[Dixielandjazz] Bird and Camarillo State Hospital

[Robert S. Ringwald]

Sorry, I forgot to address this to DJML the first time around.

Bob mr.wonderful@ringwald.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert S. Ringwald" <ringwald@calweb.com>
To: <barbonestreet@earthlink.net>
Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2002 4:45 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Bird and Camarillo State Hospital


> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Stephen Barbone" <barbonestreet@earthlink.net>
> To: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz@ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: "Haesler, Bill" <bhaesler@nsw.bigpond.net.au>
> Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2002 1:07 PM
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Bird and Camarillo State Hospital
> Bob Ringwald writes:
>
> In regards to Charlie Parker @ Camarillo:
>
> One of our DJML members is Dottie Lawless.  Dotties husband Dr. Ed
Lawless,
> unfortunately left us a couple of years ago.  HOwever, I believe that he
was
> a physician @ Camarillo for some time.  Seems as if he told me of one or
> more physicians there who were also Jazz fans.
>
> Perhaps Dotie can shed a little light on any musicians who were @
Camarillo?
>
> Bob
> mr.wonderful@ringwald.com
>
>
>
> > NOT OKOM-LONG POST-DELETE IF YOU ARE NOT A BIRD WATCHER.
> >
> > Listmates:
> >
> > Bill Haesler is right, I posted the question about whether Bird was in
> > jail or not, for several reasons. One of which was to disprove the
> > theory that he was called Yardbird because of his "jail' time. Logical
> > as that may sound, it is pure bunk. Parker was never convicted of
> > anything as far as I know and did not serve any jail time other than a
> > short stay with the police in California, long after he was "nick" named
> > Bird. The following is from reliable sources, too varied to list.
> >
> > He had a mental breakdown after recording in July 1946. For those
> > interested in his early work, that record is a haunting classic. Before
> > the record date he had been ingesting bennies for several days. He was
> > really wired at the session (several days in a row of bennies will do
> > that to you) and a young doctor at the session, who knew of his heroin
> > addiction, thought he was going through withdrawal and wrongly gave him
> > a stimulant which really lit him up. He went back to his hotel
> >
> > That evening he fell asleep in his hotel room with a lit cigarette in
> > his hand and set the room on fire. He woke, panicked and ran into the
> > lobby with no pants on. The cops came took him away, kept him in
> > detention a day or two and a judge committed him to Camarillo because at
> > the time Bird was pretty much incoherent. Yes, the breakdown was
> > probably induced by drugs and/or drug withdrawal. When given a shot of
> > morphine at the hospital he immediately became rational. (morphine and
> > heroin are almost identical drugs)
> >
> > Now, for Camarillo State Hospital, here is some of its' history via
> > google. Once again Bill Haesler is correct in his assessment of what
> > Camarillo was: (It was not a jail)
> >
> > "Back in 1936, the state built the Camarillo hospital in what was then a
> > rural area separated from the nearest towns. Foothills, wide grassy
> > areas and rock formations isolated the facility, whose
> > Spanish-style buildings included a labyrinth of rooms, hallways,
> > stairwells, courtyards, patios and a bell tower.
> >
> > The Camarillo hospital earned a certain amount of fame in 1947 when
> > famous jazz musician Charlie Parker was committed there for a
> > seven-month stay after he suffered a nervous breakdown. After his stay,
> > Parker wrote "Relaxin' at Camarillo."
> >
> > The Eagles' 1976 hit "Hotel California" -- with the famed lyrics, "You
> > can check out any time you like, but you can never leave" -- is thought
> > by some to have been inspired by the Camarillo
> > hospital.
> >
> > The 1950s were defining years for the hospital. New ideas of"modern"
> > psychiatry came into use in Camarillo. More drugs and behavior
> > modification techniques were used to control the behavior of mentally
> > ill patients, who had previously often been placed in restraints or
> > underwent shock treatment.
> >
> > The Receiving and Treatment Center was completed in 1952, the first of
> > its size to be built in California. Also in the 1950s, children were
> > separated from the adults in one of the first children's units in state
> > institutions, and the hospital became known for its dynamic treatment of
> > autistic youths, This was the era to treat patients actively. It was a
> > decade of great change," she said.
> >
> > In its heyday in the 1950s, more than 7,000 people lived at the
> > Camarillo hospital. It was a city within a city. In 1967, the hospital
> > added developmentally disabled patients to its wards. Staff members
> > taught them skills, helped them work in the vocation department and
> > treated them like family, she said.
> >
> > Despite the successes at Camarillo, the cost to taxpayers and the
> > government of housing and treating people in large facilities was
> > skyrocketing. Fiscally conservative politicians and liberal advocates of
> > self-determination sought other solutions, such as having patients
> > transferred to group homes.
> >
> > The Camarillo hospital officially closed June 30, 1997. To the few
> > employees who remained, the closure felt like the death of a close
> > relative. Many of the hospital's former employees, found other state
> > jobs, but 238 were laid off. More than 100 retired. Many of the patients
> > were moved to other institutions in the Southland.
> >
> > Now the old hospital will be devoted to teaching people for the future,
> > but its past also provided powerful lessons to former employees, who
> > gained an education in humanity working with society's less fortunate
> > and those who could not care for themselves."
> >
> > When he got out of Camarillo in 1947 he was a like a new man. 50 pounds
> > heavier, bright eyed and bushy tailed. Played wonderfully, for about two
> > years, before his drug dependence returned and little by little his fate
> > was sealed.
> >
> > Any more interest? Write me off line and I will provide Howard McGhee's
> > (bop trumpet on the record date) version of just how wired Bird was, and
> > the session background. It is an extraordinary story.
> >
> > I also agree that drugs of choice, from booze to bennies and worse, in
> > no way affect the contributions of artists, or the art except that most
> > seem to perform better when sober. However they are an integral part of
> > Jazz History and should be understood in that context, not covered up.
> > Especially among those of us on the list who are vitally interested in
> > "Jazz" as either jazz musos or fans.
> >
> > About Parker? He was unable to break the grip of heroin. He frequently
> > counseled those around him not to follow his example, citing its evils.
> > However, many followed thinking that it was the stimulants that made him
> > so great. (Deja Vu, Timothy Leary?) Totally wrong, it was the practice
> > and his highly focused love for the music. He died young because of his
> > inability to get clean.
> >
> > I speak as one who knew him and many of his NYC circle of friends from
> > 1949 till his death in 1955. He was to us a very special human being. He
> > was also very cognizant of the entire spectrum of jazz music, as shown
> > by his frequent quotes of "trad" players, e.g. the quote of Picou's High
> > Society on "KoKo" (Cherokee) and his quote of Louis Armstrong's "West
> > End Blues" on  "Visa".  How lucky I was to have been in the right place
> > at the right time.
> >
> > Sorry it's such a long post but then, I warned you at the beginning.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Steve Barbone
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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> >
> >
>