Esotouric to offer Amoeba Rock History Tour

1960s Songstress Ruthann "Windy" Friedman Guests on Esotouric's Amoeba Rock History Tour

WHAT: Amoeba Music presents Esotouric's Where the Action Was Bus Tour
WHO: Guest stars singer-songwriter Ruthann Friedman (writer of the #1 1967 hit "Windy")WHEN: Saturday June 28, noon-3pm, departing from Amoeba Music in Hollywood
AFTER SHOW: Ruthann Friedman performs free in Amoeba Music at 3pm
COST: $55/person, ticket price includes snacks and Amoeba swag bag (stickers, buttons, music, special promo items and more)
DISCOUNT: 15% off for anyone who uses the secret words "Amoeba Sent Me"
TOUR INFO: http://www.esotouric.com, 323-223-2767

On June 28, Esotouric, recently named "L.A.'s coolest tour company," pairs up with Amoeba Music, L.A.'s coolest record store, to offer a special edition of WHERE THE ACTION WAS, the Hollywood musical history tour. Passengers depart from the store at Cahuenga and Sunset, kitty corner from the studio where the Rolling Stones recorded "Satisfaction," returning to Amoeba to enjoy a free concert by the tour's guest star, singer-songwriter Ruthann Friedman.

This three hour tour, co-hosted by pop critics Kim Cooper and Gene Sculatti, explores the musical history of Hollywood and the Sunset Strip through visits to celebrated nightclubs, recording studios, record labels and other places of subcultural importance. Illustrated with an elaborate onboard slide show featuring rare vintage photos, live performances, album art and ephemera, and hosted by a pair of historically minded music fiends eager to share fascinating tales, WHERE THE ACTION WAS is a must for rock fans who've heard the famous names, but need some help figuring out where is all happened.

Guest star Ruthann Friedman is best known for composing the Association's #1 hit (everyone knows it's) "Windy," and is a favorite of neo-folk star Devendra Banhart.

Asked about her appearance on Esotouric's historical bus survey of her youthful stomping grounds, Ruthann mused: "Seeing my old haunts through these old eyes brings back memories of a wildly creative and free time when the naiveté of youth danced the streets of Hollywood with infinite and dazzling possibilities of psychotropic drugs. There were no crazed crowds in the beginning and a line at the door towards the end. Something was definitely 'happening here' [to quote the Buffalo Springfield] and the fact that it is still being discussed and analyzed lets us know that it is still not 'exactly clear' ( my momma taught me to not use the word 'ain't')."

Among the memories Ruthann will be sharing on the Esotouric bus are:
"Hanging at the Troubador with Van Dyke Parks, Hoyt Axton, The Association crew, at the Action with The Lovin' Spoonful and Frank Zappa and his Mothers, The Jefferson Airplane at the Landmark Hotel, bumping into David Crosby or Stephen Stills, Jackson Browne, or any number of those who are now celebrities, when we were all just folks making music, trying to get a record deal and our music on the radio. "

For her post tour performance on Amoeba's in-store stage, Ruthann will be playing songs from her acclaimed 1969 Warner-Reprise album "Constant Companion" as well as new material. And yes, "Windy" is on the set list. After the show, she'll sign copies of her Water Records CD reissues and answer questions from fans.

On WHERE THE ACTION WAS, passengers make a fascinating journey back in time, from the mid 1960s through the punk era, when Hollywood was ground zero of a series of cultural explosions. The small area covered is packed with important spots including nightclubs (Whiskey A Go Go, Pandora's Box, Rodney's English Disco, The Masque), record labels (Capitol, A&M, RCA) and teen hang-outs (Ben Frank's, Canter's, Tiny Naylor's). Artists featured include The Beach Boys, The Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, The Doors, The Bobby Fuller 4, The Germs, Jan & Dean, Janis Joplin, Arthur Lee & Love, The Mamas & Papas, The Monkees, Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, Sonny & Cher, Phil Spector, Iggy & the Stooges, the Velvet Underground, Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention, and many, many more.

The tour visits the unassuming intersection where teens rioted over an unfair nightly curfew (inspiring the Buffalo Springfield's Stephen Stills to write "For What It's Worth"), the hotel where Janis Joplin died, the notorious Continental "Riot House" hotel in which Led Zeppelin partied with teenage groupie queens, Ciro's, the Troubador, and many more. It explains how Canter's Deli's continued popularity as an after hours gathering spot is directly tied to its willingness to serve hairy weirdos in the 1960s, reveals how Elvis Presley's shopping trip to Wallich's Music City influenced L.A.'s surf and hot rod music scene, and recalls a time when the Tropicana Motel was simply THE place to go for star spotting.

WHERE THE ACTION WAS is a long overdue celebration of the people and the venues that made Southern California the center of the rock and roll world for more than two decades.

Available for purchase on the tour will be autographed copies of Gene Sculatti's "The Catalog of Cool," Kim Cooper's books and issues of Scram, a journal of unpopular culture.

ABOUT THE HOSTS:
Co-host Kim Cooper is the editrix of Scram, the acclaimed journal of unpopular culture that over 22 issues has celebrated neglected musical genius, and spawned the anthologies "Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth" and "Lost in the Grooves: Scram's Capricious Guide to the Music You Missed." Her latest book is the best-selling volume of the 33 1/3 series of little books about great albums, on Neutral Milk Hotel's "In the Aeroplane Over The Sea." Kim is creator of the 1947project time travel blog, spearheaded the successful preservation campaign to save the Union 76 Ball signs, and writes and hosts all Esotouric's true crime tours.

Co-host Gene Sculatti is a writer, editor and music-business veteran whose work has appeared in USA Today, Rolling Stone and Creem. Gene was Editorial Director of Warner Bros. Records and Director of Special Issues for Billboard magazine. His book "The Catalog of Cool" was the bible of pre-internet hepcat exploration. Gene is also author of "Too Cool," "San Francisco Nights: The Psychedelic Music Trip" and "The 100 Best Selling Albums of the 60s," and hosts a weekly internet radio show on LuxuriaMusic.com, Atomic Cocktail (Wednesday's, 6pm Pacific Time).

Upcoming Esotouric bus tour schedule (new tours starred):
Sat May 31 ­ Esotouric & City Lights Books present Haunts of A Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowki's LA (BookExpo edition)
*Sat June 7- Visionary Hollywood hosted by author Erik Davis
Sat June 14- Vroman's - The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's SoCal Nightmare
Sat June 21 - The Real Black Dahlia
Sat June 28 ­ Amoeba Music - Where the Action Was rock history tour with guest star Ruthann Friedman (composer of "Windy")
Tues July 1 ­ American Library Association Edition: Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles
*Sat July 12 - Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles: The New Chinatowns
Sat July 26 - Pasadena Confidential
Sat Aug.2 - Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles: Route 66
Sat Aug 9- Vroman's Bookstore ­ Haunts of A Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowki's LA
Sat Aug 16 - The Real Black Dahlia
Sat Aug 23 ­ John Fante's Bunker Hill
Sun Sept 7 - Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles: South LA
Sat Sept 20 ­ Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles: The Many Downtowns
Sat Oct 11- Vroman's Bookstore - Raymond Chandler's LA
Sat Oct 18- Raymond Chandler's Bay City
Sat Oct 25 ­ Halloween Horrors

For more info on Esotouric, visit http://www.esotouric.com
For more info on Ruthann Friedman, visit http://ruthannfriedman.com/