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John Peel Wiki
in: Perfumed Garden, Peel shows, 1967, Transcripts

14 August 1967 (Transcript)

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14 August 1967


Transcript[]

(Taken from the programme reconstruction detailed on the 14 August 1967 page, which includes edited Peel comments from the show.

Disc 1[]

  • 01 - The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
  • 02 - The Beatles - With A Little Help From My Friends

JP: The Beatles there, and good evening. Five and a half hours of Perfumed Garden tonight. I’m sorry I wasn’t here last night. Various confusions reigned and I couldn’t be here. Anyway, I traveled back on the train to Ipswich last night and I promised the people on the train that I would play a record for them. So, this is for Tony and for Georgina Whitney. And I read somewhere in one of the music papers that this is one of my theme songs. So, the least I can do is play it. It’s by the Attack. And it’s also part of that (???) advertisement that people keep asking me…

JP: That was The Attack, and you “can’t wonder, can’t have loved any more than I do,” which was the b-side of their version of Hi Ho Silver Lining, in case you are still wondering about it. And during the next five and a half hours, or actually five hours and 20 minutes it is now, we are going to play all the records that have made us happy in the Perfumed Garden and all the records we have enjoyed. Which, you know, is a lot of records, and we need five hours and 20 minutes to do it. And I hope you can stay until 5.30 because it’s a long night, you know, but we got an awful lot to do, an awful lot of very beautiful things to hear, and an awful lot of beautiful people to get to know a little bit better. Here’s Donovan, who actually was the winner, I suppose, if there was a winner, in our thing for who is going to be the next Poet Laureate, with Roger McGough second, and John Lennon third. And really there were no winners and no losers. Perhaps we should all collectively be Poet Laureate, if you have to have such an office. Anyway, here’s Guinevere.

JP: That’s Donovan, and that’s called Guinevere, which is perhaps my favourite Donovan thing of all time. I had an awful lot of letters again yesterday, or at least the Perfumed Garden did, for which many thanks. Something like somewhere around 350, which you know is just amazing, and people are so kind and generous and thoughtful. And the main question they asked was: What now for the Perfumed Garden? Well, obviously, you know it’s difficult to say. This phase of it is obviously over, but really I hope that in some way it is just a start. Because I may sort of fade away and, you know, disappear, but that is not particularly important. The important thing is that if anybody, anywhere, has gained anything from it and learned that they should try and understand the people that live next door to them or people who live down the street and love them, then that’s good. And if just one person practices that, you know, for the rest of their lives as a result of some of the things that have been said by myself and other people in the Perfumed Garden, then we will have worked a miracle between us. And I think in some ways we have actually. So who can tell what is going to happen from now on? I have no job to go to, as far as a job goes. I am not unduly concerned about it, though, actually, because something good is going to happen, and good things are happening, and a lot of people are realizing, you know, what is going on. More people are coming over to our side, so to speak, if there is a side to be taken. Actually, it’s a sort of non-side really, if you understand what I mean. Anyway, a lot of people who listen have derived a lot of pleasure from UFO, which was in Tottenham Court Road and now of course is at the Roundhouse. And if UFO had a signature tune, I suppose this would be it. And these are the Purple Gang.

JP: The Purple Gang, and that featured John Hopkins, “Hoppy”. And that's another sad thing, because Hoppy is still in jail. And let’s hope that very soon something good happens there like it happened to the Stones and he can get out and there won’t be any more problems. Anyway, let’s not talk of sad things, because really it is a beautiful occasion. Because from now on I shall be on shore, you see, and it will give me an opportunity to meet many of the people I just know through the mails and through the letters and stuff like this that they have been sending and I have been sending back to them. So really, it's quite a beautiful thing. So between now and 5.30 let’s just play good music and be happy and maybe somebody, somewhere will feel the vibrations and become aware as well. Here is a record for the “White Rabbit,” who has had to put up with an awful lot during the past four or five months – The Jefferson Airplane.

JP: That really is actually a magic record. It’s one of those things that you look at it on the turntable and I keep expecting it to drift away, to disappear, it’s so beautiful. There is so much to that, you must listen to that. And don’t forget the Jefferson Airplane are going to be here sometime during this autumn, I understand. I am not exactly sure where they are going to be, but wherever it is that they go, you must go and see them, because they're one of the most important groups in the whole world. They have got some really important things to tell you, and me as well. Here’s another fellow that’s given me an awful lot of pleasure both as a person and as a musician over the past months. And this is my favourite track from his LP.

JP: Unfortunately we didn’t get the tapes of John's next LP out here in time, but when it does come out it's going to be called Campaign -- Crusade! There you are. I know it was one or the other. When it does come out, buy it, because there’s a lot of very beautiful things on there that I think you will enjoy – that I know you will enjoy as a matter of fact. That was from the LP “A Hard Road,” which is on Decca and that was called Dust My Blues. We have about three or four other versions of that actually between now and 5.30, so watch out for that too.

  • (hair product commercial)

JP: There you go. A fashionable phrase about a year ago when describing groups, at least in America, they used to say that a group produced a wall of sound. I don’t know exactly what a wall of sound is, but here’s a group that is for years – well, for two or three years – produced not a wall of sound but so much as a grassy, leafy bough of sounds. The Byrds, and this of course is Eight Miles High, which has to be perhaps their ultimate achievement, I don’t know.

JP: Perhaps “a sound tapestry” would have been a better description. Sounds and guitars weaving in and out of one another – marvelous. Those were The Byrds, and that is Eight Miles High. I remember when I was a young lad, millions of years ago – it was during the war actually – and I used to go down and play on the marshes on the edge of the River Dee, across from the Welsh hills, you know – sounds like a cue for a song – and it used to be very hot sometimes, you know. We’d be playing around and every once in a while a little breeze would spring up, apparently from nowhere, and just cool you down and then just drift away again, you know. It would just spring up every once in a while and touch you and go away. And here’s a song that does basically the same thing. It’s by Tim Buckley, from an Elektra LP, and it’s called Song Slowly Song. And some parts of this are so soft that you will barely hear them and think that there’s something wrong with your radio, but there isn’t – never has been, actually.

