Album Reviews

Hunter S. Thompson: The Gonzo Tapes: The Life + Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

Truth and fiction were fluid concepts for seminal “Gonzo” journalist Hunter S. Thompson. But, despite Thompson’s penchant for exaggeration, there was usually a morsel of truth in his drug-induced ramblings, political diatribes, and flights of fancy. This five-disc set was painstakingly extracted from the mess of audio recordings left behind by “The Good Doctor,” after his suicide in 2005. Assembled by director Alex Gibney, producer Eva Orner, and archivist Don Fleming, who received exclusive access to Thompson’s archives for Gibney’s upcoming documentary on the writer, the tapes span Thompson’s most formative years: 1965-1975. The Gonzo Tapes begin with dispatches by Thompson as he stows away with the Hells Angels, talking quickly and quietly, as the Angels shout and bark like dogs around him. “I’m worn out from this goddamn weekend,” he says, as he reminds himself to call his first wife, Sandy Conklin. What’s captured on tape after that takes a depraved turn when Thompson and hell-raising lawyer Oscar Zeta Acosta take a trip to Las Vegas in their search for the American Dream. This trip inspired the sprawling opus, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but the tapes also capture the solid reporting of Thompson the journalist, giving his iconoclastic view of Las Vegas and the social climate of the time. Thompson and Acosta stop by Terry’s Taco Stand, USA (”Don’t judge your taco by its price,” Acosta says. “I advise you to get a taco burger.”), and hit it off with the waitress and chef, as they all discuss the American Dream. And, like these folks, the people and culture captured on the Vegas tapes would later become brushstrokes in Thompson’s impressionistic masterwork. And these audio vignettes of him at work (the other discs follow him to Africa and Saigon) prove that behind his outrageous persona, Thompson had the substance to back up his always over-the-top style.

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1. Alex Gibney: Director “Gonzo” the Hunter S. Thompson Documentary
2. Talulah Riley: Life on Mars?
3. Arabian Prince - Innovative Life - The Anthology 1984 -1989
4. Aaron Cohen: The Slave Hunter
5. Rudo y Cursi

© 2008 Drew Tewksbury: Multimedia Journalist.