Furthur(bus)

Furthur
Ken Kesey's originalFurthurin 1964
Overview
Type	School bus
Manufacturer	International Harvester
Production	1939(1939)
Assembly	United States

InsideFurthur,psychedelic paintings

Furthuris a 1939International Harvesterschool buspurchased by authorKen Keseyin 1964 to carry his "Merry Band of Pranksters"cross-country, filming theircountercultureadventures as they went. The bus featured prominently inTom Wolfe's 1968 bookThe Electric Kool-Aid Acid Testbut, due to the chaos of the trip and editing difficulties, footage of the journey was not released as a film until the 2011 documentaryMagic Trip.

History

Kesey traveled to New York City in November 1963 with his wife Faye and Prankster George Walker to attend the Broadway opening ofOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,which was based onhis 1962 novel.Kesey also saw the1964 New York World's Fairsite under construction. He needed to return to New York City in 1964 for the publication party for his novelSometimes a Great Notion,and hoped to use the occasion to visit the Fair. This plan grew into an ambitious scheme to bring along a group of friends, turning their adventures into aroad movie,taking inspiration fromJack Kerouac's 1957 novelOn the Road.

As more Pranksters volunteered for the trip, they soon realized they outgrew Kesey'sstation wagon,so Kesey bought a retired yellowschool busfor $1,250 from Andre Hobson of Atherton, California. The license plates read "MAZ 804". Hobson had added bunks, a bathroom, and a kitchen with refrigerator, and stove for taking his eleven children on vacation.

Furthurin disrepair, March, 2010

The Pranksters added customizations, including a generator, asound system(with an interior and external intercom), a railing and seating platform on top of the bus, and an observation turret coming out the top made from a washing machine drum fitted into a hole in the roof. Another platform was welded to the rear to hold the generator and a motorcycle. The bus was painted by the various Pranksters in a variety of psychedelic colors and designs. The paint was notday-glo(which was not yet common in 1964) but primary colors, and thepeace symbolwas not yet evident. The word 'Sunshine' was written in blue, but it was too early to have references toorange sunshineLSDor Kesey's not-yet-conceived daughter Sunshine.

The bus was named by artist Roy Sebern, painting the word "Furthur" (with two U's, quickly corrected) on the destination placard as a kind of one-word poem and inspiration to keep going whenever the bus broke down. The misspelled name is still often used, as in Wolfe's book.

The original bus's last journey was a trip to theWoodstockFestival in 1969. After its historic trips, the bus was gutted and used around the Keseys' farm inOregonuntil at least 1983. It was mentioned and pictured in an article in the May–JuneSaturday Review.It was eventually parked in the swamp on Kesey's Farm and gradually returned to the elements, until it was dragged out of the swamp with a tractor and stored in a farm warehouse.

Participants

See also:Merry Pranksters

The list of participants is undocumented. They took the general name "Merry Band of Pranksters" shortened toMerry Pranksters,but many Pranksters chose not to go, and others became Pranksters only because they chose to go.

Chloe Scott (founder of the Dymaxion Dance Group in 1962, age about 39) only lasted a day, because the chaos was too much for her. Cathy Casamo, friend of Mike Hagen, joined at the last minute, hoping to star in the movie they were supposedly making, but she was left behind in Houston.Neal Cassadyshowed up at the last minute and displaced Roy Sebern as driver, as far as New York state.Ken Babbsprobably did not plan to venture past hisSan Juan Capistranohome. Merry Prankster and authorLee Quarnstromdocuments events on the bus in his memoir,When I Was a Dynamiter!

Jane Burton, George Walker, Steve Lambrecht, Paula Sundsten (Gretchen Fetchin), Sandy Lehmann-Haupt (sound engineer, younger brother of Christopher, and important source forTom Wolfe's account), Page Browning, Ron Bevirt (photographer and bookstore owner), and siblings Chuck Kesey, Dale Kesey, and John Babbs are also named as participants.

The group decided to dress in red, white, and blue stripes (so they could claim to be loyal patriots), maybe with distinctive patterns so they'd be easier for future film-goers to tell apart. They brought a Confederate flag, too. Their haircuts were conservative; long hair came into fashion with the Beatles.

Tom Wolfe's book gives the misleading impression he was a participant (he met Kesey the following year). Carolyn "Mountain Girl" Adams Garcia (not present) is often confused with Cathy Casamo. Kesey's wife Faye is sometimes included, and Furthur-painter Roy Sebern. Robert Stone met them briefly in New York city.

Drugs

Kesey had a generous supply of the then-legal psychedelic drugLSD,and they reportedly also took 500Benzedrinepills (speed), and a shoebox full of rolledmarijuanacigarettes.

They were stopped several times by the government, but explained they were filmmakers. Until 1965, drug use received too little media attention for officials to be suspicious.

The first trip

Beat writerNeal Cassadywas at the wheel on their maiden voyage fromLa Honda, Californiato New York (Sebern says he was their designated-driver before Cassady). They left on June 17, 1964, but because of various vehicle problems, it took them 24 hours to go the first 40 miles (64 km). George Walker recalls, "We left La Honda on June 14, 1964, about 3pm First stop, on Kesey's bridge, out of gas! Made it about 100 feet."

Their route took them first toSan Jose, California,thenLos Angeles.Chloe Scott bailed in San Jose, and Cathy Casamo joined them. They spent two days at Ken Babbs' home inSan Juan Capistrano,painting his swimming pool (one version claims he joined at that point.)

OutsideWikieup, Arizonathey got stuck in the sand by a pond, and had an intense LSD party while waiting for a tractor to pull them out. InPhoenix,they confounded theBarry Goldwaterpresidential headquarters by painting "A VOTE FOR BARRY IS A VOTE FOR FUN!" above the bus windows on the left side, and driving backward through the downtown. Casamo apparently took too much LSD in Wikieup, and spent much of the drive from Phoenix to Houston standing naked on the rear platform, to the amusement of the truckers following Furthur down the highway.

