Thursday, August 04, 2005

Give a hoot

I hereby dedicate this post to the anonymous loud chick in the audience at the January 22, 1967 Ed Sullivan Show, who repeatedly hollered "Zal!!!!" throughout the Lovin' Spoonful's appearance. And why not--he was dashingly decked out in a dark green velvet suit after all, plus he needed some support after having ol' Sullystone mispronounce his surname as "Yanoosky." I imagine that large-lunged lass must've been among the regulars at this most storied Greenwich Village nitery:


NIGHT OWL CAFE, 118 West 3rd Street b/w Macdougal Street and Sixth Avenue. I have no idea what businesses occupied this space before the Night Owl era, nor have I been able to ascertain the Night Owl's exact years of operation. Seems like it was open through much of the decade, though--specializing in folk, blues, and jazz at first in the early '60s, and gradually evolving into a rock club by '64/'65. The most vivid description of the joint by far is on Peter Sando's website--he performed there frequently with the Rahgoos, who later metamorphosed into Gandalf. These links are must-reads, but I can't resist quoting a pertinent excerpt on the club's atmosphere:

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...Joe Marra would blink the stage lights on and off, kind of a poor man's strobe light effect...Waitress Shelly Plimpton appeared in the original cast of "Hair." [And later had a daughter with Keith Carradine--peerlessly cool actress Martha Plimpton. -Ed.] Every Thanksgiving the Night Owl had a huge feast. Everyone was there past and present--even The Spoonful...and The Mothers of Invention served the food! Yes, we "believed in magic"!

Indeed, the Lovin' Spoonful was unquestionably the most successful band to emerge from the club. Richie Unterberger traces the twisted roots of the group in this excerpt from Turn! Turn! Turn!: The '60s Folk Rock Revolution (San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 2002); elsewhere in the book he discusses their early '65 Night Owl residency:

The Night Owl, a narrow room of about 75 by 20 feet with a stage so small that [drummer Joe] Butler had to play on the floor, was the Spoonful's equivalent to the Byrds' residency at Ciro's, giving the musicians time to refine their sound and develop material as they lobbied labels for a recording contract. When they weren't at the Night Owl, they were rehearsing at the Albert Hotel, where they lived in a single room that also included all their instruments, dodging the rent by having their friend Denny Doherty sweet-talk the female bookkeeper.

They soon fielded offers from Elektra and Kama Sutra, but ultimately opted for the latter's rock & roll teen appeal over the former's folkie street cred. The band's Top Ten potential was realized later that year with a song inspired by a twinkle-toed gal in the Owl audience, according to this quote from John Sebastian:

"We were playing pretty steadily for the local people from Greenwich Village who were part of the Jazz scene or part of the kind of downtown 'in crowd.' They were 'finger poppers,' guys who played chess, 'beatniks.' But there was this one particular night as we were playing, I looked out in the audience and saw this beautiful 16-year-old girl just dancing the night away. And I remember Zal and I just elbowed each other the entire night because to us that young girl symbolized the fact that our audience was changing, that maybe they had finally found us. I wrote 'Do You Believe In Magic' the next day."

An instrumental entitled "Night Owl Blues" appeared on their first album, and Sebastian later recorded a song called "Night Owl Cafe" on his '93 solo album Tar Beach. A 1965 live set recorded at the club was supposed to be released on Varese Vintage in the late '90s, but remains in the can.

Other Night Owl notables may not have reached the same lovin' lofty heights of stardom, but most are no less esteemed by '60s garageniks and folkfiends. Here's a brief list:

The Magicians were named after the aforementioned Spoonful hit, if the liner notes to An Invitation to Cry on Sundazed are to be believed. Various Village denizens made up the band--but unlike the Spoonful, the Magicians were assembled as a recording unit first (by Bob Wyld and Art Polhemus of Longhair Productions), and actually got a contract with Columbia before settling into a regular Night Owl gig. Their alliance begat the great songwriting team of Bonner and Gordon. Garry Bonner still sings with doo-woppers Kenny Vance and the Planotones. Alan Gordon, also still in the biz, frequently contributes to the Spectropop yahoogroup, always signing his informative missives as "That Alan Gordon." Guitarist Allan "Jake" Jacobs stayed active in music through the years as well.