JP: That’s Tim Buckley, and that was called Song Slowly Song, which is very beautiful indeed, I think you’ll agree. And you know, thanks actually to a lot of people, in fact many thousands, many thousands of people, you know, all the people who have written and become involved in the Perfumed Garden. One or two publications actually too who have been kind and, you know, taken an interest and been aware of what was going on – The International Times, of course, and Oz has been nice. They sent me out some things that were very interesting. And of course Peace News, they’ve been kind. And some of the music papers. And then again, some of the other music papers – The New Musical Express had precisely two lines about the closing of Radio London, saying that Andrew Oldham or someone would be distressed because Radio London was closing, which shows what an enormous impact we’ve made on them. Anyway, here’s a group who really had a voice that is for the ages and then sad things happened and they had to break up and went in several different directions. But in some ways they are going to get back to us, I know. I don’t know exactly how but they will. And I know Glenn Campbell, who was the lead guitarist in The Misunderstood, is going to be involved in something very beautiful that's coming up in the not too distant future, because I stand advised that Lorel(???) is coming, you see, which is something that you should pay particular attention to, I understand. Anyway, here are The Misunderstood and the one pearl that they did produce. And there are others on tape somewhere, that one of these days will be released somehow, if I have anything to do with it. And this is called I Can Take You To The Sun. And for about four minutes, they did. Listen!

JP: The Misunderstood and I Can Take You To The Sun. And the guitar of Glenn Campbell, which of course I suppose was the highlight of the group, although they all did marvelous things. And it’s got to come back somehow, it simply can’t be ignored – searing with fiery intensity as he does and then turning around and bubbling like mountain pebble streams, very gently and very quietly. An amazing guitarist – he’ll be back, you watch. Here are the Pink Floyd, who have got a lot of things to say and they are going to have a lot more in the future. This is from their LP, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, and this is Astronomy Domine, which is very difficult to say. I said it.

JP: Pink Floyd, and that’s called Astronomy Domine from Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. We’ll be hearing more from that a little later on actually. A lot of people write in, you know, in the spirit of genuine enquiry I think, and say, “How can you possibly advocate loving everybody? Because it’s simply not practical." Well, of course – actually perhaps it isn’t practical in some ways, but on the other hand if you look beyond the sort of obvious things, right away you’ll see how practical it is. Because if you can start somebody else doing the same thing, then the whole thing works like a chain reaction and everything’s going to work out – you know it’s got to sooner or later. You’ll find out, you stick with it, but it does. And I’d like to play a record for a couple of people who actually don’t talk about it, they just do it, and I knew them before I started this programme and I hope I know them for the rest of my life, because they’ve been very kind. They are very nice people. So this is for Fiona and Jeffrey. Of no particular significance, Canned Heat and Rollin' And Tumblin'.

JP: That was the Canned Heat from Los Angeles, and that is Rollin' And Tumblin'. And don’t forget, an important thing, this may be the last chance I have to remind you about – in fact, it obviously is the last chance I have to remind you about it – make yourself a Perfumed Garden badge. Now, lots of people, you know, I mean, people, you know, who are sort of 20 and 21 and sort of up there, you know, they think, “Well, why should I bother? I mean, it’s not sophisticated, you know. How totally uncool to go around with a home-made badge on.” But actually, it’s a very good idea, because we have got to establish some kind of communication. And I shall wear one. And despite what the Daily Sketch says – the Daily Sketch said the other day that I was a teenager, which is ridiculous actually, because I’m 28 at the end of this month. There you go, hideous revelations! Does anybody actually care? Because age is such a ridiculous thing anyway. You know, such a hangup. People saying, “I’m 17,” like saying, I don’t know, something quite important. It’s not. Anyway, make yourself a Perfumed Garden badge, however ridiculous it makes you feel, because I shall have one on, and I shall feel perfectly ridiculous because I shall go around groveling for jobs with a Perfumed Garden badge on. But you know, I might just meet you, you might meet me. And you might meet someone, you know, infinitely more important. So wear one, you know, and see what happens. Here’s Marc Bolan and Tyrannosaurus Rex, which he sent out specially, which was very kind of him. And I like this – it’s called Rings Of Fortune.

JP: What a fantastic voice he’s got. He’s bound to have all kinds of marvelous things happen for him. That’s Marc Bolan and Tyrannosaurus Rex and that was called Rings Of Fortune, and I’ll be playing the other side of that a little later on. We’ve got all the time in the world. I was very afraid, you know. Actually, I was thinking about this today when I was coming back on the tender, you know, because I had to go off last night, gloomy situation – I was thinking I’m going to terribly maudlin and depressed, you know. But actually, I’m getting as jazzed as I always do, you know, listening to all these fine records and things. So it is going to be a fairly ecstatic four and a half hours if you can bear it until 5.30, and I hope you’ll be able to. Ring up work. If you have to work, ring up and tell them that you had some traumatic experience during the night and that you can’t make it. And they won’t believe you, but there you are – they can’t prove it.

  • (Big L Film commercial)

JP: I would indeed, Mark, yes. I’d like to have one of those films as a matter of fact. I thought I was going to be the star of it, you see, originally, you know, because they took thousands of feet of film of me and they cut them all out, most of them anyway, which is very disheartening. But anyway, that’s life, I suppose. What was I going to say? Oh yes, some of the happiest hours actually that we’ve had in the Perfumed Garden so far together, as far as I’ve been concerned anyway, have been when I’ve been talking about these tiny little things like dibblers and sparrows and mini-mice and gerbils and jerboas and all these other things – of hamsters, because I’m really insane about them, you know. I go to the zoo and I go to the small animal house and I see these little tiny things hopping about, you know, and they all bite their fingernails. You know, when they eat they all sort of hold it up in their paws, you know, and you hear them going [biting sound], like this with the food. And it’s marvelous – and they hop about and grin at you, you know, because they’re behind the glass and they don’t have to bother. And they really do know something, they honestly do, you’d be surprised. And of course the sparrows do in the park and everything. And so when I move in and get organized in the new Peel Acres, you know, the place is going to be full of hamsters and other little things hopping about, and it is all going to be entirely beautiful. And I hope that thousands of you will be able to come down there and visit us. I was going to mention the address on the air, but this sounds ridiculous, you’re not going to believe it, I’ve forgotten what it is and I can’t remember. I know it is somewhere near Parson’s Green tube station and that’s all I know. But anyway, thousands of you will be coming down there, because I’ll meet you at UFO and places like that, and it’s going to be marvelous, you know, because I’ll be onshore all the time. Anyway, I’m raving on. Here are Simon and Garfunkel with a song that sums up the whole thing in many ways. This is At The Zoo.