InHouston,they visited theHouston Zoo,then authorLarry McMurtry's suburban home. Casamo's antics led to her being briefly institutionalized, so the Pranksters left her behind, and another friend drove her back home (Kesey'sFurther Inquirywrestles with his enduring guilt about these events.)

InNew Orleans,Cassady showed them the nightlife, then the Pranksters accidentally went swimming in a 'blacks only' area onLake Pontchartrain.

Their next destination wasPensacola, Floridato visit a friend of Babbs, then up the east coast toNew York City,arriving around June 29.

New York

In New York, they picked up novelistRobert Stone(who recounted his viewpoint in his 2007 bookPrime Green). They reunited with Chloe Scott, and staged a party at her apartment, attended byJack KerouacandAllen Ginsberg.They also visited the World's Fair. Ginsberg arranged a visit with LSD enthusiastsTimothy LearyandRichard AlpertinMillbrook, New York,but theWest Coaststyle of partying was too wild for the Millbrook academics.

Their route home, without Cassady to drive, took them through Canada. They arrived back in La Honda in August.

Aftermath

Kesey and Babbs took on the frustrating challenge of editing over 100 hours of silent film footage and separate (unsynchronized) audio tapes.They previewed their progress at regular open parties every weekend at Kesey's place, evolving into the 'Acid Tests' with live music from theGrateful Dead(known first as the Warlocks).

Tom Wolfe used the film and tapes as the basis of his book, but Kesey's edit was never finished or released, in part because Kesey was arrested in 1965 formarijuanapossession (LSD would not become illegal until October 1966). DirectorAlex Gibneyfinally publicly released a major new edit in 2011 as the documentaryMagic Trip.

Other trips

OtherFurthurtrips included an anti-Vietnam war rally in 1966 andWoodstockandTexas International Pop Festivals,both in 1969 (without Kesey). A race betweenFurthurand three buses fromWavy Gravy'sHog Farmis recounted in the July 1969Whole Earth Catalog.More can be read about the adventures of the Merry Pranksters onFurthurinTom Wolfe's 1968 bookThe Electric Kool Aid Acid Test,for which a movie directed byGus Van Santis in development.

Second bus

Front view of the second bus, acquired in 1990

Right rear view of second bus

In 1990 Kesey created a secondFurther/Furthur,this one from a 1947International Harvesterbus. The second bus is labeled "Further" on the front and "Furthur" on the back. It is not calledFurthur 2,and is not meant as a replica, although confusion between the two buses is intentional. The bus was created to coincide with the publication of Kesey's memoirs about the 1964 trip, entitledThe Further Inquiry(ISBN0670831743).

The original 1964Furthurwas eventually dragged out of the swamp with a tractor and now resides in a warehouse at Kesey's farm inOregon,alongside the 1990Further.

Smithsonian Caper

The "Great Smithsonian Caper" was a prank perpetrated on the media. Reporters and journalists came to the farm while Kesey and friends were painting the new bus, and later, broadcast "Ken Kesey restored the original Furthur and is taking it to the Smithsonian." The next morning, a variety of national media were asking to "come along on the trip to the Smithsonian." The media rode along on Furthur for about a week, believing it was the original bus and it was donated to the museum.

Apple party

In 1993, Kesey drove the second bus to California to speak at a private party hosted byApple Computer.Apparently, the party producers claimed no knowledge of his history or politics, and after his drug references, they removed him from the stage. Then, they blocked the bus from leaving the parking lot, so Kesey schmoozed around the event until it ended.

Restoration

The secondFurthurbus was refurbished and toured the country as part of a "Furthur 50th Anniversary Trip" in the summer of 2014.This trip was documented for the 2016 documentary filmGoing Furthur.

Cultural significance

The cross-country trip ofFurthurand the activities of the Merry Pranksters, with the success of Wolfe's book and other media accounts, led to a number of psychedelic buses appearing in popular media over the next few years, including in theBeatles'Magical Mystery Tour(1967 film) andThe Muppet Movie(1979 film).A similar bus was created for the 1990 filmFlashback.The bus appears as inspiration for the cover and in the Amazon short story "Existential Trips" by William Bevill. Both Kesey and original PranksterKen Babbsreleased books in 1990 recounting their famous adventure (Kesey's was calledThe Further Inquiry(ISBN0670831743) and Babbs' wasOn the Bus(ISBN0938410911)).

In the 2007 film,Across the Universe,a fictionalized version of the bus appears, this one a Chevrolet bearing the name "Beyond" in place of "Furthur". The bus also figures obliquely as a "technicolor motor home" in theSteely Dansong "Kid Charlemagne"(1976), about another LSD proponent,Owsley Stanley.The G4 original television showCode Monkeys(2007) references the bus in the first episode of the second season: a character voiced byTommy Chongtells the legend of Chester Hopperpot, a psychedelic pioneer touring the country in a magical hippie bus calledFarther.Ken Kesey's quote "You're either on the bus or off the bus," as quoted by Tom Wolfe, is often repeated as a counter-culture slogan. In the Grateful Dead song "The Other One", Bob Weir sings the lyric "the bus came by and I got on, that's when it all began, there was cowboy Neal at the wheel of the bus tonever ever land",an apparent reference to the originalFurthur.

Furthurreading

• Ken Kesey,The Further Onquiry.Viking, 1990.ISBN0-670-83174-3.
• William Bevill,Existential Trips.Amazon, 2020.ASINB08G44J7PL.

External links

• Original film of bus painting(13:00-14:00)
• Furthur Down the Road Foundation