The Smith Tapes: Lost Interviews with Rock Stars & Icons 1969-1972

by Ezra Bookstein

The 1960s were a period of radical cultural, social, and political upheaval in the United States and around the globe; yet in just three years, between 1969 and 1972, Village Voice "Scenes" columnist, WPLJ FM radio host, and cult figure Howard Smith got to the heart of it all by talking it out--both on and--off the record. As famous as those who passed through the airwaves, Smith encapsulated the end of an era through personal conversations and hard-hitting interviews with Mick Jagger, Frank Zappa, Andy Warhol, Buckminster Fuller, leaders of the feminist movement and the Gay Liberation Front, a NARC agent, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and scores of other iconic and influential personalities, including musicians, artists, filmmakers, actors, writers, politicians, and social activists, from countercultural luminaries to everyday revolutionaries and everyone in between.
The Smith Tapes transcribes, for the first time ever, sixty-one of those recorded sessions, from an archive of more than one hundred fifty reels unearthed after more than forty years. Edited by documentary film writer and director/producer Ezra Bookstein, this book reveals the time capsule that Smith ingeniously captured, and contains raw and unscripted talks that take you right into the midst of a transformative cultural and musical explosion.

Genres: Music, Biography, History

416 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 2015

Reviews

[Patrick Brennick]

Not really as good as I'd been led to believe. Interviewees were interesting, but did not feel that many interesting questions were asked.

[gnarlyhiker]

worth a read

good luck

[Patrick Fay]

Interesting interviews with a varied cast of characters including musicians, social and political activists and now forgotten figures who had caught the public's attention (Xavier Hollander) from 1969-72. Some of the people I had thought might be most interesting were the least worthwhile (Jack Nicholson, Allen Ginsburg) and others of whom I had never heard were fascinating - spokesmen for Native American rights, early advocates of greater care for the environment, etc. But my favorite was Buckminster Fuller who epitomizes the lofty minded intellectual that has no idea how absurd and impractical his ideas are. A really nice slice of life from an interesting time.

[Zeynep Şen]

This was a pretty great read overall. Some interviews were more interesting than others. In fact, I generally preferred interviews with people like politians, activists and authors than those with singers, as they provided a more interesting and comprehensive insights into the historical movements of the 60s-70s. The women's liberation movement, flower power, gay liberation movement, Black Panthers & Black Liberation Movement, Vietnam War, Nixon era... I could go on. This book has taught me two important things, really:
1. A lot of progress has been made.
2. Nothing has changed. We are still dealing with the same shit.
I am still hopeful thought because comparing then and now, you can see the ripple effects of history and how real change does start to happen -- even if it does so at a frustratingly slow pace.

[Brian]

Great collection of interviews with icons of the 1970s, celebrities, activists, everybody. The times they have a changed.

[Tom]

"Lost Interviews" is a great book and time capsule that can inform the cultural & political landscape we currently occupy.