and then kerouac sat on the couch, we would get a big, tall budweiser. had done their thing, you know? i really felt like the torch had been passed from those guys to the psychedelic generation. >> kesey was very messianic, and he started feeling that acid would start to let you see a larger truth and thought he wanted to get as many people to try lsd as they can. >> so we started renting halls. we called the thing the acid test. the band of course was known as the warlocks. as time went on, they changed their name to the grateful dead. ♪ st. stephen with a rose, in and out of the garden he goes ♪ ♪ country garden in the wind and the rain ♪ ♪ wherever he goes, the people all complain ♪ >> lsd was not an illegal drug. when kesey held these acid tests, as they were known, they'd have two vats. one was punch and one was punch with lsd. >> the acid tests were like a party. the scene is a lot of light shows and music and people dancing. when the dead were playing, it was a way to feel that acid in waves. and i looked down and i saw kids in front of me moving

he befriended "beat" writer jack kerouac shortly after compiling "the americans," and kerouac later wrotebook's forward. and, frank's black-and-white photos were featured on the cover of the rolling stones' critically-acclaimed 1972 album "exile on main street." later in his career, frank continued to shoot photos and film, largely focusing his lens on america's least privileged, rather than the powerful. robert frank died monday, in nova scotia. he was 94 years old. >> woodruff: and there's more online, where we take a closer look at one of frank's most enduring images from his book "the americans."at on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. ord that ithe newshour night. i'm judy woodruff.at for all of uhe we'll see you soonk you, and >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided :f >> bnsrailway. >> consumer cellular. >> financial servicejafirm raymond mes. >> the ford fodation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of internatial p

he has a jack kerouac novel in the back of his pocket that he doesn't read. version of phoebe from friends. every time he shows up, you were just waiting for her to get off screen. exactly. [laughter] >> juan: all right. go, dana, go. but the public, in terms of what the polls show, the public likes red flag laws, likes background checks, even a higher cap on magazines and assault weapons. republicans and nra members say yes. >> what you are citing as the majority of the public being open to legislation moving forward. that makes sense. beto o'rourke came up with a plan that will not work legally or financially for his overall definition of -- right. for his definition of assault weapons. for me, it's not about opening the right wing to attack. it's about radical versus reasonable. >> juan: you think that the nra is reasonable? >> 36% of the nra members are democrats. >> juan: i don't think the nra likes it. i don't know about that. speak i don't know. i forgot where i was. no, it's okay. to me, mayor pete is wasting his time. he's engaging with beto's inflam

he was bornoductory -- introducn of the book was written by jack kerouac who wrote with that little cameraca on to film. annie liebovitz who was a younger photographer called the book, "the americans," her bible. she said he looked at america as no one else had before even if it wasn't pretty. frank said i was tired of romanticism, i wanted to present what i saw, pure and simple. he did. and that book, you know, more than 50 years later is still a landmark for almost every photographer i meet. >> a landmark today. a classic. at the time, initially -- >> a lot of people didn't like it. america was in the post-war period of prostator, didn't want to see -- prostator, didn't want to see it that way. >> in an interview, robert frank, age 90, was still angry. some things you don't forget. >> that's the beauty of photography, though. you can't change -- once it's there, you can't change it. good we have documentation. tony? >> i am -- i want to highlight a program in boston. the city is giving every student starti ing kindergarten this we $50 for college savings as part of a program called bosto