Page 60 - Been There… Done That!

Gary Graham
The Whisky turned out to be the best reference an entertainer could ever want. All anyone had to do was say they had worked at The Whisky and clubs would damn near cancel bands to hire them. Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits later told the club owner of the Joker’s Wild that I had worked at the Whisky and he hired me on the spot. While working the Whisky a Go Go, we met a pretty girl by the name of Judy Gieg, who invited us to her home in North Hollywood. It was quite the experience meeting movie stars and future movie stars. Having people like that coming and going from their household was common for the Giegs, but not for some country bumpkins from Missouri. The first time I ever saw a real-life “Barbie doll” was at the Gieg house, actress Beverly Lundsford, an absolutely gorgeous blonde driving a white 1957 Thunderbird. I’ve been told she still has it. It certainly was the perfect time to be in Hollywood in the sixties.
Once in a while we come into contact with a family that, no matter what happens in life, we never forget them. For me, that would be the Gieg family. Ever helpful, even sewing patches on the Poor Boys stage clothes, Mom Gieg, as we called her, always knew someone who could help in any situation. She could stay calm in the middle of a hurricane. Mom Gieg raised three pretty girls, Judy, Veva and Nila Kay. Bob and I were close friends with Judy and Veva and occasionally dated.
Another showroom we worked in the early years as well as later on was the legendary Off Broadway in San Francisco. The owner, Voss Boreta, was a larger-than-life man resembling Dean Martin only better looking. We were booked in there in 1964 and it felt like
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