We
(The Rahgoos) first heard of the Night Owl when some of our
local fans at Greenwood Lake, N.Y. were buzzing about a cool
place in the Village where you could see this great band, John
Sebastian and the Lovin' Spoonful. By the time we checked it
out, the "Spoons" were gone, but the magic continued. It was a
very unique room, a long and narrow storefront. The stage faced
straight at a wall in the center with one church pew at the foot
(the "crotch watchers bench"), an aisle, and then another pew
against the wall. All the other seating was to the left and
right of the stage, giving a side view. The PA was very trebly
and faced to the sides. The music crashed into the wall. and
died, leaving the vocals very bare to the bulk of the crowd to
each side. You had better sing on key or else it was a disaster.
Good harmony went a long way at the Night Owl!
The cast of characters: "Jack the Rat" at the door, a
frightening cat with teeth missing and dirty clothes; Joe Marra,
the owner; Annie, head waitress (very bossy)....The waitresses
all used four letter words that we had never heard from girls
before........shocking to four straight, naive, suburban
rockers! There was Pepe, the openly gay cook (we had never seen
anyone "openly gay"); and of course, all of the great bands! An
interesting and happy family indeed.
We were a cover band and felt very intimidated by these cats
that played mostly original material. We auditioned anyway,
playing a couple of mediocre original tunes of mine and our most
adventurous covers. For some odd reason, they loved us! It may
have been our strange rendition of the Valadeers' "Greeting's,
This is Uncle Sam", a revised doo-wop song that featured Paul
Venturini, our organist at the time, as the Sergeant, and me as
the lowly Private who got down on his knees and literally cried
for mercy. We also did a rendition of "Shout" where Bob and I
jumped over the "crotch-watchers bench" and landed in a split in
the aisle. Joe Marra would blink the stage lights on and off,
kind of a poor man's strobe light effect. Eventually, I tore a
cartilage in my knee doing this routine, and the doctor gave the
order to stay off my feet. I planned on working with crutches
and a stool, but my mother got wind of it and became very upset.
I promised to stay off the bad leg and invited her to come along
if she didn't believe me. To my surprise, she took me up on it.
My Mother at the Night Owl? Where girls say "Fuck"? Well,
whatever makes her happy- and I did want her to see that we were
doing well. Ma loved it and the gang at the Night Owl made her
feel right at home.
From the bands emerged many legends. James Taylor would go to
England and record for Apple Records. He never stopped getting
better. Out of the Magicians came Garry Bonner and Alan Gordon,
two talented writers who went on to write many hits for the
Turtles, Three Dog Night, Petula Clark, The Rightgeous Bros.,
etc. Also from the Magicians- Jake who teamed up with Bunky to
make some great music in the 70's- and John Townley who founded
Apostolic Studios in New York. The Fugitives gave us Phil Cody
who wrote the Solitaire album with Neil Sedaka. From the Myddle
Class, David Palmer and Charlie Larkey who went on to work and
write with Carol King. David also sang lead on the first Steely
Dan LP. And there was Jerry Jeff Walker, who emerged from The
Lost Sea Dreamers. Occasionally, people like Tim Hardin and
Richie Havens would stop in and do a couple of songs.
Waitress, Shelly Plimpton, appeared in the original cast of
"Hair". Every Thanksgiving the Night Owl had a huge feast.
Everyone was there past and present- even The Spoonful.......
and The Mother's of Invention served the food! Yes, we "believed
in magic"!
It was a sad day when the Night Owl was converted into a poster
and button shop. It was later the infamous Bleeker Bob's
Records.
Peter
Sando, 1997
Check
out the Night
Owl Cafe Tribute Page on Facebook to stay connected!
BANDS
OF THE NIGHT OWL CAFE (not in any particular order)
Bob
Gibson
Tim Hardin
Fred
Neil
Felix
Pappalardi
Buzzy
Linhart
John
Sebastian and The
Lovin' Spoonful
The
Magicians
The
Marshmallows
MacKensy
Spring
The
Fugitives
The
Strangers
The
Myddle Class
James
Taylor and the
Flying Machine
The
Gingermen
The
Blues Magoos
The
Other Half
Tim
Buckley
Blues
Project
Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee
The
Lost Sea Dreamers
The
Raggamuffins
Three of Us
The
Modern Folk Quartet
Richie
Havens
Cat
Mother and the All Night Newsboys
The
Rahgoos (Gandalf)
Lothar
and the Hand People
New
York Public Library
NRBQ
Jagged Edge
Jimi Hendrix
Steven Stills
Brooklyn
Symphony Orchestra
Sopwith
Camel
International Submarine Band (Gram Parsons)
The Yellow Brick
Road
The
Little Flowers
The
Novae Police
The Overland Express
The Mad Hatters
The Lotus Eaters
The Orphans
Additions,
Corrections, or the girl who shot photos from the
"crotch-watchers bench" night after night;
email
me at peter@petersando.com