I just ran across your site, and have spent
an hour on it out of a day of
too many responsibilities. Having been born and
raised in Hollywood during
the late 50's/early 60's, I thought I'd throw a few
memories at you and see if any of them spark a recollection from the
recesses of your mind as your site did to me:
I'm 47 and grew up mostly between Fairfax and
LaBrea...went to school at
St. Ambrose (Fairfax & Fountain), and then
Fairfax High, where Michael McDonald's wife, if they're still married, went
for at least a year (Aimee something); most of my youth was spent at
Plummer and Pointsetta Park(s), playing baseball, when I was not
listening to the radio or buying 45's.
In my early 30's, I realized I had an enormous
amount of rock & roll trivia stored away in my mind, due to the
combination of a photographic memory and a
passion for the sub-culture that it was back then. Reading about Thee
Experience, which was around the corner from my 8th grade girlfriend's house on
Sunset, brought back memories of what my hobby led to in the 90's which was
interviewing R&R folks and their respective "behind-the-scenes"
support/hangers-on/etc. I spoke 3 times with Mario Maglieri who now owns the
Whisky, as you said, and if you ever wanted to fill in more of the blanks,
he's the one. At least his memory was still vibrant and functioning in '90-'91
when we spoke
Here are a few random thoughts that your site
brought back...between my grade school and high school years, I
spent one year at Daniel Murphy High School, an all-boys school...the middle
year, right after O.J. Simpson came to speak (!), Smokestack Lightnin' played
and I had always wondered what happened to them. I can still see the lead
singer having a cigarette with the head priest during their break.
*in 1984, I worked at a company in North
Hollywood called Premore. It was a post-production house set up by the
man who created the SoloCup company. Anyway, Jim Lowe was a video editor
there, he used to drive down every Monday from Santa Barbara in his Porsche. You
may or may not know this but he was the lead singer of The Electric
Prunes.
*I was married once before and my wife and I used
to go to a yoga studio on Fairfax & 6th called Center Point (I
think)...it was run by a John Franzoni, who I think was the brother of
Carl from the Holy Modal Rounders. I'm a little vague on this but when I was
last in that neighborhood, the studio was still there.
*the night I went to see Jimi Hendrix at the
Hollywood Bowl (Sept. 14th, 1968), he had made an appearance that day (maybe
the day before) at a record store on the corner of Sunset & Crescent
Heights called The Groove Company. I've yet to meet anyone who remembers this
store although I went there a thousand times if I went once. He drove into the
parking lot in a limo and while we all waited for him to exit, he fell out of
the backseat onto the dirt. I remember the tall blond that preceded
him as much as I remember him. He seemed to have a massive
hangover...regardless, he spent a long time talking to all 15 of us
(strange to think that that's all the people that showed up.) There was also a
raffle that day for his new album, Electric Ladyland, which I won a copy
of. The concert became somewhat infamous as the Hollywood Bowl emptied out the
pool that sat at the foot of the stage after that night due to the
approximately 50 kids, myself included, who jumped into the water and caused a
mini-disaster for the roadies who feared electrocution. I can still see Noel
Redding waving his arms furiously for us to stop splashing!
*saw Gram Parsons at the Troubadour bar when I
went in to see a George Carlin show; when I left, he was so drunk that the
waitresses were giving him dirty looks. He died about a month later. Around
the same time, I saw The White Brothers, as they were calling themselves then,
who consisted of Clarence White and Roland White. Clarence was a guitar idol
of mine who had been out of the Byrds for a little while and
performing with his brother...he also died a short while later from
a hit-and-run driver on Santa Monica Bl.
I now manage an e-mail marketing company called
Orange Marketing in Philadelphia...my wife and I moved back here to raise our
two kids out of the big city, we live in South Jersey, which is only 3000
miles from the Sunset Strip but light years in spirit.
I
can't tell you how much I appreciate you writing back to me...not knowing
each other, of course, I really didn't know what to expect. I deal in
business all day, arguing, trying to make things happen yesterday,
etc. but I was surprised at how hard I was going to take it if there
had been no response to my letter! Fortunately, you wrote!
I
make my living on the internet and have been engrossed in it for 3 years now
but never through the chat/email/"personals" side of it and this
is my first foray into those waters. Writing the letter was as much for me
as for you as it brought to the surface the deep feelings of pride and love
I had/have for the area I grew up in. I don't think I went into detail about
my grandfather and uncle working at some of the smaller studios along Santa
Monica Bl. (Ziv Studios: Santa Monica & Fuller; Eagle Lion: 2 bl. east;
etc.); when I was in grade school, I would go down there and watch things
like "Sea Hunt", "Superman", "The Outer
Limits" and "Bat Masterson" being filmed and I'm sure my
"sense of place" grew out of this.
As
far as who I was and people remembering me, I was 13 in the Summer Of Love
('67) so I don't think I'd fit in the "Sunset Strip People" but
maybe my letter being published would spark someone else's mind to open
up...that truly defines the power of the internet.
Nancy,
I have a big event coming up in Philly tomorrow that I've been prepping for
and I want to sit and write all the little thoughts I have about the people
and places; as you said, there are many more, so I will write you on Friday,
most likely late at night after this event is done. As far as writing Mario,
the best way to get ahold of him is to call the Rainbow @ 310/278-4232 and
ask for him...you'll probably have to tell one of his people what you're
calling for but he loves to talk so they should put you through. When I had
initially called to interview Elmer, thinking that he was the man with all
the stories, 2 women at the club told I should really speak to Mario,
he's the true unofficial Mayor of the Sunset Strip. Like I said, hopefully
his memory is pretty intact because his perspective and current outlook are
priceless. I'll have to go back through the tapes I have of him and all the
others for you, I'm just remembering as I write this how much great stuff I
have!
Talk
to you Friday-thanks again,
N:
You
should have the replies now from my Yahoo.
Ah,
my "walking tour" concept. Actually, it's quite common in certain
celeb books, you would simply have various maps, somewhat bigger than the
one's on HH, with little icons or drawings of where people lived, played,
partied, died...you get the picture. The Jeanette McDonald house is a great
starting point, the friend who wrote the M&P's book would know the address
or I could go through some of my Hollywood books and find it. I was only there
once, this was after my regular Saturday evening at Rodney's English Disco,
circa fall/winter 1973 and someone said there was a party in Bel Air at John
Phillips' house so we call caravanned up there. I remember walking over bodies
and trying to find an empty bedroom...upon finding one and opening the door,
John and a woman said "this room is private." I went to the upstairs
bathroom with my friend to pee and there was a dual toilet, two connected
together the likes of which I'm sure I'll never see again. Mackenzie came in
to watch us pee and talk about the male anatomy, at her young age of 12. This
was right after I'd seen her in "American Graffiti" so we recognized
her. What an upbringing!
Anyway,
between myself, you, all your friends, and posting a request for addresses on
your site, you would be able to piece together the ultimate tour of 60's
Hollywood, from the Strip to ? I'd be the first in line to buy the book!
Call
Mario after 1:00 his time, he would come in then if he had anything to do; if
not, they'll what time he'll be in at night.
Take
care, Nancy,
Michael
I'm prodding Michael to write more stories for me, so be sure to
check back. He's a gold mine of information on those great old days
on the Strip.
