Monday, September 6, 2021

Babs N' Blue Take The Night Train


My Mom and Dad [Babs writes - Ed.] were in the restaurant/bar business in Brooklyn, NY. They had an Irish bar called Molly Maguire’s Pub and an Italian restaurant called Mario’s Trattoria. Neither were Irish or for that matter Italian. I remember my older brother cracking wise, telling my father: “You should open a Chinese joint, and call it: Sum-Dum-Fuk!" To which my father replied: “Why would I name a restaurant after you?”

In 1963, when I was sixteen, my mother and father opened a nightclub called Bentley’s, which attracted an African American crowd. Mom and Dad weren’t African American, either. My father was a mild-mannered WASP, originally from Kennebunk Maine, and my mother was a feisty French Canadian from Québec City.

One afternoon, I was out with my father, and we stopped by Bentley’s. Inside there was a long horseshoe shaped bar, an area with tables and a large dance floor, it had lots of lights and speakers on the ceiling. There was a stage at the end of the dance floor with a table that had audio equipment on it, and large speakers on the floor. The waitstaff were preparing to open, and setting tables. There were noises and aromas coming out of the kitchen. Standing behind the bar was a six-foot six black man, who reminded me a little of Little Richard. This was the first time I met Blue, who smiled at me and said: “You must be Babs, would you like a coca-cola, little lady? I nodded my head and replied: “You must be Blue, the DJ!” At home, I heard stories about what a character Blue was, so his reputation preceded him. My father went into the kitchen, and Blue said: “Let's play some records” he put on a record, and asked: “Do you dance?” so I started dancing. He watched me, clapped his hands, laughed and said: “What was that, the damn Bunny Hop? I’m going to call you Babs Bunny!” which he did, for the rest of his life.

My father came out of the kitchen with Alton who was Bentley’s manager who was also black, and looked like he played middle linebacker for the New York Giants. Blue introduced me to Alton as Babs Bunny and said: “Alton’s my roommate”. Later that evening, I told my brother about meeting Blue and Alton. My brother said: “You know what they are, right?” and I said: “Yeah, they’re Gay, so what,” this surprised my brother, and he said: “My little sis is growing up! They’re a pisser, right?” My brother was a wise ass, but a very cool one, especially for the time.

Around this time, my parents thought it was time for me to start learning the family business, so most afternoons after school, I went to one of the businesses. My favorite place was Bentley’s because Blue was there. In the kitchen I leaned to do food prep, and cook. In the main room, Blue taught me how to mix drinks, open wine bottles, set up tables and how to use the sound system. Every afternoon, Blue gave me a dance lesson, while R&B 45s played. He always yelled, “Let your backbone slip, girl! Let it SLIP!”. We had a dance routine, we did to James Brown’s Night Train. Bentley’s was known for its music, which was very “now” so every few weeks Blue gave me a pile of 45s he referred to as “over”. Blue also taught me to sip cocktails and smoke cigarettes, but that was our secret.

Throughout high school, I was waiting tables at Molly Maguire’s Pub and Mario’s Trattoria, which were all along the same subway line, as was Bentley’s which was off limits to me at night. So one night instead of going home, I dropped by Bentley’s to see what was going on, and to see if all the stories I heard were true. I could hear the music from a few doors away, and when I went inside the place was going wild. At the end of the dance floor was Blue spinning records, when he saw me, he waved me towards him. As I walked toward him, a hand grabbed my arm. It was Alton, who told me: “You ain't supposed to be here at this time of night, in this neighborhood, young lady!” Blue said to Alton: “Just one dance.” He picked up his microphone and said: “I’m going to dance this one with my girlfriend, Babs Bunny” which caused everyone to laugh. Blue played Night Train, and we did our dance routine. Afterwards, while Alton was escorting me out, to put me in a cab home, a black woman said to me: “Yeah, that was pretty good.” I thanked her. She said, “for a white girl”

When I went away to college, Blue and I wrote letters to each other, and every so often a package of 45s would arrive. During the summers when I returned to New York, Blue and I would party, only now weed entered the mix along with cocktails and cigarettes. One magical Sunday in the summer of 1968, we dropped acid in Central Park, did our Night Train routine by Bethesda fountain to the amusement of the hippies, and then visited The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In the 70s, Alton and Blue moved to San Francisco, where they opened a Disco, and lived happily ever after. Whenever I hear James Brown, I think of Blue. So check the comments! 

25 comments:

  1. Babs sez: "To honor Blue's memory, here's
    James Brown “Star Time” a four CD boxed set."

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  2. Thanks for the Story.
    We all Have them, but you have a talent for relating them.

    john

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  3. What a wonderful story.
    You tell them with verve and atmosphere.
    More, please.

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  4. Thanks Babs! This collection is the best one can get if one doesn't have all the original elpees.

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    1. I still have James' 45s, Blue gave me on the King and Smash labels.

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  5. Hey Babs Bunny--thanks for sharing some obviously meaningful memories.

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  6. Great story, I felt like I was there back in time!

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  7. Sounds like a wonderful time to be growing up, and what an education in life. Thanks, great screed.

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  8. Thank you for a lovely story, Babs.

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  9. I'm glad everyone enjoyed it! More with be forthcoming.

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  10. Straight in at number one this week, Swellscreedin by Babs. Got us 4or5 guys out on that dancefloor at Bentleys, thanks B.

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  11. Great story; how much fun. Look forward to reading more. You must have a raft of great stories and you write with verve and pop.

    A tangent about what a few words can mean, as the lady's words to Bab's did. I played high school basketball for a wonderful, long-suffering because he had to deal with me coach, a Black man who'd played football and basketball at Grambling. The highest compliment he ever paid me--any compliments were few and far between--was, similar to Bab's compliment-er, "not bad for a white boy." Didn't seem like it could get any better than that. Alas, mostly he just made me run suicides for my myriad infractions and fuck-ups.

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  12. The link is down, presumably because the file name gave the game away!

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    1. just retry, MF misbehaves sometimes

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    2. I checked the link before I posted it, no problems. Checked it later and got the "we know what you're doing " redirect to a site where I could buy the set. Checked it again just now and it's fine. Weird.

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    3. That's par for the course for MediaFire -- 25% of the time it seems to block you but if you just click the link one of more times eventually it won't block you. It's been like that for years but I've never not been able to bypass it with a few clicks.

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  13. Babs, a great story, well told. You were very fortunate to have parents who saw the world somewhat differently than my own did.

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  14. Thanks for the download, Babs. I couldn't afford Star Time when it came out but managed to find a used copy of Disc 2, the one that had Papa's Got a Brand New Bag. An important song for me because the first time I heard it was also the first time I smoked weed, as one of the two white boys at a house party after a wedding in 1965. We danced, joints were passed as we played it over and over, taking bets on how many times it would take to turn that 45 into a Slinky.

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  15. That was a great story -- thank you so much for sharing! Count me along with the other 4-5 guys as one of your adoring fans looking forward to more! (/ducks behind desk anticipating jibe from the headmaster telling me to get off my lazy bum)

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    1. You sir? Under the desk there? You have something to share with us other than a view of your buttcrack?

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