City Lights in conjunction with Rare Bird Lit present
Joel Gion
celebrating the publication of
In the Jingle Jangle Jungle: Keeping Time with the Brian Jonestown Massacre
published by Rare Bird Lit
Access the event online via this zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88595041066
The Brian Jonestown Massacre are one of the great contemporary cult American rock and roll bands. At the peak of their anarchic reign in the San Francisco underground of the late ’90s their psychedelic output was almost as prodigious and impressive as their narcotic intake. Immortalized in one of the most unforgettable rock and roll documentaries of all time, DIG!, alongside their friends/rivals/nemeses, The Dandy Warhol’s, in their early years when the US were obsessed with grunge, the BJM felt like a ’60s anachronism.
But with albums like Their Satanic Majesties Second Request and Thank God for Mental Illness, and incendiary, often chaotic, live shows, they burnished their legend as true believers and custodians of the original west coast flame; a privilege and responsibility which continues to this day when the band have a bigger and more dedicated audience than ever. Joel Gion’s memoir tells the story of the first ten years of the band from the Duke Seat.
A righteous account of the hazards and pleasures of life on and off the road, In the Jingle Jangle Jungle takes use behind the scenes of the supposed behind the scenes film that cemented the band’s legend. Funny as hell, shot through with the innocence and wonder of a ‘percussionist’ whose true role is that of the band’s ‘spirit animal’, In the Jingle Jangle Jungle is destined to take its place alongside minor cult classics in the pantheon of rock and roll literature like Playing the Bass with Three Left Hands, Head On, and 45.
Joel Gion is the “tambourine playing frontman of Brian Jonestown Massacre” and the star of DIG!, the infamous documentary that made them famous twenty years ago. He was born in San Jose, California, but calls San Francisco home. He has been with the band for almost three decades.
Made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation.