The San Francisco Black&White police car turned the corner at Saratoga and Kiely Avenue in the citys tenderloin district. This was one of the known centers of the new burgeoning drug trade that invaded the city with the arrival of the dreaded Hippies in the summer of 1965. There were 2 policemen in the patrol car that evening, the older of the two, Hector Torres said to his young partner, “Hey man, theres that red Ford parked by the park again. You see whats in that rent-a-car, two mop heads(long haired guys), bet theys looking for some dope.” The young driver parked the Black&White in a spot not visible to the fords occupants. The two patrolmen got out and kept the foliage between them and the three people in the car as they crawled towards the sound of loud voices. The car windows were down and the conversation in the car carried in the still quiet of the late evening. The man sitting in the back seat was animated, “Man, you guys knows that I got the good stuff. Man..this weed is all the way from Sonora baby! Gimmie 10 bucks and thatll give you a ¼ ounce. Youll get 30 big joints out of it.” The long haired guy in the passenger seat replied, “This guy at the club told me youd treat us right man. Thats the price you give to the pilgrims....man were rock royalty.” The police waited for the haggling to end and the money change hands; when that happened they came out of the bushes and opened the cars back door. Suddenly the interior of the car was bathed in a stark white light. The policeman grabbed the dope dealers arm and pulled him onto the sidewalk. “ Youre under arrest!” Before he could put the cuffs on the man he was off the ground and running. The older policeman tried to follow but the dealer was too fast.....he was up the other side of the small hill and out of sight in a matter of 10 seconds. Torres turned his attention back to the other car occupants, asking, “Got some ID?” The two men pulled out their wallets and the officers asked the first guy, “Steven Boone....That you? Boone answered in the affirmative. He turned to Boones companion and asked, “Zalman Yanovsky...is that you?” Zal looked down at his scuffed cowboy boots and answered, “Afraid so!” The United States is the acknowledged birth-place of Rock and Roll. There are more than a few competing theories on its origins. Some say it derived from the Delta Blues native to the Southern States, while others felt it was a combination of Country Swing and some Jazz elements which evolved into the Rockabilly rave that produced Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Bill Haley. But here in Canada the Rock and Roll spirit was slow to take hold; it was like we were about 5 years behind. In the late 50s, we had Paul Anka and Bobby Curtola who were more romantic singers, pop singers in the mold of Pat Boone. It was 1960, before a vocal group from Montreal called the Beaumarks, put a Rock and Roll song on the American hit parade with their party song, “Clap Your Hands”. This effort would be classified as the first Canadian Rock and Roll hit although it was rather modest in the big scheme of things. But the Rock and Roll life-style which was defined by Elvis Presleys cars and women had a big attraction to young men all over North America, especially for a young boy living in the Jewish section of Toronto. This boy with his bad complexion, prominent nose, and questionable hygiene took up the guitar at the age of 10 and mastered it by the age of 13. That boy: Zalman Yanovsky. Zalman Yanovsky was born on December 19, 1944, to Ukrainian immigrants in a middle class Jewish community in Toronto. His father, Avrom Yanovsky was a well known political cartoonist who worked for several magazines and newspapers. Zal was what one would call an “over-active” kid, always playing pranks that didnt really go over very well and getting in trouble with his teachers and classmates. His parents were exasperated and decided to buy him the musical instrument to perhaps settle him down. That guitar became his constant companion and he mastered the instrument so well that he was invited to play at some of the folk night clubs in nearby, Yorkville. At the time,Yorkville was an old Victorian neighborhood that drew a lot of the new age thinkers and their women to live in intellectual freedom. Every second house had a “Beat” club in the basement. Zal was popular in these clubs due to the fact he could play anything on the guitar. His “Lick” repertoire was substantial. It was the summer of 1961, Zal decided that hed rather live a bare-bones existence in Yorkville instead of going back home with his disapproving parents. Yanovsky made some money playing the multitude of small clubs in his new haunt but that barely kept him in food and guitar strings. He found a 24 hour Laundromat and slept in one of the dryers that was still warm. His hair was long and shaggy, several days growth of beard, and generally unkempt in appearance; he definitely fit into the beat scene. Anywhere else, his appearance would have given him homeless credentials, in Yorkville, this was accepted fare. Then in early 1963, the Halifax III came to Yorkville for an extended stay and this created a chance meeting between Denny Doherty and Zal at the Purple Onion, one of the more popular clubs in the area. The two became instant friends and Doherty suggested the Halifax III take on the zany long-haired Zal as an accompanist. The deed was done and after a few lame albums, the Halifax III plus one, moved south of the border to New Yorks Greenwich Village. Zal basically continued his life style of minimal living mostly because the money just wasnt there yet. The group traveled on the diminishing folk circuit with the New travelers led by John Phillips and wife, Michelle. But Doherty was tiring of the folk thing; he wanted the group to go full combo and explore other areas of music. The other two members wanted to continue on the path they started. During their stay in Greenwich Village, Zal and Denny met up with a part time drug pusher by the name of John Sebastion. John played a wicked harp and often substituted an auto-harp for a guitar. Zal and Sebastion hit it off and again Zals guitar playing was the principle attraction. John would say later on that Zal was unique as a musician, “He could play Chet Atkins ; he could play classical; he could do country licks that made you sit in awe. He was that type of player.” Denny and Zal hooked up with Cass Elliots group The Mugwumps for a time but Doherty tied his wagon to a star when the New Journeymens, John Phillips started his Mamas and Papas group in 1965. But Yanovsky also hit pay dirt when he and John Sebastion put together the Lovin Spoonful and started a career that although short made some great music. But with the huge success that the Lovin Spoonful enjoyed, the massive record sales and concerts, Zal still didnt mature to the station in life he had achieved. He was reckless and at times unreliable. The great bond that he and John Sebastion had forged at the outset began to disintegrate as time went on. Zal was hard to handle at the best of times and when he felt boredom setting into the fast paced life of a rock star he did some outrageous pranks that some didnt find amusing. The drug bust in San Francisco was the nail in the coffin for his career. That night, Steve Boone, the groups drummer, and Zal got caught buying some weed, Zal revealed the name of the boy that ran away from the police. The boy, a Black college student at Berkeley, told the story to the Rolling Stone Magazine and that effectively killed the career of the Lovin Spoonful with the counter-culture. Zal was threatened that night with deportation back to Canada and even though he gave up the drug contact....they sent him back anyway. Zal Yanovsky settled down in Kingston, Ontario, eventually opened a restaurant and died of a heart attack at the age of 57 on Dec. 13, 2002. John Sebastion said of his old band mate: “He was a pain in the bloody ass but when he picked up that guitar he became a Greek god. He was special.”
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 14:25:37 +0000
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