That Time Allen Ginsberg Came to Birmingham

In one of my online wanderings recently I found this photograph of Allen Ginsberg. Birmingham News photographer Ed Jones took this shot of the poet in the Colonial Room of the original Tutwiler Hotel on January 6, 1970. Constructed in 1914, the hotel sat on the corner of 5th Avenue North and 20th Street until it closed in 1972. The hotel was demolished two years later. 

Ginsberg was one of many well-known people who passed through the old Tutwiler. President Warren G. Harding, Charles Lindbergh, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Babe Ruth and Vice-President Hubert Humphrey were among them. In 1937 Tallulah Bankhead and her new husband actor John Emery held their after-wedding party in the Continental Room on August 31, 1937. 

By the time of his visit to Birmingham and until his death in 1997, Ginsberg was one of the best known literary figures in the United States, if not the world. Along with Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs, he was a core member of the Beat Generation of writers. Kerouac's On the Road and Burroughs' Naked Lunch, and Ginsberg's long poem "Howl" are basic texts of that literary movement. The poem made him famous--and for a while notorious in the wake of a 1957 trial over the work's supposed obscenity. Ginsberg was a prolific poet and activist in the 1960s and 1970s as he participated in protests over the Vietnam War and environmental issues. His association with major cultural figures, ranging from Bob Dylan to Timothy Leary, continued. 

So what was Allen Ginsberg doing in Birmingham in early January 1970? Good question. He might have been invited for a poetry reading. Since he's sitting next to a microphone, maybe he was interviewed by a radio or TV station. 

You can read more about Ginsberg here and here. 

UPDATE 3 April 2025

My friend Bill Plott has sent me this bit of info about his visit to the Magic City:

"Allen Ginsberg was in Birmingham as a participant in the Encounter Symposium at Birmingham-Southern College. There was an unbylined interview with him in the Jan. 6, 1970 Birmingham News. Wonder why the writer did not receive credit for an interesting story?"

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History

The original Tutwiler Hotel in July 1949

Alabama in "Whiplash" (1948)

Sometimes I run across really strange Alabama "connections", and I've written blog posts about a few of them. One examined boxer Joe Louis' appearance in a very strange 1970 film, The Phynx. I also wrote about Helen Oliver, supposedly a manicurist from Birmingham arrested as a "suspicious person" in New Orleans in 1915. I've probably done some others, but those two will give you the idea.

Now we come to the 1948 film noir Whiplash. Dane Clark is a painter who falls in love with a woman he just met, played by Alexis Smith, who turns out to be married to ex-boxer Zachary Scott, who's in a wheelchair. Clark's character becomes a boxer himself, and the narrative just gets more complex from there. It's a film noir, after all, and actually an enjoyable one.

At one point there's a scene in an upscale nightclub where this trio of ladies sing a piece with some interesting lyrics, which you can read below. As you'll note, Alabama makes a prominent appearance.

I've spent a fair amount of time attempting to track down both the trio and the song. I find no mention of either in the Wikipedia entry, linked above, or at the IMDB. Google searches produced the song's lyrics in an online copy of the script but nothing else, not even a title. I did find reference to someone seeking info on the singers but no answers.

If anyone reading this post has some information, let us know in the comments. The film is an entertaining one, the ladies sing very well and the tune is pretty amusing. Oh, and Eve Arden has a supporting role; her sarcastic comments add a little spice as always. 

This image I found on Pinterest. I took the stills below.

Now, I've heard his mother came from Alabama.

His father was a gay ranchero from Brazil.

His Papa loved the southern accent of his Mamie.

Every time he heard her speak he got a thrill.

So they were married and they had the cutest baby.

From his Ma he got the southern hi, y'all.

Now he's the perfect combination. Alabama and Brazil.

He's the caballero with the Spanish drawl.

Wow, wow, wow. We're in love with the guy

with the Spanish drawl. Wow, wow, wow.

Until you meet him you just haven't lived at all.

Wow, wow, wow. How we go for the guy

with the Spanish drawl. When he says.

That's my name mucho. You know.

How we go for the guy with the Spanish drawl.

