In 1967, close to 100,000 people flocked to the Haight Ashbury for the Summer of Love. Many were there to "turn on, tune in, drop out," as Timothy Leary espoused, and the city scene with its plethora of music and drugs seemed to be the ideal place to do it.
Carolyn Adams had a child with Ken Kesey and later married Jerry Garcia. She was known as "Mountain Girl" and was a major personality during the Summer of Love, no doubt helped by being a major figure in Tom Wolfe's stories about the acid tests. Here she is with Kesey after they got busted for pot in 1966.
Art Frisch/The Chronicle
Followers of the religious movement were a high-profile part of the spiritual-seeking scene of the Summer of Love. Here they are singing and chanting in Golden Gate Park in 1967.
Ruth-Marion Baruch / Courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
During the Summer of Love, the Hells Angels were there in the Haight Ashbury where, as one article puts it, they considered themselves the "caretakers" of the hippie kids.
The title piece of her essay collection "Slouching Toward Bethlehem" was a somewhat downbeat account of the Haight Ashbury scene. To this day, Didion's essay collection remains widely read by students in college humanities courses.
Julian Wasser/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty
They were a group of community activists and artists who handed out free food and staged guerilla theater events, and were an integral part of the Haight Ashbury scene of the late 1960s. Actor Peter Coyote was a founding member of the Diggers.
UPI -- Archive/UPI -- Archive, S.F. Chronicle
The gonzo journalist was part of the media horde covering the goings-on of 1967. His piece on "The Hashbury" appeared in the New York Times Magazine in May of 1967.
HDNet Films
He was among the first to mass produce LSD and was the personal supplier to the Grateful Dead and other stars. Beyond that, he was a renowned sound engineer. In the 1980s, Owsley moved to Australia out of fear of a coming Ice Age and died in a car crash. In this photo, Stanley appears at a '67 drug arraignment.
Chronicle Photo
The physician founded the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic in 1967 and acted as its medical director for 39 years before resigning in 2006. This photo was taken in the lobby of one of the clinics on June 1, 1987.
Liz Hafalia/San Francisco Chronicle
It is unclear how much time he spent in SF during the Summer of Love. But his "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" and acid tests were so influential during this era that we can safely say his presence was felt all over the Haight in 1967. (Photo by Ted Streshinsky//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)
Ted Streshinsky
As head of Family Dog Productions, Helms was a music impresario to be reckoned with in SF during the Summer of Love and beyond.
Photo- Robert Altman
The "Howl" author had moved out of San Francisco by 1967, but he returned at least at the beginning of the year to be part of the Human Be-In, which was a prelude of sorts for the Summer of Love.
Gene Anthony / Collection of the California Historical Society
Released from prison in March, he headed straight to San Francisco where he began his life as a guru, accumulating mostly female followers who, at his instruction, committed nine grisly murders in 1969. (Photo by Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Los Angeles Times/LA Times via Getty Images
A one-time psychologist at Harvard, Leary became an evangelist for LSD who told the hippies to "turn on, tune in and drop out" at the Human Be-In. (AP Photo/Bob Klein, File)
Robert W. Klein/Associated Press
"Mouse," as he was known during the hippie years, was one of the most famous poster artists of the San Francisco rock era.
Brant Ward/The Chronicle
The authors of the hippie musical "Hair" came out to San Francisco specifically to experience the scene as they were writing their Broadway hit. Above is an image from a production of "Hair" at the Hirschfeld Theater.
Joan Marcus
One of the original Beat poets, Snyder was there for many of the seminal moments of the '50s and '60s in the Bay Area, from Ginsberg's original reading of "Howl" to the Human Be-In. He left the Bay Area for the Sierra foothills around 1970 and his writing has continued to inspire and influence.
THEN: The Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead is seen in a slightly later but undated file photo.
Michael Ochs Archives
The band's surviving members – Bill Kreutzmann, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart – reunited in 2015 for their "Fare Thee Well" 50th-anniversary performance at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara and Chicago's Soldier Field.
Above: (L-R) Mickey Hart, Bob Weir and Bill Kreutzmann of the Grateful Dead arrive at the 'Long Strange Trip' Premiere at Yarrow Hotel Theater on January 23, 2017 in Park City, Utah.
Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead performs during the sound check at the Hollywood Bowl on September 15, 1967 in Los Angeles.
NOW: Bob Weir, The Grateful Dead
Bob Weir attends the 17th Annual Americana Music Festival & Conference at the Country Music Hall of Fame on September 22, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Terry Wyatt/Getty Images for Americana Music
Mickey Hart in San Francisco in 1968.
