Beat Meetings #8: John Allen Cassady & Allen Ginsberg

Neal's son plus Beat great

John Allen Cassady is the youngest child of Neal and Carolyn Cassady. His given forenames are in tribute to both Kerouac and Ginsberg. Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) was close to Neal and visited the family home in California the 1950s. In the 1960s, the poet would often see John Allen if he was on the West Coast. Cassady here remembers a rock gig encounter with the poet.

Who did you meet?

Allen Ginsberg.

When did you meet him?

When I was very young…Ha! When I was living in Santa Cruz, Ginsberg would call me whenever he was in San Francisco.

How did this meeting come about?

He would invite me to a gig that he was doing that weekend or whatever. He knew that I had a car (so I must have been at least 16) and he just needed a ride! He was from New York, and nobody drives in New York. I would gladly comply, of course, and some of those gigs were legendary.

What happened on this particular occasion?

There was a benefit for Chet Helms' Avalon Ballroom held at the Greek Theater on the UC campus in Berkeley in 1967. We were the first to go on and I asked Allen, ‘What, did Chet die or something?’ He said, ’No, he's right up there on the lawn, by the teepee.’ OK. But before that, they had given us a backstage room, a tent, in which to park.

I said, ‘Allen, I'm going for a beer’ – they were free! – ‘You want anything?’ When I got back, there was a line of performers just waiting to meet Allen Ginsberg! A bunch of my rock heroes, including the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. I went to sit next to Allen and I remember they were all looking at each other as if to say, ‘Who's that?’ It was funny.

What happened next?

Allen and I took the stage, first act, with Peter Orlovsky on banjo – he was pretty good! Allen had his new toy, a little harmonium, which he would pump air into with his right hand while playing the keyboard. He was sitting cross-legged on the carpet, me standing to his left with my guitar, and I asked, referring to the harmonium, ‘What's this?’ He said,' ‘Dylan taught me the blues!’ I said, “Cool. Can he join us today?’ ‘No!’ said Ginsberg. We opened with a Ginsy original called ‘LSD at Breakfast Time’ (he would make them up ad-lib) and the crowd went nuts.

What were your impressions of the occasion?

I looked up on the lawn, and there were hundreds of enthusiastic people. All that I could smell was pot smoke and patchouli oil. It was ‘far out’. It was the ’60s all over.

And later?

After the show I drove him to some guy's apartment in the Sunset District in SF, and he handed me a $50 bill, saying, ‘Thanks, Johnny! You saved me...’ Well, that was big cake for me at the time, so I said, ‘Anytime, Allen!’

Are there any other memories of Ginsberg that stick with you?

When Allen would read at City Lights, he would introduce me to everyone as ‘Allen Cassady’. Everyone knew that my first name was ‘John’, but they would humor him. Ferlinghetti used to chuckle about it.

I say, ‘Howl’ forever! And thanks for listening.

See also: ‘Party like it’s 1973! A celebration chez Cassady’, April 16th, 2023; ‘Beat Meetings #3: Cathy Cassady & Allen Ginsberg’, April 7th, 2023; and ‘Interview #9: John Cassady’, August 4th, 2022