The Gonzo Tapes: The Life and Times of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

by Hunter S. Thompson

Overview

Released as a five-disc set boasting over 100 tracks of audio recordings from Duke's vault, taken specifically between the years 1965 and 1975, The Gonzo Tapes: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson is an extensive listen: extensive, but exhaustive in every sense of the word. While Thompson was on his assignments, whether it was on location for Rolling Stone or during a phone call with his editor, he documented everything; muttering thoughts onto cassettes haphazardly as his pill-propelled mind raced, before coming down to earth and typing his notes into fully realized stories. Thompson was an obsessive archivist and the basis for all of his written works was his tape recorder. Having a key to this vault and a chance to hear all these original tapes should be, in theory, a dream come true for his fans. It seems like a no fail. Here we have a raw voyeuristic look into the mind of a genius writer. Unfortunately, because the content at hand is so completely indecipherable, the collection falls way short of expectations. If it wasn't already hard to understand Hunter's speedy and sporadic lock-jawed ramblings in live interviews, the excessive background noise (air ducts, cover bands, outside conversations, howling Hell's Angels, Andrew Lloyd Webber albums, his lawyer's pan flute) makes his slur even more difficult to understand, as do the random mic bumps and variety of recorder settings (the pocket of his Hawaiian shirt is one, the sink of a bathroom while he showers is another). Even with a solid, 42-page booklet of notes, diehards will have a tough time determining exactly what is taking place, leaving one to wonder if this content should have only been pulled from its basement resting place for its original purpose of supporting the film documentary Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, and then laid to rest. Museum curators will get a kick out the historical value (especially the two and a half hours of material that would ultimately make up Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), aspiring writers will find his technique of getting ideas to print inspirational, but casual listeners will find it frustrating trying to decipher the babble from the static. ~ Jason Lymangrover

Product Details

Release Date:	10/28/2008
Label:	Shout! Factory
UPC:	0826663109924

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Bass Lake Run: Shit, It's Only 11 O'Clock Here.
2. Bass Lake Run: We're Up at Bass Lake.
3. Bass Lake Run: All the Empty Cans and Beer Cartons Are Up on Top of the
4. Bass Lake Run: No Notes After Two Days of This Hell's Angels Thing.
5. Terry the Tramp Interview #1: It's August 5, Thursday Night. We're on t
6. Terry the Tramp Interview #1: Was Clovis a Run?
7. Terry the Tramp Interview #1: You Ever Try Peyote, Hunter?
8. Terry the Tramp Interview #1: I'm Not Worried Until the Book Comes Out.
9. Terry the Tramp Interview #1: I'm Puttin' You to a Terrible Inconvenien
10. Driving Back Through Oakland: On My Way Back Now from Taking Terry the
11. Driving Back Through Oakland: When I Was Talking to the Frisco Angels t
12. Driving Back Through Oakland: Also Like to Get the Idea Down.
13. The Merry Pranksters Welcome the Hell's Angels: What Follows Here Is a Conv
14. The Merry Pranksters Welcome the Hell's Angels: Ambulance Rolling, Code 3
15. It's a Long Story...Ha-Ha, Not Thump-Thump: Tonight Was Saturday, Augus
16. Terry the Tramp Interview #2: They Run It Down That This Girl Was a Poo
17. Terry the Tramp Interview #2: Porterville Is the One That Time Used, Ri
18. Terry the Tramp Interview #2: Who Was She? Had You Ever Seen Her?
19. Terry the Tramp Interview #2: Do You Remember What Day It Was?
20. Zing Zong Wing Ding Rush: We're Going to Have to Get Some Wisdom, Some
21. A Question for the Ages: It's Snow Outside, Getting Light.

Disc 2

22. We Have Seized the High Ground: It's Monday Afternoon, We Have a White
23. We Have Seized the High Ground: Did You See the Way That Guy Looked at
24. We Have Seized the High Ground: Well, She Was Crazy. It Was Clear When
25. One Toke Over the Line: Abbe Lane at the Desert Inn. Louis Prima, Stard
26. One Toke Over the Line: You Get What You Pay For.
27. One Toke Over the Line: What We Should Do Is Just Call the Free Press.
28. One Toke Over the Line: We Could Certainly Use Some Mescaline.
29. If All Else Fails We Must Get Ether: The White House Says the Guest Lis
30. If All Else Fails We Must Get Ether: Let Me Call Wilcock If I Can and S
31. If All Else Fails We Must Get Ether: Oh Hi, Is Jay There?
32. If All Else Fails We Must Get Ether: It's Ringing.
33. If All Else Fails We Must Get Ether: If All Else Fails We Must Get Ethe
34. In Search of the American Dream: Remote Control RM15
35. In Search of the American Dream: Maybe That's Where We've Gone Wrong.
36. Terry's Taco Stand, USA: I'm Getting Tired of Giving You Advice That Yo
37. Anybody in Search of the American Dream Needs a Lawyer, A Doctor and a
38. Anybody in Search of the American Dream Needs a Lawyer, A Doctor and a
39. Anybody in Search of the American Dream Needs a Lawyer, A Doctor and a
40. While Taking a Piss There It Suddenly Struck Me What's Going on Her.