The Blues Magoos also made it to the Longhair Productions stable, but they did so the old fashioned way by gigging around first. And after gaining a fan base at the Night Owl, they managed to become the club's second most commercially viable success story. Here's an article about them from the February 24, 1967 issue of Billboard. Also check out Peppy Castro's site.

The Strangers are often cited as being an outstanding Owl band, but what little they recorded apparently has not been comped, and thus I cannot judge. Regardless, you can't help but dig this photo showing them, the Magicians, and the Blues Magoos (utilizing the original spelling, Bloos) all listed on the Night Owl's entrance awning. Strangers drummer Eric Eisner was the boyfriend of Woody Guthrie's daughter Nora; the two collaborated on one of the most bizarre songs of a decade filled with 'em, "Emily's Illness"--read an excellent article about that record here.


I've been told the fella in the center is Steve Martin from the Left Banke.



I'm no big James Taylor fan, but I'm nonetheless impressed that he paid his initial dues as part of the Albert Hotel/Night Owl scene. Following stints at a strict private boys academy and a mental institution, teenaged Taylor moved to New York in 1966 and soon formed a band called the Flying Machine. Despite an Owl residency and a recording contract, the band went nowhere, and the emotionally volatile Taylor succumbed to a heroin addiction. The experience did provide fodder for his future direction, however. In "Fire and Rain," the line "sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground" (or as The Simpsons would have it, "flying machines flying safely through the air") is a reference to his old band. You can hear some Flying Machine sound samples here (including "Night Owl," later covered by erstwhile wife Carly Simon--the club may have inspired the title, but the lyric has nothing to do with the place). I was hoping their material would be in straight-up garage mode, but they're not far removed in wimpiness from Taylor's later output. Keyboardist/Flying Machine fan/all-around character Mark "Moogy" Klingman offers some memories of the band here and here.

Taking a break from their standing residency at the Cafe Au Go Go, the Blues Project played the Night Owl from October 7-9, 1965. [Coincidentally, I'm currently reading Al Kooper's Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards (New York: Billboard, 1998)--highly recommended!]

Fred Neil was a frequent fixture on the Night Owl's stage--here's a 1966 article about him from Hit Parader.

Circa '64-'65, Tim Rose, Jake Holmes, and Richie Hudson comprised an early folk-rock trio with a steady Night Owl gig. They called themselves either the Feldmans or Tim Rose and the Thorns, depending on which source you trust. The band was short-lived, but Rose and Holmes later regularly performed at the club as solo acts.

After being discovered at It's Boss on the Sunset Strip, Tim Buckley was booked for his first New York engagement at the Night Owl in mid-1966. That August Jac Holzman signed him to Elektra posthaste. Here's a picture of him performing there; the same Buckley fansite also has a great photo of the front of the building.

Lothar and the Hand People's New York debut was booked at Trude Heller's, but they were soon fired for "talking too much between numbers," according to this article. Fortunately they found a more receptive environment at the nearby Night Owl. San Francisco's Sopwith Camel later opened for them there in early '67 (and soon toured with fellow Owl alumi/Kama Sutra labelmates the Spoonful).

Other performers with Night Owl connections include Tim Hardin, Richie Havens, Dino Valenti, the First Foundation Blues Band, the Ginger Men, the Fifth Avenue Band, the Myddle Class, Random Concept, "Big Mike" DeVita, Tom Pacheco (with the Ragamuffins), Stan Penridge, Stephen Stills, and of course all the names listed on Peter Sando's page. You can read some audience member reminiscences here, here, here, and here. And here's a 1967 Tiger Beat article that mentions a visit to the club paid by Micky Dolenz and some members of the Raiders.

