Above is a photograph taken outside the Glen’s church in Topanga Canyon. I have just got married to Maryanne Thoraldson. Bryan Maclean, my best friend at University High School, sang during the ceremony. We are singing Amazing grace. Bryan and I have given up alcohol and drugs when this picture was taken. This is my first attempt at sobriety. I have twenty four years of being clean and sober.

Bryan was the lead guitarist for the rock group Love that had a powerful influence on Jimmy Hendrix and Jim Morrison. Thier first album that came out in 1965, was a stepping stone. Bryan had taught me how to play the guitar, and turned me on to marijuana atop a high and windy hill in L.A. We were the artists in residence at Uni High. Bryan drew sexy surfer girls that were the forerunner of the Rosamond Women my late sister would become famous for. Christine Rosamond, and Bryan Maclean, were lovers. Christine’s funeral fell on her first sober birthday. She died clean and sober and was just beginning to turn her life around.

My ex-wife, and the elusive, Thomas Pynchon, were lovers, and she lived with him in Mexico. They met at Cornell. Maryanne did a life-size portrait of her good friend, Mimi Farina, the sister of Joan Baez, and Richard Farina, Pynchosn’s good friend. Peter Shapiro of the rock group The Loading Zone played at our wedding reception.

Marilyn Reed was at my wedding. She is a singer in her husband’s Jazz Band. We met at Uni High when we were fifteen and sixteen. She was a good friend of the Jazz great, Les McCann, and Jeff Pasternak, who tried to get The Doors in his father’s movie. Jeff played in a rock group on the Strip. He and his wife have been supportive of my sobriety. My childhood friend, Nancy Hamren was at my graduation at Serenity Lane, and got me on the bus during the Eugene Celebration with her good friend, Ken Kesey. Nancy is now a co-owner of the Springfield Creamery and has a famous yogurt named after her.

In 1987 I had a spiritual awakening after reading all of Luke late into the night. I would soon declare myself a Nazarite who were Saints, Judges, and Prophets in the Bible. I was named after John the Baptist, a Nazarite for life, because I was born days before Yom Kippur. Nazarites abstain from alcohol. It was, and is my intent to found a simple simple Spiritual foundation that welcomes those who have a problem with alcohol, to separate themselves to The Lord.

Here is my late friend Denny Dent, who dated Christine in Junior High. He too got clean and sober.

It is my intent to restart The Generation of Love that never dreamed would be devastated by drug and alcohol abuse. The photograph was torn by my late lover in a fit of jealousy. She would become clean and sober, which is a miracle in our book.

Jon Presco

Copyright 2011

Bryan McLean -Maria McKee
Brothers and Sisters

http://rougemont.blogspot.com/

http://www.mariamckee.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_High_School_
(Los_Angeles,_California)

McKee is the half-sister of Love guitarist Bryan MacLean, with whom she played in a duo as a teenager.[1] She attended University High School in West Los Angeles, California, and is married to her bass player Jim Akin, who co-writes and co-produces her solo albums since High Dive in 2003. In the 1990s, she spent time living in Dublin and the East Village, before settling in her native Los Angeles.

http://www.bryanmaclean.com/

Love is an American rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were led by singer, songwriter and guitarist Arthur Lee and the group’s second songwriter, guitarist Bryan MacLean.[1] One of the first racially diverse American pop bands, their music reflected different influences, combining elements of rock and roll, garage rock, folk and psychedelia.

(Iamges: Bryan and Maria. Jon and Christine. Marilyn. Melinda. Jeff)

Maria McKee is the half-sister of my late friend, Bryan McLean. In
1963, Bryan dated my late sister, Christine, the famous artist known
as Rosamond. Two months into the relationship, Bryan approached me
seeking my advice about this love affair. Bryan later jokes about his
serious side as he appeared to be the quintessential L.A. Blond and
flippant surfer-type keeping it light so he could pick up more
chicks. But Bryan was not a Soc (pronounced `sosh’ )a name we applied
to the Socializers at University High School in West Los Angeles.
These were rich kids from Bellaire who were not enjoying the
privilege of going to Hollywood High because Bellaire was not in that
district. Some of them drove their parents Bentley’s and Roll Royce’s
to school. Very intimidating. Spreading feelings of inadiquacy.

