[AGL] Kelso on Fletcher

[Fontaine Maverick]

Seigel's restaurant, Good Eats, was down the hill from my house on Barton 
Springs. I recall being delighted with the place; it had stuff like grilled 
fish and steamed veggies, really good food. And it had a full bar too, of 
course.
In the fifties and sixties, that place had been a fishing tackle shop, owned 
by the late, great Conrad Fath. Just spotted him in the very enjoyable 
Russell Lee documentary.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gerry" <mesmo at gilanet.com>
To: "survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 60s" 
<austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net>
Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2007 7:48 AM
Subject: Re: [AGL] Kelso on Fletcher



> In 1977 Eddie had been canned at the Armadillo. The place was operating on

> borrowed money and deeply in debt. The people who had put up the operating

> expenses wanted some return on their investment...so they forced him out.

>

> There was talk of opening a restaurant, Shrake was willing to finance the

> opening, Lopez and Fletcher were up for running the place, but they were

> dragging their feet. Eddie needed something to do so he found the location

> on Sabine street and started the Raw Deal, started it in the face of their

> inertia. He hired Galen to do the cooking and selected a menu that was all

> meat and grease. One of his favorite quotes was, "Ain't no zucchini on the

> menu!" The hash browns were as grease soaked as any in the free world.

>

> Anyway, the place was a huge success. Sure enough, it became a hot spot. 

> In

> those days Eddie, Genie, and I were very close. I had recently returned 

> from

> 8 years in the Bay Area and was looking for a gig. Eddie managed to get me

> in the door at the Musician's union. (He had been elected president of 

> that

> august body--a very long story...) I hung out at the Raw Deal virtually

> every day, plotting with Eddie and enjoying the camaraderie of the

> alcoholics and heads of the contemporary Austin scene to which I had

> returned.

>

> But after a year or so Eddie began to see the potential of a real 

> restaurant

> and he was getting tired of the greasy grill and nightly drunks. Lopez and

> Fletcher were still hanging out on the sidelines, bitching about him

> stealing "their" idea. He finally found the old Threadgill's location and

> decided that he could convert it into a restaurant with much more 

> potential

> than the Raw Deal. So, to everyone's surprise, he agreed to let Lopez and

> Fletcher have the Raw Deal for a song. He had done all the heavy work and

> all they had to do was continue his operation. Needless to say it worked 

> and

> over the years they put their stamp on the place. But make no mistake 

> about

> it, Eddie launched the Raw Deal and made it into a reality.

>

> Over the years the Deal had several partners who helped finance its 

> various

> expansions. One of the first was Seegle Frye (sp?). He and Lopez and

> Fletcher bought the old estate on Bee Cave Road where Doug Sahm was 

> living.

> It was a few acres with an old mansion, quite run down and badly in need 

> of

> a rehab. They had no funds for rehabilitating the place so they just sat 

> on

> it for a few years. When they sold it they made quite a bit of money, best

> deal any of them had ever made, made them rich for a minute. Austin real

> estate was very hot in those days. Fletcher used his profits to buy the

> place in West Lake Hills that he and Libby lived in during the 1980's.

> Seegle decided to open his own place and they bought him out. He opened

> "Eats" on Bee Cave near South Lamar. Lopez, who had been the hands on

> manager (Fletcher cooked), decided to take it easy. New partners at the 

> Raw

> Deal included Libby's father. Eventually they voted to make Fletcher the

> hands on manager and Lopez "retired". He was still around on a daily basis

> but no longer running the place. He and I were close friends and I got a

> blow by blow account of the management decisions. He predicted that

> Fletcher, his old friend since high school in Wichita Falls, would fail as

> the manager.

