Freak Out, U.S.A. #1 - Warren

Fall 1967 - When I first talked about this magazine, I assumed that the issue I had was the only one--boy, I could not have been more wrong.

Not only did our Joe Jusko send me a scan of the cover to the first issue(I apparently owned the second issue--thanks Joe!), which he owns, but a quick look in the Checklist section in the back of TwoMorrows' The Warren Companion lists a third and fourth issue! Even TwoMorrows couldn't find any info on #s 3 and 4, so I don't know if I will ever find copies, but I plan to keep trying.

Anyway, the first issue--as you can see from the cover, Freak Out, U.S.A. was pretty indistinguishable from all the other music magazines of the time, and I'd say except for the tiny "A Warren Magazine" credit line on the upper left, you'd never know this was a Warren mag at all.

It starts off with articles on the Mamas and the Papas("They Show What Love is Like", "The Mamas and the Papas Talk About Kooks They Have Known and Loved"), and then devotes a whopping sixteen pages to the Monkees, featuring articles like this one:

Then there's a few pages on Paul Revere and the Raiders(including a separate article on someone in the band named...Fang?), Herman and the Hermits("Some Birds Really Bug Me!"), the Lovin' Spoonful, The Supremes(with all the psychedelia on display, it's nice to see some good old-fashioned Motown included), and then a piece on The Fugs, featuring a less-than-flattering promo shot:

Big-time rock stars or edgy drifters who will kill you in the back of their van? You decide!

There's more articles, on Jefferson Airplane, The Mothers of Invention, and then for a change of pace it ends with a piece on Twiggy. Groooovy.

Since I doubt I'll find the other two issues of Freak Out, U.S.A., this might be the last time we get to feature this mag on the blog. So let's end with Jim Warren's own thoughts on it, again courtesy of The Warren Companion: