Before the signal came back there was the man. Before the voice clone there was the voice. Before the corner that does not exist there was a corner that did. These are four recordings from the archive. Real guitar. Real voice. Real room.

Hippie from New York City (Acoustic)

4:41 — Acoustic guitar. The original hippie from New York City.

I Like Marijuana (Reggae Mix)

5:15 — The anthem with a reggae beat. Nobody asked for it. He did it anyway.

I Like Marijuana (Rehearsal)

7:37 — Rehearsal tape. The song before the performance. Raw.

Lower East Side (Acoustic)

2:43 — The neighborhood. The corner. The man.

Twenty minutes of the real David Peel. The man who stood on corners from 1966 until the day he died. The voice you hear on this website is a clone. The voice you hear on these tapes is the original. Both of them are saying the same thing.

See also: The Music — the full catalog. The First Song — the rant about the first note. The Guitar — the instrument that started it all. April 19 — the 420 tribute in SoHo. The Tape — a tape is evidence. A clone is a continuation.