On the 9th of March, 2012, Peter Bergman sadly passed on. Bergman was a founding member of the psychedelic comedy troupe “Firesign Theatre”, whose late 60′s and early 70′s records gained a dedicated cult following. I’m joined by ApexJazz, as we discuss their work, and the legacy of Peter Bergman. Thank you to Apex for the passion and insight he brought to this podcast.
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Embers of Firesign Theatre On YouTube:
Rare film footage of Firesign Theatre performing in 1972. A few quick clips showing the chaos of their live appearances. Ossman preaches, Austin sings, Proctor reports, Bergman delegates. The madness has something to do with the National Surrealist Light Peoples Party Convention and a summit on Monster Island. Perplexingly, the assembled film was released as “Martian Space Party”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7f9Io9tPD8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-CHO5YsIzQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h81isZ92Ljg
Bergman and Proctor (who I failed to mention was one of the best comic
actors of his generation) hustling for their LP:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GESCjcj8IrI&feature=related
A lovely tribute to Peter Bergman utilizing Phil Austin’s song “Loons”:
Terrific podcast, both of you! Thanks for honoring Firesign Theatre. I always appreciate ApexJazz’s scholarly take on comedy. I hope you do more of these (which isn’t to say I hope more comedians die…you know what I mean).
I still can’t believe I am not heanirg Peter in his daily cheery analytical way. Maybe one day the remaining 3 Firesign members might consider a Skype tribute to their friend and share with us special thoughts about their associations over the years. This Nov recording left us hoping for many more fireside chats in the future, and sadly never materialized. It was already hard missing Mr. Ossman’s daily input and now permanently missing Pete is just hard to fathom. I for one am thankful that he left so much media behind for us to digest and think about as he and the other 3 Amigos have left a permanent impression on my life. Thanks guys for all the memories, and thanks Pete as you are missed by many every single day
I was introduced to Firesign Theatre in the sumemr of 1970 by the radio voice of the prairies Ken Mills, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. My life was never the same thereafter. The seventies began with the lot us crawling out from the funeral pyres of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Otis Redding and the death of radio as we knew it. The Beatles broke up and Paul Mc Cartney became Pat Boone. In the midwest, there was no KPFK and it suddenly became clear there would be nothing on the radio worth listening to unless we did it ourselves, so we did. The fire that the Firesigns lit in those days has been hard to keep burning, but I’m inspired to try, try again. I’m on America’s easternmost community radio station, WERU in Blue HIll, Maine, and there are still a few of us recovering hippies that recall when radio was truly magnificent, and I will do everything I can to fan the flames that were lit in California by the likes of Peter and the Firesigns. First Utah Phillips takes the Westbound, now Peter. Rest in peace, pioneer. Fair winds to you from the other coast from an unabashed seeker. I’m very , very sad tonight to behold the cold truth that we’ll hear your voice no more.