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26 May 11 - 10:06 AM (#3160821) Subject: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: Jerry Rasmussen I had an ice cold glass of Brooklyn Lager at the Gaslight Cafe in Greenwich Village tonight. It's difficult for me to completely soak it in. (the beer soaked in fine.) It's been almost fifty years since I had something to drink in the Gaslight Cafe, and Dave Van Ronk was still running the Monday night hoots. In most of those fifty years, there was no Gaslight Cafe. It went through a variety of disguises, the most recent being a hip hop bar. THis afternoon, Ruth and I were in the Village, scoping out the location for the one day celebration of '60's folk music that is happening in October. McDougald Street, where the once and future Gaslight Cafe made its home looks completely unrecognizable. When we came up to the site of the old Gaslight I did a double take. There was a young man painting the handrail going down the stairs into the old Gaslight space, and plastered on the entraqnce were photocpies of old newspaper clippings and the prou title, The Orginal Village Gaslight. The young man, who is the owner, invited Ruth and I to come down and see the space and when I told him I had performed there, he told the young bartender to set us up with a drink on the house. While we sat there talking (Ruth had ginger ale,) I talked the the owner and the bartender about the old days when Dave Van Ronk reigned in the old Gaslight. We were all wound up. When I spotted the t-shirt the owner was wearing that said "The Original Village Gaslight" I had to buy one. The bartender is about the age I was when the Gaslight was my home from 1960-64. When he fast forwards fifty years, he'll be where I am. I hope he has as much energy, enthusiasm and wonderful memories as I do. The Gaslight isn't really open for business yet, but it should be, soon. If you're in the Village, drop into the Gaslight and say hello to Lawrence, the owner, and Neal, behind the bar. And buy a t-shirt. All those years when Dave Van Ronk would sneak upstairs to the Kettle of Fish to have a beer... now he could have it in the Gaslight. What goes around comes around. |
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26 May 11 - 10:17 AM (#3160826) Subject: RE: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: Tiger I assume, then, that the rats were all scrubbed down :) |
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26 May 11 - 10:27 AM (#3160832) Subject: RE: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: Jerry Rasmussen I spent nearly a thousand and one nights at the Gaslight, and I never saw a rat, and I was out in the kitchen, too. Not saying there weren't any, because we're talkin' New York city. |
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26 May 11 - 10:38 AM (#3160837) Subject: RE: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: GUEST,leeneia Nice! Thanks for posting, Jerry. |
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26 May 11 - 11:19 AM (#3160861) Subject: RE: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: Arkie Nice to see this. On my very first trip to New York primed with information from Sing Out and a passion to see Greenwich Village, I spent an evening at the Gaslight Cafe. There I saw Dave Van Ronk for the first and only time. Great memory. |
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26 May 11 - 01:30 PM (#3160921) Subject: RE: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: Jerry Rasmussen I heard Dave for the first time back in the winter of '50-'61 when I discovered the Gaslight Cafe. |
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26 May 11 - 02:45 PM (#3160961) Subject: RE: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: Mark Ross I worked there in '68. I was lighting and sound man, kitchen boy, and permanent 3rd act on the bill, for 5 bucks a night (and I got to sleep on the persian rug in the lobby). This ws after Sam Hood sold the place to Ed Simon who owned the Four Winds coffeehouse. It was worth it. I got to meet everyone, and got to listen to some great music (and some not so great, don't ask me about Monte Rock III). Mark Ross |
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26 May 11 - 04:40 PM (#3161004) Subject: RE: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: Jerry Rasmussen That's fascinating, Mark! They don't have a kitchen anymore. It's just going to be a bar. Jerry |
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26 May 11 - 05:01 PM (#3161015) Subject: RE: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: bobad Can we be witnessing the beginnings of Folk Scare Re-Ducks? |
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26 May 11 - 05:08 PM (#3161025) Subject: RE: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: Elmore About a hundred years ago, I saw Utah Phillips opening for Brownie and Sonny at the Gaslight. The place was pretty grungy, but the music was great. |
