Paper Bag
#29
2006
The Program
Go to the top of Bag
#29
Paper Bag
#29
2006
The Program
Go to the top of Bag
#29
Paper Bag
#29
2006
The Program
Go to the top of Bag
#29
Paper Bag
#29
2006
The Program
Go to the top of
Bag #29
Paper Bag
#29
2006
The Program
Go to the top of Bag
#29
Paper Bag
#29
2006
The Program
Go to the top of Bag #29
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The artwork for the 2006 Program was created by Mark Coffey, the wonderful man who designs our bag shirts. On the shirt, the feet, at the right, are pointed toward the sky, and are sporting a toe-tag. For the program, we have flipped the patient over, added a hint of butt, and in the word balloon identified the patient. Anyone who knows Mike Cummings knows that he was very pleased with himself for inspiring this piece of art. Several people did complain that there was no enough body hair on the patient. |
We intend to play rock 'n' roll for as long as we are physically able
…so far, so good.
Paper Bag #29! (cue Sam the Bugler da da da dadadat da da-dadat da da da daaaaaaaa) It is now post time! Today, we celebrate the beginning of the new Bag season. Since we are all a year better, I am looking forward to the usual nonsense that takes place on stage. I must say that Mike Cummings has been very well behaved lately. He and Joe the Hat actually stood up to play last year.
Theme - In honor of our advancing age we present to you the Doctor Bag. Sometimes this theme thing is just too obvious and too easy. At a Section Leader meeting where we decide where songs should be placed in the songlist, we usually call out the song title, the board decides whether it belongs in the 1st or 2nd set and on we go. We have 13 songs for the Doctor Bag. The question goes out “how do we split these up?” In a moment of pure Paper Bag brilliance, Tony Barca says “traditional medicine, and alternative medicine.” And there you go. The songs easily found their way into one discipline or other. As you are aware, when a recording artist who resides in the Paper Bag oeuf passes on to the great recording studio in the sky, we have been in the practice of performing songs of theirs in tribute to them. We have now formalized that practice in the Body Bag. This year the Body Bag features Billy Preston, Wilson Pickett, Lou Rawls, and the Cowsills (who are dropping like flies). We also would like to celebrate the life of Little Buster. We are going to get “Busterized” tonight. The Body Bag will be a regular feature of the Bag.
The Paper Bag Military Update - We are proud to announce that for the first time we have on the Paper Bag roster an active member of our country's armed forces. Now, simple common sense tells us that this person can't be one of the 50 year old fat guys that populate the Paper Bag stage. No no . . . this brave woman is also the first child of a Paper Bagger to become a Paper Bagger herself - ladies and gentlemen I intro-duce to you Unites States Marine PFC Alison Bardeguez (aka little cheese) currently back from basic training on Parris Island, South Carolina. PFC Bardeguez is going to be doing some Marine push-ups for us tonight. I kinda think her Mom, Mary Cheese should drop and give us 20 also.
Well, I am looking forward to standing in my spot on the stage while my friends play this music at killer volume, all wearing huge smiles. I thank you for your participation and your enthusiasm. Don't forget the rule, if it gets dark out, we will have to have fun.
It's a rule. Really. |
The 1,000th Bag Song
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is true. The 23rd song performed tonight will be the 1,000th song to be performed at a Paper Bag. We started out with 4 songs, in the woods at Whitehall, went as high as 56 during Bag #26 and will play at least 46 tonight. One thousand songs, played by all these players … that’s a lot of music. Much of it unrehearsed. We have recordings of most of it. Bag #1 is on a cassette tape, Bag #2 is on 4 track, #3 and #4 are on 8 track 1/2 inch tape. From Bag #5 on we have videotape, and now I walk away from the show with a completed DVD in my hands. Hundreds and hundreds of hours of tape. The strange thing is that it is all different, but it is all exactly the same. When you think about it, it really is not that strange. On the bagsite, you can download an mp3 of Paper Bag #2, at the Silver Dollar in 1979. Of the 22 people on that recording, 10 are still active participants in the Bag. 16 of the 36 from Bag#3, 20 from the 41 who participated in Bag #4. Even though it has been all these years and all these songs, it is still the same group of musicians. I have seen the Bag band and it is us.
