Open City Bukowski Jim Garrison JFK Article, Cream, Yardbirds Ads, May 31 – June 6, 1968

Description

The May 31 – June 6, 1968 issue of Open City captures a volatile moment in American cultural and political history. The lead story questions whether New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison was “out of his mind” for pursuing his controversial JFK assassination investigation. This article would later form part of the foundation for Oliver Stone’s 1991 film JFK, ensuring that the debates surrounding conspiracy, evidence, and political power reached new audiences decades later. Seeing it in the context of 1968—amid the Vietnam War, civil unrest, and political assassinations—makes this issue an extraordinary artifact of the underground press at its most daring.

Also inside is a Charles Bukowski column, but here it carries the unusual title The Weird World of Charles Bukowski (rather than his more widely recognized Notes of a Dirty Old Man). This alternate titling marks an interesting moment in Bukowski’s publishing history, showing how Open City experimented with branding his raw, confessional voice before settling on the “Dirty Old Man” persona that became iconic. Alongside this are rich period ads for Tim Buckley, a strange version of an LA “camera club” featuring nude models, The Incredible String Band, Cream, and The Yardbirds, making this a document that straddles countercultural politics, underground literature, and the soundscape of the late ’60s Los Angeles scene.

A scarce and highly collectible issue from the heart of the Los Angeles underground press—essential for Bukowski readers, JFK researchers, and counterculture collectors alike.