Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin are connected for changing rock n’ roll history and American culture in the 1960s. They also all died when they were just 27 years old. Who knows what could have been. Or maybe it was fate. What do you think?
These lost tapes from the Blank on Blank archive were recorded between 1969 and 1970 thanks to Howard Smith and Keith Altham.
00:10
-Are you hungry?
00:12
-Why do you ask that?
00:13
-Well, maybe we could order out for some sandwiches or some
00:17
chicken delight or something.
00:28
-You’re not hungry? Or-
00:30
How about you? Are you hungry?
00:33
Oh, it’s lunch time!
00:34
Did you have breakfast this morning?
00:36
(Howard Smith): Yeah -You did?
00:37
What’d you have?
00:39
Oh, little things like… chocolate cake and tea.
00:43
(Morrison): Is that all you had? -Yeah.
00:44
Hey, you should eat more, Howard!
00:45
(laughs)
00:47
You put on a lot of weight, you eating a lot?
00:49
(breathes)
00:51
Well, uhm…
00:53
You know, that’s something that’s- that
00:56
really bothers me.
00:58
What’s wrong with being fat?
01:01
That’s what I wanna know.
01:02
Why is there such-
01:03
(Howard Smith): I didn’t say there is anything wrong with it.
01:05
-Why is it so onerous to be fat?
01:09
Uhm..
01:12
I don’t see anything wrong with fat. You know?
01:16
I mean, I remember when I used to weigh 185 pounds.
01:22
And… and the same height-
01:23
-I was the same height that I am now, and I weighed 185 pounds.
01:27
And, I was going to college.
01:29
And, I had this food ticket at the cafeteria.
01:33
And, the cafeteria food is
01:35
mainly all based on starch.
01:38
You know, it’s cheap food, right.
01:40
And, so, I don’t know what it was but,
01:42
in order- I don’t know I just felt like I was-
01:45
If you missed your meal, you just…
01:46
You know…
01:47
I just figured:
01:48
“Well I was getting screwed, right?”
01:49
If I missed a meal, I just blew it.
01:54
So, I’d get up at 6:30 every morning,
01:58
just to make breakfast, right?
02:00
(laughs)
02:03
Eggs, and grits, and sausages,
02:08
and toast…
02:10
and milk.
02:13
Then I’d go do a few classes.
02:15
And I’d make it in there for lunch.
02:19
Mashed potatoes.. uh..
02:23
You know, every know and then they’d put a little piece of meat
02:26
in something, you know.
02:28
Then, I’d go to a few more classes.
02:30
And, then I’d go to dinner.
02:31
And this is… more mashed potatoes.
02:43
And so, about three months later, I was 185 pounds.
02:47
And, you know what?
02:49
I felt so great.
02:51
I felt, like a tank. You know?
02:54
I felt like a- like a large mammal, a big beast.
03:01
When I moved through the corridors, or across the lawn,
03:05
I’d just feel like, I could knock anybody out of my way, you know?
03:10
I was solid, man.
03:12
It’s terrible to be thin and wispy, because,
03:16
you know, you could… you could get knocked over by a..
03:19
a strong wind or something, man.
03:22
Fat is beautiful.
03:27
-How much do you weigh now?
03:29
-I don’t know, to tell you the truth.
03:31
I guess, somewhere in the neighborhood of about 150.
03:37
-Really?
03:38
-Uh huh.
03:40
You wanna compare biceps?
03:42
(laughs)
03:43
Do you want to-
03:44
You wanted that arm wrestling match, Howard.
03:46
Are you ready?
03:47
Are you in shape? -Alright, yeah.
03:49
Well, the interview’s over.
03:51
(laughs)
13:07
Subtitles by the Amara.org community
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Have you read the original anthology that was the catalyst for The Good Men Project? Buy here: The Good Men Project: Real Stories from the Front Lines of Modern Manhood
◊♦◊
Talk to you soon.
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