Velvets at the Trip Los Angeles May 1966
Posted: 07 Jan 2014 08:23
Velvet Underground, Warhol, The Trip remembered
By long-time Zuman Victoria Cavaleri
_______________________________________________________________
In an exclusive with Human Highway Zuman Victoria Cavaleri tells the story of an infamous Andy Warhol-crazed night at The Trip in 1966 and his ?The Exploding Plastic Inevitable Show.?
tumblr_m9k000ga2E1r68b0fo1_1280
Neil and Buffalo Springfield had played that same night at the Whisky a Go Go down the street and afterwards came to watch the show.
The Velvet Underground, with Lou Reed and Nico, were playing at The Trip, a short-lived but famous nightclub located along the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. At the time it was a hub of hippie-dom and rock stars melding in a psychedelic scene.
Cavaleri was a waitress at The Trip that night.
She has told her story before to Human Highway and is working on a book ?Expecting to Fly,? about her days spent as friend of Neil Young and members of the Buffalo Springfield:
http://www.human-highway.org/2012writers-writing
tripmarquee
?The Trip
In 1965 ?The Trip? opened at 8572 Sunset Boulevard right next to the towering Playboy Club building. The Trip was located in the former popular ?60?s jazz club called the Crescendo.
There was a comedy club upstairs called the Interlude. The Trip was short lived (Oct 1966-May 1967) however there was quite a music scene going on here. This is where the Byrds and the Velvet Underground & Nico would play regularly.
The following is Vicki?s personal story??.
?The Exploding Plastic Inevitable Show
~By Victoria Cavaleri
The Velvet Underground and Nico are the musical guests at a series of shows at The Trip nightclub on Sunset Strip in 1966, but it is their manager, Andy Warhol, who is the headliner with his outrageous, multi-media ?Exploding Plastic Inevitable Show.?
Coca-Cola-Art_Warhol4
On May 3, 1966 I was serving drinks in the celebrity section at The Trip. Jane Fonda is seated and she orders a drink and I asked her for ID. She removes her sunglasses and says, ?Do you know who I am??
People are pouring into the club to see Andy Warhol, celebrated New York avant-garde artist.
Cher, Steve McQueen, John Phillips, Lou Adler and Mama?s and Papa?s drummer Eddie Hoe are a few of the many celebrities seated in my section. The musicians are here to see the band as much - if not more - than Andy.
Jim Morrison of the Doors is drinking at the bar and talking with Vito and Susie Cream Cheese, along with their friend Karl and Beatle Jerry ? a large black man wearing a blond Beatle wig.
Frank Zappa and The Mother?s of Invention are the opening act the first night. At the end of the set they receive a standing ovation and cheers from the audience.
The Exploding Plastic Inevitable Show started after The Velvet Underground played a couple of songs.
The club turned dark for a few minutes and then - like an explosion as the name implied ? a light came on and off and when you could see briefly, what appeared put the audience into a state of shock.
You had to pay close attention, it all moved very quickly from dark to light. When your eyes adjusted to the manipulation of the light what you saw was an interaction between Nico and two men, one who carried a whip, the other chains. It was an illusion, I think, of sadism?. not at all acceptable to peace loving hippies.
?The EPE featured a mixed media orgy that included film loops, music by the Velvets, sadomasochistic dancing and an epileptic lightshow.?
Before the first set was over people stared to walk out of the club. Cher said that the only thing missing was suicide. People were standing up at their tables, booing as they waited their turn to leave the club. warhol_trip_poster
The line for the second show circled the block but the customers leaving started warning people not to go in. They said the show was vulgar and violent. The line got smaller and smaller until only a handful of people remained.
The Buffalo Springfield is playing the Whisky A Go Go as the opening act and is free to leave at 12:45 am. They walk to The Trip in time to see the feature act. This is routine for Neil, he would show up, watch whoever is preforming and then we would walk home together.
This night the entire band came in along with many other musicians in town. I saw MFQ, Lee Michaels, The Leaves and Love that first night.
The musicians are equally offended by the appearance of sexual violence and what they assumed was part of the Velvet Underground?s act. It was later that we realized that Andy is the creator of the act of violence.
There is more then one story about why ? on the third day of the New Yorker?s show ? L.A. Sherriff?s officers closed The Trip.
I think it may have been a two-fold situation. A wife of one of the owners who had been promised money realizes that the promise of money from the Andy Warhol, Velvet Underground show is not going to happen.
In addition, there are complaints from customers who are offended by the show and the club is empty. The town wants the show closed.
The club owners had a three-week contract with an act that had driven even the club regulars away. The Trip is a great place to hang out but not a big money maker, so even a week of lost income is going to hurt but 3 weeks meant bankruptcy.
The employees are told to come back in one week for their paychecks. I show up and so did the rest of the staff only to be told, sorry, we are closed for good and there is no money.
The end of The Trip saddens many and the loss is followed by the eventual breakdown between the clubs, the kids and the people who wanted the old Hollywood taken back from the music community.
__________________________
Vicky1
Stay tuned for more about Victoria Cavaleri?s life in 1966 in her upcoming book to film project ?Expecting To Fly?.
http://www.human-highway.org/2012writers-writing
___________________________
Thanks Vicki, great story.
