John Davis wanders into the Techau Tavern for a bite to eat. Ruby Adams is performing the song Bill and
Johnny encounters the enchanting Ruby for the first time.
Ruby's spirit first appeared on my birthday some 20 years ago.
It was at the Cirque Room of the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.
In my research, the first song I could find that Ruby sang in front of an audience was Hesitation Blues. There are two versions of Hesitation Blues one by W.C. Handy and the other by Scott Middleton both songs are featured in this vignette.
I was buying my second cup of coffee to ease myself through the morning.
Ruby, my aunt, who visits from the “other side” lived in San Francisco
during the early 20th century. She has been visiting me for many
years telling me her story and soaking up the city changes.
"Oh speaking of coffee, Coffee Dan's, it's over on O'Farrell not far from here
have you found it?"
I was meeting friends at a restaurant.
Cosmo Place is in the heart of San Francisco's
theater and hotel district. I was waiting upstairs in the bar
for my friends watching a jazz trio set up for the night.
When I felt a slight breeze over my right shoulder.
On a tree lined street in the Berkeley Hills, I was
examining a guest book from an old restaurant in San Francisco.
I was looking for Ruby’s signature. Finally, on page 24 I found it.
It was unsophisticated signature, a signature of a young girl,
a girl who attended only six years of school.
I was in the San Francisco Library combing through microfilm of
newspapers from 1925. I needed information on the one story
Ruby doesn't talk about. I found the article and the location,
Strand Theater on Market St.
I walked over to this historical beast and stood in front looking
at the closed theater with plywood nailed over the doors.
A Butterfly tells the story of the aftermath of the Ruby's performance at the Strand Theater in 1925.
This vignette features a melody written by Walter Rees and Lloyd Allen. A Judith Cunningham
musical arrangement.
I was picking up tacos for dinner at a small, Mexican
restaurant on Courtland Avenue in Bernal Heights one
Thursday night. The place wasn’t much just a local
hole in the wall; Formica wood grained tables, padded
chairs and Mexican flags hanging on the wall. The tacos
are decent and the price is right.
I was flying back to San Francisco from Burbank, California just as the town was beginning to cool down after a hot summer's day.
