St. Louisan Kathy Corley’s new documentary film “One Toke Over the Line … and Still Smokin’ “ gives folk-rock pioneers Brewer and Shipley their due, highlighting the creative peak they hit while living and working in the Kansas City area during the late 1960s and early ’70s.
Corley wisely truncates the infamous clip of Lawrence Welk covering the title song (“a modern spiritual by Gail and Dale”) and gives extended focus to what came before and after. Brewer, from Oklahoma, and Shipley, from Ohio, followed their folk-music dreams to L.A. and released a major-label LP before relocating to KC to form the artistic nucleus of impresario Stan Plesser’s Good Karma productions. Along with Danny Cox, they had previously played Plesser’s Vanguard coffeehouse, and first lived in the “Good Karma house” across Main Street. Eventually, the duo moved to an idyllic acreage on the edge of town.
In addition to B&S and Cox, we hear about the era from Good Karma associates Dan “Mort” Moriarty and Gary Peterson.
Another featured interviewee is KC native Steve Barncard, who engineered the great “Tarkio” LP at Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco. Barncard and producer Nick Gravenites make clear B&S were collaborating as equals with folks like Jerry Garcia and Mike Bloomfield, who would go on to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.
Corley has compiled an outstanding collection of film and photos, including one handbill from Cleveland’s La Cave club where Brewer and Shipley’s appearance is sandwiched between ones by the Velvet Underground and Jeff Beck. The focus is always, though, on B&S’s commitment to the hippie ideals of a peace-loving, inclusive America. That is an estimable legacy in my book.
scmoat