Not sure when the Night Owl closed, but I have not found any post-1967 references to the place. Following a '70s stint as a poster/button/head shop, for close to three decades now the storefront has been occupied by Bleecker Bob's Records. It's perhaps the most overpriced record shop in town, but apparently Bob at least has the common decency to keep a picture of the Blues Magoos onstage at the Night Owl displayed in the front window.


UPDATE 5/25/2010: I recently made the tumblr acquaintance of Hip Toad and cheapocheapo, two young ladies who are positively obsessed with '60s teen mags, vintage NYC, and the Lovin' Spoonful. In turn, I'm obsessed with many of the photos and mag scans they post, including these two rare interior shots of the Night Owl. Oh yeah, the pics also happen to feature Peter Tork and Buzzy Linhart.






UPDATE 1/24/2013:  The Night Owl Cafe Tribute Page has just been established on Facebook--please join and share your stories and pics.  Here are some more images I've gathered over the last couple of years, mostly from my pals on tumblr.

Menu--pretty sure this scan came from "cheapocheapo."

John Sebastian relaxing between sets.


IIRC these two came from "goodtimemusic" (formerly "hiptoad").  I don't have the full article were attached to--probably a Monkees spec issue of 16 or Tiger Beat or something like that.  They show Monkees-era Peter Tork visiting the club and sitting in with a band.  Do you recognize them?


If you can deal with the Evil Getty Watermark, there are some cool exterior shots of the club on the Getty website.  I haven't seen the Jeff Buckley/Tim Buckley biopic yet, but I hear it includes a scene depicting Tim performing at the Night Owl, which was shot at Sophie's bar.  A few months ago I read two memoirs which contain some Night Owl stories--Carole King's A Natural Woman, and Kathy West's A Song for You: The Quest of the Myddle Class.  And as you've no doubt heard by now, the closure of Bleecker Bob's is imminent.  

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the 70's, the Night Owl was still around with the same owner (Joe Marra). However, it wasn't a club anymore. It was basically a head shop that also sold t-shirts, posters and adult comic books. There were pinball machines and regular comic books were sold in the back.

Clive Spagnoli

Anonymous said...

I played in a Univ of RI based "garage band", "The Others" in NYC at Scott Muni's Rolling Stone Discotheque, 48th and 2nd I think, during the summer of 1965. One night in late August we stopped by the Night Owl. The Spoons, their girls and us 5 were the only people in the place. Sebastian went to the mic and told us about the song they were about to play; how they cut a record and it was going to be released shortly. It was "Magic"...we all thought it was catchy...a month later they were national stars. Will never forget that night.

Mike Patalano

Anonymous said...

Sometime in the Spring of '66, I was a guttersnipe 16 year old kid from the upper east side who, with my neighbor Charley would ride the 5th avenue bus down to the village and hang, sometimes all weekend, panhandling and crashing at a flophouse on Bleeker st for 2 bucks a nite. All pretty innocent and secret(our mom's, both divorced and lacking control of our movements, would have been horrified).
One afternoon I had the audacity to peek into the Night Owl. It was raining and Charley had disappeared and I just figured "what the heck, what'll they do, chuck me out". I had scoped the place out and noticed the joint was Hot Hot at night but slow during the day and I took my shot. The big guy who sat by the door didn't seem to mind and the music was good. I came back a couple more times over the weeks and one day the big guy handed me a broom and said "ya know how t'sweep, right". I swept and swept and the music was good. One afternoon this very cool band was playing and I wandered in and sat down across from the bandstand. The guy played with his teeth and behind his head and was real fine. Everybody, about 20 people, were totally into it and it was a sweet rainy Village Sunday afternoon.
A year later, in June, I was at my buddy Dek's house and he said, "hey, man, you gotta hear this album" and he put on Purple Haze...and Hey Joe...and i said to Dek "hey, man, I heard that guy in the Village last year"...I was blown away at the "coincidence"...something we would now call synchronicity, I suppose...I befriended a band called Bagatelle from Boston that played there and went to a recording session withthem in midtown.. There's more....but I wuz just blown away to find this post/blog...BTW...The big guy was Joe Marra...and he was OK...It was a great period in my life....

