The Bistro West Peachtree NW Atlanta Georgia
I had not planned on submitting this for publication, as I thought I had retired my passing ICONS for publication. I still write these little Icon notes but don't publish them now. However this year has been a particularly hard on old entertainers.
Jerry Jeff Walker has died October 23, 2020 @ 78 years old.
One of my old haunts back in the mid 60s in Atlanta was a converted house called The Bistro. It was located at 1102 W. Peachtree Street. I first saw Jerry Jeff Walker there ~ circa 1966-67. He sang a song about an old drunk he had met while he was in Jail in New Orleans. The song title was jiffy and brought back the memories of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson who danced in one of Shirley Temples movies.
This was long before he actually had recorded the song before it became a national hit for numerous groups (The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band). At the time he was just another traveling folk / country singer doing gigs where ever he could find them. In 1967 I was 22 and he was just 25. Normally most of those vagabond singers came and went with my noticing or remembering their names.
I remember that I was impressed with the with the song because it talked to the rambling fever most teenagers and young 20 age people felt at the time. We all seemed to admire the troubadours who rambles the streets of the USA with no particular place to go and no idea how to get there or get back and no real concern about tomorrow. The song and the singer’s name stayed with me. He eventually recorded the song in 1968 but I was out of the country at the time.
Like most young people at the time if you saw an old bum or wino on the side of the street you often thought to yourself; “look at that loser what do you think happened to him.” Well Jerry Jeff wrote the song about that old bum or wino. As it turns out his story was one of the elements that has been part of the American experience since the founding of this country. And then you hear Mr. Bo jangles by Jerry Jeff Walker and you realize this man has lived a life. As you grow a bit older, you begin to realize that you too have lived a life. Perhaps not as depressing as Mr. Bo jangles, but just as full of memories both good and bad.
When the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band released the song on a 1970 album. I immediately knew it was the song I had heard three years before. That cemented my brush with Jerry Jeff Walker forever in my mind. I was a longtime fan of him and his music as well as his covers of other songwriters.
A YOUNGER JERRY JEFF, A VACANT LOT WHERE THE MEMORIES LAY, AND AN OLD ADD AS PROOF IT DID EXIST. (Picture of Jerry Jeff Walker from his website)
The year 2020 has been a standout year for many reasons.
On an entertainment level we have lost:
Many more from the entertainment industry but those really have had a more direct connection to my youth and memories. I am sure some young 22 -25 years old kids have made permanent memories of the events during this year as well as their favorite entertainers. Then some fifty-threes years from now in 2073 some artist will die and they will say. Oh, yea I remember Him or Her. Ah, the pleasures of youth.
I have never been one to predict if someone who passes goes to Heaven or Hell as that is between them and the lord. Regardless of where they ended up, the Righteous Brothers - Rock and Roll Heaven (1974) may have been right. Well you know they've got a hell of a band, band, band.
"Mr. Bojangles"
I knew a man Bojangles and he'd dance for you
In worn out shoes
With silver hair, a ragged shirt, and baggy pants
The old soft shoe
He jumped so high, jumped so high
Then he lightly touched down
I met him in a cell in New Orleans I was
down and out
He looked to me to be the eyes of age
as he spoke right out
He talked of life, talked of life, he laughed
clicked his heels and stepped
He said his name "Bojangles" and he danced a lick
across the cell
He grabbed his pants and spread his stance,
Oh he jumped so high and then he clicked his heels
He let go a laugh, let go a laugh
ack his clothes all around
Mr. Bojangles, Mr. Bojangles
Mr. Bojangles, dance
He danced for those at minstrel shows and county fairs
throughout the south
He spoke through tears of 15 years how his dog and him
traveled about
The dog up and died, he up and died
And after 20 years he still grieves
He said I dance now at every chance in honky tonks
for drinks and tips
But most the time I spend behind these county bars
'cause I drinks a bit
He shook his head, and as he shook his head
I heard someone ask him please
Mr. Bojangles, Mr. Bojangles
Mr. Bojangles, dance..
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Myra said:
( July 2nd, 2024 @ 12:14 pm )
My old stomping ground… oh the wonderful memories.
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I no longer live in Atlanta, but have wonderful memories of the Bistro. I married Big Frank who worked there. Tom and Sandy closed the club and my family and a few friends attended. Jimmy Buffet played for my wedding reception! I loved Silverman and Joni Mitchell!! Thanks for the memory.
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Thanks for the comments and thanks to Stan for the automatic notification when someone comments on one of my older articles. At 77 years old, I realize that I am probably far out of touch with the various local venues for aspiring entertainers, but I can’t help but wonder if there are still troubadours touring the country in small bars, VFW clubs, or Bowling Alley entertainment rooms. My time on the beer trail was full of such joints. It was a time when entertainers drove in cars, Greyhound, or trains, or parhaps with a guitar strapped over their shoulder and a thumb in the air from town to town honing their talent. Many never made it to stardom but a few like those mentioned in the comments did and we are all the better for it. As Stan said, Gordon created songs that will never be forgotten until we too pass. There are those who say, like the old blues singers, you can’t write a sad or inspirational song until you have lived a sad or inspirational life. I don’t know if that is true but thank God that these songs were written.
