Peter Crowley profile picture

Peter Crowley

HELP GEORGE TABB!!!

About Me

I first left home with the Clyde Beatty Cole Brothers Circus in the spring of 1958. I quit the show at the end of the season and moved to New York City where I hung out in Coney Island, Times Square and Greenwich Village, took acting lessons from Joe Chaikin at the Living Theatre, and by 1960, had done just about everything for which the '60s were (in)famous. After a bout with illness in '61, I returned to Vermont where I tried studying at Marlboro College, but gave it up as a lost cause and moved back to New York where I began working at/operating/booking MacDougal, West Third, and Bleecker Street cafes, including The Night Owl, The Basement, The Why Not, The Zig Zag, Cafe Rafio, The Rienzi, The Feenjon, and my own joint: Cafe Tangier. These peculiar establishments catered to tourists looking for real beatniks and we provided them entertainment which included Fred Neil, Richie Havens, Tiny Tim, Jeremy Steig, Gram Parsons, Steven Stills, David Crosby, Dino Valente, Shawn Phillips, Mike Mann, The Blues Magoos, Lovin' Spoonful, Lothar and The Hand People, Janis Ian, Peter Tork and Normal Reason. When Ed Koch closed down "the mess on MacDougal Street", I took off for San Francisco in '65 and danced at the Fillmore, Longshoremens' Hall, The Matrix and The Avalon Ballroom. From there I went to Mexico for six months, spent 11 days in the Tijuana jail, and moved to L.A. where I built a rock disco for Skip Batin's managers and then - flush with moolah - returned to New York just in time to do the lights for the Velvet Underground at The Balloon Farm. During this period I hung out at The Factory where Andy Warhol named me "Peter Gun" for obvious reasons. In '67, I went back to Frisco for the Summer of Love and managed the Jeffery Haight Hotel for a couple of years, returning to NY in the fall of '68 and wasted time swimming in the afternoons and doing nothing in Max's back room most every night. As the scene declined, I got bored again and took off back to Frisco for the third time. On returning to NY in '74, I met up with old friends, Leee Black Childers and Wayne County in the dressing room at the 82 Club, discovered Wayne had been deserted by Mainman, and took on the impossible job of managing punk rock's most wild and crazy performer. When I found there were too few places for Wayne to play in the city, I took over Mothers (a dead gay bar on 23rd Street) and stole all Hilly's acts. From there I migrated to Tommy Dean's new - all-disco - Max's Kansas City in '75 and the rest is history. (see blog: Max's Pt. 2)


My Interests

You're listening to Walking The Backstreets by The Senders, featuring Phil Marcade on vocals and Wild Bill Thompson on guitar. Myspace Backgrounds

I'd like to meet:

Somebody who could get me a grant so I could re-open Rock'n'Roll High School, educate another generation, and record some of the brilliant un-commercial rockers who deserve records produced as well as those made by big stars.
MAGIC SAM...

Music:

Rock'n'Roll, Blues, Old-school Country, Soul, Ska, Reggae, etc.

Movies:

My favorite is Alejandro Jodorowsky's THE HOLY MOUNTAIN. I like Fellini, Pedro Almodovar, Lucino Visconti and John Waters too. My favorite actor of all time is Lee Marvin. Actress: Giulietta Masina.

Television:

Books:

All the usual hipster ones plus just about everything by Loren D. Estleman and Elmore Leonard.

Heroes:

Buenaventura Durruti, Emma Goldman, Prince Peter Kropotkin, Russell Blackwell, Sam and Esther Dolgoff, Bayard Rustin, Archbishop Mikhail, Edith Piaf, Nurse Jayne, George Tabb, Question Mark!

My Blog

Sea Monster *OIL* Lyrics

Oil (The Blood of Dinosaurs) by Sea MonsterCalling mister & misses America & all the ships at seaYou bring me to the height of ecstasyYou bring me to the depths of despairDarling, oh darling, ...
Posted by Peter Crowley on Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:54:00 PST

Maxs Kansas City Pt. 2

Thanks to all who've left the good word. I'd like to take credit for all the good stuff that happened at Max's between 1975 and 1981 (and blame for all the bad), but I had lots of help from my friends...
Posted by Peter Crowley on Mon, 23 Oct 2006 02:45:00 PST

EDDIE KIRKLAND

"Eddie Kirkland,  'The Energy Man'  'The Gypsy of the Blues',  recorded and toured with John Lee Hooker for seven and a half years.  He was the band leader for Otis Redding.  ...
Posted by Peter Crowley on Sun, 19 Nov 2006 12:59:00 PST

Lest We Forget Mother's

Here's a link to It's all the streets you crossed not so long ago ... http://streetsyoucrossed.blogspot.com/search/label/Mother's. ..
Posted by Peter Crowley on Fri, 16 Mar 2007 03:51:00 PST

Thinking of Bleecker Street Bohemia

I'm dating myself, but in my younger days, I  patronized the San Remo Bar at Bleecker and MacDougal, famous bohemian hangout of James Baldwin, Archbishop Mikhail Itkin, William Burroughs, Miles D...
Posted by Peter Crowley on Tue, 06 Feb 2007 10:45:00 PST

Tooting My Own Horn

..> My accomplishments might by some be considered minor, but SUICIDE found their audience at the residency I gave them at Mothers; Lydia Lunch found her's at Max's; and I managed to save THE CRAMPS...
Posted by Peter Crowley on Tue, 04 Sep 2007 11:45:00 PST