The songs are mostly my music. Almost 100 of the 1,000 are Beatles songs. The Rolling Stones, Sly & the Family Stone, Allman Bros. Led Zeppelin, Jeff Beck, Cream, the Who, Santana, Frank Zappa, Credence Clearwater Revival, the Temptations, Jethro Tull, Jimi Hendrix, Chicago, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, the Eagles … these are the bands we play and the music we love. Most of it can be played really loud, in fact, it sounds better that way. I am lucky in that I have enjoyed most of the music I have listened to while standing on the other side of the stage monitors. I am a bass player. I stand next to the drums. I have stood there all my adult life. I like it there. Music sounds best to me when there is a big fat bass amp behind me, a nice loud guitar amp on each side, vocals coming from wedge monitors and of course, that crash cymbal 6 inches from my right ear. I am a very lucky boy.
So what is the 1,000th Bag song you ask? It could only be “Land of 1,000 Dances.” This is so appropriate in so many ways. First, it is by Wilson Pickett, who we are honoring tonight on his induction to the Body Bag. Second, it will be sung by Allen Santoriello, Little Wilson himself. He is one of those 16 current Baggers who were at Bag #3 He whipped a funky hat out of his pocket and did his James Brown thing. The primary reason that “Land of 1,000 Dances” is the 1,000th Bag song is because it is the perfect Bag song, Driving dance-able beat, familiar to the audience, and perfect for the audience to sing along. I have heard my friend Allen sing this song many times, and he be knowin' how to work the crowd. I know you all will sing along, and dance along, and have fun. And remember, it is my job to have fun, and I am a professional.
Na-NaNaNaNa-NaNaNaNa-NaNaNa-NaNaNa |
The Door Crew
It costs a lot to stage the Paper Bag in the new millennium. While the musicians do not get paid, there is the matter of sound (big sound), lights, video, shirts, beer for the Executive Board meetings, beer for the band (60 cases last year), food, staging, equipment rental, cd’s, trophys, printing, fees for the Bag website, etc. The Door Crew are the ones who make paying the bills possible. You know them, you see them every year at the “Tell Your Story Here” booth. They happen to be my brothers and sisters: Phil, Sue, Bobby, Joanie, Danny, Terry, Vinny, Lucy and Tony. Along with Frankie Varipapa (Air Tuna) they have been running the operation at the door to the Bag for over 20 years. They don’t get to come in and watch the Bag until well after 1 am. Now, the door can be a funny place. Each year a video camera captures the scene outside the TYSH booth. I watch the whole 4 hours every year. I see you all coming in. I see who pays, and who sneaks in. There are always people who tell their story to the camera. One woman tried to tell my brother that she was my cousin and became irate when he didn’t believe her. My sister, who is among the planet’s nicest people, ripped into this inebriated fellow once, seemingly for her own amusement. Anyway, without the door crew, the bills don’t get paid and there is no Bag. There is no way I could properly thank my siblings for what they have done at the Bag these many years. Please thank them for me and while you’re at it, stop at the TYSH booth and tell the camera a story. I’m gonna watch it as soon as I recover from Bag Lag. I promise. |
Peas & carrots, peas & carrots, peas & carrots …
Brian Mulhern was one of 4 guitarists to participate in Paper Bag #1 at The People’s Picnic in Whitehall, NY. During the late 70’s, Brian played in several bands in and around the Huntington area often teaming up with his brother Kevin as (what else?) the Mulhern Brothers. I mixed sound for them several times at Chelsea’s. Sally Scudder played keyboards and sang in many bands with numerous Bag members. Sally was great to have in the band. Perfect pitch, big smile, never conplained, always had fun. Every time the Jim Small Band plays, I look over to the other side of the stage and I can see her, boppin’ and tappin’ her bare feet. Adam Calaci played bass and sang in some of the most successful bands to ever play on Long Island. On stage, Adam was a solid presence. His bass playing was strong and yes, it was loud. Backstage, he was a very, very funny man. Bruce Rogers had perfect pitch and keyboard skills that brought that physical marvel to life. Standing in Canterbury Ales while Jim Pin was cranking away (I think Rob Barraco was playing a way-outside solo) Bruce was able to quote to me the chord changes to “Hot Fun in the Summertime” (which are very #7/ b11-ish) out of his head. He played the grand piano on stage at Paper Bag #2 and played the Tonight Show theme at the very end of the show. He also had the good fortune to be singing “Low Spark of High Heel Boys” at Bag #9 when Scotty K came onstage as the Energizer Bunny. Little Buster never played in the Bag but he was a tremendous influence on many of us who do. I was Busterized many times. Boy was he fun to watch and listen to. He was the real deal.
