Did anybody spend time in the Village?

[Hari]

Greenwhich village let's say from 1964 to 1974.
The east village had the electric circus, The filmore east, and the west village had almost everything else. The four winds (where Paul Simon,Bob Dylan,
and many others started) cafe wha?,where Jimmy Hendrix played before leaving to London, and other places where the music just kept going all night, all
within a space of a few blocks.
I got there the year of Woodstock, but I caught a big glimpse of a dying era.

[Hari]

Man,and for so long my feeling was that the Village was the sixties.

[PhluffHead 4]

I'm pretty sure my great aunt lived in the village around that time. I dont know how hippie she is though...more like a regular new yorker, very artsy though.

[celeste]

There's a Village in Texas missing an idiot! VOTE!!! ;)

[seamonster66]

Too young for that, but I still think the Village and lower east side are the best parts of NY.

[Hari]

If you go to NYC, take a subway to eight st, get off and walk west.... your in the west village, walk east ...you're in the east village

Fith ave. is the center.
Before going in any direction head for fifth ave first, and walk into Washington sq park.(Fifht ave ends at the park) Hang out feel the vibes...there's still usually people playing guitar and touristas and locals listening till early morning.

If you can stay for week you'll enjoy just walking around from 6th ave to second ave,on eight st., and if you stayed even 10 years, you wont get tired of it.

The Village begins from 14th street all the way to
Hudsons st.(going downtown) where the streets change from numbers to names. 5th ave is the center.

To one side(west) you have 6th ,7th, and 8th, and to the other(east) 4th .3th. 2th 1st. A, B, C, and D

When you reach either end, you're facing the river. In NYC from the bottom of the island to far uptown, you can walk east or west and run into the river. The lower Manhattan from 14th st. down to Hudson is where you'll find that there are no skyscrapers, and it has been always like that, which gives Greenwhich village a great edge and makes people wanna live there or spend a great deal of time in a place that has so much history and where so many artists began and hanged out a lot; like Hendrix, Paul Simon, The mamas and the papas and many others.

Yep, I miss it sometimes, but I keep myself playing my guitar everyday.
Something I would do there too.

http://www.leonland.com/travels/ny3/wash_sq_park.jpg

Washington Sq park

[sheeprooter]

i love the villiage. although i live in CT, im around there a lot. the jugglers and stuff is always cool there

me and some friends actually went to the villiage one time with the intention on sleeping there on the pavement. we were hoping for there to be activity that night. and what happened? THE FUCKING POWER WENT OUT FOR THE WHOLE CITY. biggest blackout in NY history. there was a huge party in wash square, and we just stayed up all night with the crazy musicians and had one of the best nights of our lives

the east viliage is cool too, but a bit grungy

my dad used to go to cafe wa, he saw hendrix play. im so lucky to have a dad with so many stories to tell about the era. i should write em down. course it would have been cooler if i lived then myself

[Hari]

i love the villiage. although i live in CT, im around there a lot. the jugglers and stuff is always cool there

me and some friends actually went to the villiage one time with the intention on sleeping there on the pavement. we were hoping for there to be activity that night. and what happened? THE FUCKING POWER WENT OUT FOR THE WHOLE CITY. biggest blackout in NY history. there was a huge party in wash square, and we just stayed up all night with the crazy musicians and had one of the best nights of our lives

the east viliage is cool too, but a bit grungy

my dad used to go to cafe wa, he saw hendrix play. im so lucky to have a dad with so many stories to tell about the era. i should write em down. course it would have been cooler if i lived then myself

Awesome! was that in 1977 (black out)?

[teepi]

Stayed with a girl on Ave.B behind thompkins square park in 1970.
I had run away from a foster home in Norfolk.
I hung out on St. Marks and panhandled all the time except for a couple of weeks when a guy that owned a little shop on St marks called "the gate" let me work there helping him with a big shipment of clothes.
I used to get 2.00 together and go over to "The Naked Grape" and buy used jeans.

I could panhandle 35 cents and eat...a slice for a quarter and a soda for 10 cents. I also hung out on East 4th with some Hells Angels for a little while, I rode with one to Jersey and back on his bike sitting on a pillion pad and no foot pegs, had to wrap my legs around his waist...worst ride of my life...but also one of the best.

