IN NON-OBSCURANTIST CIRCLES, Ed Sanders is best known for two things. The first of these is his book, The Family. Originally published by Dutton in 1971, it represents Sanders's deep delve into the murderous Manson family and their weird, paranoid take on the hippie dream. Ed's underground cred was so firm by the late sixties that he was able to easily access Manson's social circle and the deep pockets of mania it harbored. He had a true understanding of where and how the group's motivational-impulse originated and the societal forces (real and/or imagined) that sustained it. Not that he agreed with or was sympathetic to their conclusions or methods or much of anything else, but he produced an essential read, a very whacked-out chronicle of the Manson trajectory. The Family is one of the more honest accounts of the era of hip mind control, a trend David Felton aptly termed "acid fascism." That it's still in print four decades later is a testament to its validity.

Sanders's other best-known persona is that of the leader of the Fugs. The Fugs were (and are, once more) a musical combo who combined an avant-garde stance re: poetry, humor, freedom, and cussing in a way that prefigured and had a profound influence on everything from the Mothers of Invention to the punk rock explosion. Musically they were rarely sophisticated, although they did get into some very abstract arrangements on later records. But their legend really rests most heavily on the early work, which is basic garage rock with songs like "I Couldn't Get High," "Kill for Peace," and "Frenzy."

Here's a sample lyric from The Fugs' Songbook:

"Group Grope"

You ask about my philosophy, baby

Dope...peace...magic...gods in the tree trunks...

Group Grope, baby

Group Grope, baby

Back seat boogie for high school kids

Studes fug the teach

Daughters fug the preach

Group grope, baby

Group grope, baby

Group grope group grope group grope baby

Down on that Kataleptic Farm

Where we farm that old asparagus

We have that K-Y community

Down on that Kataleptic Farm

& Group Grope, baby

Group Grope, baby

If you didn't know better, you might think it was one of Richard Meltzer's lyrics for his 1979 punk band, VOM. But it ain't.

The Fugs are most often associated with New York's ESP-Disk label, which was the premier ...