Revolution (1968) Original Soundtrack

Of course this soundtrack album might be rated even higher as a relic, if musical considerations are not applied. Like all exploitative commerce based around the trippy era, it has an appealing tackiness. Those eager for a real revolution in the recording industry should look no further than the word "revolution" itself, which has been the title of literally dozens of albums. In this case we have a product that was even connected to a film of the same name, with three fairly famous rock bands of the San Francisco scene providing tracks for the soundtrack. There's Quicksilver Messenger Service, there's the Steve Miller Band, and there's the bluesy Mother Earth. Actually, all the tracks are kind of bluesy one way or another; that influence was never very far from any of the San Francisco psychedelic bands, except now and then when somebody really felt mellow. Most importantly, it should be stated that it is really difficult to knock an album that includes liner notes beginning with the following advice to the reader: "Next time you use the word revolution, you'd better include in your concept a beautiful blonde who went to San Francisco and illegally changed her name from Louise to Today." And these words come from famous scribe Paul Krassner, no less. A few tommorows later, nobody remembers Today Malone, an innocent blonde starlet who was at the center of this film's maelstrom-like scenario. Probably the actress and the film were forgotten moments after the first release. All the tracks can be found on other recordings, but the compilation's concept actually works to the advantage of the groups featured, none of whom sounded that great and all of whom had trouble creating an entirely listenable album. Vocalist Tracy Nelson has no problem dealing with a Percy Mayfield cover, on the other hand, one of the highlights of the set. "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" is an enjoyable example of what was basically a required number for years in certain types of freaky coffeehouse venues. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi

U.S. film. Primarily filmed in the Hippie Hill and Panhandle areas of Golden Gate Park, this "60s San Francisco Hippie Scene" documentary features interviews with those who call themselves hippies, or identify with hippies. The counter-culture is revealed in discussions about sex, drugs, philosophy and lifestyle.

Casual sex and marijuana use is the main activity of one group. A nun who has left the order reveals her decisions to join the counterculture. Others decry the dehumanization of the modern industrial world.

Communal living, psychedelic light shows, love-ins and diverse fashion statements accompany the hippies. Discussions about the liberating effects of LSD and being a free spirit. Music by Country Joe & the Fish, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Steve Miller Band, and Mother Earth. Revolution!

Jack O'Connell shot the later interviews with Malone back in 1986 and spoke at the same time to then-Police Chief Frank Jordan, the Rev. Cecil Williams and directors of the Haight Ashbury Free Medical Clinic. For various reasons, most of them stemming from the filmmaker's personal difficulties after a serious car accident, "The Hippie Revolution" wasn't released until this year.

Malone may be O'Connell's star -- she even accompanied "Hippie Revolution" to the Cannes Film Festival -- but she's not Today Malone is featured in 'The Hippie Revolution' both as she appeared in 1968 (above) and today the sole focus of O'Connell's film. We also see The Chronicle's Herb Caen waxing hip and remembering the time he sniffed some marijuana weed with "the fuzz," and we hear the San Francisco Mime Troupe's Ronnie Davis ranting about the need to "destroy the United States."

O'Connell witnesses a summer solstice celebration, which a man with muttonchops describes as "the first hippie national holiday." He also shows a much-younger, beardless Rev. Williams rapping with longhairs on Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park and talks to a rock-band manager who warns against commercial success. "Are we going to turn them on," he muses, "or are they going to turn us off?"

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