Classic American West Coast Boxing

[dagosd2000]

Frankie Crawford(revised)

[Rick Farris]

Mike Quarry (in later life)

Lost In A Shadow . . .
by Rick Farris


I remember Mike Quarry very well. He was about a year older than me, and had been involved in boxing most of his life. He really had little choice about that.
I was part of a stable that included Mike's older brother, heavyweight contender, Jerry Quarry. However, different handlers were involved in the career of Mike Quarry.

Although a true "fighting Quarry", Mike was different than Jerry. He had to be, it was a necessity.
Mike was forced to adapt a boxing style that was the polar opposite of that of big brother, Jerry.
It was a style that would offer big brother less chance of landing those big blows, because Jerry didn't care that Mike was only 16, forty pounds lighter and was just a Junior Golden Glover.
When Mike stepped in to spar with big brother Jerry, who was weighing in the high 190's at the time, Jerry would tear into Mike and more than once leave him on the canvas.
The last time I saw this happen, I recall Mike gasping for air, "I think my back is broken!"

Mike would continue to face the fire in the future, but he damn well wasn't going to run in face first and trade with one of the hardest punching heavyweights of the era.
Mike's fight was on his toes, lots of jabs, move in- bang, bang, bang - and then slip off to the side and away. A smaller, lighter toned version of Muhammad Ali in style.

Jerry could knock over a house with either hand. left hooks, short chopping rights, and a well timed, accurate jab when he was on his game.
I saw Jerry break ribs in the gym with body blows. Light-heavyweight Ray "Windmill" White comes to mind.
White angered Jerry with one of his playful tricks during a sparring session, so Jerry pushed him into a corner, then left him in a heap.
Ray went to the hospital and was treated for three busted ribs.
A few years later when I mentioned this to Ray White, he commented, "Jerry really didn't have much of a sense of humor, did he?"

Mike's punches couldn't break an egg, but he had real talent, and he could out fight many of the best in the world. However, Bob Foster was a monster.

I remember in 1969, Mike and I were team mates on the Los Angeles Western Region Golden Gloves team that would travel to Kansas City. Mo. for the GG's Nationals.
Our heavyweight, Walter Moore, took home the National title. Mike Quarry almost did the same, losing a close one in the final championship bout.
Mike's goal was to win the National Golden Gloves championship in the same ring his brother had four years previous. He could not have come closer.

Mike turned pro, racked up nearly three dozen wins before being matched with one of the greatest light-heavyweight champs in history, Bob Foster.
Mike was finally going to have a chance to make a mark of his own, he was fighting for the World Light-Heavyweight championship.
However, even his world title fight would be overshadowed by brother Jerry, who would be fighting Muhammad Ali for the second time in the main attraction that evening.
Both Quarry's would be stopped that night, but in Mike's case it was more serious.
After catching one of Foster's brutal left hooks to the chin, Mike Quarry went down and out. He was out cold and unconcious for a dangerously long period of time.

In the corner of Mike was younger brother, Bobby, along with Teddy Bentham and a few others.
When Bobby walked over to his unconcious brother, he did the worst thing possible. He kneeled down, put his hand behind Mike's head and began to lift it.
He kind of bounced the head around in the palm of his hand for a moment, as if to revive his brother. When Bobby couldn't wake him, he dropped his brother's head.
The back of Mike's skull bounced on the canvas.

Today the medics would have been in the ring, a tongue depressor placed inside the fighter's mouth, and he'd be on a stretcher and headed to the hospital.
In due course, Mike snapped out of it. Got to his feet, walked to his corner like a drunken sailor.
A microphone was shoved in his face and questions were suddenly being fired at him one after another.
What did they expect him to say?
All one could say was that Mike Quarry lost for the first time, as he attempted to take the crown from a truly great world champion.

Mike Quarry would continue to fight on for ten more years. I'd see him in the gym, and I'd run into him on the street at times. We'd be in the same club, hangout together for awhile.

