SideWalk Cafe...

Mid Passage...

1977. My dear friend Phil Williams (Pip) to my left… I cannot recall the names of everyone else. I met Phil at the Sidewalk Cafe, we are still friends to this day. Phil played a pivotal role in my life, through Phil and Lizbeth (his wife for a while and still a friend) I met Mary in London, Phil being originally from the UK and all. He lived downstairs from Mary in Clapham Common back when.

There was a time I was a skating waiter. No, truly I was. I worked at The Sidewalk Cafe back in the late 70’s. I had just moved back to the mainland from Hawaii, and eventually stumbled into perhaps one of the most significant restaurants in the L.A. area for its time. The cafe was the combined dream of Bob & Skip, two late 30’s-early 40’s guys who thought it a cool idea. Bob the businessman and Skip, the semi-pro golfer. Bob’s wife opened up a bookstore in the second half of the building, and it is still going from what I know.

I have no idea how the skates got involved, but suddenly, in the winter of 1976, there we were, skating around the cafe as if it had always been that way. Skating was just really taking off at that point in the US… (In late 1977 I would try to skate across Europe in various cities to no great success. Cobble Stones are not your friends if you are skating… Another tale for another time.) Eventually, the busboys started using their skateboards. Some of the became very famous. You can check out the info on some of those guys here: Dogtown

My routine for the day would be something like this: Roll out of bed, have coffee, smoke a number perhaps, or do a line after I had put on my skates. Then heading out to Venice from where I lived on Euclid, off of Pico in Santa Monica. Skate down the hill, cross over to the board walk and up to the Sidewalk Cafe. I usually had the morning shift, which was fine. it got very busy around 7:00AM until I checked out around 1:30-2:00PM. After that I would skate with friends, party and make it home around midnight if I made it home at all.

(Of course, there were drugs there, in fact the whole place seemed to be run on either cocaine or meth, or the combination of the two. Alcohol and Cannabis were a given, not even really considered. If there was a gift in that, it was where I developed my inner governor. After several weeks of being on various chemicals/powders I realized I was slipping into habituation. The fact that my roommate was seeing a major cocaine dealer didn’t help either… So, I made a deal with myself. I could use something for 2-3 days, but I had to stop everything for a week at least. Sometimes two weeks after partying hard. It worked out, and using that technique, I soon was making all kinds of changes in my life.)

Lots of great people came through the Sidewalk Cafe. Ricky Lee Jones worked and hung out with us, up to the day she got her contract for her first album. (She had migrated to the Sidewalk Cafe from the “Great American Food & Beverage Company” up in Santa Monica. Her friend Chuckie was still working there at that time.) She came running in one afternoon blissed out… “I got a contract!” she said to me as she danced around excitedly. I had no idea what she was talking about… This happened just before I left for Europe. I discovered just what type of contract it was when I came back, through friends at the Cafe, and the cover of the Rolling Stone. Amazing really.

The Sidewalk staff was filled with very talented people, musicians, actors, painters, comedians. I have fond memories of it of course as I met many wonderful people there, some who are still in our lives. It really was nonstop entertainment to work there between the staff, management and the incredibly diverse clientele. My favourite waiter was from New York, Jay. My introduction to Jay was him warning me not to steal his tips, which never crossed my mind, so I let it slip. He was roommates with Snakefinger, AKA Phil Lithman lately from The Chili Willi & The Red Hot Peppers in London, and who had been working with The Residents up in San Francisco for several years.

We got on like a house on fire, and ended up trying to form a band, but in the end, did several gigs around L.A. doing Eddie Cochran and old Who numbers. He was a lovely person. His passing hit the community pretty hard.

So, not much more to say at this point, but this wee bon mot is enough to finish on:

I saw an article on Deadline.com about a documentary on a certain movie director… I posted below what my experience with him was, of course they didn’t publish. Hah!

“I worked at the Sidewalk Cafe in Venice back in 1976-79. During that time Ron Kovic (Born on the 4th of July & later Congressman) was a steady customer. A wonderful, kind person. Somewhere in 1977 if I recall he started bringing a certain future movie director along with him. He seemed pleasant enough, always hungry finishing other's plates. Okay I get it. I have made my life as musician, artist etc. working a regular job when I had to...when you are hungry, you are hungry.

But the future director had one really bad habit. He liked to pilfer tips off of the table. A talented film maker for sure, but that is my lasting memory. Not only off of the table he was sitting at, but other tables as he would leave.” FFS. I have since enjoyed a few of his films. On the main, not. Everyone is a critic, even yers truly. <sigh>

Yes, we had great customers on the main. Not all were celebrities but there were a few: I served Robin Williams, who was as sweet as he is remembered to be. The light fairly flowed out of him. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a steady customer. Loved herbal tea back then. Julie Christie would hang there, as well as members of various well known music acts of the time. You know, L.A. Iggy Pop wreaked havoc one night, oh, it was a moment! He was recording down at the Cheyenne, a yacht that was a recording studio as well. They were part of the wildlife of the area so to speak.

So, you can catch the drift, the Sidewalk Cafe certainly was a nexus point, ensconced on the Venice Boardwalk, in that period of great flowering in Los Angeles. I count my lucky stars to have witnessed it all in my own way.

Much Love,

G

The location of the Sidewalk Cafe before it became so. I remember the area from the 60’s, lots of Beats and hangers on. It was a magical place, you could run into The Doors, Wild Man Fischer or even Charles Bukowski back then.

And things were certainly changing….