Actually, young Tony paid a bunch of dues at once on that trip to New York in 1970. He was so well liked at the Village Gate (opening for Richard Pryor) that he was held over for a second week (opening for Jerry Jeff Walker). But Jerry Jeff refused to play if Tony played, as he said that Tony was copying Jerry Jeff's style (he was not), so the Village Gate said "so sorry, Tony, you can't play here." Then some guys who claimed to represent Bob Dylan tried to steal Maribeth away, and they sort of succeeded in that she left Tony's act. And that same week, Tony left his two guitars in a taxi and lost them. That was a lot of blows for one week; I felt very sorry for him. Glad to hear he's not starving, anyway.
Is the Blue Jays song any good?

Mark