I last saw Mike in 1983, the last time I'd talk to him, at least.
Jerry had a home in Agoura Hills, which was close to my home in Westlake Village. I get a call from a friend who worked at a local restaurant.
She tells me a couple ex-pugs were at the counter and she said they knew me. It was Jerry and Mike Quarry. I stopped in, we visited for awhile and I left.
Jerry seemed OK, but Mike slurred his speech and his eyes looked strange. The Quarry brothers, both L.A. legends were worn out. I was surprised to learn that both would fight again.

Today both Mike and Jerry Quarry are gone. It wasn't supposed to end like this.
Funny how in boxing they say and up and comer "has promise." Sadly, most promises in boxing are broken.

[Rick Farris]

Wonderful post about the Quarry bros. Rick.
Thanks for that. Very poignant and sad also.

By the way, I recieved the ticket.
I will send a check tomorrow. Thank you

Brian

Thanks, Brian. This is going to be an especially fun banquet for those of us who post here.
In fact, it should be quite memorable!
You know, I had planned to invite Gene LeBell. He should be comped, if for no other reason than to visit with us.
He has a celebrity status and his mother is a Hall of Famer.
I'll get on that tomorrow. As you know, Gene is a very interesting guy and he's livid quite a life.
He won't be at our table, but I doubt we'll have time to visit he and Gokar's dojo this trip.


-Rick Farris

[Expug]

Wonderful post about the Quarry bros. Rick.
Thanks for that. Very poignant and sad also.

By the way, I recieved the ticket.
I will send a check tomorrow. Thank you

Brian

Thanks, Brian. This is going to be an especially fun banquet for those of us who post here.
In fact, it should be quite memorable!
You know, I had planned to invite Gene LeBell. He should be comped, if for no other reason than to visit with us.
He has a celebrity status and his mother is a Hall of Famer.
I'll get on that tomorrow. As you know, Gene is a very interesting guy and he's livid quite a life.
He won't be at our table, but I doubt we'll have time to visit he and Gokar's dojo this trip.


-Rick Farris

Thanks Rick,
One day, we will get to Gokar's.Maybe a summer trip?
I will most likely come out on Friday late and fly back Sunday early.
Thats about all I can do work -wise this time. Im getting real busy this month. Bulls, BlackHawks etc.
It would be fun to shoot the breeze with Gene if he's there thats for sure.
Im really looking forward to seeing the crew again.

[Rick Farris]

Frankie Crawford(revised)

Excellent Rog
With Crawford, for some reason, I've enough stories to fill a Reader's Digest.
Many are first hand, some second hand but validated beyond question.
Just sticking to a few of my own, and a look back at his career, where he came from, that says a lot.
For some reason, I have always avoided writing this story, because it never ends. It's like this spirit is whispering in my ear.
You guys can laugh, but it's different for me to write Crawford, becasue there is no order or method to the madness, just like Frankie himself.
Now's the time, I must step up to the plate . . .

And again, Roger . . . This is one of your best. That is Frankie Crawford.

[dagosd2000]

Ruben Navarro
"The Maravilla Kid"

[Rick Farris]

Ruben Navarro
"The Maravilla Kid"

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay Rog, now you really opened up a can of worms.
Ruben Navarro was a survivor. A very smart man with a big heart who turned a tough life into one of service an compassion.
Ruben was smart, always had an idea, and he was never afraid to work.
His wife Carol saw him thru the tough days, his youth, his machismo. Carol was with him when he whipped Jimmy Robertson, and the rest.
She was also with him when he whipped Mando Ramos and got a raw decision loss. She had no worries after watching her husband tame Frankie Crawford
She saw him slam Raul Rojas, breaking him up over ten rounds so he'd be worthless when he finally took on Mando Ramos in a grudge match.
He introduced a fit & ready Kenny Buchanan to the canvas in '71, would have taken his title too, had he had a chance to train for the fight.
I admire the Scots, but I'll take ELA in a street fight anyday back in my era. Today? I wouldn't bet on it, too many gang bangers and they have no heart.
Back in Navarro's day, in Frank's era, ELA had a big influence among the best boxers in the world. Today, who knows? Who cares?

