[Dixielandjazz] Dixielandjazz Digest, Vol 53, Issue 27/The not so authentic 20s music

[John McClernan]

Jeanne,
You are absolutely correct. I know someone who performed a piano  
single at Bill's Gay 90s for quite a number of years until his  
passing. You describe exactly the kind of music they wanted from him.  
When he met up with acquaintances outside of Bill's, they would ask  
him where he was currently performing. He would joke, "Bill's Gay  
90s. But don't come see me, you'd have to be gay or 90 to get in." He  
was quite a character. So were his brothers; well, two of them, at  
least.
Cheers,
John


On May 15, 2007, at 2:23 PM, Jeanne Brei wrote:

> Dear Rose,
>    I was once hired for a party at Bill's Gay 90s in New York and  
> specifically was asked to make it a Gay '90s show with music from  
> the 1890s -- so I did my research and discovered that RHYTHM didn't  
> come into music until about 1902! You can't possibly play an entire  
> party and expect people to have fun without having songs with  
> rhythm! So I called back the party planner and explained the  
> dilemma and the more we talked, the more I realized that what she  
> REALLY wanted was all the old Shakey's pizza parlor sing-a-long  
> songs I learned as a kid at the Golden Bee honky-tonk piano sing-a- 
> long at the Broadmore Hotel in Coloorado Springs. So, I threw in a  
> couple of songs from the 1890s (She's Only A Bird In A Gilded Cage  
> and She's More to Be Pitied Than Censured) for "flavor" and then we  
> had a rockin' time singing songs from the "aughts" & "teens" -  
> 5'2", Bill Bailey, etc.
> Jeanne Brei