By long-time Zuman Victoria Cavaleri
_______________________________________________________________
In an exclusive with Human Highway Zuman Victoria Cavaleri tells the story of an infamous Andy Warhol-crazed night at The Trip in 1966 and his ?The Exploding Plastic Inevitable Show.?
tumblr_m9k000ga2E1r68b0fo1_1280
Neil and Buffalo Springfield had played that same night at the Whisky a Go Go down the street and afterwards came to watch the show.
The Velvet Underground, with Lou Reed and Nico, were playing at The Trip, a short-lived but famous nightclub located along the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. At the time it was a hub of hippie-dom and rock stars melding in a psychedelic scene.
Cavaleri was a waitress at The Trip that night.
She has told her story before to Human Highway and is working on a book ?Expecting to Fly,? about her days spent as friend of Neil Young and members of the Buffalo Springfield:
http://www.human-highway.org/2012writers-writing
tripmarquee
?The Trip
In 1965 ?The Trip? opened at 8572 Sunset Boulevard right next to the towering Playboy Club building. The Trip was located in the former popular ?60?s jazz club called the Crescendo.
There was a comedy club upstairs called the Interlude. The Trip was short lived (Oct 1966-May 1967) however there was quite a music scene going on here. This is where the Byrds and the Velvet Underground & Nico would play regularly.
The following is Vicki?s personal story??.
?The Exploding Plastic Inevitable Show
~By Victoria Cavaleri
The Velvet Underground and Nico are the musical guests at a series of shows at The Trip nightclub on Sunset Strip in 1966, but it is their manager, Andy Warhol, who is the headliner with his outrageous, multi-media ?Exploding Plastic Inevitable Show.?
Coca-Cola-Art_Warhol4
On May 3, 1966 I was serving drinks in the celebrity section at The Trip. Jane Fonda is seated and she orders a drink and I asked her for ID. She removes her sunglasses and says, ?Do you know who I am??
People are pouring into the club to see Andy Warhol, celebrated New York avant-garde artist.
Cher, Steve McQueen, John Phillips, Lou Adler and Mama?s and Papa?s drummer Eddie Hoe are a few of the many celebrities seated in my section. The musicians are here to see the band as much - if not more - than Andy.
Jim Morrison of the Doors is drinking at the bar and talking with Vito and Susie Cream Cheese, along with their friend Karl and Beatle Jerry ? a large black man wearing a blond Beatle wig.
Frank Zappa and The Mother?s of Invention are the opening act the first night. At the end of the set they receive a standing ovation and cheers from the audience.
The Exploding Plastic Inevitable Show started after The Velvet Underground played a couple of songs.
The club turned dark for a few minutes and then - like an explosion as the name implied ? a light came on and off and when you could see briefly, what appeared put the audience into a state of shock.
You had to pay close attention, it all moved very quickly from dark to light. When your eyes adjusted to the manipulation of the light what you saw was an interaction between Nico and two men, one who carried a whip, the other chains. It was an illusion, I think, of sadism?. not at all acceptable to peace loving hippies.
?The EPE featured a mixed media orgy that included film loops, music by the Velvets, sadomasochistic dancing and an epileptic lightshow.?
Before the first set was over people stared to walk out of the club. Cher said that the only thing missing was suicide. People were standing up at their tables, booing as they waited their turn to leave the club. warhol_trip_poster
The line for the second show circled the block but the customers leaving started warning people not to go in. They said the show was vulgar and violent. The line got smaller and smaller until only a handful of people remained.
The Buffalo Springfield is playing the Whisky A Go Go as the opening act and is free to leave at 12:45 am. They walk to The Trip in time to see the feature act. This is routine for Neil, he would show up, watch whoever is preforming and then we would walk home together.
This night the entire band came in along with many other musicians in town. I saw MFQ, Lee Michaels, The Leaves and Love that first night.
The musicians are equally offended by the appearance of sexual violence and what they assumed was part of the Velvet Underground?s act. It was later that we realized that Andy is the creator of the act of violence.
There is more then one story about why ? on the third day of the New Yorker?s show ? L.A. Sherriff?s officers closed The Trip.
I think it may have been a two-fold situation. A wife of one of the owners who had been promised money realizes that the promise of money from the Andy Warhol, Velvet Underground show is not going to happen.
In addition, there are complaints from customers who are offended by the show and the club is empty. The town wants the show closed.
The club owners had a three-week contract with an act that had driven even the club regulars away. The Trip is a great place to hang out but not a big money maker, so even a week of lost income is going to hurt but 3 weeks meant bankruptcy.
The employees are told to come back in one week for their paychecks. I show up and so did the rest of the staff only to be told, sorry, we are closed for good and there is no money.
The end of The Trip saddens many and the loss is followed by the eventual breakdown between the clubs, the kids and the people who wanted the old Hollywood taken back from the music community.
__________________________
Vicky1
Stay tuned for more about Victoria Cavaleri?s life in 1966 in her upcoming book to film project ?Expecting To Fly?.
http://www.human-highway.org/2012writers-writing
___________________________
Thanks Vicki, great story.