Bukowski's L.A. haunts

[nvansweden]

Hi all,

I'm taking a trip out to L.A. in about 2 weeks and I was wondering if anyone knew of any favorite bars of Buk (if he had any) out that way. Figured I'd swing by a few choice haunts to pay my respects.

Thanks for any help you can offer,
Nate

 

[mjp]

Contrary to legend, he didn't drink at a lot of bars in Hollywood during the years after he quit the post office (1970 - on). Mostly at home, in his apartments. You can find the addresses in the timeline. Some of them are still there, the place you probably want to go see is on DeLongpre.

Any Los Angeles bars he drank in during the 50's are long gone, and he never drank in a bar in San Pedro. Not even once, according to Linda. Though a few bars here in San Pedro have pictures of Bukowski on the wall, and no shortage of stories about what a good customer he was.

 

[theeffects]

is that bar still there near Hollywood and Western (yellow sign), believe it turned into a gay bar in the 90's? Also what about the Ski Room which became St. Moritz below the hotel... Also is Crabby Joes still around in downtown LA? Most of the old taverns, bars appear to have unfortunately disappeared, too bad...

also...
Frolic Room on Hollywood Blvd is still there, I know he's been there but I don't think that was a BIG spot of his. I'd also recommend two bars near Western and Santa Monica (names I can't recall right now, near the old Sears)... Maybe MJP remembers more..............

 

[mjp]

Sunset, Hollywood and Santa Monica Boulevards between the 101 and Fairfax are undergoing a lot of change in the name of civic improvement these days, so a lot of the less stellar, more interesting places that used to line those streets are history.

When I came out here 25 years ago Hollywood was a wasteland, but they've changed it into a Disneyland of sorts, and whether that's for the better is certainly debatable. It's more crowded, I can tell you that. And there's more money being spent. And isn't that what's really important? Yeah.

They are now in the process of gentrifying - or Disney-fying - San Pedro, and it doesn't bode well for the regular folk who made it what it is. This is the port, god damn it! Not the 3rd St. Promenade or Universal Citywalk! Gah.

 

[theeffects]

it's been awhile, but the last time I was in LA (8 years ago), a huge spot at Western and Sunset was torn down, bulldozed and something LARGE was going in there, what was it? Also, are most of the WEEKLY hotels in those areas gone? Finally, is the old SKI ROOM, St. Moritz (bar/hotel) still on Sunset?? I have a strong feeling I'd be strongly disappointed to see what they've turned Hollywood into (Disneyland), I remember Times Square in the late 80's/90's, now it's lost ALL it's character, shame...

 

[Rekrab]

mjp: I've heard that he did indeed drink in a bar in San Pedro. Some guy at a reading I did a few years back told me a detailed story about meeting him there. The guy was a drunk, not a literary type. He was at my reading for the free wine, I suspect. Bullshit? Perhaps. I've heard other stories about the Pedro bar.

I'm curious to hear what the DeLongpre area is like these days. Last time I saw it, it was very seedy, in the late 1970s. I took a few photos of Buk's apartment/court there. I ought to post them here.

 

[hoochmonkey9]

I took a few photos of Buk's apartment/court there. I ought to post them here.

yes please.

 

[nymark]

I remember Times Square in the late 80's/90's, now it's lost ALL it's character, shame...

I was living in New York during that period and I remember what Time Square use to be like. I say good riddance to it's old character (not that the new one is so great). People tend to romanticize the past. It was not a dangerous and seedy place in an entertaining or "poetic" or "cutting-edge" way. The people there were not happy drunks. They would cut your throat for a cigarette and it use to scare the hell out of me when I had to pass through that area. That brand of "character" almost dragged my beloved city into the sewer but it was resurrected, with a loss of edge, by Rudy Guliani and Disney. For better or worse, I'll take the antiseptic bland Time Square over the shithole it use to be.

 

[bright]

..all the shitholes in the world and yours.

 

[mjp]

mjp: I've heard that he did indeed drink in a bar in San Pedro. Some guy at a reading I did a few years back told me a detailed story about meeting him there. The guy was a drunk, not a literary type. He was at my reading for the free wine, I suspect. Bullshit? Perhaps. I've heard other stories about the Pedro bar.

Which bar? Godmothers? The Indian Room? Shanghai Red's (torn down before he moved here)?

Practically every bar in town has people sitting in it who will swear that they were Bukowski's drinking buddies. I'm just going by what Linda said, and that was that he never drank in a San Pedro bar.

I'm curious to hear what the DeLongpre area is like these days. Last time I saw it, it was very seedy, in the late 1970s. I took a few photos of Bukowski's apartment/court there. I ought to post them here.

I took some pictures of DeLongpre about a year ago, and I'll be they look exactly like yours from the 70's. ;) Disney has not made it to DeLongpre.