The Soc hung out on the upper tier of the recess ground next to the
cafeteria. Bryan would breeze through this crowd, he not needing to
hold his nose high in the air, because his first girlfriend was Liza
Minnelli, and he learned to swim in Elizabeth Taylor’s pool, she his
neighbor. Bryan was very personable and extremely confident about
himself, and he made those who he came in contact with feel that way
too. He had a knack for bringing the out the best in everyone. This
is why he would later associate himself with the ministry of Jesus.

Bryan was very clear, and he opened up a part of your being when you
were around him. You can see thin in the photo of Bryan and his
sister, Maria, how much Maria is bathing in her brother’s loVing glow.

McKee was a founding member of the cowpunk/country rock band, Lone Justice, in 1982, with whom she released two albums. Several compilations of both previously released and unreleased material and a BBC Live In Concert album have been released since their demise. Her band opened for such acts as U2.[1]

http://www.bryanmaclean.com/biog.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_MacLean

Love is an American rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were led by singer, songwriter and guitarist Arthur Lee and the group’s second songwriter, guitarist Bryan MacLean.[1] One of the first racially diverse American pop bands, their music reflected different influences, combining elements of rock and roll, garage rock, folk and psychedelia.

Lee, who had lived in Los Angeles since the age of five, had been recording since 1963 with his bands, the LAG’s and Lee’s American Four. He had also produced a single, “My Diary”, for Rosa Lee Brooks in 1964 which featured Jimi Hendrix on guitar.[2] A garage outfit, The Sons Of Adam, which included future Love drummer Michael Stuart, also recorded a Lee composition, “Feathered Fish”. However, after viewing a Byrds performance, Lee determined to join the newly minted folk-rock sound of the Byrds to his primarily rhythm and blues style. Soon after, he formed The Grass Roots with guitarist Johnny Echols (another Memphis native), bass guitarist Johnny Fleckenstein and drummer Don Conka.[1] Byrds roadie Bryan MacLean joined the band just before they changed their name to Love, spurred by the release of a single by another group called The Grass Roots.[1]
Love started playing the Los Angeles clubs in April 1965 and became a popular act. At this time, they were playing extended numbers such as “Revelation” (originally titled “John Lee Hooker”) and getting the attention of such contemporaries as the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds. The band lived communally in a house, and their first two albums included photographs shot in the garden of that house

Bryan MacLean’s father was an architect to the Hollywood stars and his mother an artist and a dancer. Neighbor Frederick Loewe, of the composers Lerner & Loewe, recognized him as a “melodic genius” at the age of three as he doodled on the piano. His early influences were Billie Holliday and George Gershwin, although he confessed to an obsession with Elvis Presley. During his childhood he wore out show music records from Guys and Dolls, Oklahoma, South Pacific and West Side Story. His first girlfriend was Liza Minnelli and they would sit at the piano together singing songs from The Wizard of Oz. He learned to swim in Elizabeth Taylor’s pool and his father’s good friend was actor Robert Stack.
At 17, Bryan heard The Beatles: “Before the Beatles I had been into folk music. I had wanted to be an artist in the bohemian tradition, where we would sit around with banjos and do folk music, but when I saw A Hard Day’s Night everything changed. I let my hair grow out and I got kicked out of high school.”

