Brian Wilson, Keith Moon, Micky D, Iggy, Han Solo, etc...(Many 1974 Photos)

[guitarfool2002]

Part 1

(Note: If anyone has corrections, additions, mistakes to point out in any of this, please do!)

The topic of Brian Wilson recording at Micky Dolenz's house was brought up this week, and to go along with that I thought some historical context would be neat in the form of a collection of photos and a few brief captions to ID them. I wanted to do something much larger with this topic, but it's been sitting on my drive for about a year due to various reasons, so this is a condensed version for those interested in the whole post-60's mega-rock-star hangout scene that was at least one prominent clique in Hollywood at the time John Lennon had his "Lost Weekend" phase and Brian Wilson was being reclusive (or so we thought).

Here is the main photo in question: Brian, with bathrobe, and Keith Moon wearing something resembling a Nudie suit.

This was at a party, organized in part through Keith's record company, promotions, and management, to celebrate his 28th birthday, held August 23, 1974 at what many sources say was the Beverly Wilshire Hotel (other sources list others, but most say the Wilshire).



At this party, those executives and management types presented Keith with the pinstripe suit worn by Robert Redford in the film The Sting (designed by Edith Head), which was a huge hit during the previous year:




Note the taller man with moustache and vest standing far right on the top photo. That is Dennis Morgan, who was working publicity and managing PR and all of that for The Who and Keith around his solo album. He tells a funny story about either this party or another party where Brian was involved, and the party eventually went to Moon's hotel room. There he started up a conversation with legendary writer Norman Whitfield, who was then working for WB in some capacity, and Whitfield was opening up to Morgan's questions about songwriting, etc. Then he realized he was mistaken: Whitfield thought Morgan was actually Brian Wilson, realized it, and cut off the conversation! They later laughed about it, but apparent Morgan at some point looked enough like Brian (or enough intoxicants were ingested) to confuse Whitfield.

Here is another of Morgan and Moon:


A few shots of more familiar faces at the party...Micky Dolenz and Deep Throat star Linda Lovelace:



Iggy Pop:


Keith's girlfriend Annette Walter-Lax, groupie and LA scenester Lori Maddox, Keith, and if you look behind them you'll see what looks like Harrison Ford looking into the camera:


Keith Moon, Linda Blair (riding high on the fame from The Exorcist), and porn star Linda Lovelace (watch any R-Rating filters on this one...sorry...). Notice Keith wearing "Linda Lovelace For President" button:


John Lennon was not there, he was in New York and it was on this weekend in New York when John had his UFO sighting. I don't think Alice Cooper was at the party, at least I have not seen any photos of him at the hotel (If there are, please post!).

Some additional random shots from August 23, 1974:






Note Harrison Ford (or what looks like him):


The guy with the beard next to Harrison in the background looks familiar: Any guesses?



Hopefully that gives a bit of context to the photo of Brian and Moon, and this photo is/was one of a series taken at the specific event celebrating Keith Moon's 28th birthday. It is neat to also see the 70's pop-culture references like "The Sting", Linda Lovelace and "Deep Throat", Linda Blair and "The Exorcist", etc.

Part 2 will follow, some choice photos and candids to further connect all these folks.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Holy hell, thank you for this

[pixletwin]

Cool photos but that ain't Harrison Ford.

[guitarfool2002]

Addition to part 1, call it "Part 1A": The trouble with photos being cropped.

Here's another interesting sidetrack on the Keith Moon party. This is a wider, less-cropped version of Micky, Keith, and Linda Lovelace with a notable addition:




And another angle of the same group:




The guy on the left is David Winters, very famous as a director, actor, choreographer, producer, etc. Google his name for credits.

Anyway, after Linda's fame with "Deep Throat", she was dating David Winters. Her career went downhill after a sequel, so Winters made a film for her and featuring her (and her notoriety...she is/was perhaps the most famous female porn star of all time) in an effort to boost her career and profile.

The film was called "Linda Lovelace For President", and notice in one photo with Lovelace, Keith Moon is wearing a "Linda Lovelace For President" button. Winters got Micky Dolenz to appear in a role in the film. There is another connection:

David Winters was a noted dance teacher as well: Among his students was Toni Basil (who choreographed and had a featured role dancing with Davy Jones in 'Head') and Teri Garr (who also had a role in 'Head'). Winters himself directed at least two Monkees TV episodes from the second season, "A Coffin Too Frequent" aired Nov 20 1967, and "Monkees Blow Their Minds" aired March 11 1968. Winters is credited for choreography on the Monkees TV show as well, so he knew Micky Dolenz from the Monkees days.

That explains the button worn by Keith Moon - unfortunately there is another more clear photo of keith, Linda, and Linda Blair but I don't want to post it here because Linda's top is literally see-through, and it might trigger some filters if people are reading this from work or office...It's easy to find online, though.

