chitownjazz Posted October 14, 2006 Report Share Posted October 14, 2006 I have two Charlie Parker-related questions. They are probably a little obscure, but I'll bet somebody here is up to the challenge. 1) Where exactly was the Argyle Show Lounge in Chicago? There are apparently a couple of live Bird recordings done there, and this was also the scene of Bird urinating in a phone booth in the club (and it may even have happened twice according to some sources). I'm assuming it was on Argyle Street, and I get the impression maybe near the El stop there, but does anyone have the exact address? I ask because I live nearby and was just wondering where this old haunt of Bird's was. If anyone has any info about when this club operated or any other details I'd be curious to know. 2) I was just re-reading the Teddy Reig interview published in the Complete Savoy Recordings box. Teddy mentions a "famous" photograph of Bird's coffin being carried out of the Abyssinian Baptist Church and its entire weight being on the shoulder of Reig, who was one of the pallbearers. Anyone familiar with this photo and know where it's published? I don't recall ever having seen it. TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted October 14, 2006 Report Share Posted October 14, 2006 The funeral photo has been published in numerous magazines and books. Googling does not provide any photo. One book which has the photo is the invaluable Ken Vail's 'Bird Diary', page 175. Teddy Reig and Leonard Feather are among the people seen carrying the coffin. Other pallbearers were Louis Bellson, CharlieShavers, Lennie Tristano, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Stitt. Charles Mingus also appears on the photo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted October 14, 2006 Report Share Posted October 14, 2006 (edited) If you live in Chicago, you should easily be able to get hold of a couple of books from the library that I hope will be helpful. They're both by Dempsey J Travis: "The autobiography of black jazz"; and "The autobiography of black Chicago". Travis is/was a real estate man (after having been a bandleader in the '30s) and the first of these books (the only one my local library can get) is written very much from a real estate man's point of view. I can't imagine that the other is any different. The first is worth reading for its own sake, by the way. MG Edited October 14, 2006 by The Magnificent Goldberg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted October 14, 2006 Report Share Posted October 14, 2006 Argyle is a street on the North side of Chicago (between Lawrence and Foster). This area is called Uptown. I believe the Argyle Lounge was at the intersection of Argyle and Broadway or maybe the intersection of Argyle and Clark. Not too far from the Green Mill and the Aragon Ballroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chitownjazz Posted October 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2006 Regarding 1), thanks Chuck and MagGold. I'm guessing Broadway and Argyle is more likely, at least based on the two neighborhoods as they exist today. Argyle has a little shopping strip along the block between Broadway and Sheridan. It's largely Chinese/Vietnamese shops, groceries and restaurants today but I could easily envision it having been a lot of bars and clubs at one time. I'd still like to figure out the exact location if possible. I wonder if Larry will chime in, or maybe I can contact Jim Newman and see if he goes back that far. Oh, and I do have Dempsey Travis's Black Jazz book. I remember when I read it there was a reference to something like the "5100 Broadway" club. It all of a sudden struck me that he was probably talking about 5100 North Broadway, which was two doors away from the apt where I was sitting and reading the book at the time. I'll have to take another look and see if he mentions the Argyle Lounge, though if I remember there's not much if anything in the way of an index. Regarding 2), thanks brownie. I have that book too, so I'll take a look. I've undoubtedly seen the photo and just forgotten it - you know how it is, 50th birthday encroaching, memory starting to fade and all... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted October 14, 2006 Report Share Posted October 14, 2006 (edited) I'm guessing Broadway and Argyle is more likely, at least based on the two neighborhoods as they exist today. I agree but added the other intersection when I remember "nightlife" in that area in the '60s. Aaron Russo ran a club there. Saw Zappa and the Mothers there around 1968. Edited October 14, 2006 by Chuck Nessa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chitownjazz Posted October 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2006 Checked Black Jazz, the club is not listed in the index which is more detailed than I recalled. Also checked the blurb about the 5100 club. It explicitly gives the address as 5100 North Broaday, a few blocks up the street from where Chuck is likely placing the Argyle Show Lounge, and mentions that Horace Henderson played there for a year and Danny Thomas was the MC at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKE BBB Posted October 14, 2006 Report Share Posted October 14, 2006 From the great Bird Lives website Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted October 14, 2006 Report Share Posted October 14, 2006 I wonder if Larry will chime in, or maybe I can contact Jim Newman and see if he goes back that far. I don't go back quite that far. I'd guess a few doors east of Broadway on Arygle, toward the El. In the interview I did with Wilbur Campbell, he mentions the Argyle and Bird: "I freelanced at the Savoy Ballroom with [tenor saxophonist] Claude McLinn for six months--that’s when I first met Bird and Max [Roach]. The second time, I was with [trumpeter] Roy Eldridge at a place called the Tailspin, and it was right down the street from the Argyle Lounge, where Bird was working. And I knew Max and Miles (Miles was a youngster then) [pianist] Duke Jordan, [bassist] Tommy Potter. This was ’47 or ’48. That was one of the greatest times in my life. I remember I got in a little hassle with Roy. I was going to hear Max and them, and he was playing that thing, that new thing, and it was fine. So I heard it, and I was trying to cop. I’d come back from the set and try to play what I’d heard, and one night Roy got mad. He said, “You’re not playing over with Charlie Parker--he’s playing down there and you’re playing with me. I want you to just play some titty-boom.” So I said OK and I just played a little titty-boom for a while, but then I’d come back and go on into it. I said. ‘To heck with it--this is just one job, but this is the opportunity of a lifetime, to be hearing Bird and Miles and Max every night." