[Dixielandjazz] Mafia story

[LARRY'S Signs and Large Format Printing]

Ah the good old days

When I went to college I needed money as every student did but I didn't have family to bankroll it just a music scholarship.  I got some guys together, formed a band, and played a couple of gigs which soon dried up because we were new in town, had no contacts and not enough time to beat the bushes.  Someone suggested a booker.  Actually there was just one in town so I called on him and he said he would handle the group.  He had two conditions. 1. that we were exclusive with him and that no matter where we worked or for whom he would get his 10%.  This included gigs we got on our own.  2. that we would always be there and do what we promised.  The group immediately balked at the idea so I now had a booker but no band.  I went back to the booker who immediately put me in other bands and told me to get some more guys which I did.  We worked jobs all over the central South from Memphis to St. Louis.  I was certainly happy with the arrangement.

After a while I found out he was a "made man" and unpleasant things might happen to those who didn't follow the rules.

My third year in school we were playing at a club/roadhouse.  We had been there for several months.  No one paid much attention to the band because of other activities at the club.  One night two guys walked in and sat down in front of the band.  They proceeded to come in every night.  The clubs patrons didn't show up any more except for those two guys.  Hey I was young.  I thought they were "music lovers".  

It was getting close to Xmas and new year's eve.  The Saturday night before xmas we were fired.  This was a blow to my wallet.  They hired a Country band in our place.  I went to the booker with my sad story and I worked with another band.

The club was burned to the ground sometime during the night of Dec. 31- Jan. 1st with the other bands instruments and amps in it.  Did someone do me a favor?

I had occasion to play a gig in St. Louis and I took my payment to the booker and he said keep it, he was just testing me.  

I don't know if these guys were bad or not - I really don't want to judge but I got through college, married with a baby. I think the two guys that regularly played with me were happy too.

I think these guys liked making money as I did and they had their rules.  Truthfully their rules were really the same as everything else without lawyers, courts etc and a lot surer.  I guess even Al Capone had a good side. 


_____________________________________________________
Tom (Guido's friend) Wiggins said:
1.   The War on Organized  Crime  

2.    Most of those Big Spenders are either dead or still in jail, or went 
back to Sicily.

3.     They took the money with them and the clubs closed so we would not 
have booze.   Sex and drugs in our schools,    Well that worked well right?

4.     The Government helped us poor starving musicians, right out of jobs.

We could of course go on an on, like it or not the Mob made things happen, 
sometimes pretty and sometimes ugly but at least things were happening, the 
revenuers wanted a bigger piece of the liquid pie which eventually they got and 
pretty much control of its flow.

5.      The big spenders are in the Government now, they have a new name 
"Politicians"
unfortunately they have deep pockets filled with our money, but they all seem 
to have very short arms.

In those good old days back in the 60s when I worked clubs, I got stiffed a 
few times by some Mafia wannabes, but I never got stiffed or cheated by the 
Real Guys, they always paid well and liked class especially when they bought it, 
made them feel good and gave them a lot of self esteem.  

Cheers,

Tom (Guido's friend) Wiggins