I was also snatched off the street and held for 5 days....worst thing that ever happened to me at the hand of others.
I was 12 in 1970.
teepi

[seamonster66]

wow Teepi, you should write a book about what it was like being 12 years old on your own there during that time period...i would like to hear more anyway!

[Hari]

Stayed with a girl on Ave.B behind thompkins square park in 1970.
I had run away from a foster home in Norfolk.
I hung out on St. Marks and panhandled all the time except for a couple of weeks when a guy that owned a little shop on St marks called "the gate" let me work there helping him with a big shipment of clothes.
I used to get 2.00 together and go over to "The Naked Grape" and buy used jeans.

I could panhandle 35 cents and eat...a slice for a quarter and a soda for 10 cents. I also hung out on East 4th with some Hells Angels for a little while, I rode with one to Jersey and back on his bike sitting on a pillion pad and no foot pegs, had to wrap my legs around his waist...worst ride of my life...but also one of the best.

I was also snatched off the street and held for 5 days....worst thing that ever happened to me at the hand of others.
I was 12 in 1970.
teepi


WOW! I was still in Ave B, 26 to be exact, in 1970.
I moved there after crashing in a few places since1969 .I was paying I think 40$ with a bedroom and my friends all had their own,,I used to work weekends at St Marks pl and 1st ave San Marcos pizzeria and at that time (still 69) I was crashing exactly in front, in a rooming house.

I was 20 in 1970, and I remember we sold the pizzas still at 30 cents while in the west village they charged 35 cents.

[teepi]

wow Teepi, you should write a book about what it was like being 12 years old on your own there during that time period...i would like to hear more anyway!
Man, if I had a nickel for every time I heard that...lol

Actually I have thought about it...but i fear I have forgotten alot more than I remember.
Also alot of it is very painful, and although I have worked through it...those are the parts I like to try to forget.

It was a different world then it seems, I thumbed all over the country and didn't think twice about it....but it hurts my heart now to see young people on this forum talking about running away and hitching rides.....I fear for them so much.

While some parts of my life have been heartbreaking and some lost to memories fading...plenty of it was a grand time....I am happy I got in on the tailend of that generation and got to experience the whole vibe.

There are posts around the forum on some of my times and if you have any questions you may certainly ask me. I like to share what I have..
teepi

[ginad1026]

Teepi ---

Sounds like you've led a life uncommon...
If you ever think you'd like to get some of your thoughts on paper, whether it be an autobiographical type story or fiction based on some(many) of your experiences, I'd definitely be happy to talk with you about collaborating.
I'm not a writer by trade, but do write regularly and am working at honing my skills for the book writing process.

Glad to hear you've not been embittered by your time on the road. That happens easily.

Gina.

[teepi]

Gina,

You have given me something to think about...I will PM you soon, after some thought.

Teepi

[~Sam~]

Hey Teepi!

I like writing for free, but if'n you're going to do a book thingee, make sure that you keep your nom de plume a great big secret. There's nothing like a book signing to take the blush off the rose. If you know what I mean.

Back to topic... I was born in Plainfield, NJ, moved to the Flemington area in the very early 60's. So from the time I was 14 (1962), with an altered driver's license, I spent nearly every weekend in the West Village... drinking.

I lived on 1st Street between 1st Ave. and Ave A, on 10th St. up on 59th St. and in SOHO... I worked as a writer for Crawdaddy Magazine back in '69 , the one and only, truly underground newspaper (5 floors below street level on AOA), until it was ruined by Flynt.

Tell me Teepi... did you push the big cube around in St Mark's? I stayed in the hotel just down the street from there for a couple weeks once.

Oh, the Villages... everything open all night. anything you wanted available on the street... drop a couple of tabs and walk up to 5th Ave in the middle of the night... What a life. Glad I'm not there now.

[teepi]

HAHA Sam,
I had about forgot about the cube....that is one of the coolest sculptures.
I never did try to turn it though I know it does.

Yeah, the name thing....being the private people that we are that is definatly a consideration.
I have heard of Crawdaddy...don't recall if I've ever seen an issue though, I'll have to ask Larry about that one.
One time I was walking through Tompkins playing a harmonica wearing a "granny dress" and a man took my picture and asked me to sign a release form, he said he worked for a magazine,(can't remember the name).......so I've always wondered if I'm out there in print somewhere..lol

Love your sig pic,
teepi

[~Sam~]

One night we had the cube loaded with folks... Silver Apple, the first synthesizer group, was playing live in the street, and we exhausted ourselves pushing that cube around.

