Excerpts from Pegasus Carousel by Michael Stuart

Michael Stuart-Ware

Excerpts

"We were through recording 'Forever Changes,' in September of 1967, and a release date was set for December. Elektra had arranged for a billboard ad for the group and the album to go up at a high-profile location on Sunset Boulevard, right where it meets Laurel Canyon Boulevard, the heart of the strip."

Copyright © Michael Stuart-Ware 2001-2007

Photograph taken in 1967 by Jean Ware Denes.

"The day the ad was to be erected, my phone rang. "Michael" -- it was Bryan -- 'Come pick me up and let’s go check out the billboard, man. A friend of mine just told me it’s up.' Actually, at that point, none of us had seen the proposed album cover design, which we knew to be the same as the billboard and I was curious to see what they had come up with. I hopped in my car and picked up Bryan, and we drove down Laurel Canyon. As soon as we turned right on Sunset, there it was.

"'Hey,' Bryan complained, 'He put you in the middle.' But, then, 'Uh, oh, we’ve been busted. That dude caught us cruising past our own billboard.' Bryan jerked his thumb in the direction of a guy in another Porsche which had slowed to a crawl next to us. The stranger was making eye contact and pointing to the billboard and nodding and smiling and giving us the thumbs up. 'Let’s get out of here.' "

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Last updated May 22, 2007