Manfred Mann at Humpin Hanna's on December 7, 1972.

February 3, 2014

Hi everybody! It's still winter and it's still snowing!

This coming Friday, my new DJ friend Sonia, will have Al Kooper on her radio show on WMSE, 91.7 sometime between 3 and 6pm. Check them out for some good music and fun!

This had me thinking of when I photographed Al Kooper at Humpin Hanna's in 1972. Those photos are here on my site and Al is in a previous blog, #5 and #85 in my archives.

At the 1972 show that Al played, Ruby Starr was the opening act. She was born in Ohio but adopted Milwaukee as her home town in the 1970's.

Born with the name Constance Henrietta Mierzwick, she became Ruby Starr after working with "Jim Dandy" of Black Oak Arkansas. She became the opening act for Black Oak Arkansas for years and had several bands. Grey Star, Lucy Grey and Henrietta Kahn are the bands she had that I know of other than performing as Ruby Starr.

Ruby, played all around the Wisconsin club circuit before heading to Vegas to play clubs there. I believe she had 3 or 4 albums and was taken from us too early at the age of 45 in 1995 from lung cancer.

Miss her and her energy filled shows.

Enjoy these photographs of her from 1975 at Humpin Hanna's. One photo is a fun double exposure on purpose! Do you like it??

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

Tiny Tim at Humpin Hanna's in Milwaukee Wisconsin in 1975.

August 12, 2013

My new favorite radio show is on WMSE, 91.7 fm, at 11am on Monday mornings. It's called the Wild, Wild, Midwest Variety Show. It's a fun 1 hour show that opens up with Tiny Tim's "Tip Toe Through the Tulips" song!

That song takes me back to January of 1975 when Tiny Tim came to Humpin Hanna's in Milwaukee for a show.

Humpin Hanna's that night was a full house of people wanting to see this very interesting character and musician. With his ukulele and tulip themed suit he entertained us all. He even brought a few dancers with him and his band for this little nightclub show!

With his high falsetto voice and ukulele you didn't know if he was a serious musician or just a fun comedy act! Turns out he was a very serious musician and it was a fun show that every one would remember!

Tiny Tim was actually very tall and learned to play the ukulele with a method book that came with an Arthur Godfrey endorsed plastic ukulele! He was a huge fan of Arthur Godfrey I have learned!

We all remember his appearances on the Johnny Carson show where he actually married Miss Vicky on December 17, 1969. He was also on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In many times.

His real name was Herbert Khaury and he passed away in 1996 after 2 more marriages and a bunch of record albums. He even had his own record label for a while, Vic Tim Records!

Have a great week and Tip Toe Through the Tulips if you can!!

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

Luther Allison sweating it out playing the blues on a cold night at Humpin Hanna's December 2, 1972.