Crawdaddy started out before Rolling Stone. There for a while it was bigger than R.S. I did articles and interviews for them. Interviewed Jopline, Hendrix, Chicago Transit Authority, and many more. The last one I did was Hendrix.

Shoot, I tried to get busted in Tomkin's Square one time. I was involved in a Fed. entrapment thingee and saw it as the only way I could get free. Some NYC cops... they took the oz out of my bag, questioned me, and turned me loose. I finally beat the Conspiracy charges, but I never will forget those kindly police officers... choke, gag, cough-cough.

Yeah, Gravity. Try staying on earth without it.

Love Ya,
Sam

[Hari]

The writer of the rolling stone magazine interviewed me once.

[riversong]

Hi, Hari! Yep, I lived for a very short time in the East Village, the summer of '68. I lived at 12 E 3rd Ave, right across from the men's shelter. Sometimes we'd sit out on our fire escape and watch the scene below - like a movie many times! My roomates were backdoor men at Filmore East - got to see lots of great concerts! My old man played with Eric Anderson - he was a drummer. Loved the chocolate egg creams at Gem's Spa, cheesecake at Ratners. There are just so many random memories, it'd be hard to get them into words. Thompkins Square Park, some bars on the way there - great hoagies. I really didn't have much money - I got fired from Blackton's Fifth Avenue because I wouldn't wear make-up - so life happened a lot on the streets, the parks, wherever we were. Thanks for bringing up the memories!

[Hari]

Hi, Hari! Yep, I lived for a very short time in the East Village, the summer of '68. I lived at 12 E 3rd Ave, right across from the men's shelter. Sometimes we'd sit out on our fire escape and watch the scene below - like a movie many times! My roomates were backdoor men at Filmore East - got to see lots of great concerts! My old man played with Eric Anderson - he was a drummer. Loved the chocolate egg creams at Gem's Spa, cheesecake at Ratners. There are just so many random memories, it'd be hard to get them into words. Thompkins Square Park, some bars on the way there - great hoagies. I really didn't have much money - I got fired from Blackton's Fifth Avenue because I wouldn't wear make-up - so life happened a lot on the streets, the parks, wherever we were. Thanks for bringing up the memories!
Right after you I arrived in the winter of 69.

[deezee]

i grew up in the village. i was born and raised there and it was a very different experience than chosing to live there at a later age. it was a fantastic place to be in the 50's and early 60's. my first demonstration was back in the late 50's when robert moses wanted to put a highway through washington square park and a bunch of moms got together and protested in the square.miracle of miracles...it worked. no one could believe that this small organzied gourp could prevent that from happening, especially if you knew robert moses and the power he had over NYC at the time.

so if you have ever sat in the park and loved it, you can thank my mom and the other mothers of the time who made it possible for it still to exist. it was a natural after that for most protests of the time to begin there ( asi am sure they had before that). i went on my first peace march from washington square up fifth avenue in the mid- 60's when very few were protesting the war. seems that the time is right to do that once again. as the song goes" when will we ever learn...?".

deezee

[sergio]

Hari do you remember the rumour about paul McCartney being killed in a car crash in October 1966?

[Hari]

Hari do you remember the rumour about paul McCartney being killed in a car crash in October 1966?
Maybe it all started after the playing "Paul is dead", from reverse Beatles records. There was a rumor to that effect.

[ANNIE]

I lived in the village between 1969-1975,i was one of the street people.god i miss tho days.i would walk down st marks and get throwed in the air with hugs.frankie was my true love never forgot him.i hug with cowboy,santana,john,st pepper,larry,tripper,joe.there was a old lady on the street back then grandma everyone called her she used to pass out jewery.joe worked for the filmore east,he used to get us in all the time.i hung out at contact alot.don worked on the cornor on second ave with the flowers,he always had a flower for me,i still go down there looking for old faces but never see any,theres always a prayer i will tho,frankie ill never give up looking for you annie

[shaggie]

Lennon said he was saying 'cranberry sauce' at the end of Strawberry Fields. Others were claiming he said 'I buried Paul'. :)

.

