Art,

Yeah, the people that used to come through Jimmy's could make a book in itself. Remember Artie P. Crowder "The Old Man From The Mountain"? He'd come up from Indiana with Bill Jackson and Harold Lamb? What a treat they were. Dave Prine and Tyler Wilson used to come by too. And Dave Samuelson would come by and sit in on mandolin. Dave produced the Buck Graves and Kenny Baker albums on Puritan.

Stan Shapin is out in LA now. I had a chance to visit a few years back but haven't heard from him for a long time. I'm always amazed that I don't run into him here. I always admired his banjo playing and valued his friendship.

The GCBG actualy came as much from Lackey's Steak House as it did Jimmy's. Remember Gene Lackey? Gene had a little corner resteraunt in Rogers Park that was SO SMALL... (How small was it?) It was so small that Gene wasn't forced to buy his meat from the outfit. It was so small, they didn't even make him put in a juke box! It was so small, they didn't even have a liquor license, you had to go around the corner to buy a bottle of wine or a six pack and bring it with you for dinner. Now that's small.

Gene was a wonderful country singer from Mt. Home, AK and an absolute genius with cut up pieces of dead cows. I used to love to eat dinner there and stay to listen to Gene sing. It was there that I first met Chuck and Richard. Flemming Brown used to show up there quite a bit as I recall and a fledgling band with the cheeky name "Chicago" used to rehearse there after hours. Gene and his wife were tuned into the arts community so touring Brodway productions often held their parties there.

Well, it seems I remember more about the Greenbrian Boys than I thought.

      - Mark