Seven Dirty Words: The Life and Crimes of George Carlin by James Sullivan

Author:James Sullivan
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: #genre
ISBN: 9780306818295
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Published: 2010-01-11T10:00:00+00:00

ON JULY 21, 1972, Carlin was due to headline the main stage at Milwaukee’s Summerfest, a multiple-day fairground event then entering its fifth season. Inaugurated in 1968 by longtime Milwaukee mayor Henry W. Maier, who envisioned an Oktoberfest-style celebration for his largely Germanic city, the festival was conceived with a distinct ethnic cast, including polka bands and a tribute to King Gambrinus, patron saint of brewers. The original name of the festival, Juli Spass—“July fun” in German—was quickly abandoned when various groups began lobbying city hall for a more inclusive concept. One protester recommended retitling the event the Fantastic Harlequin Kaleidoscope; organizers finally settled on the rather less fanciful Summerfest.

Adopting a something-for-everyone approach, the festival booked Bob Hope and Led Zeppelin, among many other acts, in its early years in scattered locations around the city. By 1970 the lineup had expanded considerably, including appearances at a new lakefront site by James Brown, Sarah Vaughan, and Chicago. An enormous throng, estimated at well over 100,000, gathered that year to see Sly & the Family Stone, whose late arrival fed the crowd’s restlessness, nearly resulting in a riot. The Milwaukee Sentinel reported that “marijuana smoke was so thick in the area that if there had been a shift in the wind, a good share of the community of Grand Rapids, Michigan, might have gotten stoned.”

Carlin’s opening act at Summerfest was a blues group called the Siegel-Schwall Band. The group’s cofounders, singer Corky Siegel and guitarist Jim Schwall, had known Carlin for some time. In earlier years, when he was spending a lot of time in Chicago, he’d become a fan of theirs at Big John’s, next door to Second City in Old Town, where Siegel-Schwall became the house act after the Butterfield Blues Band hit the road. By 1972 they were already Summerfest regulars.

“The beer flows pretty freely at Summerfest,” says Schwall. So Carlin was set to address a huge gathering of boisterous Midwestern hippies. Booked elsewhere on the grounds that day were Arlo Guthrie and Brewer & Shipley, the latter still enjoying the residual success of their 1971 hit “One Toke Over the Line.” Despite the like-minded billing, bad omens appeared from the start. Carlin was concerned that the size of the audience might hinder his ability to establish a rapport, and he said so when he hit the stage. At one point during his set his microphone went dead, and the local newspaper reported that a woman climbed onstage twice to holler at the comedian.

As he worked his way through the “Seven Words” material, which had quickly become a signature part of his set, there was a sudden commotion in the wings. A police officer named Elmer Lenz heard the seven words while strolling the fairgrounds, and he was incensed. Hustling over to the main stage, he was about to stride into the spotlight and arrest the speaker on the spot. At the last moment, Lenz was stopped by fellow officers who’d been assigned to the backstage area, who convinced the irate cop to wait until the comedian finished his set.

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