It was a beautiful evening in 1984 in Hyde Park, Tampa, and Jennifer and I decided to take a walk. We found ourselves on Kennedy Blvd where we ran into Rev. Ralph. He was hanging out with Steve and his wife Heather. They had just landed at Tampa International Airport from Ohio a couple of days prior. Ralph introduced Steve to me as the guy who had sung the 60's hit, Walk Away Renee by The Left Banke. Steve seemed displeased with the way he was introduced to me and reacted by saying, "Aw, Ralph, I told you not to tell anybody!" Steve seemed a bit anxious and he really wanted to smoke a joint.
I began selling books on the sidewalks of New York City in the Spring of 1990.When I was a sidewalk bookseller in NYC, sometimes I would get a 'real job' for awhile just to take a break. I didn't care if I quit or was fired. I would just go back to bookselling. I blew more money in two hours than any job could have paid me for a week of humiliation.
The Bookstore was aptly named - I could have called it something pretentious like Greenwich Village Bookshop, but that reputation had not yet been established. I removed the air conditioner that had been installed above the entrance and replaced it with a color TV facing the sidewalk on which I was playing VHS tapes of classic rock concerts, rock and roll films and occasionally, some horror flicks. Within the first three months since its opening, The Bookstore was becoming a neighborhood institution. It became the 'go to' place for musicians, potheads who needed a place to have a quick toke and generally, people with nothing better to do. Writers and small independent magazine publishers were coming in almost daily asking to have their works displayed and sold at the store. Someone suggested that I sell coffee for a dollar a cup. I bought all that was needed and set it up on the counter. That said someone drank free coffee all day and I never sold one cup. That idea was quickly scrapped.
Mar 25, 2010, 9:07 PM
I just returned from the corner store. I am befuddled and dumbfounded. The woman in front of me spent 25.00 on lottery tickets. I told her that if she has nothing better to do with her 25.00, that I could put it to good use. She turned to me, her face beaming and said, "I spent six dollars yesterday and won two dollars, so I didn't lose!" What kind of mush do these people have for brains? They get their welfare checks or work for minimum wage, and then blow it on lottery tickets. I knew a woman in New York who became homeless because of her addiction to lottery tickets. It was pitiful. I remember seeing her on the corner of Bleecker and Thompson begging for spare change. As soon as she had enough, she would run across the street to the pharmacy and buy a lottery ticket. I will never understand this addiction.
 |
Ray Galindo, Tampa, Fl.
| Tue, Sep 6, 2011, 2:51 PM | Reply | ||
| ||||
September 6 2011
To whom it may concern,
On December 11, 2008, while a student and employee at Hillsborough Community College, I was accused of being in violation of several items in the Student Code of Conduct. I felt that I had been falsely accused by a fellow student who had an issue with me, and it appeared to me to be a malicious and vindictive act to effectively end my employment at the college and sabotage my academic opportunities. I had been at HCC for 3 ½ years without incident, and in five minutes, it was over.
I met with the Dean of Student Services, Dr. Linda Herlocker. After a couple of meetings with her, we had decided that it would be in my best interest if I accepted a temporary suspension to let things cool down a little. The next day, I went to the college to return some books to the campus library and bookstore. I was observed on the campus by my accuser who reported me to campus security. This came to the attention of the campus president who expelled me permanently from Hillsborough Community College. I realize in hindsight that I should have called someone to inform them of my intention to return the school’s property.
This has been a very painful experience for me. I admit that I may have reacted badly to the expulsion. I thought it was unfair. I had moved to Tampa from New York with the intention of making a career at HCC. I was involved in the media club as a writer and editor, and I won two awards in competitions for its publications.
Three years have passed, and I would like to have my life back. I now live in Bradenton, and I would like to put this behind me and move on. I am a diligent student, and I have a good GPA. I would be pleased to discuss this further with you if you think that it is necessary.
Most respectfully
In the 1970's and 80's, Ybor City had a very lively and rich music and art scene. Piano player and showman extraordinaire, Rev. Ralph was playing music by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Billy Joel, and Leon Russell on a small stage that was built specifically for him and his baby grand above the entrance door at Carmine's Restaurant. Cosmic Dave was going around with his 3-string guitar living vicariously through Bob Dylan and Keith Richard. Other notables included Rocky Kester, the neighborhood potter, tile artist Richard Sorrentino, Ron Britt who was conducting the Saturday Night Jam in his storefront on 7th Avenue, and the Playmakers who occupied the historic Cuban Club, presented musicals like Jesus Christ Superstar, Company, and Promenade as well as comedy and drama in the Cuban Club's theater. Zenith Nadir was the top punk band in the city, and White Witch wound down their career after two amazing albums. Steve Martin, the singer from The Left Banke who had a hit with Walk Away Renee in the 1960's, moved into town. Gayle Natale was running Strangers in Hyde Park , a hangout for the poets and performance artists in the area, and ARTS ALIVE! was the place to go if you wanted to perform your original music or display some of your bag or foam art. Magical inspiration was in the air, and the artists and musicians who inhabited the storefronts along 7th Avenue envisioned Ybor City as a creative arts community on par with Bourbon Street, Greenwich Village, or Liverpool. Sometime in the 1990's, someone had the brilliant idea to turn Ybor City into an alcohol district. The artists and musicians were driven out of Ybor by special interest groups, developers, and politicians who were determined to 'revitalize' the historic quarter. Consequently, rents increased, and storefronts and buildings became prime real estate for nightclubs, tattoo shops, and retail outlets that had the backing and the resources to set up shop.
