epub or mobi
Jack Ruby's Vegas Club
and the Silver Spur were dives that employed black jazz musicians in Naughty
Dallas of the '50s: "The thing I remember most about Jack Ruby,"
chuckles Newman, "were the stag parties in his clubs. Whenever the
striptease dancers came out, he'd want the musicians to turn our backs. 'Cause
these were white ladies. He'd say, 'Now, you guys turn your backs so you can't
see this.' But the strippers would insist that the drummer watch them, so he
could catch their bumps and grinds. So Jack says, 'Well, the drummer can look,
but the rest of you guys, you turn your backs on the bandstand."'
Cornell Gunther of the
Coasters was prancing gay, Jerry recalls, but also the toughest of the bunch.
He once took out four guys in a parking lot, who made kissing sounds as the
Coasters exited a building. "Get in the car
honey, lock the doors," he said to Billy Guy, Carl Gardner, and William
"Dub" Jones, the great bass voice you hear on "Charlie
Brown." Then Gunther turned around, called the gang "faggots,"
and beat up all four. The moral: Never mess with a tough fag.


Great book.
ReplyDeleteglad you dug it, killer
ReplyDeleteRead this a dozen times in paperback and it never gets old....psyched to have a version I can leaf thru on the subway now.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting & for keeping yr site up and running!
Any chance you still have this one? Can't get either format to download, and I can't find it anywhere else. Thanks again for all the wild stuff you share with us!
ReplyDeletedurktle,
DeleteJust put new links in the post.
all the best,
Johnny
Thanks very much!
Delete