Thanks also to Andrea Hayward Nickerson for your parent’s participation in those days of yore. Atlanta is a city that doesn’t hold much to maintaining historical buildings. I have not been by the old Bistro site in years, but I do occasionally visit The Varsity -1928- which is not far from there. I will be sure to drive by and see what a atrocity has been built on that lot. |
Thanks for sharing Andtea.
I guess we all feel a little older now that Gordon Lightfoot has passed, and not too long ago Jerry Jeff Walker, both wrote songs that will never be forgotten. |
My mom and dad Tom and Sandy Hayward owned The Bistro during these times. Unfortunately the people that bought the place from my dad burned it down for insurance money in 1974? I think. Many musicians got discovered there like Jimmy Buffet, Oliver, Gordon Lightfoot, etc. My dad had a recording studio upstairs.
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Enjoyed reading your article on Jerry Jeff. I worked part time at The Bistro in 1965 and 1967. Very sad to see the picture of the empty lot.
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Since we are talking about music, I did find a little time to play yesterday softly during a political meeting (not government) with two county commissioner friends (both were just elected) at my place. I know this because now these two tabs were open on my laptop, and just wondered - "Where did they come from?".
I did not sing a lick, but just talked politics and played the chords with the tune in my head. One was - tabs.ultimate-guitar.com, which might suggest where my head was I guess I am not your usual county commissioner. |
Thanks for the video tip Bobby Tony. I will try it when I am fresh tomorrow after I get most of my endless chores done.
For now, however, that is what I need to know, which I don't know - the 6/8 roll rhythm. I try to mimic the rhythm, and then I just wind up with something that works with my voice. Even though I can move my hands fast enough and grab all the chords well enough, I need to get the that 6/8 roll down. Plus, I need a another guitar, although, I am quite fond of my little Yamaha with the fat neck. My next guitar will have to be a perfect fit, and of full, hearty quality, or, I am afraid I will reject it ... like the sad woman woman, who just is not quite as good as the one that got away. One more thing that is weir for me. I won't spend much time on any one song. I will work on a song, play it all the way through, then, I'll go get another one; quite often one that I have never done, and do it to some varying quality ... maybe learn a new chord or two in the process. And then I get so busy, I do not pick my guitar up for a week or more, and that is when I realize that my fingernails need clipping. So, I earnestly pick up my guitar, play some chords until if feels good, sounds good, and then two to three hours roll by, and I have worked on 6 or 7 songs and also put a little original melody together that sounds good, and then, "I thank the good Lord for my fingers". It is during one of those sessions where I will try stuff from The Band, to Tom Waits, to Johnny Cash, to Dire Straits /Mark Knopfler even, maybe Pink Floyd, James Taylor; the Beatles, Paul Simon, Van Morrison (try singing a Van the Man tune like "Caravan") ... it gets fun. I have been doing Bob Dylan songs lately ... but not much of the older Folky stuff. Mostly from 1965 forward, like "Just Like a Woman", "Shelter From the Storm" "Mighty Quinn", "All Along the Watchtower" ... the songs that made an impression on me. Not that "Blowing in the Wind" is not a cool song, but it gets boring real fast for me, however, I do like "Mister Tambourine Man" because it begs to be changed up a bit, and "Don't Think Twice" - I like that one because of the cool Lyrics - "Ain't no use to sit and wonder why babe; If you don't ... know by now". |
I’ve simplified it for my old arthritic hands. C Em Am G7. The rest pretty much the same. Once you get the 6/8 Roll rhythm down it’s like an old 50s song. 123-4-56
youtu.be |
Get your guitar out and ty this version of Mr. Bojangles - tabs.ultimate-guitar.com
I still need to get a better strum / pick ratio. Often, I just pick and pull the notes out of the chords. |
It never fails. When one of these Icon's pass, I do a deep dive on YouTube and find numerous songs that I never knew they made. That is particularly true with song writers. I stop buying albums and CD's years ago and as a result only knew the hits for some. I have often thought that the best songs were the B-Side of a single or lost in the 12 or so tracks on an album.
Since I am guilty of over analyzing everything, I don't doubt that GEMS will not appear until they pass should I still be alive when that occurs. |
Thanks Bobby Tony for this elucidation on a piece of who Jerry Jeff Walker was, and what his music still means.
"Mr. Bojangles" is a national treasure, and one of the many reasons why I threw caution to the wind, and started learning to play a guitar 4 years ago. I always attempt to do the Jerry Jeff Walker version (because it is the best), with varying degrees of success - depending now on my mood - when I do this classic. I love the song, and I am thankful, because of Jerry Jeff's "lightning-in-a-bottle creativity, that I get a chance to play it from time to time. |
Bobby Tony has a Rare Moment of Uncertainty | Artists, Dueling Hits, Best Music Ever, Music Reviews, Music, The Arts | Old Christmas Songs – New Singers |