some friends in Portland, and the Grateful Dead (ever heard of them?) were playing just down the road in the huge arena at a college in Eugene. I found Kesey's old phone number in my wallet, and I called it. Faye answered, and I said something clever, like, ‘Wow! you've got the same phone number!’ She said, ‘Why change phone numbers?’ OK.
So I asked, ‘Is Ken at home?’ She said, ‘No, he's at the concert already.’ Of course! Faye said, ‘You know, he's got a new bus.' Then I asked the dumbest question in the history of Mankind. ‘Oh really? What color is it?’ Faye said, ‘All colors.’ Like, duh!
I forgot to mention, they awarded me with a fancy document that read ‘John Cassady Has Fully Earned This Acid Test Diploma’. Suitable for framing. Also, there was a piano on stage, so naturally they asked me to perform. Naturally? As if. I volunteered, because the band wasn't there yet.
I opened with ‘Let's Go Get Stoned’ by Ray Charles. I thought it was appropriate for the occasion. Then ‘Hit The Road Jack’. Brought the house down. I haven't read the reviews in the paper yet, so stand by.
Thanks,
John Allen Cassady
JA faBOOulous !