Rocky Neck Nights 1977, ed touchette
24x30 oil canvas
Rocky Neck Nights (Snippets from memory belying the admonition—If you remember nights on Rocky Neck You Were Not There.)
I had never painted with oils on canvas when I decided to paint a night scene. I’m certain you recognize the nightlife. The location I knew well—Rocky Neck Avenue at the front of my apartment and studio at the end of Rocky Neck, over the coffee shop that Penny ran, near the entrance to the Railways, next door to George Bleich’s Gallery.
There I was, young, innocent tossed to the wolves at the bitter end of The Neck. Having survived two stints at the Rockaway Hotel could not prepare me for the neighborhood where Casper and Arthur sold costume jewelry by day and by night, entertained a bawdy, raucous crowd at the Studio piano bar. Evie, entertained celebrities at the Rudder. (How I wish I’d been on the Neck when John and Lionel and Judy performed at the theater.) I did hear Dominic sing Embraceable You, over and over again. And there was a rumor that a bare breasted trumpeter performed somewhere north of the The Studio. (I dare not be too specific. One character in the infamous novel, In a Place Like No Other, mentioned that he/ she had married an attorney. Oh, dear, where is Denny Crane when I need him.)
Parker Lee had spent a summer across the street at West Wharf, the rooming house that the harbor eventually reclaimed. Ray Frasier painted clipper ships and David Pollack, set up his director’s chair and umbrella to offer his talents as a portrait painter.
The Beaux Artes Ball in the Lobster House parking lot. The mad man in Captain America underwear climbing the fence to enter without a ticket. So many Carmen Mirandas, you might have thought you had been beamed onto a fruit salad.
The antique shop above the rudder, Tragabigzanda, held treasures suitable for John Smith’s Greek princess for whom the shop was named. The three Turk’s heads were stored safely off shore. Nightly, folks lined the street to wait for a seat at the Rudder to enjoy the world famous clams casino and hopefully hear Evie sing a broadway tune. Anthony Newley frequented the restaurant but I never heard him sing, actually, I never saw him but I’d heard he was there. Similarly, every summer a humongous yacht or motor sailer would dock at the Lobster House. One year it was rumored that Keith Richards was aboard. One year it was rumored that the boat belonged to Ringo Starr or maybe it was, oh, you know, that other famous musician actor whose name I can’t recall. (If you can think of it, let me know, Please.)
So many famous people tied up at the Lobster House it was difficult to sort through the directory. No one ever claimed to have actually seen them and no one has reported seeing John Hays Hammond Junior's lobster boat cruising the harbor without a soul aboard. Nonetheless, the sea monster that lives under Ten Pound Island frequents the harbor and each summer Eric Clapton’s yacht drops anchor near Niles Beach.
