The Blue Beet - Writers Forum

Psycho6058 · 07-23-2005, 01:56 PM

There’s a magic place called Sid’s Blue Beet at Newport near the pier.
It’s just a run down coffee house, but it’s been there forty years.
It sits back in an alleyway, it’s kind of hard to find,
But once you walk inside the doors, that place will blow your mind.

I’d get together with some friends, back in my college days,
We’d head down to the Blue Beet to hear Felipe play.
He was kind of old and wrinkled and just a little over weight,
But when he played that gui-tar, man did it sound great.

He’d take a footstool up on stage and make himself at home.
He carefully would tune each string ‘til they had the perfect tone.
Then, when he’d start playing, a hush fell o’er the crowd,
And they wouldn’t make another sound until his final bow.

He played flamenco music and he didn’t even sing
But he would get the most out of every single string.
We watched with rapt attention, ears frozen on the stage.
His fingers flew like demons. He was a mentor and a sage.

Then when he finished playing, his guitar he’d put away,
He’d pick up his little footstool and “Thank you.” Is all he’d say.
No one could play like he did, if you put it to a test
You’d soon find out Felipe was certainly the best.

**Penelope** · 07-23-2005, 03:34 PM

This is such a great read! The title reminded me of The Red Onion Saloon in Skagway Alaska - Blue Beet - Love it!

Psycho6058 · 07-23-2005, 04:45 PM

Thanks, Pen, this is a true story btw.

**Penelope** · 07-23-2005, 05:26 PM

I could tell - it just rang so true. Memories are made of such fine times.

mammamaia · 07-24-2005, 09:25 AM

i've always been a great lover of flamenco!... saw the late, great jose greco in person in my preteens and was a goner from then on... even got a set of castanets and tried my hand at it... it's the most sensual dance there is, imo...

since then, have been to granada and the gypsy caves where it was born... took my mom to dinner in a cafe in madrid, where they danced till dawn... oh, i ache for that music and the rat-a-tat of heels, the sharp clap of hands!... darn you anyway, for reminding me, wayne! [not really

]

as for california's coastal night spots, in my long ago youth, i used to spend weekends escaping from my job in downtown LA at manhattan and hermosa beach... do you know hernando's hideaway?... we'd hang around after closing there, for the jam sessions... june christie's hubby played drums with the band and she sat in and sang, one magical night, till the sun came up...

thanks for the memories, pal!

love and hugs, maia

Psycho6058 · 07-24-2005, 11:00 AM

Glad you both enjoyed the nostalgia. Unfortunatly Felipe is not around any more (or if he is he's about 150 years old). But I'll never forget his music.
Yes, I've heard of Hernando's Hideaway, although I've never been there. I always tried to steer clear of the L.A. area. If I went up there it was usually to go to Whiskey A go-go

huni · 07-24-2005, 07:16 PM

What a wonderful inviting call to come to the 'Blue Beet'. This is just great to read and I love the images to be had from reading it. Just one glitch for me: Ears frozen seems a contradiction and ungrammatical. Ears 'tuned' to the stage or 'focused' on, perhaps? Argh! I don't know - I loved it anyway Wayne. warm regards huni.

Psycho6058 · 07-25-2005, 06:07 AM

Thanks Huni, that image was intentional, I wanted to indicated that no one was moving because they were listening so intently, so I decided that the use of "frozen" would project that the best.

mammamaia · 07-25-2005, 09:53 AM

actually, hernando's is/was almost on the beach at hermosa, not in LA... but another place i used to haunt, for the best jazz anywhere west of the rockies, was a little place on santa monica blvd in hollywood back in the 50s where red nichols and his 5 pennies played... i think he owned the place... can't recall the name, darn it...

apropos of nothing... sorry to crowd the thread with my own memories... but it's your fault, for posting the poem, right?

Psycho6058 · 07-25-2005, 11:03 AM

You wouldn't maybe be thinking of the Zebra Lounge would you?