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26 May 11 - 07:29 PM (#3161076) Subject: RE: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: Jerry Rasmussen The new Gaslight is a bar. They may have an occasional event where they have some folk music, but the owner doesn't itend to offer it on a regular basis. Opening a folk club in a high rent district would most likely be financial suicide. Realistically, there isn't wide enough interest to support a high rent operation. I don't think it's a surprise that essentially all of the coffee houses with folk music are gone on McDougal and Bleeker, although the Cafe Wha? still has a sign up. Don't know if they do any music. I wasn't sure they did any "music" there in the '60's. :-) |
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26 May 11 - 07:31 PM (#3161078) Subject: RE: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: Mark Ross Elmore, that was Utah's first gig in NYC. Mark Ross |
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26 May 11 - 08:06 PM (#3161096) Subject: RE: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: Leadfingers I was wandering round the Village in Mmarch/April 1974 and dont recall the Gaslight at all , though I WAS seriously looking for a place to have a sing OR Listn to some good music . |
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26 May 11 - 09:27 PM (#3161134) Subject: RE: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: Jerry Rasmussen At one point it was selling Indian (from India) clothing and beads... it went through at least a couple of changes. |
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27 May 11 - 06:57 AM (#3161196) Subject: RE: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: GUEST,from tokyo We are very intersted in your precious memory in Far East. I would like to hear about your folk music journey with your live performances. Forever MacDougal Street! Kiyohide |
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27 May 11 - 07:55 AM (#3161219) Subject: RE: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: Jerry Rasmussen Of course, my memories are flowing after sitting in the Gaslight after almost fifty years. Mostr people want to know who the famous people were I heard. That's understandable. What I remember about the Gaslight was that nobody was famous. Nobody was better than anyone else. Some people were more talented and went on to be famous, and some were just as talented and chose to go in a different direction. Some of the people I enjoyed most didn't make music or comedy a career. It is the sense of community I remember. Like a lot of people I got to know at the Gaslight, I didn't have a clue about what I should do with my life. There was something reassuring about spending time with people who hadn't figured out life, but were still savoring it. Understanding could wait. It took me many years before my life really came together and made sense.. Greenwich Village was more of a village than most small towns across the world, and there it was, stuck smack dab in the middle of a city better known for being un-caring and impersonal. |
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27 May 11 - 09:53 AM (#3161278) Subject: RE: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: Elmore Attn: Mark Ross: Mark, thanks for the info. I saw Utah in a variety of venues over the years, and miss him a lot even though I only knew him as a performer. Elmore |
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27 May 11 - 12:09 PM (#3161344) Subject: RE: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: Waddon Pete Wonderful memories Jerry! Thanks for sharing. Best wishes, Peter |
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27 May 11 - 01:30 PM (#3161374) Subject: RE: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: GUEST,999 I saw a few BIG cockroaches in the Gaslight. |
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27 May 11 - 02:42 PM (#3161407) Subject: RE: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: Jerry Rasmussen There used to a legend going around of a building without cockroaches in New York City. Urban Xanadu. The truth is, cockroaches tolerate human beings, not the other way around. |
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27 May 11 - 03:57 PM (#3161449) Subject: RE: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: michaelr Yeah, I remember the winter of `50-`61. Seemed interminable! |
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27 May 11 - 04:10 PM (#3161453) Subject: RE: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: Jerry Rasmussen I was at Columbia University in 1960-61 and they closed the university twice that winter: the only two times in the history of the University. I waded my way tghrough a foot of snow in the middle of the streets to find the Gaslight, the first time I went there. |
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27 May 11 - 05:29 PM (#3161473) Subject: RE: Gaslight Cafe Re-ducks From: GUEST,999 `There used to a legend going around of a building without cockroaches in New York City. Urban Xanadu.` Indeed. And even if there had been, who could have afforded it. |