Richard Loren has just arrived back in the Bay Area where he resided from 1970 to 1986. In fact, it was none other than Jerry Garcia, whom Loren would come to manage, that told the young man to go west.

Once here, Loren would manage bands like the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and The Doors. In his new book, High Notes: A Rock Memoir (with Stephen Abny), from which Loren will read tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at The Green Arcade bookstore (1680 Market St.), he recounts life backstage and on the road with the countercultural stars. He also took a moment to explain his project and get into some big moments on tour.

How long have you been working on your memoir?

I started writing it in 2008 and I decided that it was a book that I was going to put together on my own terms. I wouldn't seek out representation or corporate publishing affiliation, I just went about writing it all down chronologically.

That was after I had produced the Grateful Dead's 30th anniversary live in Egypt album. That show was basically my vision. I had met Jefferson Airplane's lead singer and I was staying at his house when I moved to California. He had a lot of books about Egypt, which interested me. When the Grateful Dead went on a hiatus in '75 and I was on holiday riding a camel around the pyramids in Egypt one afternoon, I saw a stage and thought, "Hey, maybe the Dead could play here." When I went back I brought it up with the band members, we jumped on it, the band had a meeting and decided. We played there three shows in '78, and the final show there was a lunar eclipse.

How did you and Garcia become friends and collaborators?

When I became Garcia's manager in '73 we spent much of each day in each other's presence. We shared a lot of the same views culturally and socially. He was quite a human being, his interest was boundless, he was a compassionate person, and he played a hell of a guitar.

Those ten years I spent with Garcia measured up to be the ten best years of my life. We liked the same music, art, books on suppressed ancient history and ancient knowledge, stuff about things that happened, the monuments of Egypt, the anomalies that are not part of traditional academia. You know, we look at ourselves as the most advanced form of human, which is more than likely not the case. When you look at some of the structures on the planet, there are just a lot of monuments that are unexplained, mostly metaphysical, we shared the belief that we live in a multidimensional universe where not everything can be seen.

Would you talk about the Doors and your relationship with that band?

Well, I bailed Jim Morrison out of jail in '67. I never had to do that for Jerry. The police officer backstage had no idea he was in the band, and he was in fact maced by the cop, and demanded an apology of the cop. Then he got onstage and retold the story during "Backdoor Man," riling up the crowd and prompting his arrest from stage.

JIm was a poet, there are very few poets who lead rock and roll bands, he was a complex guy, he could be gentle and kind, or irrational and weird. it depended on the drugs he was taking or not taking at the time. He was a prototype. There are others that have followed in his footsteps, but nobody like Jim. His moves were always unique, none of his shows were alike. I don't know if he said thank you, but I'm sure he was grateful.

How does your book, and how do you, look at that time?

It's a collection of stories, a cultural coming of age as me as a young guy in my early 20s, my rites of passage in the music world. My life was shared with a lot of young people, but they happened to be rock stars... it was an amazing time.

There are two kinds of folks in this world. People who admire Courtney Love and people who are made of garbage. (Kidding. Sort of.) We fall into the former, luckily. (Your SFist editor's first concert, in fact, was a Hole show in the '90s at the Palladium. Courtney got into fisticuffs with some asshole in the audience. It was awe-insiring. Shortly after the show ended, Belinda Carlisle, sporting an eggplant Versace gown, glided across the pit, parting the crowd like Moses. No concert has been able to match the gravity of that night.) In town tonight at the Independent, she had intriguing bits to say about the city.

Love gave a charming and insightful interview to Joshua Rotter for SF Examiner. Some choice moments: When Love lived in San Francisco (years ago), she squatted at 44 Hayes before moving into a "really big" and "beautiful" pad on Divisadero. When asked about visiting her old home now, she said, "I kind of get physically ill if I'm there for too long, like you do in Vegas. But it's nice for a day or two — and it's fun to play."

She also went on to say, "I can't even envision it with tech people. San Francisco was tight with 'Don't fuck with our quaintness.' "

Read more at SF Examiner. Then head over to Gothmist to read Courtney Love's interview with Jen Carlson about playing small shows in Montauk, Billy Corgan, and tips for her fellow New Yorkers.

By the way, tonight's show is sold out; however, you can always try Craigslist.

Back in the days of yore, San Francisco concertgoers used to sneak off to the bathroom to do bumps of cocaine or heroin in between sets. That's the way God wanted it. Now local aural revelers prefer to luxuriate in such edibles as artisan pizza or bacon endive wrapped pancreas butt while listening to emasculated crooners with no visible ass. The marriage of music and food is about as edgy and creative as the Vh1 Fashion & Music Awards, or so hints Ian S. Port who penned this thought-provoking piece on food and music in SF Weekly. He claims that young "full-time freaks and out-of-the-way spaces that host them" are disappearing due to terrible tech ilk and the fine food they cram down their gullets. More or less.

He explains:

Here's how it goes: Creative people -- not web designers or software developers, but artists, musicians, activists, writers, and other colorful types -- tend not to make much money. As this city becomes less and less affordable, those people leave. And when those people leave, whom will the city's entertainment events target? The people who can afford to stay: Young, well-off tech workers or high-income young couples, whose tastes and lifestyles are cushier, more conservative, less driven by purely creative aims, and, often -- if only in comparison with the people they've replaced -- dull.

These bougies-in-training will want events to practice their conspicuous consumption, whether on food, booze, music, or all at the same time. And they'll get it at events like Noisette. This kind of high-minded consumerism -- fun as it is -- will become the norm, even more than it already has. So while it was once a respite for low-income creatives and real deviants, who would pay $5 or $10 to go a show or a party (at the Eagle Tavern, or Annie's Social Club, or Kimo's, remember those?), swill cheap whiskey, and watch something freaky and loud until early in the morning, San Francisco will slowly become one big pork-belly party, an amusement park for well-off residents to discover some new consumer good to become picky over, or for bridge-and-tunnel types to visit on the weekend, go to an overpriced club, and meet a hookup. Big concerts will draw kids from the 'burbs paying $50 or more a head. They'll never believe they could be rich enough to actually live here.

Or, maybe most twentysomethings really are into food that much? This New York Times article seems to suggest as much. And from what few twenty-year-old types we selectively keep in our social harem of unbridled lunatics, they sure do go on and on and on about pop-ups and gastronomic thingamajigs. (Hand to God, if just one of them brings up another pop-up restaurant into conversation, we shall steal their youthful essence Charlize Theron-style.) After all, punk is dead and more of a distant Gen Xer memory, yes? Then again, the music scene here in SF is admittedly quiet, so... who knows? Maybe your pork slider is the cause of it all. And if it is, maybe that's not such a bad thing.

Anyway, Port goes on to point out a harrowing future, one involving...Oakland. He writes:

The freaks and creatives won't go too far -- they'll go to Oakland, where there's much more space, at much lower cost. The kinds of reckless energy that powered San Francisco music from the '60s through the '90s will trickle away, as much of it has already. And the city will be worse for it.

Read the piece in its entirety. It's a good read.

Update: Grub Street editor (and SFist contributor) Jay Barmann weighs in as well. He says that, hey, this is what people want, adding, "the times are a-changin', and on the bright side, at least the food is way better here than it was ten years ago."

Photographer Ariel Dovas spotted this rock that looks like the city of San Francisco. Ta-da.

Are you still workin’ for living? Do you yearn for a new drug? Do you not require money? fame? a credit card to ride this train? Then, you'll want to make a special trip across the Golden Gate Bridge to hear Huey Lewis (iconic frontman of Marin County band, Huey Lewis and the News) in conversation with Joan Ryan (journalist and author of the astounding Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters, one of the best sports books ever written).

The two will discuss topics like how new technology affects the way music is made and consumed today, defining success for a musician, music's role in pop culture, and kicking it at The Deuce (Lewis' and said News' favorite bar in Mill Valley, the backdrop for Sports.)

What: In Conversation with Huey Lewis
Where: 142 Throckmorton Theatre, Mill Valley
When: Monday, August 9th
Tickets: $12-$15

ART: Visiting "mirror" artist Daniel Rozin has created a dazzling exhibition, "Reflections," in which guests can "multiply your visage into hundreds of kaleidoscopic views, use computers and mirrors to distort your appearance, experiment with your face under different wavelengths of light, and play with perspective to capture aspects of yourself you’ve rarely witnessed. Among the exhibits on display are new interactive works highlighting Daniel Rozin’s provocative take on self-examination."

5:30 p.m. // Exploratorium (3601 Lyon) // free-$14

MUSIC: There are still tickets available to tonight's PJ Harvey & John Parish show. Pop Matters says that even if the collaborators' new release A Woman and a Man Walked By, "isn't the most essential item in either artist’s discography, it’s still one worth hearing—if only to witness how slowly and deliberately it reveals its difficult charms."

8 p.m. // The Warfield (982 Market St) // $39.50-42 (all ages)

MUSIC II: New wave meets bossa nova with French band Nouvelle Vague, who remake new wave singles with a Brazilian pop twist. Sounds like an irresistible combo.

8 p.m. // The Regency Ballroom (1290 Sutter St) // $23.40 (all ages)

by Moses Namkung

A couple minutes into the Vivian Girls' set at the Independent on Friday, your friendly SFist correspondent realized that he wasn't really listening to the music. Cassie Ramone kept leaning over, strumming her Squier, blond mane hanging straight down, and then she'd stand up and swing her hair across her face so that a few groups of locks partly covered it. Dreadfully attractive hair toss. But is this effect what the Vivian Girls were really going for? Distractingly hot?

