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Rare Hunter S. Thompson Article – Why Boys Will Be Girls

/ Rory / 9 Comments

“Algren has never been accused of being “sexually confused,” and he doesn’t wear his hair particularly long. Nor do I, for that matter, but I have a fine collection of women’s hats. I cultivated this taste in the Air Force, as a reaction to the ugly bus driver’s caps that found favor with General LeMay. Unfortunately, he retired before I had a chance to confront him at a command inspection. I had a feathered bonnet, at the time, that would have stunned his eyeballs and ruined his mind.”   

Hunter S. Thompson – When Boys Will Be Girls (Pageant Magazine Aug. 1967)

I was lucky enough to pick up a copy of Pageant Magazine recently after a furious bidding war on ebay (sorry Tom), and inside the covers this fabulous story from the Good Doctor graced several pages. It is the only place that I have seen it to date and it makes for a really interesting read. You can check it out in full over in our rare articles section.

In other news it appears that Alex Gibney’s Gonzo will be available to purchase on Amazon from November 18th. You can place pre-orders and reserve a copy now.

Thats all for now,

Ron Mexico

 

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Anita Thompson on The Gonzo Way, The Mutineer & The Rum Diary

/ Rory / 1 Comment
Check out this interesting video of Anita discussing The Gonzo Way, The Mutineer and The Rum Diary

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Anita is now blogging over at talkleft.com  – You can check out her latest entry here

Ok for now,

Ron Mexico

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Official Tracklisting for Hunter S. Thompson’s Gonzo Tapes – Updated Aug: 28th

/ Rory / 3 Comments

UPDATE AUG: 28th –  the set includes a 44-page booklet that includes track notes as well as archival photos courtesy of the Thompson estate.

Gonzo Tapes Tracklist:

Disc 1 – Hell’s Angels:

Bass Lake Run . . . Terry The Tramp Interview #1 . . . Driving Back Through Oakland . . . The Merry Pranksters Welcome The Hell’s Angels . . . It’s A Long Dirty Story . . . Ha-Ha, Not Thump-Thump . . . Terry The Tramp Interview #2 . . . Zing Zong Wing Ding Rush . . . A Question For The Ages

 

Disc 2 – Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

We Have Seized The High Ground . . . One Toke Over The Line . . . If All Else Fails We Must Get Ether . . . In Search Of The American Dream . . . Terry’s Taco Stand, USA . . . Anybody In Search Of The American Dream Needs A Lawyer, A Doctor And A Bodyguard

 

Disc 3 – More Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Goddamn! This Monster’s Licking My Arm! . . . Oscar Fled In Terror . . . Drug Up . . . Weird Road . . . Across This Treacherous Sand . . . A Huge Tidal Wave Will Come In On Me Now . . . Vegas D.A. Final Notes . . . The Whole Room Is Total Chaos . . . Wenner Calls . . . With A Big “W” in 65-Pt Type

 

Disc 4 – Gonzo Gridlock 1973-1974

Guts Ball . . . Cozumel . . . Fear And Loathing In Acapulco . . . Freud Cocaine Papers . . . Fear And Loathing In Kinshasa

 

Disc 5 – Fear and Loathing in Saigon

I’m The One That’s Supposed To Be Crazy . . . Hotel Continental Palace . . . The Thursday Night Panic . . . Last Stand At Xuan Loc . . . Hong Kong . . . The Last Dispatch From Saigon

Jesus I can’t wait to get my hands on this !!

 

Later,

 

Ron Mexico

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Hunter S. Thompson’s Gonzo Tapes Due October

/ Rory / 4 Comments

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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Who Killed Hunter S. Thompson?

/ Rory / 3 Comments

A few weeks ago here at Totally Gonzo, I brought up the seemingly forever delayed Who Killed Hunter S. Thompson? by Warren Hinckle and appealed for any information regarding the hold up. Well thanks to the power of the internet I can now bring you some good news. I have been in touch with Warren Hinkle himself and he brought me up to speed with the project. After the book was announced over two years ago a great amount of new ‘Hunter treasures’ have been unearthed and as a result the book has doubled in size from the original 200 or so pages to approximately 400 or so. Warren also had this to say about the book –‘there’s a fascinating amount of undiscovered Thompson lore and art in there…’

Providing everything runs smoothly Warren said that he hopes the book will be out around November. As soon as there is a definite release date I will post it here at Totally Gonzo. I also came across a blog entry by Peter Richardson who ran into Warren at the recent Book Expo America in L.A. Warren was there to promote Who Killed Hunter S. Thompson? so it seems that we will have this book in our hands sooner rather than later. Speeking of books Peter Richardson is the author of American Prophet: The Life and Work of Carey McWilliams who as you all know suggested to Hunter that he cover The Hells Angels for a story. Peter also teaches a class on California culture at San Francisco State University. One of the books studied in that class is Hells Angels. Check out his blog, it is well worth a visit.

