Paddy's Pig
#175-For Archive :www.oaklanddupree@substack.com
“Irish as Paddy’s Pig ” is an old expression, which comes to mind today, March 17th, Saint Patrick’s Day. Pigs were a valuable commodity in impoverished Ireland…my grandfather joked he was tired of living in the same shack with a hog as his reason to emigrate to America. I never knew anyone who loved St. Patrick’s Day more then Denis O’ Leary, my boss at the Killarney House in Lafayette California where I tended bar for him in 1978 and ‘79…He relished the big money payday from drinkers celebrating the holiday in his authentic Irish saloon, and he looked forward to it all year long…Denis came from Cork and was a former milkman and father of nine kids who ultimately succumbed to Seagram’s VO Whiskey, not before moving to Benicia ( at the suggestion of yours truly) where he opened O’Leary’s Pub which his family carried on for a while after Denis’ passing…In the Killarney House , Denis and his original partner , brother-in-law Jimmy Kearns, festooned the walls with shillelaghs, and plaques with sayings such “Cead Mile Failte” Gaelic for one hundred thousand welcomes and “ an Irishman is never drunk as long as he can hang on to one blade of grass and not fall off the face of the Earth”…so, this was a drinking joint , no doubt, and I’ll never forget my first St Paddy’s Day behind the bar. I started around 5 PM and with a full ice bin started cranking out drinks and Irish Coffees . I made drinks non stop until I was completely out of ice and glasses and glanced up at the clock and only 20-25 minutes had elapsed! Holy shit ! We had to send out for big bags of Union Ice as the machine was tapped out. Sold plenty of bottles of Harp Lager and Guinness Stout as well… I was in for a long laborious night ! Denis’ recipe for Irish Coffee called for a heated fizz glass, brown sugar, Irish Whisky, hot coffee, stirred and then a float of whipping cream on top…years before I had worked at the very busy Tarr And Feathers entertainment saloons ( SF and Walnut Creek), where we perfected whipping heavy cream for coffee drinks, in a metal can on a Hamilton Beach milkshake blender , whipping until you got the “ big bubbles” which meant you could slowly pour the whipped cream to float perfectly on a hot coffee drink. At the end of that St Paddy’s Day, Denis O’ Leary was one happy Mick with a few grand in his pocket!
I brought my live music promotions with me from the Roundup Saloon to the Killarney House in 78, booking into and packing the joint, Charlie Musselwhite, also the late guitarist blues singer from Chicago, Fenton Robinson, and the late piano-rockin’ Stu Blank, among many others. Denis O’ Leary loved to make a buck and I was happy to oblige him, as I was quite fond of the Irishman…I had a carpenter friend , Chris Wilson, construct me a sturdy bandstand/stage for the music hall/pool hall side of the Killarney…Chris went way overboard , building a rug covered stage that was cumbersome to move but once in the room , worked nicely…transporting the monstrosity to the K House was another matter, I enlisted Paul Doyle , a giant, strong , and tough Boston Irish guy and his truck to transport it and it was hard work, let me tell you! I took care of Paul with drinks, always, over the years I knew him….when he complained about the hard labor of putting that stage in the bar , I told him “ Hey Paul , now you’re in show business !”…He laughed his ass off and loved to tell that tale over and over.
Paul Doyle was a classic barroom character , totally white haired in his forties, he was strapping Boston Irish tough guy, yet personable with a silver tongue ,and people loved to drink with him… and who, as body and fender man, was an absolute artist, banging out car dents and painting and restoring automobiles and pickup trucks to gorgeous standards. He was in high demand for his skills, the only trouble ?… he loved vodka and cigarette smoking more than work, but as a friend, he was loyal and true, spouting such sayings as “ spit in your fist !” ( and shake hands) , “ stick a fork in it, it’s done ! ” and “ In like Laddie’s glass eye ! ”…people tried to get him to restore their cars and of course, Paul let them down, taking their cash, then drinking it up ..these folks were forewarned and should have known better than to give Paul their money and entrusting their vehicles to him …hey , he was a barely functioning alcoholic !…Paul Doyle left Lafayette and went back to Boston where he died a premature drunkard’s death…for all his serious faults , Paul was my friend… many hundreds of times he said to me “gimme a silver bullet , Seamus!” ( Stoli on the rocks) …Rest In Peace. Paulie !
Bits and Pieces: New bogeyman on the horizon: Omicron BA.2 , a virus variant sweeping Europe and maybe headed our way…I will just fucking hate breaking out masks again…I’m triple vaxxed and willing to get a fourth…let’s hope it doesn’t come to that…on the John Rothmann KGO radio show every Friday Bay Area TV personality ,bon vivant, and movie critic Jan Wahl gives her opinions…she is knowledgeable and fun to listen to…She raved about CODA and King Richard, also my two faves this year , and Jan agreed with me that the original Nightmare Alley was better overall than the current remake, although the production value of Del Toro’s flick is excellent...I disagree on Jan’s pick for Jessica Chastain for best actress Oscar … I think Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball is the best…learned on the Jeopardy! on-line daily game that a tequila and grapefruit juice hi ball is called a Paloma… I drank those for several years in the 70’s calling them “tequila -grapes ”… Here’s a great potential band name or quiz show title ? … “ Pivoting Pricepoint ” !! combining two overused cliches…on Jeopardy! last week under the category “Easy” all three contestant were stumped on Walter Mosley’s great literary detective character, Easy Rawlins, (one of my very faves)…Now, ain’t dat a DAMN shame !
