E-MAIL MEMORIES, PAGE 9
* We played many weddings at Lenfants. There was a guy that seemed to be a "guest" at all of them. I later found out that he lived in the area, put on his suit & tie every Saturday & came to whoever's wedding. He pretended to be a regular guest, & claimed to be "with the band" if ever challenged. Which, of course, is how I found out his cool scam. He ate well, drank his share & danced with all the babes....& rarely went home alone. That guy was my idol.
* Recall playing the Swamp Room on Canal. It was a long, narrow joint & EVERYONE seemed to be a chain smoker. I was set up just in front of the exhaust fan at the back of the bandstand & ALL THE SMOKE in the joint went in my eyes and out my ears...... When I'd try to sleep after that, my eyes would burn for hours. That was when I discovered Murine! Finally told my boss (the older & crazier Earl Stanley) I couldn't work that gig anymore!
Got a million of 'em. Married a Sacred Heart girl in '70. My wife competed in beauty contests in the '60's in NO. She won the Miss Audubon Park contest the last year it was held. I love to tell our (now adults) kids that their Mom is the reigning "Queen" of that place. The MacKenzie donut commercial guy hosted most of those contests. Wife is the former Linda Lind. We've been married 31 years & reside in Jupiter,FL.....where the only Gumbo we get is when we make Turkey Gumbo with Thanksgiving leftovers. Man, what I'd give to be at Mandina's right now.
BTW, re: your Ched's swizzle- When Jim Stewart leased the new, huge Ched's on Canal, my trio, with me on guitar, was his house band for about a year. Jim brought Eric Burton & the Animals in there one night for a couple sets.
BOB:
For a guy with an "attractive-challenged" face, Dick Bruce sure
managed for it to pop up everywhere! So, you're the guy...when I worked
with Eric Burdon at Treasure Chest last year he asked me if I ever heard
of a guitar player back at Ched's who had smoke coming out of his ears!
Well...I'm off to Mandina's for gumbo. Oops...gee...I'm sorry! :-)
PAT COCHRAN:
What about St Dominic's dances? The Peacock and Fox theatres? Chicken Delight,
the first home delivered chicken? (Their shop was located on Chef Hwy. right
by Forest Park, a.k.a. Indian Village). Also, Jim's fried chicken on the
corner of Carrollton and Earhart? Can you tell I grew up in Gentilly? Pat
O'Brian's with an altered drivers license to listen to all the college fight
songs sung by Emile Perrin? Venezia's Pizza? And the pizza place(can't remember
the name) where I had my first pizza ever, right next to the Tiger show
and Sugar Bowl lanes. The Black Orchid Lounge, near Dillard? Thanks for
the memories,
BOB:
I'm surprised we never met at Venezia's...the best pizza house in town!
Nice to wash it down with a Regal Beer. Oops...has it been that long??
MARY GREENE:
Oh, this is a great website! Thanks, Bob. Being away from it all for the
past ten years (and strolling down memory lane).....Here's a few I came
up with:
Neighborhood shows - the Clematis (it was on Clematis St. in Gentilly - I think this was the name), the Fox (on Elysian Fields, was turned into a fire station), and did you forget the Robert E Lee?
Dances - "Crossroads" It was held at some school during the early '70's...and who can forget John Pela and the Tony Bevinetto dancers?
BOB:
I was a regular on Saturday Hop in the Hazel Romano Dancers era. The Tony
Bevinetto were in the later years of the show. I remember the live singers
we had most every week like Pat Boone, Dion, etc...whoever was appearing
in the Blue Room showed up that weekend on Saturday Hop. Then there was
the time Timi Yuro was singing and didn't realize how far down her blouse
was unbuttoned...no big deal from the camera's angle in front but quite
a view to the regulars watching her from the side!
I still remember that station I.D.song that used to play on WTIX. "Up and down the great golden gulf coast, everyone's talking 'bout the Tiger in town. Everyone in the Crescent City says "TIX the Tiger" is really the most. There's fun and games for you, music, old and new, 24 hours of nonstop fun. Tune in and swing with...W..T..I..X, New Orleans!" You probably remember this, as you're obviously so into this stuff.
Hey, I almost fell over when I saw SHANE MARTIN on your list of singers! His real name is Neale Lundgren, in case you didn't know, and we met in ninth grade. He was my boyfriend for a little while, maybe a couple months, and the band he used to be in back then, the TWILIGHTS, used to play at my house. Also, in that band was Steve Staples, who owns the International Vintage Guitar Store on Magazine Street now, Anyway, Neale is married now and just had a baby girl named Emily Grace a couple years back. I saw him and his wife at our 25 year class reunion. Also, in that class was well known chef Susan Spicer, whom I just saw six months ago when I was in New Orleans for a mutual friend's memorial service (bass player David Lee Watson).
By the way, my younger sister who now lives in Texas, told me about your site. She used to be the President of C.C. Courtney's fan club back in the old days. She was only 15, and I don't think there were many presidential "duties", but it WAS the OFFICIAL fan club at the time.
So these are some of MY memories. If I went into "Tales From the Algiers Drive-In" I'd be up all night typing. Ha!
I just read YOUR memories, and they reminded me of some things. Like the Viaduct in Algiers, that overpass thing that was torn down later. Oh yeah, and when I was in the first grade my dad, a seaman, "donated" a baby seal, which was named Slipper to the Audobon Zoo. He had been to Africa, and some fishermen had caught the seal in their nets. My dad talked them into lettng him have it, took it aboard the ship, and gave it to the zoo when they got back home. His and a couple other guys' pictures were in the newspaper with Slipper.
Oh yeah, Neale's older sister Sharon used to go out with Les Gray from the Palace Guards. Did you mention the F&M Patio in your list? There was another place I remember going to, Farhad Grotto.
Oh yeah, and the very first teen concert I ever saw--I was 12--was at Pontchartrain Beach with Jan and Dean, Wayne Newton, Dick and DeeDee, Lesley Gore, and Steve Alaimo. I think it was put on by WTIX. I saw another great show (one of MANY I went to) a few years later at Municipal Auditorium, with the Barbarians, the Byrds, Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs, and Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels.
Okay, that's it for now.
BOB:
Wow! Now that's a head full of memories! I was in the crowd too at that
WTIX show at Pontchartrain Beach. That had to be WTIX Appreciation Night
in August of 1963. I still have all the recorded promos for all the WTIX
nights at Pontchartrain Beach from '57 - '64. And, yes, the competition
had those other shows at Municipal Auditorium in the mid-'60's...the WNOE
All-Star Shows produced by Herb Holliday. At the last show in 1966 with
Sonny & Cher, Herman's Hermits, Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders
and Cannibal & The Headhunters, Herb Holliday got on stage and announced
that the next All-Star show would feature the Rolling Stones. The crowd
went wild. Unfortunately, it never happened and Herb Holliday faded into
history.
WBOK is Gospel now. Seems all the old AM stations are now either talk or Gospel.
And tell your sister...the only duties of the C. C. Courtney Fan Club
officers and members was to have fun! Update on C. C. at http:radio_courtney.html