The dude could just see how fucked up that whole scene was. Might have been paranoid but for good reason considering all the creeps (mamas and the papas etc), hacks (the wrecking crew studio band were the actual musicians on a ton of records coming out of this scene, while a lot of the bands couldn't really play at all) and agents (operation midnight climax is a good/insane example of what was going on in California at the time).
He was one of a small handful of black LA rock stars. Had to know that if anyone in that scene was going to end up in jail for drugs etc it would be him (he did end up going to jail btw).
Edit- Jesus Christ I forgot that Bobby Beausoleil was an early member of Love
Required Fucking Reading for anyone interested in how :sus-torment: the 60s-70s LA rock scene was
Lol, yeah I love McGowan. His work is real speculative 🤷♂️ "just asking questions". But his role as a citizen reporter, clipping articles out of papers and finding strange patterns was definitely valuable. If nothing else he pointed out that almost all of the hippie rock stars were the apolitical (or openly right wing, looking at you Zappa) sons and daughters of the US elite, who were catapulted to success to neuter countercultural movements.
They all up in the Manson story (so are the beach boys). A big part of Tom Oneil's book. Also John Phillips is a pedophile who sexually abused his daughter for a decade. There's more too, I'd have to check some sources lol
I know next to nothing about music but wasn't California in the 60s like a hotbed for CIA activity?
