Chapter 3: Leif

Saturday, Aug 9, 1969, 12:33am, NY Time

I was sleeping with Ali, when all of a sudden, it felt like someone was kicking me, but they were kicking me on the Inside! I started screaming, but it didn’t sound like me.

Ali was instantly awake and, alarmed. She thought I was having a seizure related to my concussion. She climbed on top of me, holding my wrists so that I couldn’t swing them around. Whatever was happening, slowed down to a low roar. Ali asked what was happening, but all I could do was mumble.

That’s when my new life as Pug got even weirder. A voice that I remembered from long ago came from my lips. It was Leif’s! He was crying and begging to be told what was happening. Leif had been my younger brother when I was Ralf.

Ali let go of me and sat in a chair next to the bed. She looked confused. Could you blame her?

She finally asked, “Pug, what’s going on? Are you speaking in tongues? Are you possessed?”

I was struggling with answers myself! Could it be possible that Leif had popped-in to Pug also? If so, how was that going to work. It was hard enough hiding the new me from Ali, let alone explaining Leif to her, too.

I felt that I needed to come clean with Ali soon. So far she hadn’t flinched at any of my crazy ideas or plans. I thought that she, if anyone, could handle all this and keeping it all to myself was getting to be too much work.

I asked her to come and sit with me on the bed. I said that I had to tell her what had happened to me. I was stumped on how to start though. We sat in silence for a long time. I was reflecting back to Leif’s death, so long ago.

As Ralf, my dad, two brothers and I went on a long camping trip in the summer of ‘69. I was 13yo and Leif was 11yo. We left Evanston, IL, traveling north in our 1967 Ford station wagon. We were going to travel clockwise all the way around Lake Michigan. After going through Wisconsin we had just crossed into Michigan and were camping near Menominee, MI. It was on the shores of Green Bay, which was an offshoot of Lake Michigan.

Aug. 8, 1969, around 11:30pm, Michigan time, a mini-tornado appeared toppling trees all over the place. A large tree fell diagonally across our tent. It trapped my older brother’s legs under it, but it also hit Leif in the head, killing him instantly. The tent pole also fell and hit my dad, awakening him. Dad had to shake me awake. I slept through the whole thing!

As Ralf, my emotional life was stunted from that point forward. I always seemed to repel girls away. Leif, on the other hand, attracted them. He was so open and loving, that I was looking forward to getting his castoffs in the coming years. Nope, it wasn’t gonna happen now. It was as if a big door had slammed shut now that Leif was gone. After my older brother, Steve, got out of the hospital a couple days later, we cut the trip short and went home.

My brother Steve had always been my Mentor. He introduced me to Cool music. He had the best from each artist. “Who’s Next,” by The Who. “Sticky Fingers” and “Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out,” from the Rolling Stones, etc. I also remember asking him in if we liked bell bottom jeans when I 1st saw someone wearing them. We had just moved to Evanston in 1965, and we were in Old Town, in Chicago. Yep, Steve really shaped me to be the eclectic musicologist that I am today.

Suddenly, Leif spoke up, bringing me out of my nostalgia. He asked what was happening and where our dad and brothers were. As gently as I could, I told him that a tree had just fallen on his tent. Also that it hit him in his head and he had died, in that body at least. He was now living in a new body.

I was telling the story for Ali’s benefit, as much as for Leif’s. What was even weirder, was that I had also died in another body and was now living in a new body, sharing it with Leif. In my old body, I had been named Ralf Lipshitz and Leif had been my younger brother. Leif had just died, in 1969, but I had died in 2019. It looked like both of us were now living in Pug’s body, but I had arrived in this body five days before. I thought the personality that had been in this body had died, Now Leif and I had taken over Pug’s body.

Leif asked how he could trust that I had been his brother? In response, I told him of the time I threw a snowball that hit an unmarked cop car. I had gotten away, but the cop had caught Leif and shook him. Leif never told the cop it was really me though. After a while, the cop gave up and left.

Leif then told Ali and I that I must be for real to know that story. Ali was softly crying as I told my tale. She spoke up, asking what happened to her Pug? I said I had no clue, but he seemed to be gone.

What she said next, brought music to my ears. She told me she liked the new Pug better! That was when she admitted that she was about to dump the old Pug since she had been losing more and more respect for him. Since I had popped in, she had been having a blast. We were closer than we had been since we were kids.

She then talked to Leif. She was so sweet to him, telling him everything was going to be OK. Usually Ali leaned on me, but all of a sudden, I felt myself leaning on her. That was Leif causing that.

We finally wound down and got back in bed. When Ali stood up in front of Leif and I, I felt his reaction. She was naked and Leif was seeing his first real live naked girl! Yep, Leif was gonna get a real fast sex education. I thought, wait until Ali and I are making love again! I knew he’d be over the moon at that.