By the way, story ob Ruben Navarro will follow in short order. Rog surprised me with this one.

-Rick Farris

[dagosd2000]

I'm trying to feed Rick paintings of fighters that he has come in contact with,and he responds with a story. I see a nice pattern developing

[Rick Farris]

Ruben Navarro
"The Maravilla Kid"

Roger . . . You have captured "The Maravilla Kid". You have done Ruben Navarro proud!
Hopefully my story will do your image justice.


-Rick Farris

[kikibalt]

Lady Loved The Blues

Club owner Laura Mae Gross dies at 89
'Mama' nurtured the blues at Babe's and Ricky's Inn in L.A.



In Laura Mae Gross' club, bluesman Ray Bailey said, "it didn't matter if you were a total amateur or a seasoned professional. Everybody gave you the same respect." (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

By Ari B. Bloomekatz

October 6, 2009

Laura Mae Gross, a strong-willed Mississippi woman who came to the West Coast and founded a club that became a staple of Los Angeles' blues scene, died Saturday of heart failure, according to relatives.

She was 89.

Gross, also known as "Mama," opened Babe's and Ricky's Inn on Central Avenue in 1964 and hosted legends such as Bobby "Blue" Bland and John Lee Hooker while serving cold beer and soda and drawing an integrated crowd.

On Monday nights, often the most popular, a $2 cover also earned patrons a fried chicken dinner.

Babe's and Ricky's moved to Leimert Park in 1997 after financial difficulties on Central Avenue, but the vibe stayed the same even when Monday's cover increased to $10, they started serving wine and the fried chicken dinner plate expanded to a buffet.

The club never made much money, but it earned a reputation as a nurturing ground for young musicians and as a place for the experienced to display their talents.

"The unique thing about that club, and always has been, is you can go down there on jam session night and it didn't matter if you were a total amateur or a seasoned professional," bluesman Ray Bailey said. "Everybody gave you the same respect."

Blues guitarist Keb' Mo' said Babe's and Ricky's was "the last club from the Central Avenue heyday."

"It was just a great vibe. It was a real blues club, a true blues club," he said. "If you were in there and you'd start playing anything but the blues, Mama law would come up to the stage and she would stop you. She'd say: 'Na, na, na.' She wasn't having no Top 40 club."

Gross was born in Vicksburg, Miss., in 1920 and moved to California about 25 years later with her husband, Riley Gross. He was killed about 10 years later during a robbery as he was cashing a paycheck, family members said.

Gross took over a club near the intersection of Central Avenue and 52nd Street several years later and renamed it Babe's and Ricky's Inn after her son and nephew.

When the club opened, the area was already in decline from its perch as the backbone of ballrooms, hotels and theaters that helped define black cultural life in Los Angeles.

"Hers is representative, in an authentic way, of the journey of African Americans in Los Angeles," county Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said.

"Particularly in Leimert Park, that's the home of what's new and what's next in terms of African American culture and commerce. The arts center of African American life in this region and they punctuated it with the blues."

The county Board of Supervisors will adjourn in Gross' memory today.

In the early 1990s the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, which uses copyright laws to monitor and collect royalties for its members, said Gross failed to pay fees on music performances at the club on Central Avenue, and she later faced a default judgment of nearly $9,000.

At the time, she told a reporter from The Times, "They can't get blood from a turnip."

"I have nothing," Gross said in 1993. "I had $300 in my checking account, and they took that."

After seeing the story in The Times, the legendary songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller agreed to pay off the debt. Both went to high school in Los Angeles in the early 1950s and were students of the Central Avenue night life. They wrote "Jailhouse Rock," recorded by Elvis Presley, among other hits.

Gross was evicted from the Central Avenue location in 1996 after her landlords tripled her rent. She reopened in Leimert Park in the Crenshaw district with the help of Hodges and Ridley-Thomas, who was then a city councilman.