JP: Simon and Garfunkel. At The Zoo there. Do come down to Peel Acres. We have quite an exhibition going on for you once the place is decorated, you see. We’ll have things like mad engineer Russ Tollerfield, who’ll be sitting there in a little cage phasing things and brewing tea all day long, which is what he should be doing right now. I haven’t heard this before. Someone sent it to me and I thought I’d play it. so we can all hear it together for the first time. It’s Howling Wolf’s version of Dust My Broom. Should be interesting. Hubert Sumlin on guitar.

JP: That’s Howlin’ Wolf and Dust My Blues. Bit of a mess actually, because vastly over-recorded piano and you couldn’t hear the lead guitarist at all. Anyway, time for us to check the weather regardless. It’s going to be, let's see, cloudy and dry tonight, with temperature falling to 10 degrees or 50 degrees, depending which way you like to count them. And today will be cloudy with rain in places, becoming heavier as the day progresses. Temperatures will be a cool 19 degrees Centigrade, 66 degrees Fahrenheit, and the winds will freshen. Outrageous! The outlook for Tuesday, rain at times, with sunny intervals. It’s supposed to be a very dodgy day at sea tomorrow, so just as well we’re coming off really. Here are Syn, and this the 14 Hour Technicolor Dream. Watch out for them, they’ve got a lot of good ideas.

  • 16 - The Syn - 14 Hour Technicolor Dream

JP: OK, those are Syn, and that was called the 14 Hour Technicolor Dream, which is going to be released as a single, I think, and I hope you’ll buy it. I was thinking how terribly condescending I must sound. I’m sitting here saying they have very good ideas – and one of their ideas would burst my brains out, frankly. You know, I mean, if I could creat things like that I should be very jazzed altogether. Anyway, during these summer holidays, two American university students are operating a programme of community service jobs for teenage volunteers in the borough of Hackney. The volunteer work is largely odd jobs like gardening and house cleaning for older people who are too old or too disabled to do it for themselves. So if you live in the area and find that you have to time to spare this summer, why not volunteer? And the chances are you will actually, because this is a good idea. I haven’t read this before. The programme is based at Hoxton Hall at 128A Hoxton Street in Shoreditch. That’s Hoxton Hall, 128A Hoxton Street, Shoreditch. Drop in on any weekday – and that would be a nice thing to do actually if you don’t have anything to do this summer, you know. You should love people instead of just sitting here talking about it, that you love your neighbour and all this kind of stuff, you getting out and doing something about it, which after all is what you should be doing I suppose. Here are the Velvet Underground and this is called Venus In Furs – a special request for Mick Farren and the Social Deviants. He explained it to me, you see. Filthy.

JP: Those are the Velvet Underground with their strange haunting and sometimes frightening things. That was called Venus In Furs. And I went up during that record to have a look at the night, which incidentally is very beautiful. So if you’re anywhere near a window, go out and look at it and breathe and perhaps say “I love you” into the night again. It’ll make you feel great. A lot of people wrote and said last time they went out and yelled “I love you” and they were a little afraid at first, but them it felt good after they had done it. So try it. I went out on deck and yelled “I love you” because I’m in no danger of getting arrested for contributing to and conspiring to cause a nuisance or something, whatever it is they charge you with. And anyway, mad engineer Russ Tollerfield was upstairs needlessly fiddling with things. He told me that he understood what that record was all about. So my incredible naivety, I had no idea until he explained, you see, until Mick Farren explained, so there you go. Here’s an announcement you might like to pay particular attention.

  • (Recording of Eric Burdon inviting listeners to join him on the station at 1.30 on Monday.)

I see, yes, well that’s very good Eric. And actually not so much next Monday as today, you see. If you try joining us next Monday you’re going to be in dead trouble right away. Here’s another fellow who has given us a lot of pleasure in the Perfumed Garden, in addition to being a very nice person himself, you see. Jeff Beck, and this is called Rock my Plimsol.

JP: Got to interrupt that very swiftly there, because there was something wrong with our naughty stylus. We’ll replace it and start all over again. In the meantime, here are Big Brother & The Holding Company. And in their estimation, All Is Loneliness, which is fine actually.

JP: Big Brother & The Holding Company there and that was called All Is Loneliness, you see, which never became a hit in America unfortunately, because it’s on rather an obscure label. We are going to have five minutes – five seconds, silence here because mad engineer Russ Tollerfield wants to try and found out why something is making a curious noise that it shouldn’t be making, so count five from now. OK, mad engineer Russ Tollerfield says that he has figured out what it is all about, so there you go, so he’ll get rid of all these curious extraneous noises that are hampering things at the moment. Here’s Jeff Beck once again, and the second try, Rock My Plimsol. It’s all happening.

Disc 2[]

JP: Rock My Plimsoul. The Jeff Beck group there. And I understand they are going to be doing an LP very shortly. When it comes out, I insist that you buy it. And here is another commercial announcement for your consideration, you see.

  • (Hair product commercial - female voice; "Do you use Vitalis?")

JP: I don't as a matter of fact, so there you are. I have an uneasy feeling that at 5.30 this morning, the Perfumed Garden may very slowly lift up into the air with all of us inside of it and just drift away somewhere and spend the rest of our lives, which will be forever perhaps, drifting around, and it will be very nice indeed. One of the people who I hope will be there when it does, Bob Dylan.

  • 02 - Bob Dylan - It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry

JP: The group Jon there. I mean, what am I talking about, the group Jon? I’m all confused, that’s what I’m going to play you next, because we’ve got people rushing around here, straightening things out. That was Bob Dylan, It Takes A Train To Cry, whatever it is called. I can never remember the name of it. I’m all messed up. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry, there you go, which is actually my favourite track from the Highway 61 Revisited LP. Here is Jon, which is what I was going to say before, and here’s a thing called Is It Love, which is going to be released as a single I understand on Columbia if I’m not very much mistaken.