When we woke up, we took a shower together. Ali had a gleam in her eye as she was stroking me, knowing Leif was enjoying it as much as I was.

We drove to Wes’ house, where Wes and his liaison officer, 1st Lt. Harry Gordon, were waiting. We immediately left in a caravan for Yasgar’s Farm. I introduced Wes and Harry to Michael, saying that they should work together to set up the equipment in the best places. There would also be an Army air officer coming by, to set up an area for a helicopter landing pad. I thought behind the stage would the best location for that. Also, he should have it cordoned off with a raised ramp to the stage that would be clear of fans.

Michael gave me a big Bear Hug asking when I had worked all this out? He couldn’t believe the NY Army National Guard and Army Air would consider helping us. Ali laughed, saying the Major was a huge Cubs fan, and she thought he’d do anything for me.

We were then pounced upon by a rowdy bunch. They were hitting us with water balloons. Fuck! The Merry Pranksters had shown up, in their psychedelically painted school bus, called Further. They were a group of people who formed around Ken Kesey in Eugene, OR in 1964. Their group promoted the use of psychedelic drugs. You know, LSD, Acid, Purple Haze, Orange Sunshine, Windowpane, etc.

They would secretly spike the punch backstage, during the Festival, at Woodstock. No, not with booze, but they instead dumped LSD into it! Mucho people became stoned out of their minds. You can hear it in John B. Sebastian’s rambling between songs during his impromptu set.

Michael introduced me to a guy who was the lighting designer who also would be the master of ceremonies. His name was Chip Monck. Cool! He was the guy who made most of the announcements over the four days of Woodstock. He recently had been working with the Fillmore East as their lighting director. Both Fillmore’s were famous for their light shows during concerts. As Ralf, in 2013, I had even conversed with him, via e-mail. He was living in Australia then, and he answered some questions I had. One question was how come no one really knows in what order the performers went on the stage during Woodstock. How could that be? There were cameras, film and sound recordings there. Also, about 400,000 people attended. But as of 2019, debates were still going on over it. Was the Acid Punch to blame? If so, quite rightly!

Ali and I decided to head back to NYC. Joe Cocker had said that a lot of the bands would soon be staying at the Lowe’s, until the festival. I wanted to hang out with as many of them as possible.

Back in the city, we found Joe drinking at the Lowe’s Bar with Eric Clapton! We were introduced to each other. Then they asked Ali and I to join them. Tequila Shots, just what I needed to numb me out over the shock of Leif showing up. Eric was very gracious to Ali and I. He had been one of my idols as Ralf, and had never lost his touch as so many others did. Everything he ever did was done with the utmost integrity. “Clapton is God,” worked for me!

Soon I was wasted and Ali tucked me into bed.

Sunday, Aug 10, 1969 (5 days to go)

Ouch, too much to dream last night. Oh well, we were young. Young, me? Wow, still getting used to being 18 again!

When Ali & I walked into the HoJo across 8th Ave for brunch, we were surprised as it was full of famous musicians. There was: Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton, Jerry Garcia, Stephen Stills, David Crosby & Graham Nash. Sitting with them was Joni Mitchell, who was Graham’s girlfriend. I found out that they were all staying at the Lowe’s too. Joe introduced me as the new partner of Michael Lang who was one of Woodstock’s promoters. Joni thanked me for persuading her to attend Woodstock. I just gave her a wink and a smile.

I invited everyone up to our suite later. I thought maybe the might jam. They all thought that was a groovy idea. They all lived to play music. I remember reading once that Jerry Garcia NEVER took a night off. He even had his own jug band.

We were wondering what we should do, when Ali suggested we go to see Easy Rider. It had come out in July, but most hadn’t seen it yet. It was agreed, so we all trooped to the closest theatre that was showing it.

What a blast it was, seeing Easy Rider again, especially through the eyes of these guys. We lit joints and basically made fools of ourselves. It’s a wonder we weren’t thrown out.

We then went back to my suite atop the Lowe’s. We ordered room service when we wanted, but mostly, these guys had a nonstop jam and bull session.

I had to somehow save all this. So, Ali and I slipped out. We were right off Times Square, so I knew a camera store had to be close. In fact, there were dozens of them. I bought an assortment of movie and still cameras, along with plenty of film. Thank God for that MasterCharge card!

Soon we were back in our suite, setting up the equipment. I also bought some tripods. So, I would be able to film from a couple of angles. Everyone cheered, as they wanted to save the magic they were creating as much as I did. I planned to include some of it as a short film to be played before the Woodstock movie.

Okay, now I felt that the Woodstock preparations were pretty much set. From here on out, it would take on its own momentum and energy being led by Michael and his crew.