NOW: Mickey Hart, The Grateful Dead
Mickey Hart performs with spinoff band Dead and Company during the 2016 summer tour closing show at Shoreline Amphitheatre on July 30, 2016 in Mountain View.
C Flanigan/Getty Images
THEN: Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane are credited with launching the San Francisco rock scene, but as the Chronicle points out, they were a "fractious, contentious group of strong personalities." Yet in spite of their clashes, the band "ruled over the Summer of Love."
Woodstock, Altamont, the Monterey Pop Festival: Jefferson Airplane played many of the major musical events of the late-1960s, and their breakout album, "Surrealistic Pillow," is considered the seminal psych-rock soundtrack of the Love Generation.
Artistic differences eventually got the best of the band. In 1972, they split off into two separate bands: Hot Tuna and Jefferson Starship.
Above: L-R seated: Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Spencer Dryden, Marty Balin, Jack Casady, Leaning on bench in back: Jorma Kaukonen
Michael Ochs Archives
NOW: Jefferson Airplane
Though the band was short-lived, it certainly made a mark on musical history. In 1996, Jefferson Airplane was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and last year it was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Above: Jorma Kaukonen, Grace Slick and Jack Casady in Jan. 2004.
Robert Knight Archive/Redferns
THEN: Grace Slick, Jefferson Airplane
Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane posed at Kralingen Festival in Rotterdam, Holland on June 26, 1970.
Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns
NOW: Grace Slick, Jefferson Airplane
Grace Slick poses for a portrait at her art opening at Gallery 319 in Santa Monica, Calif. on May 16, 2009.
Jim Steinfeldt/Getty Images
THEN: Jack Casady, Jefferson Airplane
Jack Casady performs with Hot Tuna at the Santa Rosa County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa in June 1977.
NOW: Jack Casady, Jefferson Airplane
Jack Casady and Hot Tuna perform in a concert presented by The Raccoon Lodge on April 14, 2017 in New York.
NOW: Big Brother and the Holding Company
The band is still playing, although only original members Dave Getz and Peter Albin remain in the lineup. They'll be bringing their signature psychedelic rock back to San Francisco on May 20 to play a show for the 50th anniversary of Huckleberry Youth Programs. Tickets are available here.
Above: Dave Getz, Sam Andrew and Peter Albin and Big Brother And The Holding Company perform on stage at Koh Samui Festival, Thailand, September 2005. (Photo by Martyn Goodacre/Getty Images)
Martyn Goodacre/Getty Images
THEN: Big Brother and the Holding Company
Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company perform live circa 1967 in San Francisco.
Ed Caraeff/Morgan Media/Getty Images
NOW: Dave Getz, Big Brother and the Holding Company
Dave Getz speaks onstage during a screening of 'Janis: Little Girl Blue' at Langham Hotel on January 19, 2016 in Pasadena, Calif.
Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
THEN: Big Brother and the Holding Company
Janis Joplin performs at the Winterland Ballroom, backed by Big Brother and the Holding Company.
Ted Streshinsky Photographic Archive/Corbis via Getty Images
NOW: Sam Andrew, Big Brother and the Holding Company
Sam Andrew performs with The Heroes of Woodstock at Route 66 Casino's Legends Theater on Dec. 31, 2009 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Steve Snowden/Getty Images
THEN: The Animals
Led by frontman Eric Burdon, the Animals got their start in Newcastle, England as a rhythm and blues band. Best known for their hit single "The House of the Rising Sun," the band eventually invaded the US by moving to California in 1966, under the new name Eric Burdon and Animals, writes Rolling Stone.
The move cemented the Animals as bards of West Coast psychedelia, joining the Dead at the historic 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. By 1968, the band had broken up. The 1967 song "San Franciscan Nights" is an ode to their time among the hippies in the Bay Area.
Michael Ochs Archives
NOW: The Animals
The Animals are still rocking, with Burdon occasionally teaming up with the band for reunion shows. The group now consists of four members, only two of which — drummer John Steel and keyboardist Mick Gallagher — played in the original lineup.
Above: Eric Burdon and The Animals perform at the Cajun & Blues Music Festival in Simi Valley, Calif., on May 28, 2016.
Jim Steinfeldt/Getty Images
THEN: Eric Burdon, The Animals
Eric Burdon marries Angie King at Caxton Hall in London in July 1967.
Robert Stiggins/Getty Images
Now: Eric Burdon, The Animals
Eric Burdon performs onstage at The Roxy Theatre on June 10, 2014 in West Hollywood, Calif.
THEN: John Steel, The Animals
Posed portrait of John Steel in 1967, taken in an unspecified location in the U.K.
Brian Shuel/Redferns
NOW: John Steel, The Animals
Portrait of John Steel, taken on September 13, 2011.