[THUDLY]

I hit NYC in 1966-- ran away from home at the age of 17.. Walked from 42 St(the bus teminal) to the West Village with my Martin OO-16 , met a beatnik in Rienzi's Coffee Bar on Mc Dougal St., beat him at chess, and gave him $10 a week to crash at his pad, a 2nd story loft at 25 Bleecker St,., right down from the Bowery bar, The Palace Hotel, which was later to become CBGB's. I worked for the East Village Other (delivering papers with my 1950 Chevy with no back seat, tending the oringinal office at 147 Ave A when it became a back-issue office), ate ice-cream at Gem Spa when I had the pot munchies, tended bar at the Blue Moon Cafe (a wino bar) on the Bowery near Cooper Union.


I was only 20 in 1967, then 21 later in the summer. My Lord!, did I have fun! (And, the clap a few times, but, what the hey!)

Tell me about the Village in the 60's--IT WAS PART OF MY YOUNG LIFE!


I'll never forget it, though those great times are but memories.

[Hari]

This may sound strange but I too walked from either 34th street or 42,(can't rmeber if we took the bus or the train) Three of us left everything in connecticut and landed in NYC, the oldest being 21, and I was only 19.

I started a band with the sound man from cbgb's in the early 70's after the hippie scene had somehow converted into a disco craze and the Electric circus had the latest craze punk there, like the ny dolls and others.

Our band did not last long, but we hanged out in one bar somewhere in 14st where most people with bands would hang.

Bleeker st. and mcdougal was the place to hang. I used to live on second ave. east side, but I was a fan of the west side, and there I would hang out, sixth ave or washington square.

I still have two friends in NYC. One moved to Brooklin and the other lives on the lower east side and works, but boy does he buy guitars.

When we call each other we talk mostly about those days and sometimes they remeber things I have forgoten... and viceversa.

[captseaweed]

I sold Christmas trees on 6th Ave. and 3rd St. in i think 75 and 76. Hung at the "Red Witch" of Bob Dylan played here fame. A sweet lady named Rose ran the place. I stayed right accross the street at the hotel. The Deli around the same corner we were at made the best sandwich I have ever had.

[THUDLY]

Capt.Seaweed-- if you would dig a foxhole, you could probably kill a good bunch of those geese-- they eat good! 10 or 12 gauge 3.5" magnums. BOOM!BOOM! BOOM!


Don't fuck around plucking them-- skin 'em, and slow roast'em. SOME GOOD!

This was actually posted by Sloth-- I let her use my screen-name.

[captseaweed]

I have a 22 with a scope for this job. More like a crack! Crack! Work the far edges right and they won't even flush. And your right about the cookin an tastin. I never had much patance with pin feathers.

[THUDLY]

Good idea, Cap't, but---- it's illegal to hunt migatory game birds with rifles! My God!...we don't want all these young hippie-wanna-bes to get off in life on the wrong foot, now do we?

[captseaweed]

And shooting out your bedroom window with a scope can be tough on the window frame also. Don't try this at home kids!

[captseaweed]

To get back on topic as best i can. Back in 69-70 I stopped to visit my friend Wizard in Yonkers. I sort of surprised him where he couldn't change plans. So he told me he was gay and we went to meet his friend and we headed to a protest in front of Jack Dempsy's Rest. because they refused to serve a gay couple. That was a wild time with one protester being beaten to death with bully clubs. I personally saw alot of bloody club action and dogs unleashed on these protesters, but the death is a word of mouth.

Then I met the magic of the NY pie. The freedom of brown bagging the city from one end to the other, with an exellent guide I might add and a whole new respect for the gay people.

[Mojorising]

I hung out in the Village I guess 69 well into the 70's....I would go to the Fillmore almost every weekend , Had a friend on East 3rd street ..Hells Angels lived across the street. I also hung in a place called Great Gildersleeves, They had live rock there...Some sat. afternoons I would be in Washington Square just hangin and token......
Ahh it was so nice in the village...

[ClosingTide]

I visited the Village numerous times in the late 60's, early 70's.

[THUDLY]

Yes, Cap't-- weren't those gays just so colorful and funnish? Then they visitated upon the world a plague that has swept up millions of innocent people and hasn't even slowed.


That was the only bad part of living in NYC ,and especially SF: the simpering, effete halfies that came out at night.