Disc 3

41. Goddamn! This Monster's Licking My Arm!: As Usual, You're Afraid of Mex
42. Goddamn! This Monster's Licking My Arm!: We're Approaching the Fog Cutt
43. Goddamn! This Monster's Licking My Arm!: We're Going to the Pussycat No
44. Goddamn! This Monster's Licking My Arm!: Chances Are Very Good That I'l
45. Goddamn! This Monster's Licking My Arm!: Yes, This Is Oscar Acosta in R
46. Oscar Fled in Terror...Drug Up...Weird Road: Boulder Highway, Heading T
47. Oscar Fled in Terror...Drug Up...Weird Road: Two Things We Should Proba
48. Oscar Fled in Terror...Drug Up...Weird Road: Ah Yes, We're Coming Over
49. Oscar Fled in Terror...Drug Up...Weird Road: I Was Just Kind of Walking
50. Oscar Fled in Terror...Drug Up...Weird Road: A Strange Backwaters of So
51. Oscar Fled in Terror...Drug Up...Weird Road: I'm Pulling off on a Side
52. Oscar Fled in Terror...Drug Up...Weird Road: Aw Jesus.
53. Across This Treacherous Sand...A Huge Tidal Wave Will Come in on Me Now
54. Across This Treacherous Sand...A Huge Tidal Wave Will Come in on Me Now
55. Across This Treacherous Sand...A Huge Tidal Wave Will Come in on Me Now
56. Vegas D.A. Final Notes...the Whole Room Is Total Chaos: Las Vegas, Apri
57. Vegas D.A. Final Notes...the Whole Room Is Total Chaos: I Can't Imagine
58. Wenner Calls...with a Big "W" in 65-Pt Type: When I Start to Grapple wi
59. Wenner Calls...with a Big "W" in 65-Pt Type: I Figure I'm Going to Star
60. Wenner Calls...with a Big "W" in 65-Pt Type: Anyway, There's Vegas to B

Disc 4

61. Guts Ball: This Microphone Wound Up Beneath Something Down There.
62. Guts Ball: There's Signs of Group Hysteria in the Passengers.
63. Guts Ball: Some Are Just Weeping Now.
64. Guts Ball: Well, The Beauty of the Whole Thing...
65. Gozumel: It's March 30; Actually March 31.
66. Fear and Loathing in Acapulco: The Piece Was Interrupted; the Piece End
67. Fear and Loathing in Acapulco: Have Found Thompson, He's with Kissinger
68. Fear and Loathing in Acapulco: They Still Can't Reach Me.
69. Fear and Loathing in Acapulco: The Story Is Fear and Loathing in Acapul
70. Fear and Loathing in Acapulco: Telephone Call Between Duke and Gonzo.
71. Fear and Loathing in Acapulco: The Girls Are Laughing.
72. Freud Cocaine Papers: Here's the First Symptom of This Goddamn Evil Dru
73. Freud Cocaine Papers: I've Done What Most People Would Consider an Exce
74. Freud Cocaine Papers: This Is Wednesday Night, The Third Day of Our Coc
75. Freud Cocaine Papers: I Would Not Be Inclined.
76. Freud Cocaine Papers: There Appears to Be Some Minimal But at Least Not
77. Freud Cocaine Papers: June 28. I Think It's a Friday.
78. Fear and Loathing in Kinshasa: We're out Here, It's, Uh, I Don't Know W
79. Fear and Loathing in Kinshasa: Yeah, We Should Just Relax for a Second.
80. Fear and Loathing in Kinshasa: Lying Down on the Bed in This Stinking L
81. Fear and Loathing in Kinshasa: I Have Every Reason to Believe That We W
82. Fear and Loathing in Kinshasa: Fiendish. The Thing Is So Bad There's No
83. Fear and Loathing in Kinshasa: Tomorrow Morning at 6 O'Clock in the Hot
84. Fear and Loathing in Kinshasa: There's No Way You Can Conceive What's G
85. Fear and Loathing in Kinshasa: ...Called a Meeting Here.
86. Fear and Loathing in Kinshasa: I Realize It's Difficult This Time of Ni
87. Fear and Loathing in Kinshasa: We Really Have No Tickets
88. Fear and Loathing in Kinshasa: Ladies and Gentlemen, The Captain Has Tu

Disc 5

89. I'm the One That's Supposed to Be Crazy: Hello, Hunter.
90. I'm the One That's Supposed to Be Crazy: Why Don't You Talk to Gloria.
91. I'm the One That's Supposed to Be Crazy: Hello. Long-Distance Calling f
92. I'm the One That's Supposed to Be Crazy: When Were You Last There?
93. I'm the One That's Supposed to Be Crazy: Want to Go, Hunter?
94. Hotel Continental Palace: We Should Be in Saigon, In Loren Jenkins' Roo
95. Hotel Continental Palace: I Wasn't in a Position to Interpret That-One
96. Hotel Continental Palace: Nine O'Clock, Thursday Morning, Saigon, Conti
97. The Thursday Night Panic: Now It's Friday Morning.
98. The Thursday Night Panic: What Did You Hear?
99. Last Stand at Xuan Loc: To Get to Where We Were Yesterday...
100. Hong Kong: And That Was When This Goddamn Machine Broke.
101. Hong Kong: And Based on a Prediction That Ford's Speech Is Going to Be
102. Hong Kong: Meanwhile I Have to Go Over to the Newsweek Office
103. Hong Kong: Five Minutes of Six, In the Newsweek Office.
104. Hong Kong: Let's See, The News Tonight.
105. The Last Dispatch from Saigon: The Last Commercial Airliner Still Flying ou

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Hunter S. Thompson   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Dorothy Stefanski   Editorial Supervision
Don Fleming   Producer,Restoration,Track Notes,Audio Production
Ralph Steadman   Cover Art
Richard Foos   Executive Producer
Cory Frye   Project Assistant
Bob Fisher   Mastering
David McLees   Producer,Audio Production
Loretta Jenkins   Essay
Al Quattrocchi   Design,Art Direction
Paul Rocha   Project Assistant
Robert Y. Kim   Project Assistant
Nathan Salsburg   Editing
Alex Gibney   Introduction,Executive Producer