[edit] Early life
Bryan MacLean’s father was an architect to the Hollywood stars and his mother an artist and a dancer. Neighbor Frederick Loewe, of the composers Lerner & Loewe, recognized him as a “melodic genius” at the age of three as he doodled on the piano. His early influences were Billie Holliday and George Gershwin, although he confessed to an obsession with Elvis Presley. During his childhood he wore out show music records from Guys and Dolls, Oklahoma, South Pacific and West Side Story. His first girlfriend was Liza Minnelli and they would sit at the piano together singing songs from The Wizard of Oz. He learned to swim in Elizabeth Taylor’s pool and his father’s good friend was actor Robert Stack.
At 17, Bryan heard The Beatles: “Before the Beatles I had been into folk music. I had wanted to be an artist in the bohemian tradition, where we would sit around with banjos and do folk music, but when I saw A Hard Day’s Night everything changed. I let my hair grow out and I got kicked out of high school.”
[edit] Early music career
Bryan started playing guitar professionally in 1963. He got a job at the Balladeer in West Hollywood playing folk and blues guitar. The following year, the club changed its name to the Troubadour. His regular set routine was a mixture between Appalachian folk songs and delta blues, and he also frequently covered Robert Johnson’s “Crossroad Blues”. It was there he met the founding musicians of The Byrds, Gene Clark and Jim McGuinn, when they were rehearsing as a duo. Bryan became good friends with Gene Clark. During that time, Bryan also became friends with songwriter Sharon Sheeley, who fixed him up on his first date with singer Jackie De Shannon.
With MacLean as equipment manager, the Byrds went on the road to promote their first single “Mr. Tambourine Man”. By the time the Byrds left for their first UK tour, MacLean was exhausted and stayed behind.
After an unsuccessful audition for a place in The Monkees, Bryan got into a car on the Sunset Strip that Arthur Lee was driving. Lee’s band, The Grass Roots (not to be confused with the popular rock band of the same name), was the house band at a club called the Brave New World. Lee knew that the colorful dancers and the scene that had followed the Byrds would follow Bryan, if Bryan joined his band, so Lee took Bryan to sit in with them at The Brave New World.
[edit] The Grass Roots
The members of the Grass Roots were Arthur Lee (vocals, harmonica, guitar, keyboards, drums), Johnny Echols (lead guitar, vocals), Johnny Fleckenstein (bass), Don Conka (drums), and Bryan MacLean (rhythm guitar, vocals). Despite the success of Lee and the others at the Los Angeles club, another Los Angeles band led by P.F. Sloan was first to record under the name the Grass Roots, which spurred Lee to change the name of his band to Love.
[edit] Love
Jac Holzman’s Elektra Records signed Love, and they had a minor hit with their version of the Bacharach/David tune “My Little Red Book” and released their debut album Love to which Bryan contributed the melodic “Softly to Me” as well as co-writing two other songs. He also contributed The Byrds’ arrangement of “Hey Joe”, which he performed live.
In 1966, Love hit #33 on the US national chart with their pre-punk single “7 & 7 is”, followed by their second album, in March 1967 Da Capo, featuring MacLean’s critically acclaimed “Orange Skies”.
In November 1967, amidst the destruction of the band by an addiction to hard drugs, the main line up of Love held together long enough to create their third and final album, Forever Changes, which is considered one of the finest rock albums ever, e.g., #40 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of the top 500 albums of all time, #6 on NME ‘s (New Music Express) 100 Best Albums Of All Time (2003) and #11 on Virgin’s All-Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).
MacLean’s “Alone Again Or” is the opening track with Arthur Lee providing the lead vocals. The test of time has shown that MacLean’s composition (as well as the recording itself) has become a true classic.
[edit] Spiritual conversion and solo music career
Bryan was offered a solo contract with Elektra after the dissolution of Love, but his demo offerings were rejected by the label, and the contract lapsed. Subsequently, he wrote a film score that was not used. Thereafter he tried without success to record an album for Capitol records in New York. “I was alone in a hotel room in New York and I had lost practically everything,” Bryan was quoted as saying. “It occurred to me that I was in a tail-spin so I thought ‘’well, why don’t I pray?’ So I did, and nothing happened for about two or three weeks. At the end of that time, I was sitting in a drug store on 3rd Avenue having a drink, and suddenly the drink turned to sand in my mouth. I left the bar and when I reached the pavement and the daylight I knew something had changed. From that point on my life has been totally different.”[citation needed]
Bryan joined a Christian ministry called the Vineyard, the same church that later converted Bob Dylan. During Friday night Bible readings, Bryan took the concert part of the session and was so amazed at the positive reaction he received, that he gradually assembled a catalogue of his Christian songs. His next move was to open a Christian nightclub in Beverly Hills called The Daisy. When it closed in 1976 Bryan considered going full-time into the ministry but decided once again to devote himself to music.
He played an unsuccessful reunion with Arthur Lee in 1978 on two dates but wasn’t paid, so he turned down an offer for a UK tour which was to have been billed as the ‘original’ Love. Ironically, the Bryan MacLean Band got a gig supporting Arthur Lee’s Love at the Whisky in 1982. Bryan also worked with his half sister Maria McKee and wrote the song “Don’t Toss Us Away” for the debut album of her band Lone Justice.
In about 1996, his Elektra Records demo tapes were discovered by his mother Elizabeth in the family garage, and after two years of persistent shopping around record companies, a deal was struck with Sundazed, who in 1997 released the CD Ifyoubelievein. The CD was critically well received. MacLean then completed a spiritual album of Christian music and was about to record another album when he died of a heart attack in a Los Angeles area restaurant on Christmas Day 1998.
[edit] External links
http://www.facebook.com/BryanMacLeanOfLove?sk=info

