MICHAEL'S LETTERS

Hello:
 
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.
 
Thanks again for the site,
 
Michael Laine
woodside77@yahoo.com
 

Nancy:
 
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.

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