Grateful Dead Big Nig's House

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C'mon, can history / hipstory have this man's name already??

Tom Wolfe didn't give it in EKAT. McNally didn't give it. Lesh didn't give it. I can't find a single scholar/dissertator in the last fifteen years who's given it. What gives? Who is (was?) Big Nig? And why is he anonymous behind this moniker of blackness, Beatness, bohemianess, and all other good things brought to us by the Letter B? Hipstorical minds want to know... Thanks for any help.

BigNig and the wonders of Google

http://www.postertrip.com/public/5573.cfm not very politically correct on the subject of Big Nig

Thanks, but what I can't Google is the ONE existing handbill..

Yup. Danke. I've been to that site before. And it's handy the way the excerpts from everywhere are included. But "PC" isn't the goal / my objective. It was 1965 after all, right? "Black Power" didn't really go out as a rallying cry in the enough-is-enough civil righteousness anger until June of 1966, and took a while to grow in public consciousness. My point is... what's our infamous host's actual, ya know, human race name? His blackness is a separate aspect of that identity.

Big Nig

I think the dude's name is irrelevant - not to him and his parents, for sure - because I think he was just a friend of the band or the Pranksters or both. I don't think he was an historical figure, just another person that was part of the scene at the time. As for "PC" - please, we're way beyond that. I think if he didn't like the name they wouldn't have called him that. The Pranksters didn't get caught up in that shit. Like when Kesey got out of jail one of them (Mountain Girl, Gretchen, I forget) said "Hey Kesey, how was jail!" Not a very sensitive question but it goes to the persona and Kesey was probably - WTF?! - but laughed it off.

city

San Jose

province

venue_field_country

United States

Big Nig

Thanks, but what I can't Google is the *ONE* existing handbill..

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CousinJed

5 years 5 months ago

Big Nig
I think the dude's name is irrelevant - not to him and his parents, for sure - because I think he was just a friend of the band or the Pranksters or both. I don't think he was an historical figure, just another person that was part of the scene at the time. As for "PC" - please, we're way beyond that. I think if he didn't like the name they wouldn't have called him that. The Pranksters didn't get caught up in that shit. Like when Kesey got out of jail one of them (Mountain Girl, Gretchen, I forget) said "Hey Kesey, how was jail!" Not a very sensitive question but it goes to the persona and Kesey was probably - WTF?! - but laughed it off.
hipstorian

12 years 1 month ago

Thanks, but what I can't Google is the *ONE* existing handbill..
Yup. Danke. I've been to that site before. And it's handy the way the excerpts from everywhere are included. But "PC" isn't the goal / my objective. It was 1965 after all, right? "Black Power" didn't really go out as a rallying cry in the enough-is-enough civil righteousness anger until June of 1966, and took a while to grow in public consciousness. My point is... what's our infamous host's actual, ya know, human race name? His blackness is a separate aspect of that identity.
cosmicbadger

12 years 1 month ago

BigNig and the wonders of Google
http://www.postertrip.com/public/5573.cfm not very politically correct on the subject of Big Nig

Venue

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