I asked Michael who was going to film the Festival. Michael said he had that covered. He knew a couple guys that were itching to do it. As usual, it was the money that was the problem. The two directors were just starting out and Michael said we could get them on the cheap. Michael Wadleigh, would be the director, and Martin Scorsese would be his assistant. They had rounded up a local film crew that hung out in NYC. Wadleigh was thrilled when Michael called to tell him it was a go. They were already gathering the equipment.

That was cool, but one thing I insisted on. I wanted every second to be filmed with multiple cameras and more than one recorder for sound. Also, I wanted them to be staggered. That way if one camera ran out of film, another would cover for it. As Ralf, I knew that it would be an issue. They also didn’t have any extra film. I thought Fuk that! In the big scheme of things, it would prove to be a minor expense. I told them to have plenty of film on hand.

Michael said he would take care of it. His dad had been great to deal with since I was involved. He thanked me again for sticking my neck out for him. Okay! Now I really felt good!

Stephen Stills asked me if his agent could come up. I said, “Sure, the more the merrier!”

Soon a guy who looked vaguely familiar was at the door. Stephen introduced me to David Geffen! I had planned on looking him up soon anyway. I thought he might be my in to Hollywood in the future. What a stroke of luck that he came to me!

Geffen said he had seen a replay of my injury on TV at Wrigley Field. He hoped I was okay. I told him I was fine. I was still wearing the bandage and I had to tell people about my injury often. He had just left the William Morris Agency and was now starting his own agency He was already the agent for Crosby, Stills & Nash, as well as Joni Mitchell. He would soon start Asylum Records in 1970. It would be huge!

David was a Type-A personality if I ever saw one. He was very intense, and obviously gay. At least to me he seemed that way. David and I hit it right off, though. I told him what Ali and I had been up to since my injury. He was fascinated that I had gotten Bill Graham to help us, since Bill was a king in the music industry, but had a long history of being an asshole to work with. David thanked me for reaching out the day before about Joni Mitchell. He said that he hadn’t thought it out good enough, especially since David Crosby was planning on doing both Woodstock and the TV show.

We talked for a while. I was happy to share with him my ideas on how I wanted to help musical artists. I’d get them out of their bad contracts, and give them the freedom to create without the pressure most were currently under. I also wanted to help him with his dream of starting his own record company to work with those artists the major labels turned down. I even offered to put up the money to get it started.

He looked at me funny and asked how I knew that he wanted to start his own record company? He had kept that a secret. I thought, oops, I gotta be careful with my pre-knowledge of things. I just smiled and said it was just a lucky guess.

He shrugged and asked, “Then, where do I sign up!”

I smiled and said, “You just did!”

We all laughed at that! And that’s how I would soon become co-founder and 50% owner of the soon to be Asylum Records. Geffen would own the other 50%.

Since we had a few days remaining before the start of Woodstock, I wanted to scope out how I could invest in other movies and tv shows. Just like the Woodstock movie, I knew a bunch of films that were going to be blockbusters. I also knew a bunch to avoid that would crash and burn. When I asked David if he could help me meet a couple of people whose projects, I wanted to possibly finance, he said that he would be glad to help me with that. Just like Bill Graham, David immediately made some calls. Soon he had two meetings set up for the next day. Oh yeah, I knew David was going to be great to have in my corner. David said he had to go, but would meet us the next morning.

Ali and I went to bed eventually. It had been another long, but awesome day. Keep them coming, I thought.

Monday, Aug 11, 1969 (4 days left)

David had set up our first meeting for 11am, at The Plaza Hotel. Howard G. Minsky, was a producer who was trying to make the film, Love Story. It would cost two million to produce, but it would make a profit of 136 million! I planned to put up that two million. I hoped to keep the same formula as my deal with Michael. If so, my 50% of the profits for Love Story would net me 67 mil. It was due to be released in Dec, 1970. I hoped some of my profits from the March, 1970 release of Woodstock: 3 Days Of Peace & Music, would come my way soon enough to invest in Love Story.

Ali, David and I, met Howard in the Oak Bar at The Plaza Hotel. The Oak Bar had just started to let women in. Thank goodness, since Ali was with us! They also ignored the fact that Ali and I were less than 21yo which was the legal drinking age in 1969. I loved the old 1890’s style of the Oak Bar. It would be my favorite hang-out for years. There were three famous murals on the walls. Whenever The Plaza is sold, the murals are always sold separately.

After a couple drinks, we ate lunch in the Oak Room, which is attached to the bar. I had a great Scottish Salmon dish. Howard was 55 and kinda geeky, but he seemed like a nice guy. He had started out in silent films and he had tons of experience. I would try to learn as much as I could from him, if possible. Howard was surprised Ali and I were so young to be potential investors. He was even more astounded that we even knew of his project. He said he was about ready to call it quits, though. So far, he had been turned away by everybody. Only two studios had even met with him and they were cursory meetings, at best.