Page 61 - Been There… Done That!
P. 61
Been There... Done That!
we had hit the big time. The roster of acts included Tony Bennett, Nancy Wilson, Mel Torme and Trini Lopez to name a few. I developed a relationship that would last a long, long time with Voss. The way I did that was, every time I worked for him, I made him money. That’s how that works. We idolized Voss because he had friends in high places such as Clint Eastwood, Mayor George Moscone (who was later assassinated) and Melvin Belli (the lawyer who defended Jack Ruby.) On occasion we would see guys wearing high-dollar suits and wondered if they might be connected to the mob. We never found out, but we often wondered.
The Off Broadway was located one block off of Broadway in North Beach. After closing, we would go up to Basin Street West for what was called The Breakfast Show starting at 3:00 am, featuring acts such as Redd Foxx, Schecky Green and Louis Armstrong. The most memorable thing that happened to me at Basin Street West was going to the breakfast show one night after our last show to see Ike and Tina Turner. I had met them at Gaslight Square in St. Louis, so it was easy to talk to Tina. She wanted to know what we did during the day and when I told her I rode horses, she said, “I would like to ride you.” I have often wondered if that was a joke. “Surely it was.”
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