In 1976, when I was 16, I met a short-haired rock guitarist named Richard Ferrera. At first, I found it difficult to take him seriously until I later found out that he was the guitarist for one of Tampa's leading New Wave bands, Zenith Nadir. Back then, hair was as important as talent. After forty or so years of frustration with my own hair, and in my own mind, getting nowhere musically because of my lack of
I am working on a project that is very special and very important to me. In 1979, I met Rev. Ralph in Ybor City. The next eight years were probably the most creative years in all of my years as a musician.I was writing a lot of songs and recording constantly with Ralph and with other musicians. It was a wonderfully mad time! In 1984, I met and fell in love with a wonderful woman named Jennifer MacDuffee, a classically trained pianist with whom I wrote a number of songs. We were together for four years. We lived in Hyde Park. During that time, there was always a piano in the house and I wrote mostly on the piano. I believe it was 1985 when I met Steve Martin-Caro, the former lead singer of The Left Banke of Walk Away Renee fame.We became good friends and he spent a lot of time at our house. He had become disillusioned with the music business, but he had fun with me and Jennifer. We ran a lot of tape when he was with us and I will be including it in this collection. I acquired my first 4-Track cassette deck in 1987. Before that all recording was done with whatever was available at the time - Walkmans, old reel to reels and cassette decks...with a couple of trips into a recording studio. I have hours of recordings and I am editing and compiling them chronologically into a comprehensive document of that eight year period beginning in Ybor City, continuing in Hyde Park and culminating in my return to Ybor City when I founded ARTS ALIVE!. 115 Hyde Park Avenue was Ralph's address at that time, and It was a magical time! I hope that my friends here who were there will enjoy it!.
It might interest you to know how I know this. I have been recording with Rew, Anne, Mick and Donald. I invited Marylinn to join us for the first recording session. I brought up the subject about the vaccine. She told me that she is a medical writer, she takes care of herself and she knows her body, so she doesn't need the vaccine. The rest of us were vaxxed, so I felt okay with inviting her for a second session to record, " Baby, I Can't Wait For You To Get Yer Shot!" She sent me an email stating that she would be happy to sing on any other songs but not that one. Our engineer has one lung - an underlying condition, and heart issues, so I didn't invite her back. No one is allowed in the studio unless they have been vaxxed. I included her in a group email about the progress of the sessions. Marylinn responded to me by asking me to remove her from the email list. This tells me that she is hostile towards the vaccine. I know a few people who are hostile when the subject is brought up. It's crazy! Knowing this about her and seeing her posts and pics about her attendance and participation in musical events in NYC and after what happened at Parkside, I started becoming increasingly concerned for my friends who cared enough about others to get their shots. We all know that even if we are vaxxed, we can still infect others. It seems that I am the only one amongst us who knew about this. when I told Anne, she said that she isn't going to invite her to her shows. Sid will be keeping an eye on her at his shows. Donald will be keeping his distance. I am 62 and a smoker. My woman is 70 and very healthy, but she is still 70 - higher risk group. The last thing I want is for Marylinn to breathe on you so you can breathe on Rew, Rew will breathe on me in the studio, and although none of us might get sick, Marylinn by her irresponsibility will kill my woman. Am I over-reacting? Yes! That is the right thing to do.I’m not a racist, I had a black friend in high school I’m not a racist, I think some black girls are pretty...for black girls
I’m not a racist,
I have Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder in my record collection
I’m not a racist, I had a black teacher in school and she was pretty smart
I’m not a racist, I’ve donated to the United Negro College Fund I’m not a racist, I have lots of Mexicans working for me I’m not a racist, my lawyer is Jewish I’m not a racist, but a black guy, a Mexican and a Jew walk into a bar...
I don't remember if we have choices when we are between lives, but I will try to ensure that if I don't, that those who make the choices consider a more favorable outcome for me the next time around.
Comments
Post a Comment