  • 03 - Jon - Is It Love

JP: Do you realize we have another four hours in the benign nocturnal sunshine of the Perfumed Garden? Marvelous thought, isn’t it? Those are Jon. At least, I think it is – I hope you do too. And that was called Is It Love. And here is unashamedly one of my favourite tracks from the Revolver LP, which I share with actually nobody else seems to like it particularly strongly, but I think it’s marvelous.

JP: Sparrows, no doubt. And Your Bird Can Sing from the Revolver LP. And I think I’ll just run on into the next track.

JP: Confusion reigns here on the Perfumed Garden unfortunately. Those of course were The Beatles and that was For No One. And Country Joe & The Fish now. [Track starts playing.] Whoops! And I told you confusion was reigning. And this is Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine.

JP. Those were the Orange Bicycle and that was called Hyacinth Threads, you see, which is a new release on the Columbia label. And you’ll have to forgive us for all the confusion, for which I’m very, very sorry, but we had to move out of one studio into another. Because as you could tell, there was something wrong with the signal that was coming out of the other one – you know, that crackling sound, which you will notice has gone. So they’re fixing that and I’m in a different room right now, you see, which explains all the mistakes I shall be making during the next ten or fifteen minutes. Anyway, here’s Marc Bolan again, and this is a thing called Hippy Gumbo.

JP: The scene, there you go. And there’s Marc Bolon and Hippy Gumbo, which I think is great. I don’t know when it was released at all or anything about it, but there you are. Very strange things happening in the Perfumed Garden tonight, but we’re going to get it all organized now mad engineer Russ Tollerfield is at work. What more could you possibly ask for. Here’s John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers and Double Trouble.

JP: I hope you haven’t been overlooking the fact that we’re going to be here until 5.30 this morning playing all the records which have brought us happiness and joy in the Perfumed Garden. Don’t forget also, as I mentioned before, to make yourself a Perfumed Garden badge and wear it, regardless of how ridiculous you feel because it's important, because we’ve got to start communicating with one another before it’s all too late, you see. And it transpires incidentally that the trouble in the other studio was of my fault, you see. I had a feeling it would be, you know, but mad engineer Russ Tollerfield and almost as mad engineer Mike Howell told me that it was something I had done, you see. So it shows you – typically Peelian confusion. Here’s Tim Hardin and this is from Tim Hardin 1. Hang On To A Dream, which is something we’ll be doing over the next few months.

JP. Ten minutes until 2, which means something like three hours and 40 minutes. Is that right? I don't know. I’m a very bad mathematician. Three hours and 40 minutes left of the Perfumed Garden anyway. And here’s another group who have got a couple of LPs released in the States which ought to be worth hearing if you can ever get your hands on a copy – the Electric Prunes and this is called Wind-Up Toys.

JP: Wind-Up Toys by the Electric Prunes. I’m not exactly sure whether the philosophy behind that is right or not, but if we are all wind-up toys then at least we are winding ourselves up for once instead of telling other people to do it. Anyway, here’s Donovan, and this is the Epistle To Dippy.

JP. That's Donovan with the Epistle To Dippy. Four minutes before 2 o'clock, and we shall have some exhilarating weather for you at 2 – I know you are looking enormously forward to that. Here’s another fellow who’s given us a lot of pleasure in the Perfumed Garden, and these are Cream with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, and the Tales Of Brave Ulysses.

  • 13 - Cream - Tales Of Brave Ulysses

JP: Those are Cream and Tales Of Brave Ulysses. Perhaps one of these days in the Perfumed Garden if it expands a little bit, you’ll be able to sail around from island to island in beautiful Greek boats and things like this. There will be huge ships you know with great big sails and cargoes of jade and rubies and sweet wine and it will be something very nice indeed. Time now to check the weather quickly. Tonight is going to be mainly cloudy, although it will be dry, with temperatures falling to 10 degrees Centigrade, 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Today will be cloudy with rain in places, becoming heavier as the day progresses. Temperatures will be a cool 19 degrees Centigrade, 66 degrees Fahrenheit, and the winds will apparently freshen. The outlook for tomorrow, or today, whichever it is – oh, Tuesday, that’s right, the day after – changeable with rain and times and sunny intervals. And these are a group called Giant Sunflower, about whom I know absolutely nothing.

JP. Decidedly cool sounds there from the Giant Sunflower – February Sunshine. It sounds as thought they are going to start chuckling at any moment, very happy. Anyway, some time after this record, we will be transferring back to our original home you see, so there will be strange noises. Anyway, these are Shadows Of Knight, and this is called the Light Bulb Blues.

JP: OK, here we are back in the Perfumed Garden. Everything is under control again, or appears to be. Back in the original little room, you see, which is where I feel at home. I have the incense going and everything and all the lights off – or most of the lights off – and I sit in here and weave strange spells in my own mind and perhaps in yours too to a certain extent. Here are the Rolling Stones, and this is something that sums it all up, I suppose. From all of us out here on the ship, We Love You.

JP. Those were the Rolling Stones and We Love You. Definitely a record for the gods there and it will be released, I don’t know, in a week or so, I suppose. We’ve had it out here for ten days, you know. And this weeks music papers which have managed in some extraordinary way to completely overlook the closing down of Radio London except for a couple of brief lines, you know, in jest mainly. Anyway, they're saying, you know, that they have just heard this record and how marvelous it is and how much you are all going to enjoy it when you finally get to hear it yourselves in about a week. Here are the Moby Grape, and this is called Changes.

