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.
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.
That was Steve Paul from Steve Paul’s The Scene? Wow. Not at all like I had pictured him.
Next you’ll tell me there was an actual Max from Max’s Kansas City.
Here’s the history of 301 46th: http://gotham.fromthesquare.org/farewell-to-steve-pauls-the-scene/
In 1926, it was a Speakeasy called the Cave Of Fallen Angels
Here’s the best site on The Scene, from the indispensable All Those Streets You Crossed
http://streetsyoucrossed.blogspot.com/2005/06/making-steve-paul-scene.html
Any of you that haven’t ever wasted a few weeks drowned in All THe Streets You Crossed, I highly recommend it
So now the only question is…
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUH2JbwSlgw&w=420&h=315%5D
http://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Writer/loraine-alterman
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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.
I thought this was Geffen berating Graham for moonlighting as a cage fighter.
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