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chitownjazz Posted October 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2006 Thanks for that quote Larry. Scary thing is, for those who haven't tried it, I was actually able to find and read that quote using google's book search and a search term something like "charlie parker" argyle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris Posted October 15, 2006 Report Share Posted October 15, 2006 Thanks for that quote Larry. Scary thing is, for those who haven't tried it, I was actually able to find and read that quote using google's book search and a search term something like "charlie parker" argyle. Scary? I think you mean craptacular!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chitownjazz Posted September 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 I revisited the question of the Argyle Show Lounge's location after all these years. In case anyone is interested, I found an old directory via Google Books that listed the address at 1125 W Argyle. The building is indeed adjacent (to the west) of the El tracks on the south side of Argyle. It's now an Asian gift shop. You can survey the surrounding block by typing in the address (with Chicago IL) in Google maps and clicking on street level. It must have been a pretty hip place at one time, though the management evidently left something to be desired. Jimmy Heath mentions in his autobiography playing there with Howard McGhee. The band was staying on the south side, and when the gig was over the payment check turned out to be rubber. They returned to the club where the people insisted the check was good and backed up their claim by displaying a pistol. The band was stranded in Chicago until the musician's union was able to get their money for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted September 8, 2011 Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 Thanks for your persistence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chitownjazz Posted September 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 I have to remember to stop in and see if the famous phone booth is still there. There are some Bird recordings alleged to have originated from there, but Lawrence Koch in Yardbird Suite says they are probably from a year or more after the November 1947 gig there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 I don't think there are any phone booths left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 Ain't that the truth... Maybe check the floor for stains from the runoff,, though...I'd wager that Bird's urine might have had some pretty strong...whatever it is that runs through urine that makes if funky like that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chitownjazz Posted September 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 Ain't that the truth... Maybe check the floor for stains from the runoff,, though...I'd wager that Bird's urine might have had some pretty strong...whatever it is that runs through urine that makes if funky like that... I'll be sure to take my camera just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 Dude, take one of those ultraviolet lights too. You never know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Katz Posted January 21, 2023 Report Share Posted January 21, 2023 Just stumbled across this thread 12 years after the most recent post so it’s possible that nobody will see this. I write only because my parents moved to a 2nd floor apartment at 5024 N. Winthrop Avenue in 1941 (I was 4 years old at the time) where we lived for many years. It was a 2 minute walk from the Argyle Show Lounge as well as the Tailspin, the Dubonnet and the tiny Hour Glass, all located on Argyle Street and all featuring live modern jazz. Also on Argyle was Mickey’s Miracle Bar, featuring the traditional band of Danny Alvin for as long as I can remember. Directly below my bedroom was the bedroom of teenage trumpeter Howard (Hotsy) Katz (no relation) who played Diz and Bird records non-stop with his window open. I was hooked on bebop from that point forward and even though I was a little kid, Hotsy let me come to his bedroom to listen to his records (he wound up working steady his whole life as a big band jazz trumpeter). He told me that Argyle Street was loaded with bars featuring the live music of the best jazz musicians in the world, so as a grade schooler I would walk up and down Argyle Street in clement weather and be able to hear that celestial music pouring out of all of them, including the Argyle Show Lounge. My fate was sealed on that street. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasing the Korean Posted January 21, 2023 Report Share Posted January 21, 2023 36 minutes ago, Stu Katz said: Just stumbled across this thread 12 years after the most recent post so it’s possible that nobody will see this. I write only because my parents moved to a 2nd floor apartment at 5024 N. Winthrop Avenue in 1941 (I was 4 years old at the time) where we lived for many years. It was a 2 minute walk from the Argyle Show Lounge as well as the Tailspin, the Dubonnet and the tiny Hour Glass, all located on Argyle Street and all featuring live modern jazz. Also on Argyle was Mickey’s Miracle Bar, featuring the traditional band of Danny Alvin for as long as I can remember. Directly below my bedroom was the bedroom of teenage trumpeter Howard (Hotsy) Katz (no relation) who played Diz and Bird records non-stop with his window open. I was hooked on bebop from that point forward and even though I was a little kid, Hotsy let me come to his bedroom to listen to his records (he wound up working steady his whole life as a big band jazz trumpeter). He told me that Argyle Street was loaded with bars featuring the live music of the best jazz musicians in the world, so as a grade schooler I would walk up and down Argyle Street in clement weather and be able to hear that celestial music pouring out of all of them, including the Argyle Show Lounge. My fate was sealed on that street. Great story! Welcome to the forum! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felser Posted January 22, 2023 Report Share Posted January 22, 2023 Yes , thanks and welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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