On this weekend 17 years ago — in the heat of the Democratic primary of 2008 between Hillary & Obama — I started BrianHassett.com. Every month since then for 17 years I’ve written at least one new piece for the site. “17” has been a weird number that’s followed me around my whole life from […]
17th Anniversary of Producing a Story a Month for BrianHassett.com
February 8th, 2025 · 7 Comments · Hitchhiker's Guide to Jack Kerouac, Kerouac and The Beats, Movies, Real-life Adventure Tales, Weird Things About Me
Tags: Anne Murphy·Bob Weir·Carolyn Cassady·Janis Joplin·Jesus Christ·Joe Biden·Neal Cassady·Peter Jackson·Taylor Swift·The Beat Generation·The Beat Museum·The Beatles
Anne Murphy’s “Tripping With A Viper” about Neal Cassady
May 4th, 2024 · 16 Comments · Kerouac and The Beats, Merry Pranksters
. Beat & Prankster fans rejoice! A new firsthand memoir has just been released of life with one of the Mount Rushmores of both the Beat Generation & the Merry Pranksters. That doesn’t happen very often, and there aren’t many options left. Anne Murphy (who later reverted back to her birth name Anne Marie Maxwell) […]
Tags: Acid Tests·Allen Ginsberg·Anne Marie Maxwell·Anne Murphy·Arthur & Kit Knight·Carolyn Cassady·Diane Di Prima·Edie Kerouac·Gavin Arthur·George Walker·Helen Weaver·Hettie Jones·Hunter Thompson·Jack Kerouac·Joyce Johnson·Ken Kesey·La Honda·Lu Anne Henderson·Merry Pranksters·Mountain Girl·Neal Cassady·Spit In The Ocean·The Beat Generation·The Beat Museum·The Grateful Dead·The Trips Festival·Tom Wolfe
The Making of “Jack on Film”
August 28th, 2022 · 13 Comments · Kerouac and The Beats, Movies
The Making of “Jack on Film” . . Believe it or not this whole thing started when I got a call on January 12th, 2021 — six days after the Capitol insurrection (!) and still deep in the pandemic lockdown daze. A musician friend I’ve known since 1976, Will Hodgson, was home with his kids […]
Tags: Big Sur·Frank Tabbita·Jack Kerouac·Jerry Cimino·Kill Your Darlings·Lowell·Lowell Celebrates Kerouac!·On The Road·Pull My Daisy·Route 66·S.A. Griffin·The Beat Museum·The Last Time I Committed Suicide·The Subterraneans·The Worthen in Lowell·Vincent Balestri
Beat Versus Beatnik
March 3rd, 2021 · 28 Comments · Kerouac and The Beats
21st Century Beatniks versus Hieroglyphic Caricatures . There’s long been a debate about the word “beatnik” — originally coined by a sensationalist San Francisco gossip columnist in 1958, playing on the Yiddish suffix “nik” and the first Russian satellite launched in September ’57, colloquially known as “Sputnik.” Jack and Allen & company hated the word […]
Tags: Abbie Hoffman·Al Hinkle·Albert Grossman·Allen Ginsberg·Anne Waldman·Barack Obama·beatniks·Bob Denver·Bob Dylan·Brad Pitt·City Lights Books·Daniel Yaryan·David Meltzer·Diane Di Prima·Dobie Gillis·Donovan·Ed Sanders·Elvis Mitchell·Gordon Ball·Helen Weaver·hippies·Howl·Jack Hirschman·Jack Kerouac·Jack Micheline·Janis Joplin·Jeopardy·Jerry Garcia·Jerry Kamstra·John Phillips·Jonah Raskin·Ken Kesey·Lawrence Ferlinghetti·Linda Breen·Maynard G. Krebs·Merry Pranksters·Naropa·Neal Cassady·Quentin Tarantino·Robert Shelton·Route 66·ruth weiss·S.A. Griffin·The Beat Generation·The Beat Museum·Vesuvio's·William Burroughs
“Blissfully Ravaged in Democracy” News & Reviews
May 31st, 2020 · 8 Comments · Blissfully Ravaged in Democracy, Politics
. Here’s the first live show for the book — a Facebook live stream for an online Prankster reunion — featuring The Franken Fracas, Obama’s election night, Abbie Hoffman, the climactic Bernie rally in New Hampshire & lots of other gems . . . . David Amram — Jack Kerouac’s principal musical collaborator […]
Tags: Blissfully Ravaged in Democracy·Democrats Abroad·Jerry Ciminio·The Beat Museum
The Beat Museum’s Jerry Cimino Introduces Brian Hassett
April 30th, 2020 · 12 Comments · Blissfully Ravaged in Democracy, Kerouac and The Beats, Politics, Weird Things About Me
Introduction to Blissfully Ravaged in Democracy (April 2020) . Sometimes you meet a person who thinks like you do, who views the world through a similar lens. For me, Brian Hassett is one of those people. We’re all products of our times, and Brian, being slightly younger than me, came of age in a different decade […]
Tags: Beat Shindig·Blissfully Ravaged in Democracy·Carolyn Cassady·John Cassady·New Hampshire primary·Politics·The Beat Museum
Brian Hassett Set Lists
May 31st, 2019 · 12 Comments · Hitchhiker's Guide to Jack Kerouac, Kerouac and The Beats, Merry Pranksters, Weird Things About Me, Woodstock
Midwest Tour — May 2019 . Thomas O’Shea House Party — Berea, outside Cleveland Ohio – Friday, May 10th, 2019 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jack Kerouac – the Marin Epiphany – from ch 26 – The Airplane Hanger in Marin The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jack Kerouac – ch. 3 – Dancin’ to The Boulder Boogie […]
Tags: George Walker·Jack Kerouac·Merry Pranksters·Neal Cassady·On The Road·Rolling Stone Book of The Beats·The Beat Museum
George-Walker-Brian-Hassett-Kerouac-Cassady
August 6th, 2017 · 19 Comments · Hitchhiker's Guide to Jack Kerouac, Kerouac and The Beats, Merry Pranksters, Real-life Adventure Tales, Weird Things About Me
George Walker & Brian Hassett Present Jack Kerouac & Neal Cassady . . Click here to jump to the Fall 2023 Tour dates & Locations Click here to skip to Show Set Lists with Clip Links Click here to go to Bios . George Walker & Brian Hassett first met in Boulder Colorado in July […]
Tags: George Walker·How The Beats Begat The Pranksters·Jack Kerouac·Jerry Garcia·Ken Kesey·Lowell Celebrates Kerouac!·Neal Cassady·The Beat Museum·The Grateful Dead·The Merry Pranksters
Beat Shindig San Francisco June 2015
August 16th, 2015 · 18 Comments · Hitchhiker's Guide to Jack Kerouac, Kerouac and The Beats, Real-life Adventure Tales
. Shindig Sutra . aahhh — San Francisco — home of everything holy. Home of the Beats, home of The Dead, home of the wild. The United States of San Francisco. The city that makes its own rules . . . and that’s that. Of course we’re coming home. To the Museum that Jerry built. […]
Tags: Al Hinkle·Grateful Dead·Jack Kerouac·Neal Cassady·North Beach·San Francisco·The Beat Museum