Artist and Musician Dave

Getz of Big Brother and the

Holding Company and

Country Joe and the Fish says he’s “been in

and out of Marin since the early ‘60s”.  In 1966

he moved into a unique living situation -- an old

hunting lodge in Lagunitas called "Argentina" that

he shared with Janis Joplin, their entire rock

band, and a cavalcade of accompanying pets,

children, and spouses.  He thinks they all may

have shared only one bathroom.

Why the name "Argentina"?  Getz remembers:

“At the end of a dirt road next to the house was

this big propane tank (on which) someone had

written ‘God is alive and well’ and then someone

else had written underneath it ‘In Argentina’.”

While Getz believes “Argentina” was a fantastic

experience overall, “There were certain things

about it that was not good living together,” he

says, “Different people had different lifestyle

things.”  The band moved back to San Francisco

into separate homes after about 6 months.

In 1969 Getz moved back to Fairfax and bought

his own home.  He shares some of his Marin memories from that period in

my interview with him below:

JASON:  Do you remember any restaurants you used to like to go to during

the Sixties and Seventies?

GETZ:  A friend of mine started a restaurant in the early '70s that's on the

other side of Sir Francis Drake where Drake's Video used to be.  It was

called HERB AND JOE’S.  It was a wonderful place...It was sort of like what

Bubba's is now.  They were trying to start something with homestyle food,

not expensive, but really good, big portions.   There was also a period in

Fairfax during the early '70s where a lot of people tried to do music things. 

There was a place called THE SLEEPING LADY CAFE that went on for

awhile.  I think I might of played there once.  There was a place called

RIVER CITY that I might have played in.  I played a lot in the early '70s at a

place where I think where Matucci's is now.  I remember there was another

club in San Anselmo where Orchid Thai and where Bubba's is now. 

When I bought my house in Fairfax I became very close friends with all the

people from The Sons of Champlin...We used to smoke dope all day long

and go downstairs in my house and play.   That was Terry Haggerty, Dave

Schallock, Geoff Palmer.  Everybody pretty much from that band except

Bill Champlin.  He was sort of trying to do something on his own. So we

formed this band called The Nuboogaloo Express.  We played THE LION'S

SHARE a lot of times and we might have played at THE FAIRFAX

PAVILLION.   I played in a band in West Marin with a band called Banana

and the Bunch.  Half of that band was The Youngbloods.  They also

played at The Lion's Share and THE DANCE PALACE out in Inverness. 

JASON:  How has Marin changed since the Sixties?

DAVE: Some things have really changed drastically -- like San Rafael and

Novato.  They’re really different than what they were in the Sixties.  In San

Rafael -- the idea of finding a good cup of coffee, like a cup of cappuccino or

something, was unheard of.  San Rafael was really this working class type

town, not a hip place...And Novato was basically just a crossroads where

Grant Avenue met Redwood Avenue, just those two streets and a bunch of

houses in the hills, but there was nothing up there. 

Mill Valley has really changed a lot although it still looks the same.  It was

similar in some ways to Fairfax.  They weren't that much different in terms of

lifestyle and upward mobility and things like that.  Then Mill Valley kind of

became this boutique town and expensive and Fairfax has basically retained

the same character it had in the Sixties. 

When I moved to Fairfax in 1969 the MARIN TOWN AND COUNTRY CLUB

had been closed for maybe 2 or 3 years and there was a big dispute about a

developer wanted to build something there.  People didn't want something

developed there.  Then I moved away in '74...and when I moved back to

Fairfax in 1987 there was a newspaper article talking about developing the

Marin Town and Country Club and the people of Fairfax didn't want to do it. 

It was like a time warp -- NOTHING had changed.  I said to my wife as we

were driving around Fairfax then, "It's like the same people in different

bodies."

Fairfax has that 'unchangeable' quality which is kind of wonderful and also

kind of awful in a way because it's very hard to keep a business base in

Fairfax because nothing but hippie stores can make it.  At the same time,

the town needs money for fixing roads and things like that and there's no tax

base so it's a problem.  But Fairfax is nice and I like living there. 

JASON:  Sam Andrew told me a wild story about Janis getting into a fight

with a Hell's Angel in San Rafael...

DAVE: Yeah, there was this place called PEPPERLAND.  Well, it was

where The Bermuda Palms is today.  Some promoters got together and ran

some events there for about a year.  When Janis first formed her last band

(Full Tilt Boogie Band)...we played with them.  At that time Nick

Gravenites was our lead singer.  We performed and opened the show and

actually blew them (Janis' band) away.  She was backstage drinking and

some Hell's Angel -- actually, it wasn't a Hell's Angel -- it was a Gypsy

Joker, which was sort of a rival motorcycle gang.  The whole event was a

motorcycle/biker type event.  But bikers in those days were really like gangs.

They were very different than 'The Biking Thing' now.  The Biking Thing now

is a lot of middle class people -- lawyers, doctors -- who put on their leather

clothes and go ride their $25,000 Harleys and go to the rallies.  But in those

days all the bikers were really like gangs, ex-cons, and stuff like that.  Tough

guys, real hard-ass guys, and a lot of fighting.  We played at a lot of Biker

Events.  We were kind of the favorite band of the Hell's Angels so Janis was

walking with some Hell's Angels.  She was drinking a bottle of Jim Beam and

somebody from Gypsy Jokers said, "Hey baby, give me some of that".   She

said something back like "F--- you, man" to the guy and he went to hit her.  I

think he did hit her, slapped her in the face and six Hell's Angels jumped on

the guy and beat the s--- out of him.  When she got on stage she had a black

eye and she was talking about it for about a half an hour on stage. 

It was also at that same event some girl jumped up on stage and took all her

clothes off and started dancing around naked.  And there was a guy in the

audience who jumped up on stage and took his clothes off while we were

playing on stage.  And these Hells Angels were all pounding the stage saying

"Come on, get it on!"  They all wanted to see him do it to her.  The guy was

sort of trying to (start a sexual act with her) while she was dancing around.  it

was kind of crazy.  Nothing really happened.

JASON: Was that kind of thing typical or atypical for the time?

DAVE:  It was atypical.  It was only an event like this, a Hell's Angels type

of event that something like that could happen.  If it had happened at the

Fillmore or something like that the security would have thrown this guy off

the stage immediately.  Or thrown her off the stage.  But people just let it

go....

JASON:  When you see movies about the Sixties or read things about the

Sixties, what do you think are the biggest misconceptions about that time as

far as Marin is concerned?

DAVE: The biggest misconception is that they'll show you this sort of 'flower

child' look in the way they dress in a movie.  They'll have people with a

headband and sunglasses... but it's sort of an "LA/Hollywood" hippie look. 

That definitely was not going on in Marin.    Marin kinda looked like it looks

like now.  You see guys with long hair and beards and funky and grungy.  It

was a much more earthy/rustic kind of scene.  People weren't putting on

what Time magazine thought a hippie should look like.  But that's because

movies get mostly made by people in Hollywood.  If the audience today saw

the real thing (from back then) it probably wouldn't 'read' as well and they

wouldn't understand it.  Marin had its own style.  It was always more natural.

You can visit Dave's official website by clicking HERE. 

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unless otherwise

stated.  Those

images not owned

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are copyrighted

by their

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owners.  If you

are interested in

using material

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please contact

Jason Lewis at

jason@marinnost

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doing so.