Tim Leary's parties
Alan Merrill is the son of Helen Merrill, the legendary jazz singer. He teamed up with two other Hastings residents, Bucky Hall and drummer Carl Peachman, in Watertower West. The bassist who replaced Riley in the band, Jake Hooker, was not from Hastings, nor was Merrill. Merrill and Hooker later formed The Arrows, which starred in a British TV show for a couple of years in the Seventies. They also co-wrote "I Love Rock 'n Roll," which became a No. 1 hit for Joan Jett in 1982.
This tidbit from one of Merrill's emails to me is an interesting insight into the emerging ethos of the Sixties:
I suppose you might know that the first gig Carl and I played together was at a party for Tim Leary at Peggy Hitchcock's east side mansion in Manhattan. It was attended by the likes of Jerry Garcia and Allen Ginsberg. I spent my school holidays at Millbrook, the Leary/Hitchcock/Mellon mansion stronghold, when I was 14. My mom was Peggy's best friend. I didn't have to seek out acid. I was dosed daily, unbeknownst to me. Susan Leary, Tim's daughter, loved to watch us trip. She was 16. It was a very beautiful mansion, or so it appeared. An 'Itchycoo Park' for me.
Peachman, who became an architect, died of lung cancer in 2002.