More vintage footage of Allen here (and also, more prominently, of Lawrence Ferlinghetti and of the San Francisco Mime Troup Gorilla Band, courtesy the Archivio Audiovisivo del Movimento Operario e Democratico (AAMOD)
1968 Vietnam War protest – The San Francisco Mime Troup Gorilla Band begin with “When The Saints Go Marching In“ and follow it with a protest-laden rendition of the U.S. National Anthem – Ferlinghetti then reads from the podium his recently-composed “Assassination Raga“ (in memory of Robert Kennedy)
(“…..United States of America/takes off/& wings away with that Body/Tune out the tv sound/& listen soundlessly/ to the blind mouths of its motors.& to a sitar speaking on the stereo/a raga in a rage/at all that shit/against all that death/La Allah el lill Allah/There is no god but God/The force that through the red fuze/drives the bullet/drives the needle in its groove/ and drives that plane of the “United States of America”/through its sky full of shit and death/and the sky never ends/as it wings soundlessly/with black sun on wings/ Inside the plane/Inside the plane a wife/lies soundlessly/against the coffin/ Engine whines as sitar sings outrageously/La Allah el lill Allah/La Allah el lill Allah/ There is no god but God?/There is no god but Death/The plums, the plums are falling through the tree/The force that drives the bullet/through the gun/drives everyone/And time, time flies on/ through these swift fierce years/United States of America/with the dead weight of its Body/which they are flying from Dallas/which they are flying from Los Angeles/And the plane lands/without folding its wings/its shadow in mourning for itself/withdraws into itself/La Allah el lill Allah/La Allah el lill Allah/ There is no god but Death/The force that through the green fuze/drove his life/drives everyone/La Allah el lill Allah/ La Allah el lill Allah/And they are driving the Body up Fifth Avenue/past a million people in line/”We are going to be here a long time”/Says Death TV’s salesman/The cortege passes soundlessly/”Goodbye, goodbye”, people cry/The traffic flows on/The force that drives the cars combusts our death/La Allah el lill Allah/ La Allah el lill Allah/There is no god but Death/The force that drives our life to death/drives sitar too so boundlessly/ La Allah el lill Allah/ La Allah el lill Allah/ They lifted the body/ of the United States of America/ and they carried it into a cathedral/singing “Allelujah over it/ “and he shall live and, and he shall live forever and.”/And then the body moves again/down Fifth Avenue/There are people with roses behind the barricades/In bargain basement dresses/ La Allah el lill Allah/ La Allah el lill Allah….”)
Do we know what this venue is/was? Which auditorium?