>

> Not to denigrate the recently departed but Fletcher really fucked the 

> place

> up. He did have the charm to be a compelling host but lacked the business

> acumen to properly manage the staff and the finances. The accountant was

> cooking the books, the bartenders were stealing, coke dealers were using 

> the

> place as a headquarters, etc. Ultimately it went broke. The crowning blow

> was the discovery that he was hedging the employees withholding taxes and

> using them for operating expenses until they, like the capital, were used

> up. It is a wonder that he stayed out of jail. By then Libby had passed 

> and

> he was adrift, spending all his money and losing a lot of friends. Lopez

> actually threatened to kill him but backed off and drank himself to death,

> all his work at the Deal having gone up in flames.

>

> I knew Fletcher for a long time, starting in 1965. He was a charming rogue

> and had genuine creative ability. But he was not a business man and his

> comic attempts to be one were his ultimate ruin. Friends got him a state 

> job

> after the Deal folded and he managed to survive although he also lost the

> place in West Lake Hills where he had presided for years as an underground

> hero. Yes, I loved the guy and am sorry to see him pass in such a tragic

> manner. He will be remembered for the glory days when he was riding

> high...won't we all.

>

> End of story.

> G

>

>

>

> ----- Original Message ----- 

> From: "Fontaine Maverick" <fmaverick at austin.rr.com>

> To: "survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 60s"

> <austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net>

> Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2007 6:03 AM

> Subject: Re: [AGL] Kelso on Fletcher

>

>

>> Eddie never let truth stand in the way of a good story.

>>

>> My husband John and I and Fletcher and Libby with our two little girls

> went

>> to Mexico- the Caribbean coast. Libby and I and the chiclets played on 

>> the

>> beach and all of us took ferry rides, feasted on lobster while burying 

>> our

>> feet in the soft sand, then went inland to spend the day at Chichenitza.

> On

>> the trip Fletcher talked about the Deal, which he was  to open when we

>> returned.- and he talked like a man making all executive decisions. I

>> remember asking him what he intended to serve and he told me "steaks,

> chops,

>> hamburgers - you know, drunk food." He may have bought it from Eddie, but

> I

>> don't really remember Eddie's presence at all. In my mind it was always:

>> Fletcher=Raw Deal.

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> ----- Original Message ----- 

>> From: "Michael Eisenstadt" <mike.eisenstadt at gmail.com>

>> To: "survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 60s"

>> <austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net>

>> Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2007 5:43 AM

>> Subject: Re: [AGL] Kelso on Fletcher

>>

>>

>> >> Eddie Wilson, today the owner of Threadgill's restaurants in Austin,

> sold

>> > the original Raw Deal to Boone and Smitham in the summer of 1977. "I

> sold

>> > it

>> > to them for it seems like $750, and I let em pay it out $50 a week," he

>> > recalled.

>> >

>> >> Wilson says it was ironic that before he had sold the place to Boone,

> he

>> > had thrown Boone out of the place "for overbearing loud intellectual

>> > conversations with Jim Smitham."

>> >

>> > That's not the story of the bar's origin that Fletcher told me

> poisonally.

>> > According to Fletcher, the bar was available to be rented with all its

>> > facilities for a modest price, something under $200 a month. This was

> the

>> > bar on Sabine St. Fletcher originally wanted to set it up as a private

>> > club

>> > with 10 members or so to pay the rent.  But he couldn't find 10 that

>> > wanted

>> > to. Around this time, Eddy was fired from his position as manager of 

>> > the

>> > Armadillo World Headquarters and Fletcher gave the bar to Eddy to run. 

>> > I

>> > remember the Armadillo ad on the radio at that time with the throwaway

>> > line

>> > 'Yes Eddie there is life after the Armadillo.'

>> >

>> > When Fletcher got fired from his job at the paint store (they closed 

>> > the

>> > fine arts department of the store), he and Smitham took over the bar.

>> >

>> > Fletcher was NEVER boisterous so Eddie's story that he threw Fletcher

> out

>> > seems farfetched. Fletcher had enormous gravitas and presence and I

> can't

>> > conceive of Eddie running Fletcher off or even thinking to do so.

>> >

>> >

>>

>>