A later shot of Micky and Linda Lovelace:



Taken all together, this is just one of the background connections that brought all of these people together at various times in rock-pop history, and it adds another layer to seeing a bunch of photos from a random event and wondering what is it all about.

I *do* wonder why the Micky-Keith-Linda photo when it has appeared elsewhere has David Winters' image cropped out of the shot.

The real part 2 will follow soon...



EDIT: I had to crop the second group shot again because of Linda's top...sorry about that...

[SMiLE Brian]

What a wonderful environment for Brian's downward sprial....

[Sheriff John Stone]

Lori Maddox was 16 years old at the time of this party.

[Myk Luhv]

You can see it in her face too

[Kirk]

Every chick at that party looks 16.

Except Linda Lovelace.

The "Harrison Ford" looks more like Lee Majors to me, but I doubt it's the Six Million Dollar Man. Would be cool if it were, though.

[runnersdialzero]

i see boobs
they are neat
nipples for you
nipples for me

[EthanJames]

Here's another one of Keith and Iggy.


Also according to some sources Brian was playing a piano that night and Alice Cooper recalled this,
"Iggy and I were sitting there waiting -- you know it was Brian Wilson one of the great writers of all time -- and he sat down at the piano and starts playing 'Mama's little baby loves shortnin shortnin, mama's little baby loves shortnin bread. He goes, 'No this is the greatest song ever written', dead seriously. We were two little kids, we go, 'Umm OK. Why is that the best song?' 'I don't know it's just the best song ever written.' That's like [Sir Paul] McCartney telling you that because you go, OK -- I guess you're right." 'This is too much for us,' Iggy said. 'Too damn weird.'

some sources say it happened either happened on this night or 1978.

[MBE]

Being a big Keith Moon fan I love these pictures. He still looked good here, he really went into a downward sprial himself and looked 15-20 years older by his death 4 years later.

[Rocker]

At this party, those executives and management types presented Keith with the pinstripe suit worn by Robert Redford in the film The Sting (designed by Edith Head), which was a huge hit during the previous year:

Edith Head also did all the costumes for the Presley movies a.o.

[Doo Dah]

Love these old shots. The fact that they're black & white add a timeless quality. Decadent film noir. Im Cabaret.

[Dunderhead]

What albums are connected most to this scene? Nilsson's Vagina Cats is the first one that comes to mind. I was thinking about putting together a playlist compilation album of the best 'group' tracks that came out of this scene on various albums throughout the 70s. Anyone here care to take a stab at it?

[KittyKat]

What albums are connected most to this scene? Nilsson's Vagina Cats is the first one that comes to mind. I was thinking about putting together a playlist compilation album of the best 'group' tracks that came out of this scene on various albums throughout the 70s. Anyone here care to take a stab at it?

Nilsson's Vagina Cats?  Gotta love the word replacer censorship thingie on this board.

I wonder if the film execs were treating Keith so well due to the Who being under contract for the Tommy film, which was released several months later.

[runnersdialzero]

Love these old tits. The fact that they're black & white add a timeless quality. Decadent film noir. Im Cabaret.

???

[hypehat]

What albums are connected most to this scene? Nilsson's Vagina Cats is the first one that comes to mind. I was thinking about putting together a playlist compilation album of the best 'group' tracks that came out of this scene on various albums throughout the 70s. Anyone here care to take a stab at it?

Keith Moon's solo album released around the time (it has Don't Worry Baby and Nilsson's Together on it, but I can't recall the name)

John Lennon's Walls & Bridges, Rock and Roll were both recorded at the time and place.

Nilsson's Sandman and Duit On Mon Dei are essentially the same scene, but after John left.

Does Clang of the Yankee Reaper count? 1975 LA, although it is not quite as brazenly decadent as the rest of the albums here.

Ringo Starr albums probably count, but I don't know anything about his discography. Only You (produced by Lennon, backing vox by Nilsson) probably counts as a standalone track

There's probably a tonne more in the 'chaotic coke-sniffing mid 70's overproduced' canon but I'm drawing a blank. Leonard Cohen's 'Death Of A Ladies Man' fits sonically, but the only link is Spector/Wrecking Crew.

[Aegir]

Keith Moon, Linda Blair (riding high on the fame from The Exorcist), and porn star Linda Lovelace (watch any R-Rating filters on this one...sorry...). Notice Keith wearing "Linda Lovelace For President" button:

well, now I've seen everything.

[The Heartical Don]

Basically, we now know what caused Brian's mental health problems.

It is urgent that the Murry Reappraisal Thread will have its lift-off soon.

[pixletwin]

John Lennon's Walls & Bridges, Rock and Roll were both recorded at the time and place.

Technically Rock and Roll (as it was released) was not recorded during John's time in LA. The tracks he recorded there were mostly unusable because he was usually drunk or high and I'm not sure whether or not he recovered all of the tapes that were stolen by Phil Spector. He had to rerecord most of it when he got back to the Record Plant in New York.