Anonymous said...

The Night Owl was still a rock/Blues club in late 1968. My best friend and I would hang out there and at the Cafe Wha? along with the Au Go Go. I remember the time because it was just before I went into the Army and off to the Land of Sunshine. I left on Halloween 1968 so I know it was till open the prior week. All 3 clubs remind me of great memories of some of the greats of the time. Cream, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, John Mayall & the Blues Breakers, Hendrix just before he left for England before he was famous etc. Too many to list here. Echo Sierra Bravo

mrnickcooper said...

I used to play hooky at the Night Owl around 1978-79. I would go play video games there all morning. I was 12 years old. They had every type of rolling paper a kid could want. Anyone remember Randy's Insta-Roach?

Anonymous said...

In 1966 at 18 years old I worked at the Cafe Wha? as a kinda of dancing barker to get people to come into the club. In good weather, I would work in front of the club. In bad weather, I danced in the head shop upstairs. Some nights, I would be asked if I would like to come in to the Night Owl and dance to liven up the crowd. I may have been that "16 year old" girl they talked about.

Yes, I knew all of the bands, and was very friendly with the Spoonful. "Younger Girl" was written about a certain 15 year old girl, "romantically attracted" to Joe, who hung out with us "older" regulars. We tried our best to take her under our wings and keep her out of trouble.

I could write a book myself about those times.

Signed D.C. said...

Thanks for your reminiscences. I can certainly relate to that 15-year-old's "romantic attraction," as I've got a bit of a time-warp crush on Mr. Butler myself.

Anonymous said...

I was in the process of dropping out of college in PA in Spring '66. The Night Owl was like Mecca to me as I listened to the first 2 Spoonful albums over and ocer. Finally visited that Easter weekend and saw Lothar (I think). In Spring '67 finally moved to the Village and visited the Night Owl when I can afford the minimum. I recall seeing Lost Sea Dreamers, who became Circus Maximus....included a Texan named Jerry Jeff Walker.

Anonymous said...

My father was either part owner or worked at the night owl head shop in the late 60's. I remember the black light poster,spin art , pipes and whatever else was in during that era. His name is john Barrett, he passed away February 11,2011

Anonymous said...

Hey Brutus, remember me, you, chrissy, sam, candy and her brother Harold just hanging, Brutus cooking st the cafe Figaros. eating ice cream in the back room of Reienzes, running cigs for crazy Joey. Hanging in Washington Square, the sit ins, the love ins, McDougal street. Jack the Rat? Jimmy the Cop? I'm still your old lady, the bottonn, the ponchos. the love, where has it gone????????

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad I found this page. As a teen, I spent many nights at the Night Owl listening to the Bloos, Tim Buckley, The Magicians, etc. etc. I searched all over the interwebs for information on the club and this is blog is the most comprehensive I could find. I've created a Night Owl Tribute Page on facebook because it's shocking so little has been written about this legendary place. I've posted photos and used some of yours from the blog. I hope you are okay with that. Thank you so much for creating this page! The Night Owl Tribute Page is here: http://www.facebook.com/NightOwlCafeTributePage

Signed D.C. said...

Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for the invite to your new FB page--I just joined. You can use anything from this blog...in fact, I'll post whatever I have directly to the page.

Anonymous said...

I found myself seated next to Butch Trucks of the Allman Brothers on a flight from Atlanta to Boston. He was trying to recall where the band's first (1967)NYC gig was. I said the Night Owl and he flipped! I lived in the Village and worked at Figaro summer of '67. Man, what a time that was!

Signed D.C. said...

Cool story Anon. Were they known as the Allman Joys at that point?

Anonymous said...

The place was originally a bar, belonging to Joe Marra's father. When he retired, Joe took over, but he didn't like the hassle of dealing with drunks, so he converted it into a music cafe.

Signed D.C. said...

Thanks anon. Did the bar go by the same name?

Lyn from North Carolina said...

The Night Owl Cafe was previously "Art Ford's"....you're welcome......

Jim Byrne said...

