Musings on the Most Ridiculous Band I Can't Stop Listening To

Two Jews Walk Into A Dressing Room

bill graham david geffen

The tall, pale Gentile in the scarf had never been around Jews before getting in show biz, and the sound of Semites arguing frightened him. He knew, from the words, that Bill Graham and David Geffen were discussing basketball, and actually agreeing on many points, but inflections and gestures told a different story.

Allow me to translate for those who aren’t fluent in Hebraic body language: David Geffen is treating Bill Graham like a fourth-grader, and Bill Graham is about to leap across the room and bite David Geffen on the face.

Advanced Yiddish Subtlety: Geffen thinks Bill’s a putz; Bill Graham thinks Geffen’s a schmuck.

Also, Bill Graham is naked for some reason, and Geffen is thoroughly killing the afro/eyebrows game.

9 Comments

  1. corry342

    The tall guy is Steve Paul, a legendary New York club owner. He was proprietor of a club called The Scene, on 301 W.46th Street, it was open from 1966-70–everybody who was anybody hung out there. You could apparently go this dumpy little basement and find Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck jamming, and so on.

    For those of you who have watched the movie Groupies, because you wanted to see the only extant live footage of Gary Wright and Spooky Tooth–that’s why I watched it, I kid you not–most of the film was shot in and around The Scene.

    Paul was also the manager of Johnny Winter, among others. There was an issue with the Mafia, who objected to Paul’s unwillingness to agree to certain financial arrangements, and the club closed. By 1970, its moment was basically over, so there you go.

    According to the intertoobz, this is backstage at Madison Square Garden in January 1974, at a Bob Dylan show. Geffen was the head of Asylum Records, and in effect Dylan’s manager at the time (Planet Waves and Blood On The Tracks were on Asylum).

    Tense and stressful as this argument looks, I’m sure it was all resolved when Willis Reed limped into the dressing room.

  2. tor_haxson

    I can not read the expression on that Ladies face because it is her poker face, she is donning a poker face while she looks at Bill’s business.. Good plan, she is the brains of the outfit.

  3. Robin Russell

    I thought this was Geffen berating Graham for moonlighting as a cage fighter.

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