Interesting 60s band article (warning - long read)

This is sorta a "what ever happened to" article. The Other Half was a "third tier" 60s band that appears on some famous posters we all have seen. They wew known for playing loud.

This article is pretty long and detailed, but it chronicles how a rock band from Venice almost made it big in LA and then SF and then gradually disintegrated (personnel changes, drugs, shady management, etc.).

http://www.disturbingmusic.com/theotherhalf/index.html

from Chapter 10:

"One of our most famous fans in San Francisco was a guy named Owsley," recalls Geoff, referring to Augustus Stanley Owsley III, the famed LSD chemist. "They used to call him the Bear, and he was famous for Owsley acid. He used to love us! He used to come and pass out his wares to anybody that was around. The Avalon Ballroom was like a stage and then a huge dance floor and everybody was just freak-out dancing back in the day and I remember him out there. I said we'd built a following—well, we'd certainly built one with him coming to our shows and giving all of our fans drugs. Maybe that's why they liked us! [laughs] The one time I tried to play on acid was a dose of his LSD at the Avalon. I broke every string on my guitar! Nobody could figure out 'what's going on with Westen? He's acting so weird!' [laughs] All I remember is Owsley slipped me... they used to be on a sugar cube or something... and he slipped me one and he said, 'Here, take this, you'll rock the next show!' I certainly did, I almost destroyed my guitar and everything that went with it. [laughs] So I certainly remember that. That was a highlight."

"I don't remember that," admits Randy, who was becoming increasingly exasperated by the drug use among the other band members. "I just remember that I was walking from the dressing room one time and I didn't know who Owsley was, and he came up to me and he said, 'Hold out your hand.' And I put my hand out and he said, 'No, both of them. Put them together.' He said, 'There you go!' And he had this leather sack and he just pours Orange Sunshine, a big heap of it, into my hands. It was falling all over the floor. He said, 'Have a great time!' [laughs] I'm standing there holding this double handful, and Larry comes up and he says, 'Do you know who that was? Look what he gave you! Man, that's Orange Sunshine!' I said, 'Hey, do you want it? I don't want this shit.' He said, 'Yeah, man!' And so I gave it to him." [laughs]