Rhythm Magazine
THEN: Lou Adler
Music executive and record producer Lou Adler was the man behind many of the influential West Coast bands of the 60s, including the Mamas and the Papas. 1967 was a busy year for Adler. Besides founding Dunhill Records, which produced six top-5 hits for the Mamas and the Papas, Adler co-produced the Monterey Pop Festival.
Later that year, he sold Dunhill to ABC and founded Ode Records, the same imprint that produced Carole King's legendary "Tapestry" album.
The 1970s ushered in a new era for the producer. After spotting Cheech and Chong in Los Angeles comedy clubs, he went on to produce a series of comedy albums for the duo, establishing them as the "most popular stoners in America," according to a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bio on the producer. With an obvious gift for spotting kitsch and comedy, Adler then produced cult classic "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."
Above: Lou Adler and Carole King on Jan. 1, 1973.
Michael Ochs Archives
NOW: Lou Adler
Lou Adler is still very much a fixture in the Los Angeles scene. While he sold Ode Records in the 1975, he still owns The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles and can often be spotted sitting courtside at Lakers games beside pal Jack Nicholson.
After being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013, Adler discussed his legacy as a producer with Rolling Stone. "I never had a particular sound," he said. "I always tried to make the records about the artists and their particular sound."
Above: Lou Adler attends 'From Monterey Pop to Coachella: Conversation With Lou Adler and Paul Tollett' during 2017 SXSW Conference and Festivals at Austin Convention Center on March 17, 2017 in Austin, Texas.
Katrina Barber/Getty Images for SXSW
THEN: The Byrds
As pioneers of folk rock, The Byrds blended influences of American folk music with that of the rock and roll emerging from England in the 1960s. Songs like "Turn! Turn! Turn!" and a cover of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" elevated the band to stardom, but success quickly led to a breakup for the band that defined Los Angeles sound in the 1960s. After a series of personnel changes, the band officially disbanded in 1973.
Above: Gene Clark, David Crosby, Roger McGuinn, Michael Clarke and Chris Hillman of The Byrds, 1966
Chris Walter/WireImage
NOW: The Byrds
Throughout the 80s, Gene Clark and Michael Clarke ruffled feathers for separately touring and performing under the name The Byrds. After Clark filed an application to trademark the name "The Byrds," McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman filed a counter-claim to trademark the name themselves, the LA Times reported in 1989.
Despite their scuffles, the band came together in 1991 for their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. After Clarke's death, the remaining original members played together for the last time in 2000 before refocusing on their solo careers.
Above: Roger McGinn, Chris Hillman and David Crosby performing the classic song "Tambourine Man" at a benefit concert at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, August 8, 2000.
Ken Hively/LA Times via Getty Images
THEN: Chris Hillman, The Byrds
Chris Hillman performs on stage at Hammersmith Odeon, London, 30th April 1977
Gus Stewart/Redferns
NOW: Chris Hillman, The Byrds
Chris Hillman performs onstage during the 2017 MusiCares Person of the Year event on Feb. 10, 2017 in Los Angeles.
Scott Dudelson/Getty Images
THEN: Roger McGuinn, The Byrds
Roger McGuinn in Rotterdam, Netherlands on June 27, 1970.
Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns
NOW: Roger McGuinn, The Byrds
Roger McGuinn in Antwerp, Belgium on Sept. 3, 2014.
Paul Bergen/Redferns
THEN: David Crosby, The Byrds
David Crosby backstage at the Monterey Pop Festival on June 17, 1967 in Monterey, Calif.
NOW: David Crosby, The Byrds
David Crosby attends the Maltin Modern Master Award tribute during the 32nd Santa Barbara International Film Festival at the Arlington Theater on Feb. 2, 2017 in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Jennifer Lourie/Getty Images
THEN: The Rolling Stones
The Stones' Summer of Love legacy is largely remembered for the band's headlining performance at Altamont Speedway Free Festival on Dec. 6, 1969 – their first performance in the U.S. since 1966. Nearly 300,000 people attended the show to see bands like Jefferson Airplane, Santana and The Flying Burrito Brothers perform.
The free concert turned sour quickly, as West Coast motorcycle gang Hells Angels, acting as security, failed to keep the situation under control. Within minutes of the start of the Stones' performance, fights had already broken out near the stage. When 18-year-old Meredith Hunter drew a revolver amid the chaos, a Hells Angel stabbed and killed him. Read the Chronicle's coverage of Altamont here.
Above: L-R Mick Taylor, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Tour Manager Sam Cutler take a break during their set to assess the damage at Altamont on Dec. 6, 1969 in Livermore, Calif.