JP. Those are the Moby Grape and that was called Changes, from their LP, which was lent to us by Chris Houston – many thanks. (???) for you now. The letters that we’ve been getting have been saying how sad they were that the Perfumed Garden was going off the air, and in some ways it is sad. But overall actually if you pursue the whole thing, it’s rather a joyous occasion, because it is just going to be like one letter you know, from one word dropping out of The Hobbit, you know, the whole book, and it’ll still make sense without it, you know. And it’s just a very minor thing, a very small part of it, a very, very tiny insignificant fragment of the whole picture. And the whole picture is the important thing, and the whole picture is what we have got to get involved with and we’ve got to get very deeply into it. Because there are so many beautiful things that are going to come out, that are going to work out, are all about the scenes, all the things that have been good lately that have turned sour. They have come up for the best in the long run, like the moving of UFO from Tottenham Court Road to the Roundhouse, which I understand has proved to be a great success, and things like this. And things go downhill and they come back up again, and every time they go down, when they go back up, they go higher and higher and higher than they were before. You wait and see. Something beautiful is going to happen, and we are all going to be involved in it together. Splendid. Here’s Geoffrey Prowse with our song.

JP: That was Geoffrey Prowse, and I think that’s marvelous. I love it. And that's called Perfumed Garden Blues or John Peel’s Lament. And one of the things I shall be able to do, you see, as a result of this is to go and see Geoffrey and talk to him, you know, and visit him somewhere in Hertfordshire. And that will be very beautiful, something nice to be able to do. And very possibly I hope there’s a chance that I’ll be able to come and visit you or meet you or something, because you must understand that I love you.

  • 20 - Adrian Henri and Andy Roberts - Tonight at Noon

JP: Adrian Henri, and Adrian Henri with the scouse guitar of Andy Roberts. And some of that is already coming through. Poets are getting there. Their poems are into the top 20, aren’t they? I mean, look at the lists and things, you know, and see how many are up there. They are really poems just set to music, or music set to poems, or one or the other. Anyway, here’s Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band and a thing with the incredibly beautiful and lyrical title of Abba Zabba.

JP: I think Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band are marvelous, I really do. Lots of people don’t, though. Fantastic sound, very strange voice he has. I think he must have been originally intended for another planet, as a matter of fact. But anyway, that’s from an LP called Safe As Milk – which it definitely isn’t actually. The inner sleeve of the thing is magnificent. It’s all tied up with the Family Dog organization of San Francisco, you know, who have so many of these superb grooves. And it’s got… It’s just a marvelous thing. You must have it, as a matter of fact. It says, “The baby Jesus, shut your mouth and open your mind,” which is their motto, you see. Here’s the Jimi Hendrix Experience and a Tony Hall enterprise thing.

JP: Are You Experienced – the Jimi Hendrix Experience there, and that is called The Burning Of The Midnight Lamp, and there will be a certain amount of that going on too as we travel expediently in the next few weeks.

Disc 3[]

JP: Here’s Roy Harper and the title song from his LP Sophisticated Beggar.

JP: Whoops, excuse me. That’s Roy Harper and the thing called Sophisticated Beggar, the title song of his LP on Strike, which is no longer available. The label is called Strike, you see, said he explaining. And the mad laughter in the background was our engineers, who are busy dropping things and destroying property, which of course isn’t theirs. Here’s our essential nocturnal rave for this evening from the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.

JP: Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Look Over Yonder's Wall. And that featuring of course Mike Bloomfield on lead guitar who's now got his own group called the Mike Bloomfield Flag, which should be very interesting. I’ve got the Grateful Dead LP in front of me, and they seem to call themselves collectively Skjellyfetti, which is an extraordinary name. It’s like the Rolling Stones, they used to call themselves Nanker Phelge when they wrote. So here’s a composition by Skjellyfetti, and it’s called Cold Rain And Snow.

JP: Cold Rain And Snow by the Grateful Dead. And I understand that they had to record this record in sort of a couple of hours almost, because because Warner Brothers wanted to get what they call a “psychedelic” record you see onto the market as quickly as they possibly could. So that may explain the fact that the LP is I think in many ways rather disappointing. So what we’ll have to do is wait and see what the Grateful Dead do next and that should give you an indication of what they are really like. Here’s a record that actually Kenny Everett played for the first time on Radio London and introduced me to really, because I’d never bothered to listen to it all that closely before, and it’s become one of the favourite records in the Perfumed Garden. And incidentally, don’t forget to listen to Kenny because he’ll try and tell you basically what's going on. This is The Castle by Love.

  • 04 - Love - The Castle

JP: Just about everything a popular record should be really. Those were Love from the LP De Capo. And I read somewhere that Love have disbanded as a group, which would be a great pity if they have. I don’t know, you hear so many of these strange rumours about them and they are very strange people themselves too. Here’s Marc Bolan again, with a record that he recorded some time ago, I’m not exactly sure when. It’s called The Wizard.

JP: That was the end you see. [Sharp sound]. Do you mind, right in my ear! That was Marc Bolan and that was called The Wizard. What a night tonight is proving to be. I thought, you know, I’d do a nice, quiet, peaceful show, you know, and just talk and shout and carry on and everything, and it’s been a madhouse over here – people running in and out and things being dropped and broken, and me just sitting here trying to ignore it. Slam the door, go ahead, it’s alright. It’s like Grand Central Station. Unbelievable. Anyway, here are the Incredible Strong Band, and this is called The Mad Hatter's Song, which is singularly appropriate for our environment tonight, I think.

JP: Incredible. One of the best LPs released this year – the The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion. The Incredible String Band, and that was called the Mad Hatter's Song. And behind me squadrons of engineers operating with the easy grace of an avalanche. We’ve got a record, it’s the b-side of the new one by Traffic, and it's rather exciting because it has no name at all, actually nothing written on the label. And actually, there may not even be any music on there. We’ll find out by playing it, though.

JP: Strangely, I haven’t the slightest idea what that was called, but it was by Traffic anyway and it’s the b-side of their latest single. Five minutes before 3 in the Perfumed Garden. We’ve still got two hours and 35 minutes of music left to go. Here’s Jackson C Frank, and this is called Milk And Honey.

JP: Jackson C Frank, and that's called Milk And Honey, which actually will become a staple diet in the Perfumed Garden, except of course for the dibblers, who have to have the nectar of flowers. If you (???) nectar of flowers, you could probably (???) too. Here are Tomorrow, and this is called My White Bicycle.