I was living in New York during that period and I remember what Time Square use to be like. I say good riddance to it's old character (not that the new one is so great). People tend to romanticize the past. It was not a dangerous and seedy place in an entertaining or "poetic" or "cutting-edge" way. The people there were not happy drunks. They would cut your throat for a cigarette and it use to scare the hell out of me when I had to pass through that area. For better or worse, I'll take the antiseptic bland Time Square over the shithole it use to be.

About Times Square I would agree. Spent a good deal of time in NYC between 1980 and 86 or so, and I steered clear of Times Square after the first couple trips through there on foot. Never fuck with people who aren't afraid to die, that's my motto. Heh.

Hollywood, on the other hand, was never anywhere near as dangerous as Times Square - or other parts of NYC - was. It certainly wasn't a pleasant place to take the wife and kids (though oddly enough, as seedy as Hollywood got, the tourists never stopped coming), it was more depressing than dangerous.

But man, Hollywood and Times Square are exactly the same in that they cleaned up a few square blocks of both of them and people just flock there now. I drove down Hollywood Boulevard for the first time in a year or so the other day, and the joint was packed.

 

[bongobill]

Which bar? Godmothers? The Indian Room? Shanghai Red's (torn down before he moved here)?

Practically every bar in town has people sitting in it who will swear that they were Bukowski's drinking buddies. I'm just going by what Linda said, and that was that he never drank in a San Pedro bar.

I took some pictures of DeLongpre about a year ago, and I'll be they look exactly like yours from the 70's. ;) Disney has not made it to DeLongpre.

hmmm who to believe a bunch of barflies..or linda that's a tough one....and i'm willing to wager some changes have taken place at delongpre in thirty some years so by all means post your old pics

 

[mjp]

and i'm willing to wager some changes have taken place at delongpre in thirty some years

I think you'd lose that bet: http://bukowski.net/2006-03-02delongpre/Picture_0091a.jpg

 

[Rekrab]

mjp: I heard the name of the bar but don't remember it. However, I did record what the drunk told me in a notebook, and maybe it includes the name. If I can find the notebook...

I've also seen the bar named in one or two published articles. Sorry, I don't remember who wrote them, where they were published. Useless, aren't I? Of course, I trust Linda's information more than a drunk's line of b.s., but it's possible Bukowski did some drinking in a San Pedro bar and didn't tell Linda about it. The drunk who told me about meeting him didn't seem to think it was any big deal. He'd heard of Buk but wasn't into him, and only mentioned it because he saw my chapbook about Bukowski spitting in my face and thought I might be interested. I was. Or am I just too gullible?

On the DeLongpre photos: I'll dig them out and post them. If I can find them in this extremely cluttered house.

I found my photos of Bukowski's DeLongpre court/apartment. I have one print, three negatives. All three from the same angle. Too bad I didn't move around a bit. Anyway, here's the print. It was taken in 1982, not the late 1970s:

On the San Pedro bar story: I'm feeling like a jackass for posting an unsubstantiated rumor, so forget about it. If Linda says it didn't happen, then it didn't happen. She ought to know.

 

[bongobill]

a conversation fwiw

XXX: he used to live two houses down from my aunt. she used to hear his drunken antics, lol.

ME: no way! was that in san pedro? tell her to go to bukowski.net forums to tell the stories there are many hardcore fans that would love to hear about it me included

XXX: i doubt she would but i could tell my ex he lived a little bit farther down the block. he had told me a couple of stories about Hank but since i was high all the time back then i don't recall them. yes it was in pedro.

ME: there's a rumour that the house may become a museum

XXX: i never head that about the house. word usually travels fast here.

 

[mjp]

I found my photos of Bukowski's DeLongpre court/apartment. I have one print, three negatives. All three from the same angle. Too bad I didn't move around a bit. Anyway, here's the print. It was taken in 1982, not the late 1970s:

Heh, if you look at the current pic, linked in my post above, the only change in 25 years is that the tree is bigger. I guess whoever owns that property is old or absent, not interested in maximizing return. Ha.

Hmm, I guess the nice pane glass doors have also been replaced by steel security screens, and all the other windows have bars on them.

 

[bongobill]

yeah a little change not much you were right

 

[poptop]

Just to expand on the fond subject of court apartments, there are many in LA"”very popular for a number of reason, primary privacy (no common walls with other apartments.). Oh man... a woman I was seeing in the '70s lived in one on the intersection of Normandy and Fountain Ave, and I love it. (This was while she was waiting for the house she was building to be finished.) The atmosphere was warm and inviting... just the right size... and oh the fun we had because she was just the right size too. Ahhh, L.A., and her"”I loved you.

