I never set foot in the place but I always heard about the legendary nightclub, the hungry i in San Francisco. It was always typed that way — in all lower case — and it was located at 599 Jackson Street in the North Beach district. A stunning number of famous acts — comedians mostly but also musicians — either got their start there or got famous performing there. The list includes Woody Allen, Lenny Bruce, Barbra Streisand, Jonathan Winters, Bill Cosby and Godfrey Cambridge. No one has ever done an official tally but I suspect that more "live" performance record albums were recorded at the hungry i than at any other performing venue in the country. Tom Lehrer's last album was done there. The Limeliters did their biggest album there and The Kingston Trio did several. So did Mort Sahl, so did The Smothers Brothers...and so on. For most of its existence, the hungry i was owned and operated by a flamboyant gent named Enrico Banducci, whose real name was not Enrico Banducci but rather something more Jewish and less colorful.
Earlier this evening, I was at a gathering of what might politely be called "older comedians" and it was announced that Enrico Banducci died this morning. Almost everyone in the group had either worked for him or dealt with him in some professional capacity. Not one of them had anything but praise for his ability to spot talent and his honest business policies.
For comedians to feel that way about a club owner...that's unheard of. And a fine tribute to Mr. Banducci.
As noted in this article, the family of Charles M. Schulz is not happy with an upcoming biography of the creator of Charlie Brown and Snoopy. They gave total access and cooperation to David Michaelis so he could write Schulz and Peanuts. Now, they're giving a lot of publicity and attention to the book by announcing that it unfairly stresses the dark side of "Sparky" Schulz. Aren't you more intrigued to know that it delves into Schulz's affairs and disturbances? Even if you aren't, most of us are.
I didn't know Schulz that well, though the six or seven hours I spent with him total over the years are six or seven more than Michaelis did. I found "Sparky" to be genial, very courteous and somewhat more complex than the shallow guy that was often depicted in articles about him. He had a certain arrogance of ego that I considered understandable, given what he had achieved. It was probably less than that of most people with similar bank accounts and accomplishment. Yeah, he thought the world concurred that he was doing the greatest comic strip ever produced and that he'd invented the most popular characters in U.S. popular fiction...but it's not like he was all alone in that viewpoint. Probably the worst things I ever heard about him from his close associates were tales of him handling collaborative endeavors (dealings with the syndicate, production of animation or merchandise, etc.) the same way he handled his strip, which was that no one's opinions mattered but his own. Again, given what he achieved, that's not so surprising. Or awful.
I've ordered the book — which you can do from Amazon by clicking here — but it will join my "to be read" pile, which is now about the height of the Space Needle in Seattle. By the time I get to it, I expect to have heard the opinions of many who were closer to Schulz than I was but not as close as his family. I'll let you know how many grains of salt I decide to afford it.
One of my favorite musical groups of the sixties was The Turtles. It wasn't so much that I liked their music as that I just liked them. They clearly didn't take rock stardom seriously and it always seemed like whatever they were doing, they were having a great time doing it...and some of their music was pretty good. I mean, how can you not love a group that will stick "et cetera" into the lyrics of a love song? The Turtles broke up around 1970 and the two key members, Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, worked for a time with Frank Zappa, then struck out on their own under the names "Flo and Eddie" for a while. Now, they've regained the legal right to the name "The Turtles" (they lost it for a while, which is why they were Flo and Eddie) and they occasionally tour and do "oldies" shows and such.
Our clip today is four minutes for a documentary that was done a few years back on The Turtles. In it, Volman and Kaylan explain the group's constant wars with those who would manage them. A friend of mine in the record business told me that these four minutes should be required viewing for anyone who's thinking about becoming a professional musician. It's a tale that is, alas, not unique.
Here's a paragraph from a New York Timesarticle headlined, "Democrats Seem Ready to Extend Wiretap Powers"...
As the debate over the eavesdropping powers of the National Security Agency begins anew this week, the emerging measures reflect the reality confronting the Democrats. Although willing to oppose the White House on the Iraq war, they remain nervous that they will be called soft on terrorism if they insist on strict curbs on gathering intelligence.
Just who are they worried is going to call them soft on terrorism? The 63% of the country that wants us out of Iraq? They're not going to call someone who forces an end to this war "soft on terrorism."
And if they're worried about the 35% that wants us to stay...well, that 35% is going to hurl that insult at anyone who opposes Bush in any way. Matter of fact, no matter what Democrats do, Republicans are going to call them "soft on terrorism." Joe Biden could go catch Osama and strangle the guy with his bare hands and not change that.
If I were a Democrat in Congress, I'd be more concerned with 63% of the country calling me "soft on political courage."
October 10, 2007