"I'm back!" Gross exclaimed during the opening.

Her son, Ronald Smith, lives in New York but said he wants the club to stay open.

"She taught me how to appreciate music and how to deal with different people and different personalities. . . . It was a beautiful thing for me," Smith said.

He said his mother is also survived by three granddaughters and two great-grandchildren.

Jonathan Hodges, a property master for movies and TV shows, who was Gross' partner in Leimert Park, said the club had a birthday party for Gross just a few weeks ago.

It was the first year she wasn't able to attend. She soon entered a hospice.

"There was an aura of authenticity that she had that made it so you always heard blues -- real blues music -- in that club, whether it was good or bad, because it varied," Hodges said.

"She's immensely respected by people for that," he said.

Friends said that even though she was turning 89, the party was dubbed her 90th.

Fundraisers for Gross' funeral services will be held Friday and Saturday at the club.

A public viewing will be held at Inglewood Cemetery Mortuary from 3 to 8 p.m. Oct. 16.

Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Oct. 17 at the Golden West Mausoleum, also known as the Galleria, at Inglewood Park Cemetery, 720 East Florence Ave.

[email protected]

[dagosd2000]

Laura Mae sounds like a woman who had an open mind,and when you have that thought, many beautifull things happen.

[dagosd2000]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHh4wBGQZD0

St. James Infirmary

Bobby "Blue" Bland

[kikibalt]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHh4wBGQZD0

St. James Infirmary

Bobby "Blue" Bland

[kikibalt]

Bobby "Blue" Bland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRo83XZBmOs
"If Loving You is Wrong"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q346g7NIvC0
"I Stand Accused"

[dagosd2000]

Howie Steindler

[Rick Farris]

Howie Steindler

One day in Howie's office . . .

One thing I remember most about Howie Steindler, he never smiled.
Even when he was happy, he looked like he had indigestion.
Once in awhile, somebody would catch him off guard with a comment, and you'd see the corners of his mouth turn upward.
However, he'd quickly get control of himself and fall back into Scrooge personna.

Like the time I was in Howie's office paying my dues. It was $5 a month and I had missed a few training sessions the previous month.
Howie barked, "I shouldn't charge you anymore, you're rarely here", he said with sarcasm.
It was then Ernie Lopez made a funny comment about Howie Steindler's ring knowledge.
Howie wasn't amused that Indian Red suggested that he had never actually stepped into the ring as a boxer. "Hell I had plenty of fights!" Howie retorted.
Ernie then smiled and said, "Yeah Howie, I heard you fought under the name of Howard the Coward".

Steindler almost broke into a smile, but instead jumped up and pointed to the door, "All of you out of here!"
Ernie, Danny and I left the office. We were all laughing.


-Rick Farris
(This is not a story for the portrait, just sharing a moment from the past)

[dagosd2000]

Howie Steindler(with the smile taken off)

Rick
I was watching the tapes of Little Red dismantling Hafey and Famoso Gomez last night. Steindler was in the ring pretty fast. He looked plenty happy. But then again he was probably laughing,not smiling. Rog

[dagosd2000]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ujXsc_Sa3w
Stairway To The Stars
Johnny Mathis

Stairway To The Stars

Before Spud Murphy's Gym was there it was a night club. Between Tenth and Eleventh on Broadway was Jazzville. You had to walk up the stairs to enter the place that opened up into a big room with the bandstand at the back and a long bar to the left.

This was a time when jazz was struggling for an audience,but that's been jazz's history. People don't get it. They can't follow along. They want to hum a tune,but because jazz is so much improvisation,it's hard to hum 16th notes or a different interpretation each time. But in all fairness,much of the music suffers because many musicians who take it on aren't ready. They are in over their heads. As Guy Lombardo once said of Be Bop,"It's Chinese music."

But to hear the music performed by musicians who can master the keys and changes and techniques,and then put in brilliant ideas...well it would have made Beethoven cry.