Robert Altman/Getty Images
NOW: The Rolling Stones
The Stones, together since 1962 with relatively few changes in the lineup, are still playing 60 years after they first set out as a blues band in London. The band tours regularly and released an album of blues covers in 2016, called "Blue and Lonesome."
Above: Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts attend The Rolling Stones - Exhibitionism Opening Night at Industria Superstudio on Nov. 15, 2016 in New York City.
Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Image
THEN: Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones
Mick Jagger in London, England in May 1972.
NOW: Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones
Mick Jagger performs on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival on June 29, 2013 in Glastonbury, England.
Matt Cardy/Getty Images
THEN: Bill Wyman, The Rolling Stones
Bill Wyman getting interviewed in Kingston, Jamaica while recording in Dec. 1972.
NOW: Bill Wyman, The Rolling Stones
Bill Wyman performs at his 80th Birthday Gala on Oct. 28, 2016 in London.
David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images
THEN: Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones
Keith Richards getting interviewed in Kingston, Jamaica while recording the "Goats Head Soup" album in Dec. 1972.
Shinko Music/Getty Images
NOW: Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones
Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones performs on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival 2013 on June 29, 2013.
Matt Cardy/Getty Images
THEN: Charlie Watts, The Rolling Stones
Charlie Watts performs at Wembley Empire Pool, London, Sept. 1973.
Michael Putland/Getty Images
NOW: Charlie Watts, The Rolling Stones
Charlie Watts attends The Rolling Stones Exhibitionism opening night held at Industria Superstudio on Nov. 15, 2016 in New York City.
THEN: Ronnie Wood, The Rolling Stones
Ronnie Wood performs at a Stones concert in 1976.
Hulton Deutsch/Corbis via Getty Images
NOW: Ronnie Wood, The Rolling Stones
Ronnie Wood performs at the Roundhouse Gala on March 16, 2017 in London, England.
David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Rou
THEN: The Who
Another English band to invade the Summer of Love scene was The Who, helmed by lead singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend. The band headlined the Monterey Pop Festival, and according to The Who official website, Townshend had such a bad drug trip on the flight home, he never took psychedelics again.
The Who returned to California in 1973, and drummer Keith Moon continued the band's legacy of negative drug-fueled experiences in the Bay Area when he passed out onstage after overdosing on brandy and barbiturates. According to Rolling Stone, he managed to finish the set.
Above: (L-R) Pete Townshend (wearing a coat made out of a Union Jack flag), Keith Moon (wearing a The Who t-shirt), Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle.
The Visualeyes Archive/Redferns
NOW: The Who
Although original members John Entwistle and Keith Moon died in 2002 and 1978, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey continue to tour as The Who. The group marked its 50th anniversary with an international tour and will play five shows in Canada and the East Coast this July.
Above: The Who perform during the Super Bowl XLIV Halftime Show at Sun Life Stadium on Feb. 7, 2010 in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
NOW: Pete Townshend, The Who
Pete Townshend during the Super Bowl XLIV Halftime Show at Sun Life Stadium on Feb. 7, 2010 in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
THEN: Roger Daltrey, The Who
Roger Daltrey in a dressing room of The Marquee Club, London on Dec. 17, 1968.
Shinko Music/Getty Images
NOW: Roger Daltrey, The Who
Roger Daltrey performs during the 19th annual Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation Collaboration for a Cure benefit dinner at Cipriani Wall Street on Nov. 10, 2016 in New York City.
John Lamparski/Getty Images
SAN FRANCISCO - CIRCA 1968: L-R: Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh of the rock and roll group "The Grateful Dead" pose for a portrait session on Portrero Hill in circa 1968 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Malcolm Lubliner/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Michael Ochs ArchivesWhile the bands provided the soundtrack for the Summer of Love, there were many other influential people that shaped the free-flowing scene that evolved in the Haight, Golden Gate Park and other areas around the city. Some were among the entertainment, some saved lives, all were part of the scene.
You had the Hells Angels who saw themselves as "caretakers" of the hippies while the Diggers were a group of community activists/artists providing free food and even housing for many of those who came into the city. And for those who overdosed, Dr. David Smith created the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic specifically to help the plethora of young people in immediate need of help.
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And then there were the spiritual "movements," like the Hare Krishnas chanting in Golden Gate Park, and the cults, like that created by ex-con Charles Manson. He came to San Francisco and reinvented himself into a "Christ-like" figure and his followers ultimately killed 9 people at his instruction.
In the above gallery, see many of the people and groups who made in the Summer of Love what it was and some of the writers whose descriptions continue to shape our impression of that brief time half a century ago.
