FOR 9 YEARS, THE DARK SIDE WAS THE SWINGING EPICENTER OF BE-BOP JAZZ REBELLION - A BEATNIK CATHOUSE FULL OF MUSICIANS, ENDLESS DRINKING, AND EVERY KIND OF PARTY. FROM 1957 THROUGH 1966, THE DARK SIDE ROSE "PHOENIXLIKE" IN THE GASLIGHT SQUARE SECTION OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, AND RODE A COURAGOUS WAVE OF RACIAL UNITY THROUGH JAZZ CULTURE, BEFORE THE CONCEPT WAS POPULARLY EMBRACED.
THE DARK SIDE WAS "THE JAZZ VERSION" OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH. THERE WOULD BE A FRENZY ON THE STAGE, AND THE MUSIC REVERBERATED AROUND THE ROOM. QUARTETTE TRES BIEN RECORDED THEIR SONG "TONIGHT" LIVE AT THE DARK SIDE, AND WERE FEATURED ON THE ALBULM, "A MUSICAL TOUR OF GASLIGHT SQUARE".
THE OWNER AND BOOKING AGENT OF THE DARK SIDE WAS A VIVACIOUS BLONDE NAMED GAYLE TIBE. SHE HAD "THE KNACK" FOR FINDING UNDISCOVERED TALENT (AND HAD AN ADDICTION TO SHAKEN MARTINIS, JAZZ MUSIC, AND BOYFRIEND MILES DAVIS, WHO PLAYED A MEAN TRUMPET). MANY ARTISTS THAT GAYLE BOOKED AT THE DARK SIDE BECAME JAZZ LEDGENDS: QUARTETTE TRES BIEN, STAN GETZ, LENNY BRUCE, ELIJAH SHAW, RICHARD TOKATZ, KING PLEASURE, SARAH VAUGHAN, JEANNE TREVOR, BILLY PEEK, JAZZ DRUMMER BOB CRANE (BEFORE HE WAS AN ACTOR ON HOGAN'S HEROS), JOHN CUNNINGHAM, AND BONGO PLAYER PERCY JAMES (WHO DID A BIT INSIDE THE DARK SIDE FOR AN EPISODE OF "ROUTE 66": "HEY MOTH, COME MEET THE FLAME" (1962)).
THE GARAGE BEHIND THE DARK SIDE WAS TURNED INTO A MAKESHIFT "COFFEE HOUSE" FOR AFTER HOURS DRINKING AND BAND "SIT-INS" (IN ORDER TO PLAY A SIT-IN, YOU HAD TO BE "U" AND YOU HAD TO BE HIP). SPIDER BURKS, A LOCAL JAZZ DISC JOCKEY, NAMED THE DARK SIDE GARAGE THE OTHER SIDE. HE TURNED THE OTHER SIDE INTO A JAZZ MECCA FOR DESPERATE MUSICIANS THAT HAD NOWHERE ELSE TO JAM OUT. DAVID SANBORN HAD A SIT-IN AT THE OTHER SIDE - IT WAS 3:00 IN THE MORNING - HE WAS 15.
THE APARTMENT ABOVE THE DARK SIDE BECAME THE PLACE OF "THE NEVER ENDING PARTY". THE LIVINGROOM WAS A CRASH PAD FOR 'ON THE ROAD' MUSICIANS AND WRITERS: ALAN GINSBERG STAYED A NIGHT, JOHN COLTRANE (HE JAMMED ON A SIT-IN ON THE LAVENDER COUCH), LENNY BRUCE (WHO CHARGED $2.00 AT THE FRONT DOOR TO ANYBODY WHO WANTED TO GET A GOOD LOOK AT HIM), AND STAN GETZ, WITH A CASE OF CUTTY SARK, HIS SAXOPHONE AND A HOT BLONDE GIRL NAMED APRIL. CHET BAKER STAYED A NIGHT, BUT DITCHED HIS GIRLFRIEND CARBY CHENEY BEHIND (CARBY BECAME A SEXY FIXTURE AT THE DARK SIDE, AND SHE GAVE A LOT OF MUSICIANS SOME MUCH NEEDED "RELIEF").
IN 1965, THE DARK SIDE AND MANY OTHER ESTABLISHMENTS THAT LINED GASLIGHT SQUARE FELL VICTIM TO UNWELCOMED AUTHORITY, NEGATIVE MEDIA, AND PUSHY CON-COMMERCIALISM. ON OCTOBER 14TH, 1966, THE DARK SIDE CLOSED ITS METAL CHROME DOORS FOREVER.
GAYLE TIBE