This post should generate a dumpster-full of outraged posts from liberals.

You doubt it? O.K. AIDS was predicted in the Bible: Revelations, to be exact.

Welcome to THE END TIMES, Senor! I hope you will enjoy them!

[captseaweed]

Thudly you won't get much of an arguement out of me on any of your comments. I'm not gay or a liberal, but I do believe in live and let live. Whatever blows their skirts up as long as they are 2 consenting adults. I also believe the end times are near and no one will enjoy them.

South-east PA You talking Philly? I did a lot of work there at the old dump with Eco-tech.

[THUDLY]

DAMN! A wasted post! I figured to have at least 20 outraged politically-correct internet-beavers gnawing me alive.


Oh, well...I think they know me too well to take my bait.

Philly? Good God, no! I live on a 124 acre overgrown former sheep farm located between Pottstown and Reading.

Do you know where John Updike grew up? The locale of "The Centaur" and "Of The Farm"? I didn't think so, but I live within 2 miles (as the crow flieth) from there. And, his father (the hero, The Centaur) was a substitute teacher of mine in the early 60's. His mother, Linda Grace Hoyer (her nom-de-plume) was a friend I often visited. She was a published author, also. I attended her funeral, which was the last time I saw John.

To Hell with all that noise! Who cares! I want to hear more from you, Cap't, about your views on The Final Days.

[captseaweed]

From me?! OH MY! I should be about the last to talk with about this. I have been studying the bible for a several years. I had a cricize of faith a few years ago and only picked it up a few times sense. But IMHO I would say Revulations will pretty much be on the mark. It will start in the Holy Land by taking out Isreal. The chain reaction will be swift and deadly in an order in which I know not. The dust from this war will hang in space and make it look as though the sun went out and the moon will look like blood. There will be a shortage of food and mass genecide everywhere. You won't be able to legally buy or sell without the mark on your hand or forehead.

"When the earth is ravaged and the animals are dying, a new tribe of people shall come unto the earth from many colors, classes, creeds, and who by their actions and deeds shall make the earth green again. They will be known as the warriors of the Rainbow."

Now ya did it. I had to smash that little nug I was saving.

I will pray that world peace can be obtained before hand, but I doubt very strongly that will happen. Or could happen. Just the same we must pray, work and live for world peace. We are going to need all the practice we can get.

Money will be gone, and so will the coruption it brought to our justice system. The Liberals will go the way of the Corperate pigs that are running the armies of this world and justice will be swift and True by a jury of their peers. There will be no repeat offenders that rape and sexually assult our children is about all I will say about that. Crime will no longer pay.

HA! Now I'm just dreaming. Reel me in Thudly. I swallowed the hook.

Who said it, Washington? "Corperations will be the end of America." I think he was very short sighted. They may put us back into another ice age.

[captseaweed]

Good Quotes (http://www.rescueamericanjobs.org/quotes/)

[THUDLY]

Well, I opened the ole can of worms, did I not?


I retreat.

Can I shoot a few of the geese from your windowsill, Cap't? I'm assuming you have privates who will retreive and field-dress the quarry? I'll bring along the refreshments and freezer bags.

TEEPI! You come, too!

[captseaweed]

At ease brother. I am the private and the work is already done. The log of friendship for our fire is all that's required.

[captseaweed]

That reminds me. I better get those dishes done.

[captseaweed]

Tomorrow's nug. Breaking it down. Good night family.

[THUDLY]

I'll bring Teepi and Shameless along for moral support. BANG!

[captseaweed]

All wise ass comments and playing aside. No one will be turning my place into a killing field for someone's warped amusement. The friendship log I spoke of has to come with respect not only for me, but my land, property and animals. Wild and demestic which I have been given the moral responsability to protect.

I haven't read to much from Teepi or Shameless but what I have they seem like very down to earth, insightful people and welcome at my fire anytime. Leave the vodka at the front gate. Welcome Home.

[THUDLY]

Hey, Cap't! Don't get excited! I would'nt travel that far to shoot a few snow geese; hell, I can shoot just as many Canada geese at my neighbor's pond. Crack! Crack!


Ah!........The smell of gunpowder in the morning!

[THUDLY]

BTW-- What is "demestic"? Those critters don't grow around here.


Do they taste as good as snow geese?