See any Brooklyn Vegan post's comment section on them, i.e. "Everyone I know under 25 thinks they're full of shit, whereas every (dude) I know older than 25 seems to really adore them in this bizare [sic] fusion of Lolita-ish physical lust and high school indie nostalgia." Er. Ok, so cute indie female musicians have always kind of attracted followings for, well, being cute... in addition to them having whatever talent they might (or might not) have.

by Lisa Hix

As summer approaches, so do the days we send the young 'uns up to the wilderness to learn how to make fire with sticks or melt marshmallows for 'smores. Some campers, however, prefer to learn survival skills for a more urban sort of wilderness - the boy-dominated world of independent music.

The Bay Area Girls Rock Camp is busy tying up the premiere season of its Girls Rock After School Program and getting ready for its second-ever youth summer camp, plus a new weekend workshop for wannabe rockers who are fresh out of high school.

What does this mean to you? It means that they're looking for volunteers: music instructors, grant writers, and street-teamers — as well as donations of cash, instruments, and other music gear. The nonprofit's wish list includes items as big as a permanent space with practice rooms and an office, as well as shows and benefit events for Rock Camp. But you can also help them out with donations as small as a button maker and button-making supplies or books, CDs, zines, and comics relevant to grrls wanting to dominate the worlds of hip-hop, punk, country, or blues. More information is here.

SFist has been a fan of Why? since we first saw them at Bottom of the Hill a few years back. We recently came across a cover they did of the Cure’s “Close to Me”, which we highly recommend. Their new album “Alopecia” comes out on March 11th. Besides being named for everyone’s favorite form of hair loss. its good. They’ll be performing some of these new songs tonight at the Great American Music Hall. They’ll playing some other great local bands including a new Asthmatic Kitty band, Cryptacize. Cryptacize members include former Kill Rock Stars artist Nedelle Torrisi and Chris Cohen of The Curtains and formerly of Deerhoof. Why? front man Yoni Wolf has undergone the SFist interview—read on for more.

Favorite song to perform these days?
"The Fall of Mr. Fifths"

Where are the best fans?
Right here in sunny San Francisco!

Lamest crowd request?
"Take your shirt off!!"...Frankly ladies, I look better with my shirt on.

Favorite thing about your own music?
I know all the words and can sing along.

What music are you listening to these days?
Leonard Cohen and a lot of Ambient music like The Dead Texan and Fennesz. Anything I might fall asleep to (not in a bad way).

*CLUB: Check out Rock Out Karaoke over at Amnesia. What is Rock Out Karaoke? Well, it mean that you will hear neither a Righteous Brothers cover nor a note from everyone's least favorite musical, . And isn't that what you really want in a karaoke night? Of course it is. (Glenny Kravitz hosts.)

READING: Sorry to throw another Valencia Street happening your way, but: author and artist Ian Philips, of Suspect Thoughts Press, reads from his latest illustrated tome, The Rapture for Big Sinners: 66 + 6 Things to Do Before and After the Righteous Lift Off . Oh, and Michelle Tea recommends him, so he can't be all that bad. Head over to Dog Eared Books to check it out.

MUSIC: Howlin Rain describes themselves as "easy listening" rock -- our favorite kind! Catch them tonight over at Bottom of the Hill along with Enablers and East Bay Grease. (Failing that, Rush is over at the Sleep Train Pavilion in Concord!)

FILM: War vets take center stage at the Castro Theatre via screenings Cutter’s Way, where gigolo Jeff Bridges and crippled war vet John Heard plan "an audacious blackmail scheme," and Rolling Thunder, a "pitch-black coming home drama about a Vietnam vet seeking vengeance on a band of murderers."

The listed events were chosen by the editors of SFist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla.

Ordinarily at this time Ted's gearing up for South by Southwest, where he would be grinning from ear to ear, seeing the bands you'll be listening to next year, tracking down people for yet another celebrity station ID, and radiating joy wherever he goes. However, this year he might not make it - the station is what Ted does, and it can't pay his way this time around. Fans of the station have started a drive to Send Ted to SXSW - and we here at SFist are happy to do our part to help. If you can, click over to his pad and flip him what you can. Ted has given as much as anyone to San Francisco music; it would be nice if he got a little back.

*CRAFT: Knitters and crocheters come together in harmony tonight over at the (newly remodeled!) Three Dollar Bill Cafe. Don't know how? No worries. Someone will be there to teach you. Happens every Monday.

Q&A: Ask Dr. Hal is back. One time fixture over Chicken John's the Odeon (RIP), you can now find Hal over at 12 Galaxies. So head on down to Mission Street to ask him whatever pressing questions are on you mind while you're throwing a few back.

MUSIC: Punk Rock Sideshow present Dead Ringers and Two Timin' Hussies for a night of loudness over at the Hemlock.

FILM: The Red Vic presents the moving flick, . It tells the tale about an old-school, old-timer novelist and a "nimble graduate student named Heather." Stars Frank Langella.

The listed events were chosen by the editors of SFist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla.