I never had it that bad but remember getting home at 4AM after gigs in Staten Island and being totally shot all day. Then having to go out and do it again the next night. Or playing the Jersey shore 4 night a week and driving home to be at my teaching job by 8 AM the the next day.
Lots of fun when your young !

Hey, Bill, where did you play in Staten Island? ... That's my native territory ...

It was the Holiday Inn on North end. Had my van broken into and the ignition wrecked but they didn't get it started to steal.
Lounge Manager was a ex NY cop who was always packing and one night a guy comes into the lobby with a shotgun and holds up the front desk. Manager just quietly closed the glass doors to the Lounge and locked them. We sat there VERY quietly till the police arrived.
One of the few jobs I quit.

In By The Wayside, Lou Rainaros Eldorado, Lincoln Lounge, Rustic Inn, MJ's, Isis, The Wadsworth House,
Wagon Wheel, Sonny's, Side Door Lounge,
The Beach Comber,
Russo's, Leones, Lee's Tavern, The Esquire Pub, Kents East, Haddad,
Park Villa, Lacreccis Statten, The Crystal Room, Surf club, Pat's Bar,
The Mariners Inn, The Tyson Lounge, Memories, The Boulevard, Carmens, Mardi Gras,
The New Yorker, Moulin Rouge, The Keyboard Lounge, The Pavilion, Totos 3J's, The Thunderbird, Crocittos, etc,.....


Tony Played them all many years ago...Sadly all gone..

Wow, Donny, you worked some dives in your day ... along with some nice 'wedding venues' a few of which are still there ...
We got into the wedding/dinner dance scene early on and didn't have to play a lot of those clubs ...
Crocitto's was a strip club from day one ...

Tony ...also played weddings at the Shalimar, & Crystal Room,
Richmond Terrace in S.I.many times,....also was the house band at the
Oriental Manor, Hollywood Terrace, Imperial Terrace, Embassy Terrace, El Caribe,
The Riviera, 802 club, Brown Derby, Earnie Barrys, Penthouse,
and so many others back in the 60s,70s,80s,
in Brooklyn fun times..

sadly all gone...

... sure glad I don't play "GIGS". My work keeps me too busy.

Donny, it's interesting how our careers paralleled each other, although we were a little ahead of you in years ... We played just about every one of those catering halls you mentioned and others in Manhattan, Queens, and Long Island ...
As I've often said, I think it was the best time to be a musician ...

Tony I agree....
There were many venues I didn't mention
all over the tri-state area also
it was a glorious time years ago to be a musician for sure.

....and yet, despite having spent five times the amount of time training for that role as the average non-musician worker, the system back then, as now, pretty much guaranteed that the average capable, competent, journeyman musician could not make a decent living plying his trade. Megastar exceptions aside, society continues to crap on it's artist community. Sad.

chas

Chas depends how you looked at it....
Once in a lifetime my friend why do you think the new Woodstock was canceled just saying...

chas ... perhaps not for the average, capable player, but for one a step above who could read and play, there was a lot of work on Broadway, in studios, and clubs in those days ...
My M-I-L cousin was married to a professional musician - saxes, flute, clarinet, and percussion drums ... he made a good living playing all those venues as well as with the Johnny Carson Late Show band and the Merv Griffin Show band ...
BUT, those days are gone ...

"those days" aren't gone until I SAY they're gone!
(he prayed)

There are exceptions to every rule, and yes, UD, you are an exception ... and exceptional ! ...

SHUX ... thanks, man