Anyone around who still remembers Jimmy the Cop? I'm his son, and I'd love to hear stories about him from the days when he was on the job. He retired in 76, so it would be from before then.

Lynne Bronstein said...

I am happy to find pages on the Night Owl. I hung there in 1966-1967 on Saturday afternoons. A group called the Novae Police did their sound check and I got to listen for the price of a glass of non-alcoholic cider. I thought I was a real groupie. I met Joe Butler of the Spoonful and Mike Esposito of the Blues Magoos (I wanted him and gave him my phone number but I was only 16 and I guess he knew it). I took a picture of the marquee once and the band advertised was The Flying Machine-James Taylor's group. I was sad when the place closed. Later on my weekend hangout became Central Park's Bethesda Fountain where I met the authors of Hair and played my guitar.

Unknown said...

Your blog & comments bring back memories, and filled in some memory gaps of a girl who
recalled the Night Club conversion to Retail store. Joey was a brilliant businessman,
finger on the pulse of public trend. Mom called the ‘store’ a nic nak shop.
Certainly less prestigious than a springboard of a musical talent/greats as
as sixties culture evolved, It continued to reflect social ‘happenings’ albeit some
of which some may want to deny or forget if they hadn’t fried their brains or O/D.

I didnt understand why locals strongly oposed the opening of MacDonalds down
3rd street at 6th ( Ave of the Americans). How the train station across 3rd street
brought more B-Ball players (than NYU students & local kids ) to use our
blacktop/park btwn 3rd& 4th on 6th Ave. And Washington square park offered
a cornacopia of illicit drugs to anyone who kept their ears open to hear pitched
product’s nickname softly offered like beer or peanuts at sporting events.

By the 70’s the ‘artists’ migrated down to what I heard adults refer to
As the Soho area. The ‘other end’ and ‘bitter end’ was able to
Operate as small venue musical cafes a little longer. Eventually,
The CBGBs with its ‘head banging’ musical trend was the fad leading
the way Into a different genre.





nightlife changed from lines
forming outside Wavely Theatre by people who today would be coined as LARPr
(Live action role play) to get the next showing of Rocky Horrow Picture Show.

Unknown said...

Mom would tell me if I ever needed a cop, I could find Jimmy at Manettas.

Unknown said...

There were two gals as my Mom told me who had ‘romantic’ interest in Joey.
The 15 yr old - brown eyed brunette - a bit taller than 5’7”
Eventually married Joey in either 1968 or1969

Unknown said...

Didnt John Barrett have son(s) who went to a summer camp with Joey’s step- daughter?

Unknown said...

I knew Jimmy the Cop since I worked at the Gaslight and hung out at the Kettle with all the folkies. He's memorialized in a poem I wrote about those days, "Return to the Scene." He was a love and very good to all of us on the scene.

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Unknown said...

I hung out quite often when it was just a Head Shop(‘72/‘73-‘76). Constantly playing the pinball machines.
I remember an electronic one they put in, ... a motor
cycle jumping over bricks.
I also remember when the McDonalds opened up down the street. Seemed so modern and clean.

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bk said...

I was there frequently 66-7. We would skip school. Part of that Blues Magoos fanbase. I was there frequently 66-7. We would skip school. Bus in from rural western nj. was Part of that Blues Magoos fanbase. One time the coffee machine failed ...they were freaking out..said they would close. My dad owned a luncheonette . I said let me have a look & cleared the clog..Life went on. Became friends with BM's bass player ..inspired me to take it up. Still do music! Also saw Lothar. Lots of ??? One time the coffee machine failed ...they were freaking out

Anonymous said...

Omg I do. He tried to bust me for being a runaway but my aunt lied for me and said I was 18.

Jim Byrne said...

I'm not surprised he tried to bust you as a runaway. It's apparently what he was famous for - finding runaways. I have newspaper articles as well as an article in Look magazine, all focusing on his work with runaways.

I remember being in the village as a 5 or 6 year old late at night with my mother and father, going to some of the restaurants on my father's beat. Seems like everyone knew him.