| Show A Salute to Ralph J Gleason The untimely death of Ralph J Gleason last July of insulin shock will rob from each of us a valuable friend of humanity For Forin Forin Forin in the musical field of creative art Ralph Gleason was an eloquent eloquent eloquent elo elo- elo- elo quent individual His was not a household name automatically recognized like so many of the stars he associated with but nonetheless his talent talent talent tal tal- tal- tal ent reached us daily in a more sub subtle le way Ralph J Gleason was the premier journalist who critically analyzed and reviewed the progressive progressive progressive music of our day And his voice was equally responsible for forso so many of the contributions and changes in our social structure of the last 25 years His works and talent lay in bringing to light new and important musical artists artists artists ar ar- ar- ar which in turn effected each of our lives Upon graduation from Columbia Columbia Columbia Colum Colum- bia University he moved to San Francisco and began writing for forthe forthe forthe the Chronicle in 1950 His columns columns columns col col- col- col about jazz were syndicated throughout the world And through his efforts such talents as Louis Armstrong Duke Ellington Ellington Ellington El El- lington and Miles Davis were to tobe tobe tobe be regarded as something far greater than merely black musi musi- Wherever the art was happening Ralph Gleason could be found And never was this fact so in evidence evidence evidence evi evi- evi- evi dence as in the midst of the social youth revolution of the In 1961 at a small club known as the Bitter End in Greenwhich Village Ralph happened to hear a young named Bob Dylan perform a batch of tunes which so moved Gleason that he was to help launch Dylan on the road to international attention and legendary acclaim Gleason may not have been the first to recognize recognize recognize rec rec- rec- rec Dylan's talents but certainly certainly certainly he was the first to blurt wide-open wide the news that here at last was a new voice of the people sincere and bittersweet Again in 1966 with the war in Viet Nam escalating the time was again ripe for the young to up grow-up quickly and speak out A chance of fate brought all the elements together at Ralphs Ralph's doorstep in San Francisco With Berkeley across the bay acting as the hub of the counter counterrevolution counterrevolution counterrevolution revolution LSD still legal and hitting thousands in suburbs Please turn to Page 3 |
