Just got this idea from the Riley Pucket thread. Are there any good tales out there about happenings on , in or around the Chicago folk club scene---60's, 70's, 80's, 90's ?

an example: In the early 1970s I was doing Monday night gigs ($35.00 a night) at a pizza restaurant near the Northwestern University campus. Monday night was "all the chicken you could eat" night. "Gordy" was a regular. He'd get angry if the chicken was anywhere near cooked. He'd gross out the customers with blood dripping down his face. The boss offered me $50.00 extra if I could embarrass him enough to make him stay away from the place. One night "Gordy" not only ate 3 baskets of nearly raw fried chicken, but he'd consumed 3 pitchers of beer. I was doing a set just putting up with the noise of the place and using the time to practice while on stage. There was one song that was a request and I was hoping I could do it in relative quiet. Half way into the song, there was george wildly yelling and raising his arms in a heated argument with the 8 peopele eating pizza at the front table--right in front of me. His butt ras right in front of me. I lifted my foot and pushed him, without breaking stride in my song. He went sprawling and sliding on top of the table --- into about 4 large cheese and sausage pies. Gordy went balistic. Swore he'd never come back. The boss replaced all the pizzas for free and I got 100 dollars extra that night.

A fine time was had by all---except Gordy.

Art Thieme