Colony Motor Hotel in Birmingham

As one often does, I was recently perusing the March 1963 issue of the Junior League of Birmingham Newssheet and came across this advertisement for the Colony Motor Hotel on the corner of Highland Avenue and 21st Street South. Constructed in 1961, the hotel originally opened with over 200 rooms, nightly dancing in the "Cloud Room" and a penthouse restaurant. In the mid-1960s the hotel became a Sheraton Motor Inn. The facility is now Highland Manor, an assisted living complex for senior citizens. 

Apparently, the Colony's existence was brief, but see below for at least one piece of memorabilia that has survived. 

This image from the BhamWiki shows the building in its Sheraton Motor Inn days.

Highland Manor in 2006

Source: BhamWiki

I found these matchbook images on eBay.

Bookstore Tour of Huntsville

My brother Richard and I were in Huntsville on a recent weekend, and we spent that Saturday tooling around the city visiting several bookstores, including a side trip to Priceville, as well as a few other favorite stops. Many of my previous bookstore postings can be found here; others include Branch Books in Hartselle, Branch Books 2 in Cullman, and the Goodwill Bookstore in Pelham.  

See my comments below the photos for details on this particular journey. 

Our first stop involved brunch at Southern Egg Cafe on Bailey Cove in southeast Huntsville. We've eaten here a number of times in the past year or so, and have really enjoyed it. We do eggs/bacon/biscuit/cheese grits, but their menu is extensive and they also offer lunch and dinner. The "Breakfast All Day" is just so hard to resist. 

Several years ago the South Huntsville Public Library opened on Bailey Cove Road. This branch in the city's library system replaced two older branches in the area. We stop here often on our trips to Huntsville to donate books and buy some new ones in the bookstore operated by the branch's friends group.

Also on Bailey Cove is a now empty older branch just down the road from mom's house. She and dad used this branch for many years, and she worked as a volunteer in the quarterly book sales. That's where she bought many books that she, Richard and I read in turn and discussed by authors like J.A. Jance, Stuart Woods and the delightful McNally detective novels by Lawrence Sanders. 

Just a random artifact on the road to Priceville Discount Books. 

Priceville is a small town in Morgan County between Somerville and Decatur. I wrote about the historic courthouse in Somerville back in 2014. Several years ago we discovered this bookstore, and Richard, son Amos and I have visited a number of time since and purchased many tomes. Naturally I've done a post on this place. You can find out more on their Facebook page.

Later we arrived at Booklegger on Holmes Avenue in northwest Huntsville. This bookstore has been a long family tradition; dad used to frequent the place which has been operating since the 1970s. Richard, Amos and I have been many times. My blog post on it was written in 2021. Ownership has changed since then, and the new owner has been busy upgrading the place. 

We always work up a thirst by book hunting, and this establishment near Booklegger has been a frequent place to take care of that problem. The Nook has operated in Huntsville under various names since the 1960s, when it was originally Napoleon's Nook and a favorite steakhouse of Werner von Braun and friends. The place reopened in 2007 under its current name and offers more than 400 beers, with 80 on tap and 36 Alabama brews. Wines and stiffer libations are also available. 

Richard seems excited to be escaping the real world. 

Before our final bookstore of the day, we stopped at Das Stahl Bierhaus in the same retail strip in southwest Huntsville as the Bookwyrm. This place has a large selection of foreign and domestic beers as well as a bar and seating.

Signs for these two Alabama breweries were on the wall at Das Stahl Bierhaus.

The Bookwyrm, our last bookstore of the day is a new one in Huntsville. We found the selection large and eclectic, and both bought a few items. 

Our final stop of the day before heading back to mom's was dinner at the Viet House, a favorite in recent years. The menu is extensive, but we always seem to order one of their clay pots--so much good food! Oh, and this restaurant plays low volume light jazz, which makes conversation easy.

And here are a  few of the purchases we made. We've been reading through John D. MacDonald's books, especially the Travis McGhee novels, for the past couple of years. Harlan Coben is a new author we're trying; we've enjoyed some of his novel adaptations by Netflix. The logo on the book in the upper right means it's a crime novel about the Saint, Simon Templar, by Leslie Charteris.