In C

Mort Subotnick: The morning of the [premiere of Terry Riley's In C in November 1964] I arrived at the Tape Music Center and found a notice from the Fire Department on our front door declaring the building off limits until further notice. So I phoned our attorney, Jerry Hill. He was at home trying to avoid being served a subpoena by hiding behind the sofa, so our conversation was a bit odd.  Anyway, his advice was just to leave the front door open.  It opened out towards the street, so no one would see the notice....

One cop did show up. He thought we were into drugs and nude dancing, so I invited him inside to listen to the music. Also I showed him some of [Chron critic Alfred] Frankenstein's reviews of previous concerts. Alfred, the cop and I were standing the hall, and the cop said, "'Franken-steen?' You've got to be kidding!" "No, he's a very famous critic," I replied....

I remember Terry wore a floppy purple bow tie and orange pants.

—Excerpted from A Recollection: From the archives of Ramón Sender
(from the liner notes to In C: 25th Anniversary Concert)