Peace Garden: With war raging in Europe, Putin mimicking Stalin, the value of peace comes to mind… as does my old peace loving friend, the late Herbie Herbert. Herbie had a concert lighting company Night Lights which evolved into Nocturne, a high tech live concert video company that provided video screens and high definition video of live music concert tours… It was a huge money making enterprise and Herbie housed the equipment and vehicles in a gigantic warehouse on 3rd Street, in San Francisco’s China Basin neighborhood, taking up a whole block between 3rd and Illinois Streets , across from The Ramp restaurant and down the block from what would become Chase Center arena, a couple blocks from Pac Bell
Park, home of the San Francisco Giants…Herbie also built a state of the art recording studio upstairs, and the walls were adorned with a hundred or more vintage and rare guitars…( he eventually auctioned off the guitars to buy our late pal, John Villanueva a small coffee plantation on Kona, Big Island of Hawaii)…downstairs was a kitchen dining room decorated with photos and memorabilia from the SF 49ers glory years, when Herbie had a luxury suite and hosted legendary tailgate parties at Candlestick Park, hanging with the likes of team owner Eddie DeBartolo and politician Willie Brown…outside the warehouse back doors on Illinois St was a huge tree emerging from the asphalt and Herbie decided to build a fenced in area surrounding the tree with chairs and tables to hang in , eat, drink, smoke reefer, and schmooze… Herbie dubbed it The Peace Garden and on a sunny SF afternoon it was joyous place to be…can remember times there with Pete Sears, Jorma and Jack, GE Smith, Oley Henriksen, Steve Parish, Henry Sarmiento, Terry Haggerty, and so many others swapping music biz tales…PGE took Herbie to court for usurping their property , but Herbie was allowed to continue using the space since he had added improvements…Herbie eventually sold the property, and it was demolished and turned into very expensive housing…funny thing, Herbie always chided the Grateful Dead for renting and not buying properties…witness the recent shutdown of Phil Lesh and wife’s Terrapin Station club/ restaurant in San Rafael , which they rented. My pal Herbie was a shrewd investor and a devout cannabis practitioner , two seemingly opposing enterprises, but for him it was purely a natural thing. Boy, do I miss my friend !
Pre-BA.2 Variant Viewing: 84 Charing Cross Rd. ( 1986) reading Mel Brooks’ autobiography All About Me and his Brooksfilms production company, hipped me on one I had missed…such a delight to have great actors Anne Bancroft, ( Mel’s wife) Anthony Hopkins and Judi Dench teamed up on this literary themed film with a big heart , regarding a NYC writer and London booksellers and their correspondence over twenty years from 1949 to 1969, a joy to watch…The Dropout (2022) …streaming series on Elizabeth Holmes ,the blonde Silicon Valley con artist...they try to make her appealing by casting a beautiful actress ,Amanda Seyfried to portray her…I dunno about this one… it’s on Hulu ,which is a real pain in the ass to watch due to commercials…also on Hulu is Snowfall (2017-22) a series about 80’s cocaine, the LA ghetto, crack addiction, gangster-ism, the CIA etc. by John Singleton, with Walter Mosley’s name attached, which piqued my interest…sort of Boyz In The Hood meets The Wire meets Sicario/Training Day, though not nearly as good as any of those, but still watchable, save for navigating the Fire-stick and the commercials which becomes fucking maddening…Victor/Victoria (1982) Blake Edwards’ brilliant musical comedy based on a 1933 German film… initially saw it second run at Willow Pass in Concord in 83 and fell in love with this movie! starring Julie Andrews , the wonderful Robert Preston, James Garner, and nice turns from football star Alex Karras and Lesley Ann Warren…set in Paris in 1934, a laugh filled gender-bender, punctuated with hilarious sight gags that Edwards perfected in his Pink Panther movies…pure fun!…Honest Thief (2020)…I can’t resist a Liam Neeson action thriller( guilty pleasure) and they always entertain ! it is truly amazing to me the rate Neeson churns them out…69 years old and a macho action star! WOW! ...this one involves bank robbery, villainous greed, corrupt FBI men, and redemption via romance…dug it! …just read that Liam is going to play Raymond Chandler’s fictional LA detective Phillip Marlowe …cant wait !
Songs Of The Day: I’m A Hog For You Baby-The Coasters & Destination Unknown -Missing Persons & 4PM- Charlie Musselwhite {w. Harvey Mandel } ( all tunes available for listening on You Tube)
Autobiography: 2010 Musselwhite band tour , me driving, en route to Cleveland Ohio for a gig … advice : don’t ever say “ mistake by the lake” to anyone there , even in jest, I learned that the hard way…June Core, our drummer , had family there and that was nice. June grew up in Cleveland. When I drove the van around an extremely treacherous curve on the roadway near Lake Erie, June told us how he flipped a muscle car on that curve as a teen… the gig was at an old fashioned type Union Hall and Charlie was besieged by autograph seekers with obscure Musselwhite memorabilia, such as recordings featuring my old Berkeley pals, Stu Feldman and Karl Severeid. Musselwhite, to this day, loves to give his fans autographs and never refuses a request. Charlie demanded I park the van in a super tight almost impossible spot adjacent to the venue…after dinner,the band went inside and left me alone to navigate the parking job of putting the big Ford F 150 diesel van into the tight space… after a couple dozen moves , I scraped a beater car next to the spot, and said “fuck it ! ” I got the van parked in the spot Charlie decreed, but it was rough. A chick witnessed the maneuver and commiserated with me , agreeing it was an impossible task to begin with…the beater already had lots of dents and scratches, so that was the end of it ! heh heh heh heh heh…we stayed at the Sheraton across from The Jake ( Jacobs Field , home of the then Cleveland Indians now Cleveland Guardians)… next up Detroit! ( to be cont.)