The Gonzo Tapes, a five-disc set of unreleased recordings by Rolling Stone’s own Hunter S. Thompson, will be released on October 28th. Compiled while filmmakers were producing Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, the audio on The Gonzo Tapes was recorded between 1965 and 1975, with Thompson using the tapes to capture his thoughts and descriptions of what was happening around him or to look back at what he experienced.
Thompson’s widow granted permission to director Alex Gibney, producer Eva Orner and archivist Don Fleming to go through the tapes that were stored in boxes in the basement of Thompson’s Woody Creek, Colorado home. Disc 1 on the collection will feature Thompson’s year riding with the Hell’s Angels, Discs 2 and 3 both draw from his novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Disc 4 covers Thompson’s exploits between 1973 and 1974 and the fifth disc features his 1975 trip to Saigon. The cover features original artwork by Ralph Steadman and the package will contain essays by Gibney and Thompson’s fellow foreign correspondent Loren Jenkins. – Rolling Stone
Thoughts and more to follow…
Ron Mexico
Update: The Gonzo Tapes will be released by Shout Factory
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Up to ’75. Maybe that’s why Gibney’s documentary stops cold there and considers everything after F&L ’72 to be drugged out garbage.
Don’t get me started – Gibney is guilty of wasting Grade A Material – the whole thing comes off as lazy lazy lazy.
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I agree with both of you guys – the Gonzo Tapes is an interesting compliation, but misses the mark for leaving out so many years of HST’s work. The sound mastering could have used a lot of work…even with low-end source material, Shout Factory could’ve done some noise reduction and leveling to make the audio more clear.