Remembering honky-tonk escapade
Reading the Robert Price article about the burned out honky-tonks and historical losses to our Bakersfield Sound triggered a memory of when, in 1952, I challenged my Bakersfield
High School girlfriends into making the rounds of the local honky-tonks. We just wanted to see where these places were; we certainly were not planning on going inside any of these nefarious beer drinking joints that had been talked and gossiped about as some of the most dangerous, full of drunken cowboys and rough roustabouts from the oil fields, and fascinating because our local country musicians were getting a bit of fame.
None of my friends were in the least interested in listening to country music in those days. Our radios were tuned to Bakersfield’s best loved DJ, George Day, who nightly fed our romanticized hearts and minds with Johnny Ray, Patty Page, Perry Como, Nat King Cole, Tony Bennett with a little George Shearing Jazz thrown in to make us feel sophisticated, or maybe because that was George Day’s favorite.
The evening started because we had read, (could it have been in The Bakersfield Californian?) that Sally Rand, the famous fan dancer, really danced in the nude behind those big fluffy fans. We were fascinated, and she was appearing, one night only, at Rainbow Gardens, one of our nicest nightspots situated on Highway 99 (Union Avenue) just down the road from the upscale Maison Jaussaud’s. Our plan was to sneak in by the back door (we were only 17) and quickly catch a glimpse of the nude Sally with her famous fans. We prepared an excuse in case security stopped us: We would say we were doing a research paper for our BHS English class! Believe it or not, that is just what we did, sneaked in the back door, saw Sally from backstage as she performed and ran out quickly, escaping in my ’40 Mercury convertible, the Green Bomb!
Flying north on Highway 99, we were elated with teenage daring and adrenaline. Having been so successful in this escapade, we decided to cruise Edison Highway and check out the Lucky Spot and Clover Club, Bakersfield’s infamous and dangerous honky-tonks. Slowly we drove by, expecting at any moment to see brawling cowboys and a parking lot strewn with broken beer bottles. Parked in front, with our car doors locked but windows down, we listened to those real, live musicians as they sang their passions, their pain and broken hearts; the twang of guitars and the beginning of our Bakersfield Sound.
Oh, to be able to go back to that moment, sit awhile longer, appreciating what I was hearing.
But no, we were teenagers, just daring one another to peek inside.
After a few minutes we decided it best to get ourselves out of there and over to Hall’s Drive In, on the corner of Niles and Baker streets, where we would be safe mingling with teenage friends and listening to George Day on our car radio.
Teens do grow up and with the wisdom that comes with the years, maturity and experience, my radio dial now flicks between KCW and KUZZ, the music of this Bakersfield girl’s soul.