Wavy Gravy

Wavy Gravy (born Hugh Nanton Romney) (born May 15, 1936) is an American entertainer and activist for peace, best known for his hippie appearance, personality and beliefs. His moniker (the name he uses day to day) was given to him by at the  in 1969. "It's worked pretty well through my life," he says, "except with telephone operators – I have to say 'Gravy, first initial W."

Romney's persona resulted from his political activism. Frequently being arrested at demonstrations, he decided he would be less likely to be arrested if he dressed as a clown. "Clowns are safe," he said. He does, however, enjoy traditional clown activities such as jokes, magic tricks and entertaining children.

Romney founded and co-founded several organizations, including Camp Winnarainbow, the and the Hog Farm, an activist commune. He was also the official of the Grateful Dead and has two radio shows on Sirius Satellite Radio's  station.

A major film documentary on Wavy Gravy's life, Saint Misbehavin': The Wavy Gravy Story, was released in late 2010 by Ripple Effect Films. The film, directed by Michelle Esrick, received excellent reviews.

Biography
Romney was born in on May 15, 1936. He attended in. In 1954, Romney volunteered for the military draft and was honorably discharged after 22 months in the United States Army.

Under the G.I. Bill, Romney entered Theater Department in 1957, then attended the Neighborhood Playhouse for the Theater in New York City. He worked at at night as poetry and entertainment director.

His early career was managed by. For a time he shared an apartment with singer-songwriter in Greenwich Village, and Romney was one of Bob Dylan's earliest friends in New York City. One of Bob Dylan's girlfriends from the University of Minnesota,, now Jahanara Romney, became Gravy's wife in 1965. They have a son, Jordan Romney (born in 1971 as Howdy Do-Good Gravy Tomahawk Truckstop Romney).

Manager Lenny Bruce brought Romney to California in 1962 where Romney did a live recording of Hugh Romney, Third Street Humor as the opening act for at Club Renaissance in Los Angeles.

The Hog Farm
The Hog Farm Collective was established through a chain of events beginning with hijacking the Merry Pranksters' bus, Further, to Mexico, which stranded the Merry Pranksters in Los Angeles. Romney was evicted from his one-bedroom cabin in, a northern suburb of Los Angeles, after the landlord found out that a large group of assorted Pranksters and musicians were staying there. Two hours later, a neighbor informed Romney that a nearby hog farm, owned by Claude Doty, needed caretakers. Romney accepted the offer and worked the farm in exchange for rent. Local people, musicians, artists, and folks from other communes began staying at the mountain-top farm. In his book Something Good for a Change, Gravy described this early period as a "bizarre communal experiment" where the "people began to outnumber the pigs.

Both Romney and Beecher had jobs in Los Angeles. He worked for Columbia Pictures teaching improvisation skills to actors. Bonnie was a successful television actress.

By 1966, the Hog Farm had coalesced into an entertainment organization providing light shows at the in Los Angeles for music artists like the Grateful Dead, Cream, and Jimi Hendrix. Beginning in 1967, the collective began traveling across the country in converted school buses purchased with money earned as in 's feature film  (1968).

The Hog Farm relocated to Black Oak Ranch in northern California in the early 1990s.

Woodstock Festival
At the first Woodstock Festival, Gravy and the Hog Farm Collective accepted festival executive Stan Goldstein's offer to help with preparations.

Gravy called his group the "Please Force," a reference to their non-intrusive tactics at keeping order, e.g., "Please don't do that, please do this instead". When asked by the press — who were the first to inform him that he and the rest of the Hog Farm were handling security — what kind of tools he intended to use to maintain order at the event, his response was "Cream pies and " (both being traditional clown props; he may have been referring to the silent film era Keystone Kops in particular). In Gravy's words: "They all wrote it down and I thought, 'the power of manipulating the media', ah ha!" Gravy has been the, and the only person to appear on the bill of all three Woodstock Festivals.

On the morning of the 20th Anniversary of the Woodstock Festival, he was interviewed — along with Ken Kesey — live on  at the Bethel concert site, where he discussed his experience as the MC of the event.

Gravy's first appearance at an event in the community was at the WinterStar Symposium in 1998 with. He appeared there again in 2000 with, where he joined Rev. in a joint ritual of the and his Church of the Cosmic Giggle.

At the 's psychedelic tribute to the 1960s "", Gravy's sleeping bag and tie-dyed false teeth were displayed. He and appeared there on the last day of the exhibit on February 28, 1998.

