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Peel in Washington Square Park, 1994 Pot Parade

Peel playing at CBGBs, December 2005

David Peel is a New York-based musician who first recorded in the late 1960s, with Harold Black and Billy Jo White performing as The Lower East Side Band.

Though his raw, acoustic "street rock" with lyrics about marijuana and "pigs" appealed mostly to hippies at first, the sound and DIY ethic make him an important, if little-credited, early performer of punk rock. He has performed with artists ranging from B. B. King to GG Allin.

After the 1972 departure of White and Black, the band included Moses, Eddie Anderson and Andi Anderson. The band was one of the first to regularly debate on cable TV in Manhattan on the public access channel of Manhattan Cable Television, as well as at the first Smoke-in Concerts sponsored by the Yippies in New York City.

John Lennon mentioned Peel in the song New York City: +++++

Standing on the corner

Just me and Yoko Ono

We was waiting for Jerry to land

Up come a man with the guitar

in his hand

Singing "have a marijuana if you can"

His name was David Peel

And we found that he was real

He sang "The pope smokes dope everyday"

Up come a police man shoved us up the street

Singing, "power to the people today!"

John Lennon and Yoko Ono subsequently produced Peel's third album, The Pope Smokes Dope.

Concerned about major label censorship, he founded Orange Records to release his recordings and also those of other artists such as GG Allin and John Draper, known as "Cap'n Crunch" of phone-phreaking fame. As of 2006 Peel is still actively recording and performing his music, planning the release of a CD-ROM-based book of photographs and enjoying a new audience through online services such as iTunes.

Peel has appeared in various films as himself, including Rude Awakening (1989) and High Times Potluck (2004)

"The Pope Smokes Dope" is regarded as one of Peel's best

Peel's "Have a Marijuana" on display at the Hash and Marijuana Museum in Amsterdam, The Netherlands

• Have A Marijuana
• The American Revolution
• The Pope Smokes Dope
• Santa Claus - Rooftop Junkie
• An Evening With David Peel
• Bring Back The Beatles
• King Of Punk
• Death To Disco
• John Lennon For President
• 1984
• Search To Destroy
• John Lennon Forever
• Anarchy In New York City
• The Battle For New York
• War And Anarchy
• Legalize Marijuana
• Long Live The Grateful Dead
• Rock 'N' Roll Outlaw
• World War III

• David Peel at the Internet Movie Database
• The "Official online shrine"
• David's homepage
• VIDEO: John Lennon's 65th birthday at CBGBs (10-9-05) NYC"
• Video clip of Peel performing in 1989 (RealPlayer required)
• Photos of David Peel concert at CBGBs, December 2005