The story begins here
Lucinda changed into a pair of jeans, carefully replaced the dress in it’s box and headed for lunch at the diner. When she walked in, she spotted her motley crew, and they weren’t hard to find. All she had to do was follow the sound of the laughter.
Her lovable band sat at a large round table. They were a group of ragtag, loud, cloddish musicians with a talent that rivaled the best of the best in the business. They were polished and passionate about their music, if only a little rough around the edges socially. There was Jackson who played saxaphone, horn and clarinet... the ladies’ man of the bunch. Bobby the drummer, was the jokester who had a funny story for every occasion. Her Bass player Derrick was conspicuously missing from the scene this afternoon as he recovered in the hospital, and she spotted Frank, the young man taking over for him for the weekend. And of course, Charlie, the keyboard master, her best buddy, and the quiet giant of the group.
She walked over as another burst of laughter emitted from the gang and she slapped her purse on the table. “What have these clowns been telling you, Frank?” she smiled.
“Aw, Boss Lady, we’re just filling young Frank here in about a few things,” said Bobby.
“Frank, don’t believe anything these guys say. And don’t let them corrupt you.” she demanded with an accusatory point of the finger.
Frank nodded. “Yes, ma’am”
“And call me ma’am one more time, and you’re fired,” she smiled warmly. “It’s Lucinda.”
“Yes m… Miss Lucinda”
Lucinda stared at him for a moment as the guys chuckled. “I guess I can live with that,” she said. “So tell me Frank, where are you from?” she asked settling into her chair.
“Born and raised in San Francisco,” he said.
Bobby piped up, “Frank here’s a college boy, ain’t you, kid?”
“I’m studying at the Music Conservatory here in Chicago. I’m actually working on a project that I’d like you to take a look at if you find you have any time this weekend. I’d be really grateful.”
“What kind of Project?”
She shifted her eyes over to Charlie who handed her a folder filled with papers. She took the folder and opened it to find page after page of sheet music and lyrics. “You’re a songwriter!” She said delightedly.
Charlie leaned back in his chair. “Kid’s not half bad,” he said. “There are a couple in there I’d like to go over at rehearsal this afternoon if it’s okay with y’all.”
“I wrote some of them with you in mind, Miss Lucinda,” Frank said hopefully.
Lucinda flushed. “I’m flattered. I’d be glad to rehearse a couple of them today.”
Charlie had taught Lucinda how to read music years ago, so after ordering their meals, She silently poured over each song, singing them softly in her head and visualising the instrumental arrangement of each stanza while voices, dishes, silverware, and a jukebox created a din around her.
“These are beautiful,” She finally said when the waitress started to bring the food. “But you know… this kind of music doesn’t make the big bucks these days. Why aren’t you writing disco like everyone else.” she asked, only half teasing.
“Probably for the same reason I don’t cut off my nose with a razor blade. I want to be able to look at myself in the mirror.”
The whole table chuckled at that and Bobby gently slapped Frank on the back. “Well said, kid.”
Lucinda smiled introspectively as she closed the folder and handed it back to him. “There’s a lot of ugliness in this business, Frank,” she said. “And there are gonna be times when you’ll be tempted to do things you wouldn’t normally do to get ahead.” She glared at Charlie. “Everyone at this table has done it.”
“And some of us never learn from it,” Charlie shot back.
Lucinda decided to ignore that. “Frank, You said that you were raised in California, but you have all my albums. How did you even hear of me? “
“What do you mean?”
“Well, my name stretches up and down the east coast mostly, and and I’ve performed in the midwest over the years,,, but once you pass the Mississippi River, I’m no longer headlining. I’ll be opening for bigger names after Kansas City.”
“Well, you may not get a lot of airplay on the radio on the west coast, but a lot of people discovered you in California after you were on the Tonight Show.”
Suddenly everyone stopped moving. Forks were suspended half way to mouths, eyes nervously darted back and forth. The corner of Charlie’s mouth lifted as he flashed a look at Lucinda in anticipation.
“Did I say something wrong?” Frank asked.
Bobby cleared his throat. “Uh… we don’t talk about The Tonight Show around here.”
“Really?” Frank said.
“Not her favorite subject,” Charlie said as he eyed Lucinda intensely.
Frank glanced curiously from face to face. “Was it a bad experience?” he asked.
“Well, Jackson and me, we never got the whole story.” Bobby said. “ We just got bits and pieces of what happened. Boss Lady and Charlie know everything, and they ain’t talkin’”
“All we know is, after the performance on The Tonight Show, there was hell to pay, and we never knew why,” Jackson mumbled with a mouth full of food.
“Hell to pay? What does that mean?” Frank asked.
Charlie locked eyes with Jackson. “Let it go, Man.”
Jackson shrugged. “If I was you two, I’d want the record straight on this. I heard rumors for years about it. Never quite sure what was the truth and what was just gossip.”
“I heard Boss Lady here had a thing with Johnny Carson.” Bobby laughed.
“Nah,” Jackson shook his head. “That ain’t it. I heard she beat up somebody at the Studio.”
Lucinda looked over at Charlie for help only to be met with a raised eyebrow. “It’s been five years, Luc,” he said. “Jackson’s right… If you don’t set the record straight, people are just gonna make shit up.”
Lucinda took a deep exasperated breath. “Fine. I’ll tell you guys the story. But it doesn’t go any further than this table until I write my memoirs on my deathbed, you got it?” She pointed at each person at the table one by one to collect their individual oaths. Everyone nodded in agreement. She placed her elbows on the table and clasped her fingers together in front of her..
“Frank, you ever hear of the 500 Club?” she asked.
“In Atlantic City? Sure.”
“Well then you know of its reputation. Top entertainers, movie stars, mob bosses, illegal gambling, drugs…” she grinned wistfully. “It was probably the most exciting place on the planet for years. You had to be pretty established to get a booking there. Well, in 1970, I just came in under the radar, because me and the boys were booked for a Sunday night a couple days after my 30th birthday...
To be continued
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