Ilse in Albuquerque on her Route 66 road trip. (Used with permission.)
I wonder what my roadie friend Ilse would say about Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel’s piece in Atlantic magazine where he wrote that he only wanted to live 75 years.
Ilse is 86 years old and just finished her solo Route 66 trip from Chicago to a photo conference in Albuquerque, N.M. Ilse is too busy to mope around and think about dying young.
Dr. Emanuel wrote, “The fact is that by 75, creativity, originality and producitivity are pretty much gone for the vast, vast majority of us….People can continue to be [...]
Route 66, Seligman, Az. 1991 (Photo by Dave Hoekstra)
Any doubts about the emotional power of Route 66 are cast to the wind when you read the road letters of my friend Ilse who is motoring west from the Great North Woods to a photo conference in Albuquerque, NM. Her words are butterflies, the modest car she calls Isabella is her net.
Ilse is 86 years old.
She has been to 140 countries. She is traveling Route 66 alone. (For details read the previous two posts on this site.) I asked her to stay in touch with us. Here is an essential take-away from her note of Thursday, Sept. [...]
Sleep in a wigwam; Route 66 California, 1991 (Dave Hoekstra photo)
Route 66 is one of America’s most historic common denominators, but because of the road’s accessible depth each traveler sees it in a different light. My friend Ilse has set foot in all seven continents and 140 countries but she had never traveled the Mother Road until this week.
Ilse is 86 years young.
The German-born roadie is driving alone in her “Isabella,” a camel-colored Hunday that is named after the Queen of Spain. Ilse has attended a couple of National Hobo Conventions in Iowa where fellow hobos [...]
Route 66, New Mexico, 1991 (Photo by Dave Hoekstra)
The gentle tones of the dispatch were from another time, one of car hops and flat tops.
Ilse e-mailed me about a week ago after reading Route 66 stories on my website. On Sunday, Sept. 21 she embarked on an eight day trip down Route 66 from Chicago to the 76th conference of the Photographic Society of America in Albuquerque, N.M. Ilse is driving her “Isabella,” a camel-colored Hyundai that she named after the Queen of Spain. She will listen to classic country music on satellite radio and German folk songs. She likes Johnny [...]
Syl Johnson in his garden, August, 2014 (Photo by Paul Natkin)
Syl Johnson digs deep for his soul.
Last month I visited the global rhythm and blues singer at his home, studio and garden on the south side of Chicago.
I’ve known Syl for 30 years and have great memories of his late 1980s days as owner of Solomon’s Fishery, a chain of soul fish restaurants in the Loop, west suburbs and Gary, Ind.
Syl was likely the first African-American chain restaurant owner in downtown Chicago and no one has disproved that statement.
Syl will tell you that when he appears with his big [...]
L.C. Cooke portrait by Paul Natkin
L.C. Cooke sits on a regal chair in the center of the pulpit of Christ Universal Temple church in Calumet Park, just south of Chicago. He is surrounded by an air of satisfaction.
There is light, but there are no shadows.
Cooke, 81, is the brother of Sam Cooke, gospel icon and member of the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame.
L.C. Cooke has released his first music in 50 years and he is here to share the good news.
“The Complete SAR Records Recordings” hit the streets a few weeks ago on ABKCO Records, the label [...]
Sophie (left) and Liz on the last day of the Busy Bee (Courtesy of Chester Madej.)
Sophie Madej was always let down when one of her regular Busy Bee customers left the Wicker Park neighborhood. She uplifted spirits while serving pierogis, sour cream spinach soup and potato pancakes between 1956 and 1998 at one of Chicago’s most famous diners.
Mrs. Madej died on Aug. 21 in her northwest side home. She was 86 years old.
The Busy Bee, 1546 N. Damen, was defined by a shoebox shaped diner counter and bright yellow walls you would find in your Grandmother’s [...]
Former NBA Commissioner David Stern (L) and Joe Lee (Courtesy of Charles E. Newman)
Any passionate Chicago Bulls fan would recognize the forever young looking African-American passing out towels and soaking up blood, sweat and tears behind the home bench. I saw this gentleman as a fan in the 1970s and he was in the house in 1990 when I covered the Bulls for the Chicago Sun-Times.
In the early 1990s I had a chance to talk to Joe Lee, who was the Bulls equipment man since the franchise’s birth in 1966.
Wanting to sit down with Joe Lee is what made me “different” in [...]
CHARLESTON, S.C.–Only by traveling do you discover where you belong.
I have been down that road a couple times this summer, whether it was dancing to Beach Music in the sand of North Myrtle Beach, S.C. or just taking a memory trip under a full moon to the Prairie Lights Bookstore in Iowa City.
But a lasting image of the summer of 2014 is seeing my friend Mike Veeck addressing the Charleston River Dogs fans after “Disco Demolition 2” at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park in Charleston, S.C.
Besides Veeck, I would argue I am the only other person who has attended both Disco Demolitions. The [...]
Get up. Stand up.
Live music is back at the iconic Wild Hare reggae club.
A two-year battle to present concerts at the Wild Hare, 2600 N. Halsted in Chicago, culminated on July 29 when the club announced a series of free shows to begin on Aug. 1.
The popular Chicago reggae band Gizzae will appear with Dub Dis, Fucha and Friends at 9 p.m. Aug. 1. Indika, Gizzae with vocalist Ugoch, a.k.a. “The African Butterfly,” , Drea, Boombostic and friends will perform at 9 p.m. Aug. 2. A bunch of local musicians will jam out with roots reggae music in a Lollapalooza after party on Sunday, [...]
Greer Stadium, June 2014
NASHVILLE, Tn.—The guitar shaped electronic scoreboard always struck a chord with me.