http://www.amazon.com/Love-Arthur-Lee/dp/B00002516U

Arthur Lee was instrumental in The Doors having been signed to Elektra records. Elektra founder Jac Holtzman had to be persuaded more than once by Lee after not being impressed by Jim Morrison and company.

Even those who have never heard Lee’s records know his music secondhand. Robert Plant has cited Love as a crucial influence on Led Zeppelin, and Lee’s musical and, especially, sartorial impact on his friend Jimi Hendrix is a matter of historical record. At Lee’s urging, Elektra Records signed the Doors, which worshipped and emulated Love. (Lee was galled when the far less talented Jim Morrison became the bigger star.) Meanwhile, Love’s role in paving the way for other interracial bands, from the Jimi Hendrix Experience to War to Sly and the Family Stone, cannot be overstated. It’s hard to imagine what a startling impression Lee and company must have made in 1966. Surely the well-groomed kids at a 1966 American Bandstand taping had never seen anything quite like Love: three shaggy white guys, a black man with a double-necked guitar, and Lee, glowering behind a pair of diamond-shaped shades and belting out a gruff garage rock version of Burt Bachrach’s “My Little Red Book.”
http://www.pasternakmusic.com/story.htm

Shortly after that evening Joe Pasternak approached Jeff, asking, “What rock and roll band would you recommend for my new movie, The Sweet Ride?” Jeff immediately told him about The Doors, whom Jeff had been following to about every gig they had around L.A. By then, Jeff says, “Their music and energy had saturated every part of my being.”

Fariña’s father, a physicist affiliated with Stanford University and MIT, moved his family frequently, due to his job assignments, working in places not just in the U.S. but internationally. She benefited from dance and music lessons, and took up the guitar, joining the sixties American folk music revival.
Fariña met novelist, musician and composer Richard Fariña in 1963 at the age of 17 and married him at 18. The two collaborated on a number of influential folk albums, most notably Celebrations for a Grey Day (1965) and Reflections in a Crystal Wind (1966), both on Vanguard Records. After Richard Fariña’s death (on Mimi’s 21st birthday) in a 1966 motorcycle accident, Mimi married Milan Melvin and continued to perform, sometimes recording and touring with either her sister Joan, or folksinger Tom Jans, with whom she recorded an album in 1971, entitled, Take Heart. Among the songs she wrote is In the Quiet Morning (For Janis Joplin), which her sister recorded. The song is included on Joan Baez’s Greatest Hits album

Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. (born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist. For his most praised novel, Gravity’s Rainbow, Pynchon received the National Book Award, and is regularly cited as a contender for the Nobel Prize for Literature.[1] Pynchon is a MacArthur Fellow noted for his dense and complex novels, and both his fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, styles and themes, including (but not limited to) the fields of history, science, and mathematics.
Hailing from Long Island, Pynchon spent two years in the United States Navy and earned an English degree from Cornell University. After publishing several short stories in the late 1950s and early 1960s, he began composing the novels for which he is best known: V. (1963), The Crying of Lot 49 (1966), Gravity’s Rainbow (1973), and Mason & Dixon (1997). Pynchon is also known for being very private; very few photographs of him have ever been published, and rumors about his location and identity have been circulated since the 1960s