Another blog worth checking out is The Farm Report by William McKeen which is regularly updated as he travels across America promoting his excellent new book Outlaw Journalist: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson.

Thats about it for now,

Ron Mexico

PS: Totally Gonzo was recently mentioned in the papers here in Ireland. You can read the articles here. Reporter Olaf Tyaransen frequently writes about Hunter in both The Herald and Hotpress Magazine. Thanks for the mention Olaf! Also the Gonzostore is now back online.

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Celebrating Hunter S. Thompson

/ Rory / 2 Comments

UPDATED SAT. JULY 19th (see bottom of post)

Today July 18th is Hunter S. Thompson’s birthday. He would have been 71. Now everybody knows that Hunter liked to have a good time so lets just do that today and celebrate the man – he would have wanted to hear ice clinking in glasses and the sound of people having FUN!  

If you are lucky enough to live near a theatre that is showing Alex Gibney’s Gonzo then why not check it out tonight and then hit the town. For those of you living in Hunters hometown of Louisville there is an event on tonight that promises to be a real blast.

   

 

Today also marks the publication of Outlaw Journalist: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson by William McKeen. There is a book-signing tonight by William at Explore Books in Aspen for those of you lucky enough to live nearby. You can check out a list of places where William will be signing his book here. Having read the book (along with all the other ones on Hunter) I have to say it is by far the best one out there. Check it out you won’t be disappointed.

There is also a big event at the Nomad Lounge in Omaha today with Beef Torrey & Kevin Simonson – authors of Conversations with Hunter S. Thompson. Along with signing copies of their book, there will be a screening of Breakfast With Hunter and Kevin will be sharing one of the largest collections of Thompson and Steadman paraphernalia in the country. For full details of the event check out the website.

 

Finally don’t forget our great competition!

Happy Birthday Doc,

Ron Mexico

UPDATE: Check out this great story about Hunter by Michael Cleverly.

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In Search of The Ginger Man

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“Well, Lionel, a chap named Donleavy has just written a book. He never made it to Beverly Glen, or even Esquire, but he can write the balls off of every punk who did – including me.”

Hunter S. Thompson – The Proud Highway

 

Tomorrow I am off to Dublin to hopefully get a chance to have a word with JP Donleavy, infamous author of The Ginger Man and famed recluse. Mr. Donleavy is giving a reading as part of the Dublin Writers Festival and will also be discussing the upcoming movie adaption of his wicked novel. It is also heavily rumoured that Colonel Depp will be there, as he is hotly tipped to play the lead role – that of Sebastian Dangerfield. The Colonel and Mr. Donleavy are good friends and have been discussing this movie for a while now. Shane McGowan is also supposed to make a cameo appearence in the film playing the equally boisterous Brendan Behan. Speaking of the Colonel, it was his birthday this week so hopefully he had a good one! Here is a clip from the Extended DVD of his appearence on Inside the Actors Studio. He is talking about what it was like to live with The Good Doctor.

 

 

Oh yeah before I go, if you want to read a letter that Hunter sent to JP Donleavy then click here and last, but certainly by no means least, for those of you who are interested in collecting the work of Dr. Thompson check out HST Books run by our very own Lono, it is a fantastic site with great information on collecting First Editions, Limited Editions, Rare Magazines and basically everything to do with Gonzo.

Good luck,

Ron Mexico       

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Jack Was Not Innocent, He Ran Over Dogs

/ Rory / 1 Comment

“Jack Kerouac influenced me quite a bit as a writer…in the Arab sense that the enemy of my enemy was my friend. Kerouac taught me that you could get away with writing about drugs and get published. It was possible, and in a symbolic way I expected Kerouac to turn up in Haight-Ashbury for the cause. Ginsberg was there, so it was kind of natural to expect that Kerouac would show up too.”  

Hunter S. Thompson – Paris Review # 156

 

So I was having a browse on the net today when I discovered a great little CD called Kerouac: Kicks Joy Darkness. It is a tribute to Jack Kerouac and features contributions from the likes of Patti Smith, Johnny Depp, John Cale, William S. Burroughs, Eddie Vedder, Allen Ginsberg, Joe Strummer, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Steven Tyler and Michael Stipe. Oh and some fellow called Thompson has a piece called – Letter To William S. Burroughs And Ode To Jack. 

Enjoy!

Ron Mexico

 

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