I used to sneek into Jazzville in the early 60's. It was a time when the last of the great jazz artists were still awingin' their axes. I remember the great Canadian pianist,Oscar Peterson and his trio. The master of the Hammond B3 organ,Jimmy Smith. There was Dizzy and Cal Tjader playing Latin jazz. They were wonderfull times. The last of the old clubs. Where jazz belonged.

I remember one night I climbed those stairs to catch a set of The Modern Jazz Quintet. They were sort of a sophisticated group. Studied at conservatories. Gigged at Carnegie Hall.Always dressed in suits.But just because they'd gone to Juilliard didn't mean that they hadn't been around. Those cats had been in plenty of cutting sessions from LA. to the Apple. In clubs so long ago that they were lucky if they wound up being a Korean Church.

John Lewis was the leader of the group. He played a Steinway piano. Milt Jackson was the vibraphonist. Big Percy Heath played string bass. Connie Kay had replaced Kenny Clarke on the drums. The horn player that night,and added to make it a 5 spot, was tenor sax man Hank Mobley.

Jazzville,like most black clubs,was shaky on checking ID's. The vice squad was always in those joints. Checking for under age drinkers,dope dealers,pimps and prostitutes. But if you trace the musice back to it's beginnings,that's where it began. Storyville,in New Orleans,was the where the seeds were planted. Buddy Bolden,Kid Ory,Armstrong. Later it was KC,then New York. Harlem and 52nd Street. Now jazz is everywhere. It really caught on in Europe.

The MJQ,as quintet is referred to,was on the mark that night. Renditions of Gershwin songs. A soft tone with intricate solos. Each soloist gliding the sound over the room. The Modern Jazz Quintet and genius were one that evening.

Connie Kay came over to the bar to repair between sets. He sat next to me. John Lewis was talking to the audience about how jazz was appreciated more in Europe. Kay scoffed. He looked at me.
"Son,I'll take the States anyday if I'm gong make my statement."
He drank his drink and returned to the bandstand. It was like being in heaven.

[dagosd2000]

Ella Fitzgerald

[dagosd2000]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkHFLqZiWzw

The Sherrif

The Modern Jazz Quartet

[Rick Farris]

Howie Steindler(with the smile taken off)

Rick
I was watching the tapes of Little Red dismantling Hafey and Famoso Gomez last night. Steindler was in the ring pretty fast. He looked plenty happy. But then again he was probably laughing,not smiling. Rog

Rog . . . You are absolutley right about Howie smiling on TV, and he had lots to smile about.
However, prior to Danny winning the title, I don't recall any smiling on Howie's part.
That's when I knew Howie best, I quit boxing in early 1976, just before Danny won the title.
I felt a warmth about the man, but a deliberate grouchy personality. That was Howie. I can see him in your portrait, but the smile isn't a part of my memory.
I got used to seeing the look on Howie's face when he'd attempt to collect back gym dues from a flakey manager who had a private room, or when some guy craps in the shower.
Yeah, that actually happened a couple times, somebody would come to Howie's office and tell him about the shower and he'd fly out of his office screaming . . . smiles weren't a part of the deal.
Mel Epstein bought a rubber turd in a Chinatown novelty shop after we'd had dinner one night.
The next day he takes it to the gym, and has me put it in the shower.
He then wanders in to Howie's office and casually tells him that it appears somebody has crapped in the shower.
Steindler flew out of his office, screaming obsenities, the veins on his forehead bulging. It was like igniting a stick of dynamite.
He then began to look for the culprit, screaming threats as he carried on. Finally somebody offered to clean it and discovered it was a joke.
Mel never said a word and neither did I until years later, long after Howie was gone.

-Rick

[dagosd2000]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxX0-OaI5j0

Straight No Chaser

Monk

[Rick Farris]

Ella Fitzgerald

Beautiful, Roger.

[dagosd2000]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kotK9FNEYU

Giant Steps

Coltrane

[dagosd2000]

Charlie Parker