Light My Fire
Enough has been written about The Doors already. But the history of Jim Morrison is always fodder for rock scribes. We both got our starts in a dinky mildewed coffee house in Pinellas Park Florida; a suburb of St. Petersburg on the gulf coast of Tampa Bay. The Beaux Arts Coffee House was run by a veteran dancer from Balanchin’e troupe in New York. Tommy’s mother would sit at the front screen door of the antibellum Tennessee Williams style run-down southern mansion and take a dollar and seventy five cents from every Jr. College student trying to grow a beard and a poetry reputation.They would lounge about the musty old furniture, amongst six toed cats, bad poetry, even worse paintings of local young men who occasionally lived above the coffee house on three floors of boarding house rooms. Our bass player and some times paper hanger rented a room on the third floor and papered the walls with red flocked fleur-de-li resembling a mix of French Quarter and New York’s Chelsea Hotel only much damper from all the tropical humidity.
Bethlehem Asylum played on the screened in back porch trying out new songs and falling back on jazz tunes that we could get through. Mine was the first drumset to be played there. It was mostly acoustical guitars and flutes. Folkies from New York would stop there on their way down to Miami. The back yard was a jungle riot of local floral set off nicely by strings of tiki lights hiding teens sipping wine, smoking weak pot and making out. Morrison read his poetry to the small crowd until he announced that he was going to California.
Robbie Krieger wrote the song but Jim and the rest of the guys in the Doors made the song come alive. History in the making. Upon meeting Ray Manzarek, the keyboard player, I revealed that I was a veteran of the Beaux Arts coffee House in Pinellas Park, Florida. He was intrigued. Jim had mentioned it. “Is that place for real?”
Welcome to Our Blog
Stay updated with expert insights, advice, and stories. Discover valuable content to keep you informed, inspired, and engaged with the latest trends and ideas.
Blog categories
-
Alexander’s Rag Time Band
Alexander’s RagTime Band “Come on along, it’s the best band in the land.” I probably heard this ancient hit song on my first trip to New Orleans where I listened to the aging masters of dixie land jazz playing at Preservation Hall. I loved listening to them. It…
-
I’m Proud to be An Oakie From Muskogee
I‘m Proud To Be An Oakie From Muskogee Merle Haggard wrote this tune at the height of the anti-war demonstrations in the late Sixties and he really hit a nerve. “We don’t burn our draft cards down at the courthouse.” ‘White Lightning’s still the biggest thrill of all.”…
-
Things We Do For Love
Things We Do For Love 10 CC was a a big act back in the Seventies. “Like walkin in the rain and the snow and there’s no where to go. Feels like a part of you is dying”. The ultimate polished production from England. Seems like the British…
-
Careless Whisper
Careless WhisperGeorge Michael “I’m never gonna dance again. Guilty feet got no rhythm.” He was puzzled why this song became so popular. He penned it when he was 17 and admittedly had little experience with relationships let alone infidelity and breaking up. But such is the nature of…
-
One More For the Road
One More For the RoadFrank Sinatra will always be the voice of America. It is a voice that pops up in my JukeBox Brain when I least expect it. As a jazz drummer it is expedient to be able to play the Sinatra book of tunes, usually with…
-
Me and My Arrow
Russell Buddy Helm 1.4K followers • 159 following Intro Featured Section Featured Photos Friends 1,255 friends Cathy Burchett Will Cameron Wheeler Drew Hennessey Peaceful Waters Isgro Alan Berger Sandra Melvoin Kenneth Davidoff Joyce Evans Aris Wiwid Life events Posts Facebook Facebook Facebook Facebook Facebook Facebook Facebook Facebook Facebook…
Leave a Reply