 

[Bukfan]

Just to expand on the fond subject of court apartments, there are many in LA"”very popular for a number of reason, primary privacy (no common walls with other apartments.).[/I]

Are there really no common walls? When I look at the pictures of the DeLongpre court, it looks like it's one long building with common walls, but maybe the space between the apartments don't show on the pictures...

 

[poptop]

Bukowski had his dwellings & hangouts, of course, but I sometimes wonder why readers don't get into the L.A. landmarks of the '30's. That was the period he grew up in, with its incredible public libraries and buildings of grandeur. I'm convinced that the atmosphere of L.A. which seeped into Bukowski's bones and writing is far, far more than about a bunch of Hollywood dives and whorehouse storefronts. Just for the hell of it, here's a photo tour beyond the Frolic Room and dearly departed Big Twenty that I happen to be fond of. If you're unfamiliar with the city, knock yourself out. For sure I wouldn't have minded living in Sunset Towers, built during the '30s, if I'd been a man of the times... and the dowtown library was incredible and one that I visited on numerous occasions when I was living in the bohemian, Silver Lake area of the city just a few short miles away.

http://www.you-are-here.com/building/index.html

 

[chronic]

Interesting site Poptop, thanks. I was surprised to see that it was missing some major L.A. landmarks... Union Station which is just a beautiful building, as is the Bradbury Building, Chinatown. And then there's the Grand Central Market which is much as it was fifty years ago (and a great place for lunch). It also misses the oldest standing building in Santa Monica (maybe the entire L.A. west side) which is a smallish brick, masonry and wrought iron building on 2nd Street that was built in 1879. It served as Santa Monica's first city hall.

Though it probably wouldn't occur to most locals, a walking tour of downtown L.A. can be fascinating... if you bother to look up you'll find that we actually have gargoyles here.

Finally (although it's no longer there and wouldn't have fit in with the websites theme) worth a note - The Original Spanish Kitchen. I don't know when the place was finally cleared out but I remember going there in the late eighties/early nineties and it was still as it was the day it closed.

 

[Bukfan]

Wow! That's some beautiful buildings you've got in L.A. Love the pictures of Sunset Towers and Union Station. Wonder if the poem "Fire station" took place in Fire Station No. 1...:)

 

[HenryChinaski]

hmmm...good question. those photos are timeless.

 

[xxedgexx]

I found my photos of Bukowski's DeLongpre court/apartment. I have one print, three negatives. All three from the same angle. Too bad I didn't move around a bit. Anyway, here's the print. It was taken in 1982, not the late 1970s:

Nice. I have these same pictures. I always wondered which apartment was his. I've always seen a couple De Longpre addresses, 5124 and 5126. I think I've seen 5126 1/4. The apartment is a group of small studios all addressed 5124, so I wonder which particular studio was his.

There's also the Carlton Way address.

I used to live 4 doors down from Craby Joe's. It's on 7th and Main Street in downtown LA. Did Buk actually drink at this spot? I think most people assume so just because it was in the beginning and ending of Barfly, but I've never heard anyone actually confirm that he did infact go to this joint. I don't see why he wouldn't have though. It's a total shithole and nothing but drug dealers and prositutes hang out on that corner.

I'm somewhat disappointed that Buk would have gone to Frolic Room. I'm guessing it was very different then what it is now, which is to say it's a total hipster joint for young Hollywood types. Just a bunch of pissant followers.

Downtown is going through changes as well and I'm sure will eventually become another Disneyland mock up like most of Hollywood.

Has anyone ever had the pleasure of checking out "King Eddie's Salon" on 4th and Los Angeles street? This is in the center of what they call "Skid Row", which Buk talks about quite a bit. Interesting place. I went there one night and they had the doors locked at 9pm with a group of people inside. They wouldn't let me in and told me to take a hike. hahaha.

I eat french cut lamb at M&F when ever possible. Great restaurant. Did Buk eat there?

 

[mjp]

I've always seen a couple De Longpre addresses, 5124 and 5126. I think I've seen 5126 1/4. The apartment is a group of small studios all addressed 5124, so I wonder which particular studio was his.

The one in front. The 5126 court is long gone, replaced by an apartment building.

 

[fanspeed]

it's been awhile, but the last time I was in LA (8 years ago), a huge spot at Western and Sunset was torn down, bulldozed and something LARGE was going in there, what was it? Also, are most of the WEEKLY hotels in those areas gone? Finally, is the old SKI ROOM, St. Moritz (bar/hotel) still on Sunset?? I have a strong feeling I'd be strongly disappointed to see what they've turned Hollywood into (Disneyland), I remember Times Square in the late 80's/90's, now it's lost ALL it's character, shame...

the ski room is now called "The Bar" they changed it use to go there when it was still the Ski Room in the 80's great stories of old hollywood.