American Prankster is a deep dive with the iconic Wavy Gravy, unfolding his fascinating,historic and hilarious lifestory as an original Beatnik, comedy pioneer, hippie icon and pioneering activist who uses humor as a weapon.  

Sharing stories that even he’d forgotten with producer/host, Rainbow Valentine, of Disorganized Crime: Smuggler’s Daughter, Wavy gets down to the very nit of the grit and reminds us what it means to be human.

From Ben and Jerry’s ice cream to Woodstock to the Acid Tests and running a pig for president, Wavy Gravy is an essential part of American counter culture history and more. 

You will hear stories of his childhood, teen, army, college and beatnik years with Bob Dylan, Tiny Tim, Martha Graham plus tales of his comedy life with Lenny Bruce, Del Close, Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters and his friendships with music icons like Janis Joplin, Jerry Garcia, Mama Cass, Joan C. Baez and more! 

Wavy shares absurdist yarns from his lifelong activism using humor as a weapon, along with pals, Abbie Hoffman, Jackson Browne, the Yippies and traveling roadshows of hippies. Plus how psychedelic globetrotting led to the SEVA Foundation and Camp Winnarainbow.  Wavy’s 8+ decades of embodying American Pranksterism, inspiring millions down the tie-dye colored path of life and spreading his ethos of Basic Human Needs, is a fundamental part of American, comedy, activist, music, food and global history. Plus he’s hilarious and a born storyteller.

"When you get to the very bottom of the human soul, when the nit is slamming into the grit and you are sinking but you reach down to help someone else, that is when everyone gets high and you don't even need LSD to do that...and that's when I passed the acid test." – Wavy Gravy, American Prankster

"He's like our Rabbi..." - Trixie Garcia

American Prankster is a proud part of Pantheon Podcasts

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“The Real Me,” a new production from Pantheon Podcasts premiering Tuesday, Oct. 5, follows the emotionally powerful stories of young songwriters and performers with cancer who found hope, healing and connection through music.

Presented by Teen Cancer America (TCA), the national non-profit founded by rock icons Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of The Who, “The Real Me” highlights the moving experiences of cancer patients in TCA’s Play It Back program, which matches them with music professionals to write, perform and record fully produced studio versions of their original songs.

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In Episode 16 we hear from Carrie Colliton with Record Store Day about how events of 2020 have changed this popular event and when the much anticipated special releases will be available. And in the quest to complete his ultimate stereo system, Dave returns to North Coast Audio and demos speakers with Chris Larsen. Dave also invites Vinyl Snob studio chief engineer and speaker skeptic, his brother Jerry, on the program to review his purchase. And with businesses slowly reopening, we talk with Barry Lazarus Of Red Devil Records in San Rafael, California, about what that will look like for record stores.

This show is part of Pantheon Podcasts.

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In our third segment of Confessions of a Vinyl Addict, producer Dana Berry speaks with Tom Lynch, longtime record buyer at Amoeba Music in San Francisco. Tom has some great stories about growing up in the music hotbed of Detroit, continuing his vinyl odyssey to the West Coast and landing at the mecca of used records. Continuing our Vinyl News discussion of the tragic Apollo Masters fire, Dave speaks with Gus Elg of Sky Onion Mastering, to get his insight on the loss of one of only two lacquer manufacturers, the other being MDC in Japan. In our store segment, we visit Jonathan Sandler, owner of Village Vinyl & Hifi in Brookline, MA.

This show is part of Pantheon Podcasts.

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A good stereo store is hard to find these days, but in Dave Whitaker's interview with Chris Larson at Northcoast Audio in Eureka, CA., you'll see why it's worth it to seek out your nearest brick and mortar store. In Vinyl News we have a double whammy of not-so-great news for the vinyl industry. Dave catches up with Steve Sheldon of the recently closed Rainbo Records pressing plant and gets more information on the impact of the Apollo Masters fire from Ron McMaster, long-time mastering engineer at Capitol Records. And in our indie record store segment, we visit Ian Clark at Record City in Brooklyn, NY.

Listen to the other great music podcasts on Pantheon! www.pantheonpodcasts.com

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Producer Dana Berry continues his vinyl odyssey with part 2 of The Vinyl Dream. After approving the Night Herons test pressings, Dana ventures down to Los Angeles to witness the actual pressing of the record at Rainbo Records. Returning with a carload of fresh vinyl, Dana visits buyers at Open Mind Music, Econo Jam Records and Amoeba San Francisco to find out how one goes about selling their records. In Vinyl News, host Dave Whitaker talks about Jerry Goldsmith vinyl releases with Vinyl Snob theme composer and contributor, Cameron Robbins. And in our store segment, we visit Neal Becton at Som Records in Washington, D.C.

Listen to the other great music podcasts on Pantheon! www.pantheonpodcasts.com

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Producer Dana Berry has always dreamed of putting out a vinyl LP. Well, the time has come. Join him as his band, Night Herons, goes through the process of making a vinyl record including mixing, mastering, artwork, finding the right pressing plant, lacquer cutting and test pressing. Listen in on the studio sessions and hear interviews with everyone involved. It’s part “how-to” guide but it’s mainly a fun ride through the final stages of making a vinyl record. And in our indie record store segment, Dave Whitaker checks out his new local shop, Peoples Records, in Arcata, CA.

Listen to the other great music podcasts on Pantheon! www.pantheonpodcasts.com

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In our 11th episode, Dave digs deep into the macabre, interviewing Jason Leach of Andvinyly, a company that will take ashes from your dearly departed and press them into vinyl records. It gives a whole new meaning to “deep cuts”.

We also hit three Bay Area stores on Record Store Day 2019, coming back with some great interviews and a few records of course. And in our indie record store segment, we travel to Red Devil Records in San Rafael, CA.

This show is part of Pantheon Podcasts

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We are happy to celebrate our 10th episode by celebrating women in vinyl and their perspective and experiences. Producer Dana Berry sits down with three San Francisco Bay Area women who not only are avid vinyl collectors but own or have owned record stores - Tracy Parker of VAMP Art and Music, Hannah Lew of Contact Records and Windy Chien of Aquarius Records. Host Dave Whitaker follows up with episode 9 guest Mike LaVella, who shortly after mentioning his Holy Grail record in our interview, was stunned to have said “golden” record gifted to him by an old friend. And in our store interview segment, we travel to Chicago to speak with Ben at Reckless Records.

Find out more about the Vinyl Snob at www.vinylsnob.com

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In episode 9 we continue our Confessions of a Vinyl Addict series. Producer Dana Berry interviews Mike LaVella, a life-long record collector who also worked within the music industry as a writer for Maximum Rock n Roll and Thrasher, published the garage punk/hot rod magazine Gearhead and ran Gearhead Records.

Mike now runs a ‘Now Playing’ vinyl spinning night in the Bay Area. Take a journey with Mike as he recounts the plot points of a life consumed and buoyed by vinyl records.

We also begin a new segment of the show where we visit independent record stores across the country and conduct short interviews. Dave begins at home with Sacramento’s Delta Breeze.

You can support the show by wearing cool rock n roll gear from TeePublic:https://www.teepublic.com/stores/rocknroll

Call us at 650-822-ROCK or email at: info@rocknrollarchaeology.com

Check out all our podcasts at www.pantheonpodcasts.com

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