JP: Those are the Tomorrow, or that was Tomorrow, or something, and My White Bicycle. I’m supposed to have read the weather, I’d better do that. It’s going to be mainly cloudy, although it will be dry, with temperatures falling to 10 degrees Centigrade, 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and today will be cloudy with rain in places, becoming heavier as the day progresses. Temperatures will be a cool 19 degrees Centigrade, 66 degrees Fahrenheit, and the winds will freshen. Outlook for Tuesday, changeable with rain at times and sunny intervals. These are the Misunderstood, and this is You Don't Have To Go.

JP: At last I am left alone in the dark green of the Perfumed Garden. Those are the Misunderstood, and You Don't Have To Go. And I do wish actually that it's possible for me to play for you the other acetates that I have from the Misunderstood, but they're still in America unfortunately and I can’t get my hands on them. One of these days, however, I will and you'll hear them, and you'll be amazed. There's one thing on there. You remember a thing that the Yardbirds did called I’m Not Talking. Well, Glenn starts that off, you know, and I don’t know how he does it, but he plays steel guitar and he has a bar thing in his left hand that he slides on the strings and he’s sort of stand at the end of his guitar and sort of bounce it down the strings. Like this. And then they go into I’m Not Talking, and in the middle of it he plays about a five or six minute long guitar solo, which – you can’t imagine it. Nothing anywhere else, nothing on any record anywhere in the world sounds like it. He’s the most amazing guitarist I have ever seen. I remember once on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood they went into Pandora’s Box, and it was the only time they ever played anywhere in Hollywood, because they got paid rotten money for working there, you know, because it was a big prestige thing. And they went in and they were the sort of fourth group or something – they were just sort of put on there as a joke mainly – and they had all these other groups on there. There was a group called the Sloth, and there was another one called the Third World War, and all these people. And they went on and all the people were saying, “Groovy grooves, that’s fantastic grooves.” They were all terrible and everyone was just sort of sitting there and acting like they weren’t terribly impressed by anything, you know, which was the sort of cool way to be. And the Misunderstood went on and they came up and they said, and Rick got up there… Rick, he really was, he has this sort of Greek god hair stuff, you know, he just sort of got up there and he was completely divorced from reality anyway – he was completely out of it – and he just got up there on the stage and said, “Hello, we’re the Misunderstood. We’re from Riverside.” And everybody started going, “Riverside?” You know, “Ha, ha, very provincial.” And anyway, they started off with about a 24-minute version of Smokestack Lightening, you know, and Glenn played about a 15-minute solo. Just, you know, I would give anything, I would give up my entire record collection just to have that one thing on tape. It was something you wouldn’t believe. And all these cool people, you know, who were standing there, standing around pretending they weren’t impressed. By the time it was all over they were standing, everyone in the place was standing at the bottom of the stage and they’d closed down the bar and everyone had stopped dancing and everybody in the place was standing by the stage. And in the middle of it they had this bit where you can get – I don’t know exactly how you do it, obviously, because I don’t know anything about electronics – but you can get a recurring cycle of feedback on a steel guitar. At least Glenn could. I don’t suppose anyone else in the world can, but Glenn is not of this world, I don't think and he could get this recurring cycle of feedback and he’d get the thing feeding back and the bass player, Steve, would get his bass guitar feeding back and the rhythm guitarist would get his thing feeding back, and then they’d all walk off the stage and you’d have this slashing, crashing sound going on stage. And they had lights, you know, one of the first groups ever to use lights, and they were all going away on stage and the stage would be empty and people couldn’t believe it. Their minds were completely blown. A magnificent group. Anyway, one of these days, the Misunderstood under some circumstances will come together again and you'll be able to see them and hear them, and you'll remember that John Peel told you. If they hadn’t had to break up as a result of the draft and the war in Vietnam and other sad things like that, they could be, you know, they could be up with the Beatles and people like that, they really could, because they had such incredible ideas. Anyway, here are Big Brother & The Holding Company and Janis Joplin. You see, I remember the name. This is called Call On Me. I hope you will, actually.

JP: Big Brother & The Holding Company. That's a magnificent record. Call On Me, and you must. Whenever you want to. Either come and visit me or call on me, and if you need me I shall be there, you know, in some way. And I wish we could all be together actually tonight in some beautiful place somewhere in the Perfumed Garden just all together. It wouldn’t be necessary for us to speak to one another, because we all understand right away, and that would be so nice. And one of these days, one of these days, it’s going to happen somewhere, somehow, under some set of circumstances that we can’t even envisage yet. Anyway, here’s a record by the Orange Bicycle, phased by Russ Tollerfield, who's currently making tea upstairs, and this is called Amy Peate. And I used to know a guy in Liverpool who was called Tommy Peate, so this is probably his sister.

  • 12 - Orange Bicycle - Amy Peate

JP: Wow, Russ does a fantastic job on phasing some of these things. I know phasing doesn’t always sound good over the radio actually, but it sounds magnificent in the studio, and I wish you could hear his version of A Day In The Life phased, because he gets that crossover thing right in the middle of those great big booming passages in there and it sounds exactly like a flight of planes. Some kind of, not even planes, some kind of astral thing, another dimension, flying overhead at enormous speed. Marvelous, and I wish that you could hear it in the studio with decent sound equipment rather than over your transistor radios. Anyway, here’s John Renbourn and this is called Another Monday, which as he says is much the same as another Tuesday. And he’s right, you know.

JP: That's John Renbourn from the LP Another Monday, and that was called Another Monday as a matter of fact. And now, Simon & Garfunkel with their latest American release, which I think is great. And in the middle they say something about Mr Leitch. At least a woman says, “Did you have a good day, Mr Leitch?” And I wonder if they're talking about Donovan. Anyway, we shall never know, you see. Another one of these intangibles. Fakin’ It is the name of it. Listen.

JP: Great record from Simon & Garfunkel there and that’s called Fakin' It, which is very popular in America. It’s 22 minutes after 3 in the Perfumed Garden and we will be going on for, let’s see, another two hours and 7 and a half minutes and actually 9 seconds if you want to be very academic indeed about it. These are the Who and this is my favourite track from their LP A Quick One, which is another LP I don’t have yet, you see, said he – careful hint to relatives for birthday presents. And it’s called Run Run Run, and not a bad idea really.

JP: Those are the Who and that’s called Run Run Run, from the LP A Quick One. And now time to hear from David Blue on the Elektra label, and this is The Street, which is a story strangely enough all about a street.

