[Dixielandjazz] Shakey and Me, Book Review

[Robert S. Ringwald]

Listmates,

I came across this book review I wrote for the Mississippi Rag some time
ago titled "Shakey and Me."   since we have quite a few new members, I
thought that some of you
might be interested in a book about the first person who started the Pizza,
beer and jazz craze.

*****

REVIEW OF "SHAKEY & ME"
By Bob Ringwald

"When people ask you how I really would like to be remembered, just tell
them I was
a friend of Jazz." Those were the words of Sherwood (Shakey) Johnson,
America's first
Pizza King, shortly before his passing on October 31, 1998. He was indeed a
"Friend
of Jazz" and Jazz musicians.

Burt Wilson, a long-time friend and business associate of Shakey, and whose
1955
band, the Silver Dollar Jazz Band, was the first band to play at the
original Shakeys
Pizza Parlor in Sacramento, California has written a marvelous book entitled
"Shakey
& Me."

He takes us from Shakey's high school graduation in 1943, through two years
in the
Navy (where he acquired the nickname Shakey) to his dismissal from Junior
College
and the story of the rise and fall of the Shakey's Pizza Empire. Although
"pizza
pie" existed long before, Shakey was the first to explore the inexplicable
combination
of German beer, Italian pizza and Ragtime/Jazz Music in an English-style
pub. The
combination of food, drink, and an atmosphere of family fun actually changed
the
eating habits of most Americans. Soon, the Pizza craze swept Sacramento, the
United
States and eventually the rest of the civilized world.

Throughout the book the writer skillfully weaves in humorous anecdotes about
this
bona fide American entrepreneur. He recounts how in the early days of
Shakeys, call-in
pizza orders were delivered in a hearse and when Shakey tipped a piano
player $105
because the biggest tip he had ever received up until then was for $100 from
Al Capone.

It is pure delight to read about the time in the early 1960s when during a
San Francisco
49ers football game Shakey asked the stadium manager if he could "buy a
round for
the house."

Shakey, a jazz aficionado, always featured live music in his
establishments -- from
piano/banjo combos to full seven and eight piece jazz bands. At one time he
had
over 650 piano/banjo duos playing for him all over the world. Many musicians
(including
myself) cut their teeth on Jazz working for Shakey. For innumerable fans,
Shakeys
was their first introduction to Jazz.

In 1977 at the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee, Shakey was honored by being crowned
the first
"Emperor of Jazz." Recently, the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society placed
a bronze
plaque in the original Shakeys (now a trendy remodeled bar and grill) paying
honor
and respect to him for his staunch preservation of America's only true
original art
form.

Throughout the 100-page book, the writer not only deftly captures Shakey's
flamboyant
personality and marketing genius (he once flew a Mariachi band from Mexico
to Hawaii
and taught them to sing, "Let's Remember Pearl Harbor" in Spanish; and flew
a Hawaiian
band to Mexico and taught them "La cucuracha" in Hawaiian) he also gives the
reader
significant insight into Shakey's love of Jazz and his fierce loyalty to
friends.

There are fourteen photographs in the book including a gem of Shakey circa
1948 performing
in a two-man vaudeville act. He sits at the piano (in drag) with his
vaudeville partner
Jimmy Carroll on drums, dressed in an old tuxedo with wide satin lapels.
Looking
at the photo, makes one yearn for an audio recording. For anyone who has
ever enjoyed
a slice of pizza with a stein of beer while listening to a Dixieland band,
this book
is a must.
It makes a great stocking stuffer for the pizza lover in your family. It is
a joy
for me to know that because of this book such a rare and fascinating man
will not
be forgotten.

"Shakey & Me," published by Paloria Press, may be purchased in the
Sacramento area
at Borders Books on Fair Oaks Blvd. near Howe Ave.

It may be purchased by mail:

Send check made out to Burt Wilson,
$10 plus $3.50 = $13.50

Burt Wilson
10324 Daniel Way
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670

-30


--Bob Ringwald K6YBV
530/642-9551
916/806-9551 Cell
www.ringwald.com
Fulton Street Jazz Band

"I can resist everything except temptation."  --Oscar Wilde, 1854 - 1900