We are musicians. We live a different life, in bars and diners and clubs and catering halls and come home as the sun comes up and put off joining the “real world “ as long as possible. It is a great life, rich and rewarding and so so so much fun. We look after each other and are loyal to each other. Sometime during the night tonight, remember someone missing from your life, smile and have some fun for them. We all can live on in the memory of our friends, family and colleagues. Take care of each other, be loyal to each other, and most of all, have fun. |
The Savannah Joe Kommnick “Are these donuts fresh?” Moment
Many of you in the Paper Bag community knew Joe Kommnick simply as “Savannah.” I had the privilege working with this gentle man in the clubs on the South Shore for over 10 years. Savannah Joe was a bright ray of happiness that cut through the smoky air and shined into your heart. He was always ready with a joke, your favorite libation, or an absurd movie quote . There was never anything harsh about Savannah Joe…none of the rough edges many of us who live the night life develop. I miss his company. In 1996 we inaugurated the tradition of performing a song each year that connects us with Joe, so that we may have a vehicle to help us remember this fine man. This year, Free Ride by Edgar Winter is dedicated to Savannah Joe. In keeping with Joe’s sense of humor, and to ease the melancholy of the moment, before we begin the song, We ask all of you to place an index finger, held horizontally, just below your nose and all together ask in a falsetto voice …“Are these donuts fresh?” |
THE BROWN PAPER BAG
is the only thing civilized man has produced that does not seem out of place in nature. Crumpled into a wad of wrinkles, like the fossilized brain of a dryad; looking weathered; seemingly slow and rough enough to be a product of natural evolution; its brownness the low key brown of potato skin and peanut shell, dirty but pure; its kinship to tree unobstructed by the cruel crush of industry; absorbing the elements like any other organic entity a No. 8 Kraft brown paper bag lay discarded in the hills of Huntington and it appears to live where it lay.
by Tom Robbins
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Thanks and a tip of the old Paper Bag hat to Naomi Margolin for discovering the origin of this quote |
Thi is the spot where I get to thank… Dick at Supreme Trophy in Huntington Station; Eko Video; S-K Sound; Lightcraft; Mark Coffey and the crew at Goldman Bros.; Minuteman Printing in East Northport; The Maker of the Melon Peggy Irwin; Dawn Barca - the sign girl; Lisa Layton for her wonderful work collecting and distributing food; the faculty and staff at all the Island Trees Schools; my brothers and sisters working at the front door missing the show; my three girls, Emma, Sara & Sue for making me the happy boy you see here tonight. As you can see, I live a charmed existence.
Mulcahy’s… is some great place to enjoy the Bag. From John Murray, right across to the bar backs, every one of the seemingly endless number of employees of this club is unfailingly helpful. These people understand the the Paper Bag at its purest essence. Mul’s is the Bag’s home for life, in no small part due to the support provided by these fine people. Please thank the Mulcahy’s staff when you see them. Patronize this fine establishment all year. Get home safely
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