Robert Greenfield

Robert "Bob" Greenfield (born 1946) is an American author, journalist and screenwriter.

Greenfield began his career as a sports writer. Book reviews from his hand have appeared in "New West magazine" and "The New York Times Sunday's Book Review". From 1970 to 1972 Greenfield was hired as the Associate editor for Rolling Stone magazine (London bureau). During this time he interviewed musicians like Jack Bruce, John Cale, Neil Young, Elton John, Nico, the Rolling Stones, Jackie Lomax, Leon Russell, Stone the Crows. An ad verbatim reproduction of his interview with Keith Richards conducted in the south of France (Villa Nellcôte,Villefranche-sur-Mer, summer 1971) was included 30 years later in the book "Exile" (Dominique Tarlé's book of photographs, Genesis Publications 2001). Greenfield also served as a popular music critic for "Boston After Dark".

He worked as a freelance journalist for "Eye" and "Cavalier" magazine. Magazines like "Esquire", "Playboy", and "GQ" magazines have published some of his short fiction.

The lion's share of his books are dealing with pop culture but he has also published two novels. His first novel was called "Haymon’s Crowd" (1978). In 1983 Greenfield wrote "Temple" a semi-autobiographical book and play about a young man, who is the grandson of a holocaust survivor and is obsessed with soul music.

In May 2000 a one-man play called "Bill Graham Presents", written by Greenfield ran at the Canon Theatre in Los Angeles. It was based on the biography Greenfield co-wrote years earlier about the famous rock promoter. In the play Bill Graham is portrayed by Ron Silver.

In the book "Timothy Leary - A Biography", Greenfield describes the life of the controversial Harvard professor in psychology who became intrigued with the effects of psychedelic drugs in the 1960s. During this era Leary invented the phrase "Tune in, turn on, drop out" which is now known all over the world.Dr Leary conducted further research by encouraging experimental use amongst students and university staff. He started a program called the Harvard Psilocybin Project which he received the faculty's approval for. The goal of the study was to determine the effects of psilocybin on human subjects (in this case prisoners and students) by using a synthetic version of the then-legal drug which is one of two active ingredients found in a wide a variety of hallucinogenic mushrooms including Psilocybe mexicana.Leary's research into human consciousness turned into a mission to alter consciousness itself. Consequently Dr Leary was transformed from a serious social scientist into a counterculture shaman.

Robert Greenfield lives in Carmel, California.

Bibliography

* "S.T.P. - A Journey Through America With the Rolling Stones" (1974), re-published in 2002 by Da Capo Press
* "The Spiritual Supermarket: An Account of Gurus Gone Public In America" (1975)
* "Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock and Out", (1992) (with Bill Graham) re-published in 2004. [ [http://www.famousinterview.ca/interviews/bill_graham.htm Interview with Robert Greenfield about Bill Graham] ] won Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award and the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for Excellence.
* "Dark Star: An Oral Biography of Jerry Garcia" (Sep 1997)
* "Timothy Leary - A Biography", published by Harcourt (June 2006) [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/25/books/chapters/0625-1st-gree.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 "Timothy Leary: A Biography" as excerpted on The New York Times website] ]
* "Exile on Main St.: A Season in Hell with the Rolling Stones", Da Capo Press (Nov 2006)
* "Timothy Leary: An Experimental Life", unabridged edition. Published by Blackstone Audio Inc (Apr 2007). Audio cassette, by Robert Greenfield (author) and Patrick Lawlor (narrator)

Novels

* "Haymon’s Crowd" (Jan 1978)
* "Temple" (1983)

Plays

* "Temple"
* "Bill Graham Presents" (2000)

TV, Mini-series and film

* Co-writer of "The Sixties" (Emmy nominated mini-series)
* Producer of three short documentary films - on permanent display at the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

Other work

* Former Adjunct Professor of Composition and Literature (University of San Francisco)
* Film and literature teacher (Chapman University)
* English teacher (Cabrillo College).

References