It was a sweat-crawling evening in 1993 when I saw my first game at Herschel Greer Stadium, the home of the Class AAA Nashville Sounds. The 53-feet tall, 60-feet wide guitar scoreboard offered an immediate sense of where you were.
Music City. Big dreams.
The big ax in center field would be like having a handgun shaped scoreboard in Chicago. Or a parking meter.
On my first visit to Greer I heard about Conway Twitty being a part owner of the Sounds and that resonated with me. I liked [...]
Jim Brosnan pitched for the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals. He was a fearless craftsman. He once struck out Willie Mays three times in one game. Between 1956 and 1963 Mr. Brosnan compiled a lifetime ERA of 3.54. He was also a splendid writer.
In the summer of 2004 I took Mr. Brosnan to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field. Chicago-based publisher Ivan R. Dee had just reissued Mr.Brosnan’s groundbreaking 1959 diary “The Long Season” and 1962’s “The Pennant Race.” These honest accounts of the game and the business of baseball would become the template for best sellers like Jim Bouton’s “Ball Four” and Bill [...]
The World’s Largest Drive-In M & R Loew’s Double Drive-In. Opened in 1950 and closed in the mid- 90s. It was at 2800 W. Columbus near Marquette Park in Chicago. The drive-in had three screens and could accommodate 1,800 cars. (Photo by Jim Indreika, Courtesy of Theater Historical Society of America)
One good thing about Jimmy Buffett’s “Drive-Ins Nationwide” concert is how much easier it will be to get in and out of the parking lot than at Alpine Valley, Wis. or the First Midwest Bank Ampitheatre in Tinley Park, Ill.
Buffett and his Coral Reefer Band appear at 8:45 p.m. (CST) [...]
Find your partner on South Oakley Street. That’s my pal Jack D’Amico on vocals (Photos by Lou Bilotti)
Like a locket that hangs close to your heart, the Oakley Festa Pasta Vino Italian Festival is timeless.
And it swings, too!
Taste of Oakley, as it is more commonly known, is my favorite summer Chicago neighborhood festival. It takes place Father’s Day weekend along the overlooked enclave of Oakley Avenue and 24th Street and incorporates superb family run restaurants like Bruna’s Ristorante, 2424 S. Oakley and La Fontanella, 2414 S. Oakley, a favorite of the late [...]
Steve Goodman’s Chicago apartment 1972, L to R: Earl Pionke, Goodman, John Prine, Jimmy Buffett, Ed Holstein and Fred Holstein
In 1974 Chicago club owner Earl Pionke partnered up with the late singer songwriters Steve Goodman and Fred Holstein (along with Bill Redhead and Duke Nathaus) to open the North Lincoln Avenue music room “Somebody Else’s Troubles.”
The club was named after Goodman’s second album.
Although Earl died in April, 2013 at the age of 80, he is still playing that song.
Earl was a Type A pack rat. In 1993 Earl and his girl friend Sharon Biggerstaff moved into the former Landmark [...]
Sky high on a steady beat.
A resplendent mural honoring Chicago house legend Frankie Knuckles was completed late last night atop a building that houses a European clothing store on 2958 W. Fullerton at Sacramento Ave.
Passengers on the El’s Blue Line can see a detailed portrait of the smiling DJ who died March 31 at age 59. It sure beats the picture of “Chicagoan” Chuck Berry who greets passengers of the El at Midway airport.
The Knuckles mural is between 30 and 40 feet long. The work of art was completed coincidentally in time for tonight’s Frankie Knuckles Tribute and dance party at Millennium Park. Mike [...]
All Montgomery photos by Paul Natkin
MONTGOMERY, Al.—The Malden Brothers Barber Shop has been in continuous operation since 1958 as part of the historic Centennial Hill neighborhood of Montgomery. The three-chair shop is around the corner from the Ben Moore Hotel, a shuttered four-story landmark where African American civil rights leaders stayed in the late 1950s and 1960s.
Montgomery was seriously segregated and the hotel was a safe haven.
The Rev. Martin Luther King had a lot of work to do in 1954 when he arrived in Montgomery to become pastor of the Dexter [...]
Akron Rock n’ Roll Bobble Head giveaways.
EASTLAKE, Ohio—With no surrender and lots of Mountain Dew I drove to Columbus, Ohio in mid-April to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. This marked my 30th Springsteen concert dating back to Sept. 6, 1978 at the Uptown Theater in Chicago ($7.50 ticket.) All those ticket stubs are bookmarks in my life.
The Holiday Inn in downtown Columbus was filled with Springsteen fans who were knocking around the region for his “High Hopes” tour. They had been to Virginia Beach, Va., they were heading to Nashville, Tn. for his next show.
I was surprised [...]
The Big Doors at Under the Hill, May 1, 2014
NATCHEZ, Ms.- It is hard to place a number on all the great things about drinking at the Under the Hill Saloon.
There’s the stunning sunset on the Mississippi River. The bar has a dwarf bartender. As my friend Bill FitzGerald pointed out last night there likely is no other tavern so close to the Mississippi River.
Then there are the characters you encounter.
I meet them every spring on my way to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Last night was no different. (For my 2002 take on Under the Hill circle back to this site’s [...]
MEMPHIS, Tn.—Some evocative field recordings were done in the South’s finest hotel.
A couple months ago “Peabody Blues” was released on the new Nehi Records label out of London, England. The Delta blues and string band recordings were made Sept. 22-25, 1929 in a guest room at the Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis for the Brunswick/Vocalion label.
Artists include Furry Lewis, Mississippi bluesman Charlie McCoy and Robert Wilkins, whose “That’s No Way To Get Along” was poached by the Rolling Stones for their “Prodigal Son” on the 1968 “Beggar’s Banquet” LP.
