:39:13
I was ready for New York.
:39:22
I started playing immediately
and I realized right away...
:39:25
that I'd come to the right place,
because there were many places to play.
:39:35
I played with Freddy Neil.
He was a big star down there.
:39:38
I did that until about 8:00,
he would give me what he could.
:39:41
The place was usually packed
from 12:00 to 8:00...
:39:44
with tourists and lunch-hour secretaries.
:39:46
And then at 8:00
all the rest of the houses would open...
:39:51
where you'd pass the basket and play.
:39:53
Check it out.
:39:55
There'd be a carny on the street
bringing people down.
:39:58
"You know, you gotta come down here
and see this.
:40:00
"There's so much weirdness
you've never seen in your life. "
:40:02
Just always,
there'd be people coming and going.
:40:04
I have studied at Oxford University...
:40:07
I've done my research
at the British Museum...
:40:09
and have matriculated at Brooklyn College.
:40:12
Sawdust on the floor, tourist traps...
:40:15
like, a poet, somebody singing a song
with a parrot on a shoulder...
:40:19
Tiny Tim-type characters.
:40:21
No one who had any recordings out
ever played them.
:40:24
You only played those if you had to.
:40:31
You would have to
make an impression on somebody.
:40:35
There were many, many singers
who were good...
:40:37
but they couldn't focus
their attention on anybody.
:40:40
They couldn't really
get inside somebody's head.
:40:48
You gotta be able to pin somebody down.
:40:50
I remember him because he was different.
He was doing Woody Guthrie songs.
:40:55
He had on a little hat, he had a brace.
:40:59
There's a quality of determination...