Biography
Sam Shepard earned his primary renown, deservedly, for achievements as playwright and performer on stage and screen. Briefly he also pursued a sideline as rock musician and formed notable ties to prominent figures in that field. He sat behind the drums for the Holy Modal Rounders during the making of their third release, the crazed, cacophonous Indian War Whoop, issued by ESP in 1967. Band mainstay Peter Stampfel later noted that Shepard appears nowhere in the album’s cover photograph because, as a protest against the prevailing hippie culture, he had shaved his head into a crewcut precisely at the peak of the summer of love. ESP proprietor Bernard Stollman therefore excluded him from the artwork, judging the style incompatible with the group’s projected image. Stampfel further recounted that, when recording sessions for the band’s second Elektra album—ultimately abandoned—began to falter, the label indicated the project could proceed solely on the condition that Shepard supply an entire LP-length musical comedy for the ensemble. That undertaking was never realized.
In the early 1970s, before Patti Smith entered the recording studio, Shepard conducted a relationship with her and together they authored the play Cowboy Mouth, in which she performed. He contributed writing to Bob Dylan’s ill-fated documentary cum fictionalized reality movie Renaldo and Clara and joined Dylan in composing the song “Brownsville Girl,” which appeared on the Knocked Out Loaded album.
In the early 1970s, before Patti Smith entered the recording studio, Shepard conducted a relationship with her and together they authored the play Cowboy Mouth, in which she performed. He contributed writing to Bob Dylan’s ill-fated documentary cum fictionalized reality movie Renaldo and Clara and joined Dylan in composing the song “Brownsville Girl,” which appeared on the Knocked Out Loaded album.