Origin of name Wavy Gravy
At the 1969 Romney was lying onstage, exhausted after spending hours trying to get festival-goers to put their clothes back on, when it was announced that  was going to play. Romney began to get up; a hand appeared on his shoulder. It was B.B. King, who asked, "Are you wavy gravy?" to which Romney replied "Yes." "It's OK; I can work around you," said B.B. King, and he and proceeded to jam for hours after that. Romney said he considered this a mystical event, and assumed Wavy Gravy as his legal name.

Seva Foundation
Gravy founded along with spiritual leader  and public health expert. Based in Berkeley, California, Seva is an international health organization working to build sustainable health projects in many of the globe's most under-served communities. Wavy is famous for throwing all-star benefit concerts regularly featuring members of the Grateful Dead,, Jackson Browne, , , , , and many other compassionate musicians. Wavy serves on Seva's board of directors.

Camp Winnarainbow
Gravy is also the co-founder, with his wife, of the circus and performing arts camp Camp Winnarainbow, in, California, near The Hog Farm.

Until 2003, Ben & Jerry's produced an ice cream named "Wavy Gravy" (caramel-- base with a chocolate hazelnut fudge swirl and roasted almonds) which helped drive a scholarship fund for underprivileged kids to attend Camp Winnarainbow.

"Tornado of Talent"
With hundreds of men being detained (women were held separately) in the “Hotel Diablo” – actually the old gymnasium at in, California – after arrests during the September 1981 Abalone Alliance organized, anti-nuclear protest, trespass/occupation and civil disobedience action at Diablo Canyon Power Plant, Wavy organized and acted as MC for a variety show that he called the “Tornado of Talent” which featured, among other performers (after the guards had allowed an acoustic guitar to be brought into the “jail”) Jackson Browne.

Nobody's Business/Nobody for President
Gravy established the store Nobody's Business across the road from the Hog Farm, reminiscent of his "Nobody for President" campaign — as in: "Who's in Washington right now working to make the world a safer place? Nobody!"; "Nobody's Perfect"; "Nobody Keeps All Promises"; "Nobody Should Have That Much Power"; etc. The joke had previously been used in the 1932 short film Betty Boop for President.

The "Nobody for President" campaign held a rally across from the on November 4, 1980 that included Yippies and a few anarchists to promote the option of "none of the above"  choice on the ballot. After criticizing, Ronald Reagan and , the committee offered the "perfect" candidate: Nobody. "Nobody makes apple pie better than Mom. And Nobody will love you when you're down and out." Gravy told a crowd of 50 onlookers at the rally.

In popular culture

 * In  episode "", disguises himself as Wavy Gravy to infiltrate and destroy a Greenpeace ship that is attempting to stop the dumping of nuclear waste.
 * Ice cream maker Ben & Jerry's named a flavor after Wavy Gravy which was caramel and cashew/Brazil nut ice cream with a hazelnut-fudge swirl and roasted almonds. The flavor was discontinued in 2003.
 * In the CW's , character Dean Winchester responds to a news report on why there's been so much freak weather around the globe is actually carbon emissions, by saying, "Yeah, right, Wavy Gravy".
 * In the 2009 Ang Lee feature Taking Woodstock, Romney is depicted walking around in the background while things are being planned and is referred to a couple of times by event planners as "Wavy Gravy."
 * wrote a song called "Wavy Gravy".
 * song "Simplicity" is about Wavy Gravy.

Discography

 * Third Stream Humor early 1960s, World Pacific (by Hugh Romney)
 * Old Feathers, New Bird - Wavy Gravy (1988) Relix
 * 80s are the 60s (2002) RX Records

Filmography

 * The Fat Black Pussycat (1963)
 * Cisco Pike (1972)
 *  The '60s (1999)
 * The Holy Modal Rounders: Bound to Lose (2006)
 * Saint Misbehavin': The Wavy Gravy Movie (2009)

As himself

 * Woodstock (1970)
 * Flashing on the Sixties: A Tribal Document (1990) TV
 * The History of Rock 'N' Roll, Vol. 6 (1995) (TV)
 * Timothy Leary's Last Trip (1997)
 * My Generation (2000)
 * The End of the Road (2001)
 * Ram Dass, Fierce Grace (2001)
 * Breaking the Rules (2006)
 * Battleground Earth: Ludacris vs. Tommy Lee - Green Death (2008) TV episode
 * Electric Apricot Quest For Festeroo (2008)
 * Woodstock: Now & Then (2009)
 * Saint Misbehavin': The Wavy Gravy Movie - (2009)

Radio

 * Gravy in your Ear - Gravy's radio show airing on the 15th of each month on Sirius Satellite Radio, with several re-broadcasts.
 * The Wavy Files - a series of individual commentary segments by Gravy placed randomly throughout the Jam On programming on Sirius Satellite Radio.