  • 16 - David Blue - The Street

JP: That's David Blue and The Street from an Elektra LP. The only one he's made, actually. I hope he does some more, because that one was done about a year and a half ago. Out of all the things I’ve ever done since I’ve been in radio for about three or four years nothing ever will surpass the opportunity that Ed Stewart gave me of playing some of the tracks from the Sergeant Pepper’s LP for the first time anywhere in the world. I felt, you know, like the man who conducted Beethoven’s Eighth for the first time. And people have said, You know. "That’s ridiculous, it’s not that important.” It is, it really was. It's the culminating thing in my entire radio career as far as I’m concerned. This is one of the tracks that I played.

JP: It certainly is. Even the hang-ups are straightening out. You’ll find out.

JP: In the Perfumed Garden, you see. Nothing is going to stop your mind from wandering ever. That’s good.

Disc 4[]

JP: Oops, excuse me. All kinds of feedbacky things there. Anyway, those are the Beatles and Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds. And time for Judy Collins now in the Perfumed Garden, and this naturally enough following upon that is the Liverpool Lullaby.

JP: That’s Judy Collins. We’ve got photography going on in here right now, all kinds of diabolic structions. That was a thing called the Liverpool Lullaby, which I think is very beautiful. I don’t know who wrote it. It’s still very beautiful nonetheless. The Jimi Hendrix Experience now, and this is from the LP Are You Experienced? I often wonder.

JP: Is it all over? Yes it is. I never can tell with that. Jimi Hendrix Experience and that is from the LP Are You Experienced? Donovan and one of my favourite of the earlier Donovan things. This is from the LP Fairytale, and this is the story of Sunny Goodge Street, and you may learn a few things from this if you listen closely.

JP: Why can’t I write things like that? That’s Donovan with Sunny Goodge Street from the LP Fairytale. Beautiful velvet sort of caressing voice. Makes me very happy. Here’s Marc Bolan and it’s completely different type of voice. Very unusual, and this is with his new group Tyrannosaurus Rex. It’s called Highways.

JP: And what a voice that is. It’s marvelous. That’s called Highways, from Tyrannosaurus Rex and Marc Bolan, who I am going to go and see as soon as the opportunity presents itself and find out, you know, where that strange voice comes from. These are the Seeds, who I suppose have started this whole sort of flower power thing, you know, which is just nice commercial word that people can cash in on. It really doesn’t mean anything very much, although the basic philosophies behind it are very important. This is called Mr Farmer.

JP: Those are the Seeds from Los Angeles and that is called Mr Farmer. From the Vocalian LP, actually. I didn’t know it had been released in this country until I borrowed it from someone and found out. It’s exactly four o’clock in the Perfumed Garden. Don’t forget, between us in some way we’ve got to keep the gates of the Perfumed Garden open. And one of the ways you can do it is by wearing this badge, you know. This may sound like a drag, but wear it anyway and you’ll meet people and there will be a communication and that is the most important thing. Tonight will be mainly cloudy, although it will be dry, with temperatures falling to 10 degrees Centigrade, 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Today will be cloudy with rain in places, becoming heavier as the day proceeds … progresses, actually. Temperatures will be a cool 19 degrees Centigrade, 66 degrees Fahrenheit, and the winds will freshen. And the outlook for Tuesday, changeable with rain at times and also sunny intervals. Here is one of my numerous theme songs, perhaps the most important of all I suppose to me.

JP: Simon & Garfunkel. There are a great number of sparrows actually, hopping around in the Perfumed Garden, and some of them occasionally visit Hyde Park and places like that and you can go down to the park and watch them as they stand on the edge of the water and scatter the water about themselves and take their little tiny (???) and everything, and they are very beautiful. But the only way you will see how beautiful they are is if you get up very close to them and talk to them and look. And underneath the little brown feathers they have on top you’ll see multi-coloured feathers underneath that shine and go right through them, and glisten and dance. Look and you will see. Here are the Mothers Of Invention.

JP: Those were the Mothers Of Invention, number 1 in the serious underground oratorios, it says. From the LP Absolutely Free. And don’t forget that a little later on he is here, actually sometime, I don’t know, in the autumn. Anyway, The Mothers Of Invention are going to be causing offense in your neighbourhood, so go and see them if they come. Should be an amazing thing. This is from the Zodiac Cosmic Sounds LP that brought a lot of happiness in the Perfumed Garden because I got a lot of paintings and things from people and met a lot of people through it. And this is the track Aquarius The Lover Of Life.

JP: Zodiac (Cosmic Sounds), that’s Aquarius The Lover Of Life. These are John’s Children, featuring Marc Bolan among others, and this is called Desdemona.

JP: That's a great record I think. Desdemona by John’s Children. And they're going to have an LP in the markets on September, in September sometime. Is it September already? I’m getting so tired I don’t even know what time of year it is. It's exactly 4.30 in case you’re keeping a record, and I hope you're going to stick with me until 5.30, til we close the gates of the Perfumed Garden with all of us inside. And we’ll open them again as soon as we can one way or another, so more people can come in and join us, because we need as many people as we can get. These are the Blues Project from the LP Projections and this is called Flute Thing.

  • 17 - The Blues Project - Flute Thing

JP: Blues Project, and that's called Flute Thing, from an LP called Projections, which is very interesting actually. I thought in this last Perfumed Garden, for the time being anyway, that it would be nice to read another story from Winnie the Pooh, because I’ve read a couple already and nobody has said anything about it – a sort of stunned silence – but I enjoyed reading them, so as it's 23 minutes to 5 in the morning, there aren’t too many people listening. Anyway, I thought I’d go ahead and read another. And I’ve always identified with Piglet in these stories, I don’t know why. I’m sure there’s a reason, no doubt. And this one seemed rather appropriate. It’s called, In Which Piglet Is Entirely Surrounded By Water.

  • 18 - John Peel - Reading From Winnie the Pooh (Part One)
  • 19 - Donovan - Sand And Foam
  • 20 - John Peel - Reading From Winnie the Pooh (Part Two)

Disc 5[]

JP: The Velvet Underground and that is called, believe it or not, Sunday and Morning, from the Verve LP The Velvet Underground & Nico. And I bet that's the first time you've been read a story from Winnie the Pooh very badly at 4.45 in the morning. Unique experiences every single day. And we’ve got 34 minutes of the Perfumed Garden to go and then Chuck Blair will be here. In the meantime, John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers.

JP: John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers from the Hard Road LP, and that’s called Crawling on Top Of A Hill. I’ve no idea actually that five and a half hours could make you so tired. Anyway, it’s rather nice – I feel sort of lethargic and sort of lumpy, you know, just sitting here. Anyway, the weather. It’s going to be mainly cloudy today, although it’ll be dry with temperatures falling to 10 degrees Centigrade, 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and today will be cloudy with rain in places, becoming heavier as the day progresses – which I can’t even say. Temperatures will be a cool 19 degrees Centigrade, 66 degrees Fahrenheit, and the winds will be fresh. And the outlook for Tuesday – changeable with rain at times and sunny intervals. Pink Floyd.

JP: Pink Floyd in the Perfumed Garden, and that’s called Matilda Mother from the LP Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. Couple of minutes now after five and in the last day of broadcasting on Radio London. Closing down at 3 o’clock this afternoon, and I hope you will stay with us as much as you possibly can, at least try and be here during the last two or three hours, because we would like to be able to think that you were listening. These are The Syn and this is called Flower Man.

  • 04 - The Syn - Flower Man

JP: Let me remind you, those of you who have stuck with me since 12 midnight tonight in the Perfumed Garden, the sparrows and the dibblers crawling off into their various nests and holes and things to get some sleep, and don’t forget to make yourself a Perfumed Garden badge, please. If you don’t do anything else ever, if anyone asks you, do that, so that people can communicate with you and they’ll know you and you’ll know them. It’ll be so much easier, and you’ll get to know more people that way and you’ll be very happy. You’ll find out. Captain Beefheart And The Magic Band from an LP called Safe As Milk, and this is called Sure 'Nuff N' Yes I Do.

JP: Captain Beefheart And The Magic Band there, and that’s called Sure 'Nuff N' Yes I Do. And I (???) that guy’s voice. Marvelous. One of these days you will know more about Captain Beefheart And The Magic Band, although not right now [next track on album had started]. Here’s Shawn Phillips, and this is called Coal Tattoo.

JP: Shawn Phillips in the Perfumed Garden and that was called – no, it was called Coal Tattoo. I’m reading the wrong part of the thing there. Anyway, somebody else who has given me enormous pleasure in the Perfumed garden, and you too I hope – Roger McGough. And here’s a couple of his poems from The Incredible New Liverpool Scene. Listen.

  • 07 - Roger McGough - Mother, There's A Strange Man Waiting At The Door / Mother, The Wardrobe Is Full Of Infantrymen

JP: That's Roger McGough and a couple of poems from The Incredible New Liverpool Scene [Sound]. Twelve minutes after five on the Perfumed Garden and time for John’s Children. This is called Sarah Crazy Child. [Plays record at wrong speed.] Mind you don’t play the record at the wrong speed! Happens all the time to all the best people, but particularly to me. First time I’ve done that tonight though, which is unusual. [Tries again.] That’s still at the wrong speed! What am I doing wrong? I’m just going to give up and try again.

JP: John’s Children there, finally going at the right speed - Sarah Crazy Child. Here's the first indication we ever had from the Beatles that they were becoming more aware of what was going on around.

JP: The Word. Those are the Beatles and “the word is love” – which is exactly right. That sums it all up really. I keep saying that, but it really does. And I would be very unhappy I suppose, very depressed and sad right now if it wasn’t for fact that I could think of places, Peel Acres and Hamster Hall and the other places that you’ve heard me talk about, there are people right now who are actually physically almost with me and mentally just exactly with me, you know, like being right there all together in one enormous great thought. They’d be saying the same things that I’m saying if they had the opportunity to do so, and this is what stops me from being sad. Because really the Perfumed Garden has been the most beautiful experience of my life as a result of the reaction of people who had no reason at all to react to it particularly, and it has made me very happy. And it is a thing that is going to come to a sort of temporary setback now, but you know from here on. But deep down things will look bad, but we’ll come right back and go up higher than we’ve ever been before. It’s going to be wonderful, you wait and see. Here’s Bob Dylan and the rather appropriately titled thing, On The Road Again.

JP: On The Road Again from Bob Dylan. It’s unlikely actually, and this is a rapid sort of dramatic change in plans and policies and things, that you’ll have an opportunity to hear the Velvet Underground and Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band and the Mothers Of Invention and people like this, Country Joe & The Fish, hear them on the radio again, at least not for a long time. And so every time you do, think about the Perfumed Garden. And don’t forget to wear that badge, how ridiculous you feel, because this is the only way that I can think of that we can communicate successfully one with another, and we’ve got to communicate to try and keep things going, you know. Really we’ve got to do our best to do so. And there are enough people in London who believe the same way that I do that we can actually get away with it and do it. I can’t take you to the sun, but we can all go together. The Misunderstood.

JP: The Misunderstood, and I Can Take You To The Sun. This is Donovan, and it’s called Writer In The Sun. We’ll all be there together - the dibblers and the sparrows, you’ll see.

  • 12 - Donovan - Writer In The Sun
  • 13 - John Peel - Big Lil Plays And We Say Goodbye To The Perfumed Garden

JP: And that’s it, that’s the end of the Perfumed Garden, at least as far as the radio goes. We’ll be back in some shape and some form, somewhere at some time. There has been much love generated on both sides. It simply can’t just disappear. I want to thank everybody who has written or listened or taken any interest in the programme at all, and the engineers on the ship and all the other disc jockeys and crew. I have met some very wonderful people as a result of this and I expect to meet a lot more. I hope I meet a lot of you. Don’t forget to wear your badge, watch out for the sparrows and the dibblers and the things that they represent and all the other little creatures. Be gentle and kind and loving. It’s very difficult to imagine that somebody who's never seen you or never met you loves you, but I love you all very much indeed and I hope you never forget that. Bye for now.

Extras:

  • 15 - Big Lil
  • 16 - John Peel - How Food Gets On A Record
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