[AGL] Fwd: VIVA John Clay; 20th-21st Century Folksong Writer and Banjo Player

[Kathy]

That's wonderful , Frances, thanks for sending it along.
Kathy
On Aug 5, 2008, at 4:11 PM, Frances Morey wrote:


> Here are some of Ted Klein's reminiscences and a picture from the  

> god's, (good ol' days).

> Best,

> Frances

>

> Fontaine Note,

> The GH2 list might like to see this one, too.

>

> Ted Klein <taklein at austin.rr.com> wrote:

> From: "Ted Klein" <taklein at austin.rr.com>

> To: "Tony Robson" <rarobson1 at verizon.net>,

> "Ramsey B Wiggins" <ramseywig at gmail.com>,

> "Phil Waters" <pwats at hal-pc.org>,

> "Pat D. Brown" <pat at beaufaux.com>,

> "Nick Hopkins" <nhopkins at mailer.fsu.edu>,

> "John Kelso" <jkelso at statesman.com>,

> "Jim Cochran" <cochran1000 at sbcglobal.net>,

> "Henry Jackson" <jackso3004 at gmail.com>,

> "Frances Morey" <frances_morey at yahoo.com>,

> "Fernando Corral" <fer1388 at yahoo.com>,

> "Carolyn Simon" <cgsimon17 at yahoo.com>,

> "Carole Boyd" <caroleaboyd at yahoo.com>,

> "Barcus Nunley" <bnunle at peoplepc.com>,

> "Barbara Imboden" <barbjci at mac.com>,

> Jean Baraç <baracjw at aol.com>,

> "Nora Beteta" <norsalbp at yahoo.com.mx>,

> "Mary Jane Briggs" <Mjbriggs01 at aol.com>,

> "Tom Linker" <TLINKER at austin.rr.com>,

> "Leo Sullivan" <leos1234 at earthlink.net>,

> "Victor Grant" <grant.victor at gmail.com>,

> "Wayne Smith" <smitty78659 at yahoo.com>,

> "Don Foxall" <dfoxy1 at worldnet.att.net>,

> "Bill Helmer" <wjhelmer at gvtc.com>,

> "Mary M. Klein" <magmklein at austin.rr.com>,

> "Travis Klein" <allterrain at mail.grandecom.net>,

> "Emily Klein" <emilykklein at gmail.com>,

> "John Klein" <photomanjohn at yahoo.com>,

> "Leila Whitmer" <wadriana at verizon.net>,

> "Ray Hanson" <pelican35 at isp.com>,

> "Joy Parsons" <mparson at sw.rr.com>,

> "Byron Black" <bakhirun at gmail.com>

> Subject: VIVA John Clay; 20th-21st Century Folksong Writer and  

> Banjo Player

> Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2008 15:18:53 -0500

>

>                                     John (middle) Flipnotics-2006

> <1281422098000000>

>

> <1281422098000001>

>

>

> I met John way back when. He came to Austin from Stamford,  Texas  

> and quickly changed. The Cliché was a coffee house that got started  

> around 1959 and was under several different owners. It was the  

> first integrated establishment west of Highway 35. Janis Joplin  

> first performed publically there, even before Threadgills. I was  

> the entertainment coordinator and some real talent came in. I  

> returned from San Francisco one summer and John was at the door. He  

> said, "Hey main, have you seen this place? It's wonderful."

>

> I took him in and he loved it so much that I got him a job as  

> dishwasher, in return for free coffee and the chance to hang out.  

> His nickname was, and still may be among the old timers,  

> "Dishwasher John." The management got so used to him that they  

> would occasionally chew him out if he didn't show up! I was working  

> in a music store on South Congress that went out of business. I  

> "inherited" the business and brought all of the instruments home to  

> sell. John's first banjo came from that venture and he still plays  

> it. John is a latter day ballad creator and makes songs about just  

> about everything that happens around him. Here is one that I just  

> got a copy of. It brings back many memories:   <1281422098000002>

>

>

>

> The Vick and Angie Song

>

> By John W  

> Clay                                                                   

>                                                                        

>                            &nbs p;

>

> In the very last year of the Eisenhower reign,

>

> I came down to Austin, and I got in the scene,

>

> when people from boredom were going insane.

>

> It was winter, I was waiting for spring

>

> when the trees would come out and the world would turn green.

>

> We still have trees but there is more room between

>

> and it is a different kind of weather when you talk about scenes

>

> and a season could last for years.

>

> Now Vick looked kind of wasted,

>

> Angie, was big and strong,

>

> and they only had a fight when they couldn’t get along.

>

> One night in the Cliché coffee house people got out of their way,

>

>  when they started throwing chairs.

>

> I think they loved each other,

>

> from signs that I could catch,

>

> They couldn’t get along they were too even a match,

>

> they hated each other but they were still attached,

>

> they got divorced and drove out west together.

>

>

>

> Ted Klein lived in Austin’s very first beatnik pad,

>

> everybody had to move cause of hassle that they had.

>

> Ted got called up before the dean, cause he was so very bad.

>

> He had drinking parties he also had a beard.

>

> Ted Klein, got a job teaching Arabs how to talk,

>

> and soon enough he bought a car and he didn’t have to walk.

>

> That’s when he got married second time as I recall,

>

> then he started his family and career.

>

> Ted Klein found me a job and he found me a place,

>

> but Vick and Angie taught me the most about the human race,

>

> and at last I knew for sure that I had found a place,

>

> I was a freak but I was not alone.

>

>

>

> John lives on Lake Travis now with his friend, rescuer and sponsor,  

> Leo Sullivan and family. He is still not alone. Victor lives in  

> Temple, Texas and remains a talented artist and a good family man.  

> Nobody seems to know what happened to Angie after she went west.  

> Ted still teaches English as a second language and has remained  

> with that "second wife" for 47 years. And them freaks all lived  

> happily ever after...........           These are the good old days!

>

>

>

>

>

>


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