I was not at Slugs when Lee Morgan was shot but it had a profound impact on me. It was February 1972. In early May I finished my course work for my Masters degree and fled the dry corridors of SUNY Binghamton for the juicy street life of Alphabet City. In 2018 when I read M. Shipton’s comments …
Yeah – you go, Tom! Love this stuff. I lived at 101 St. Mark’s Place 1965-55. Never made it to Slug’s – by 1972 I had moved to Woodstock. But the scene as you and James Garvin described it was very nostalgic reading. We need to share these precious and unique memories. Thanks…
5 thumbs up. Loved it. My only critique is on the petty side. Have a fresh pair of eyes (Diane) read it for typos. The bit about Angela Davis is a red herring. If you want to include it you need to make it flow naturally into the story.
Again, great story and great writing!
Tom
Fabulous diary. Well written. Lived in east V in the late 70s. You capture the feel perfect.
Looking forward to more
Thank you
Wallace
Excellent…..what a joy to read! I lived in NYC from ’67 to ’72, and Slugs was my go-to hang. Living at Broome and W. Bway, I could walk home (keeping a watchful eye and a deliberate Manhattan ‘don’t fuck with me’ step), and the cost was doable on my Dept of Soc Serv wage. I must have seen Joe Henderson, Jackie Mac, and a host of others dozens of times…..how I wish I’d kept a music journal. Some prime memories: Smoking joints (usually in strawberry papers) outside the club with Leon Thomas, visiting with mgr. Joe Marshall in the basement ‘office’ (and once buying a three ounce bar of black hash there for $125, astounding even five decades ago), watching in amusement as guys scammed the white patrons with a collection to ‘bail Philly Joe out of the local precinct house’. The Gate and the Vanguard were grand, but Slugs was a world apart. I look forward to your next installment.
Hey Michael, Thanks for taking the time read this and write your comments. i am glad to learn that some folk still remember Slugs. I expect to the second half on line before the end of the month. I hope you will read and enjoy it.
BTW, How did you find the way to this site?