The professor of my public speaking course said that I was a bit too laid back for my first speech in front of the class. It wasn’t a lounge lizard sort of vibe that was needed for the topic. After class, I explained that the only prior public speaking I had done was to introduce myself at gigs when I had been a folksinger. That and the patter you kept up while tuning the guitar, and between songs. From his pained expression, I’m not sure he got it.
The Exclusive Club
OK, I am a member of an exclusive club of nobodies. We were the little guys and gals of the folk scene in the 1960s. For me, it was primarily New York’s Greenwich Village. Still, I can say with certainty that I’ve performed at some of the most disepitomable bistros, coffee houses, and bars in at least fifteen states and jurisdictions. We were the folks who weren’t offered a recording deal, didn’t depart the scene to make it on the “Coast”, and never became legendary. But it was a hell of a good ride.
We performed for spare change and dollar bills at coffee houses, no one remembers to audiences from the middle-class burbs. If Greenwich Village were a movie, we would have been extras.
We were the energetic component that added spice to the street scene at places like the Village. The tourist buses chugged down the street, pointing out to the passengers the beats and the folkies ( us) hanging out. We’d wave back, make the L 7 sign for the insulated straight noobs who would never get hip, flip them a bird, and once in a while shoot a moon to give them a bit of jive. We were the gasoline that powered the engine.
What do I mean by “exclusive club”? Well, we were regulars. It was a life. And no, it wasn’t just a weekend excursion.
Not 9-5!
It wasn’t a nine-to-five gig. But it was a gig. Start on Bleecker, down to MacDougall, and all around the town. Dive in the Minetta Tavern, work your regulars, and finish off in Rienze’s music room to meet all the other old hands who’d made the circuit night after night. By four in the am, you were done.
There are probably thousands of us, but it’s an exclusive club. Entrance was only granted by living the life.
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And what an adventure! I love hearing about it, Lou!
WE didn’t think it was anything special while we were doing it. Right, Violet? But by comparison to all the ” straights” we knew it was high charged living.
There’s liberty in being a nobody. Imagine being Taylor Swift and having to keep you bangs trimmed and that red lipstick perfectly aligned all the time!
Lipstick! Bangs? Too high a price for celebrity, Martha!
Back in 9th grade, they showed us a VD movie. These innocent young guys got the syph from a couple of older women (20) in red lipstick, just like Taylor Swift wears. I passed out in class, taking my desk to the floor with me. As if that weren’t bad enough, i’d only been in that school a week. I was forever after ‘the girl who passed out during the VD film.’ I can’t stand that red lipstick. 💄
Martha, with all that red hair and red lipstick, it would have been overkill!
Lucille Ball. Not a look I was after at all!
Not too recognized today, but she was a popular movie star in the late forties, and a TV genius who participated in the creation of serial comedy formats for early TV. She was one of the inventors of the rotating Television set. Where three different sets could be on the same rotating base, and actors could just walk through to the next set. Also, she and Desi invented the classic three-camera shoot and editing format for TV.
I think she was a GREAT talent, red lipstick and all!!!
You intimidate the heck out of me. 🙂
You’re not a slouch either!
You’re too kind, Lou.
Living the life is an understatement. You really had a ball, I was just one of those who would sit and listen, and drop the change in the hat.
But in many ways, Alice, it was a hard life. Lots of things were done not just because I wanted to do them, but because I had to.