TED: IN MANY WAYS, HARVARD SQUARE IS THE SAME AS IT EVER
WAS.
FROM MOMENT TO MOMENT, NEVER THE SAME.
>> THE SQUARE SURE HAS CHANGED.
THE CHANGES KEEP ON CHANGING.
TED: BEFORE THE CORONAVIRUS SHUT DOWN, WE MET UP WITH 60’S
SURVIVOR PETER WOLF, WANDERING HIS OWN TURF, LONG BEFORE THE J.
GEILS BAND AND WORLDWIDE ACCLAIM, HE WAS JUST ANOTHER
SCUFFLING ART STUDENT LIVING HAND TO MOUTH IN HARVARD SQUARE.
>> I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO LIVE IN THE SQUARE WITH RELATIVELY
LITTLE MONEY.
I LIVED IN A BUILDING FILLED WITH PAINTERS, WRITERS.
THE RENT WAS REALLY REASONABLE.
TED: TODAY, MUCH OF THE SQUARE IS UNRECOGNIZABLE TO HIM.
THOUGH THERE ARE SOME FAMILIAR FACES.
>> HEY.
IS MOM IN THERE?
TED: LET THE FOLKS AT THE FLORIST, AND A LOCAL
FORTUNETELLER.
>> WHAT DO YOU THINK?
>> I THINK THAT YOU ARE A GENIUS.
I THINK YOU ARE A GREAT ROCKSTAR.
ONE OF THE MANY PEOPLE WHO LOVE YOU, AND YOU HAVE BEEN COMING
HERE FOR A LONG TIME.
HANG IN THERE, BROTHER, AND I LOVE YOU DEALER -- LOVE YOU
DEARLY.
GOD BLESS YOU.
STAY HAPPY AND POSITIVE AND HEALTHY.
TED: HE INVITES US TO TAG ALONG ON A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE.
>> WOW.
THIS LITTLE HOLE-IN-THE-WALL IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PLACES
NOT JUST IN CAMBRIDGE, BUT IN THE WORLD, FOR MUSIC.
THIS IS THE CLUB PASSIM THAT YEAST TO BE THE CLUB 47.
LET’S GO RIGHT ON IN AND HAVE OURSELVES A BALL.
YEAH.
THIS PLACE IS FILLED WITH SO MANY MEMORIES FOR ME.
SO MANY IMPORTANT MEMORIES.
I GOT TO SEE ALL OF MY IDOLS RIGHT THERE.
IF I COULD I WOULD COME REAL EARLY AND GRAB THIS SEAT.
I GOT TO SEE MUDDY, HOWLIN WOLF, JOHN LEE HOOKER.
AND THE FATHER OF LOU GRASS, BILL MONRO.
TED: CLUB 47 WAS JUST A COFFEEHOUSE, BUT THE TEENAGE
WOLF MANAGED TO SMUGGLE IN SOME PERSONAL REFRESHMENTS.
>> THEN WHEN HE ORDERED A COFFEE OR AN ESPRESSO, IN WENT THE
BOURBON.
MMM, THAT WAS GOOD.
TED: THE THINGS PETER WOLF HEARD AND SAW IN THIS BASEMENT ROOM
WOULD ALTER HIS LIFE FOREVER.
>> I REMEMBER HOWLING WOLF JUMPING OFF THE STAGE, BIG,
LURKING, WALKING UP TO THIS YOUNG LADY.
OH MAN, IT WAS SOMETHING ELSE BOY, I TELL YOU.
TED: WOLF LAUNCHED HIS MUSICAL CAREER HERE WITH HIS FIRST BAND,
THE HALLUCINATIONS.
>> WE WERE JUST A NEO PUNK BAND THAT WAS AHEAD OF OUR TIME.
WE HAD NO MUSICIANSHIP, JUST ATTITUDE.
WE GOT IN HERE AND JUST BLASTED THE PLACE.
TED: THE CLUB RECENTLY CELEBRATED ITS 60TH ANNIVERSARY
AS A LISTENING ROOM, BUT LISTING ON ITS LAURELS WILL NOT KEEP THE
DOOR OPEN.
THAT IS WHEN THE MANAGER’S CREATIVE PROGRAMMING COMES IN.
A COMBINATION.
>> WE ARE NOT JUST A MUSEUM PIECE WHERE PEOPLE SAY LOOK WHAT
HAPPENED BACK THEN.
PEOPLE ARE STILL COMING HERE TO FIND OUT WHAT IS THE NEXT THING.
TED: MEANWHILE, WE CATCH UP TO WOLF ON THE CORNER OF UNIVERSITY
ROAD, WHERE HE SHOWS US HIS OLD APARTMENT.
5
$55 A MONTH.
>> I LIVED RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER.
TED: WOLF INVITED MUSICIANS FROM CLUB 47 TO HIS APARTMENT TO
UNWIND AFTER GIGS.
>> HERE I AM 18 YEARS OLD AND JAMES COTTON AND OTIS.
HE STARTS PLAYING.
HERE’S WHERE ANDY WARHOL AND THE VELVET UNDERGROUND STAYED.
MOSE ALLISON CAME HERE, DR.
JOHN, VAN MORRISON AND I WERE GOOD FRIENDS.
IT WAS QUITE AN EXPERIENCE.
THE THINGS YOU REMEMBER THAT YOU NEVER FORGET.
AND YOU ARE BLESSED YOU WERE ABLE TO WITNESS THEM.
TED: THE LAST STOP ON PETER CHARLIE’S KITCHEN.
>> THIS WAS THE LATE-NIGHT PLACE WHERE YOU WOULD GET ALL THE
GREASE YOU NEEDED TO SOAK UP EVERYTHING YOU DRANK.
SO HERE IS TO THE HARVARD SQUARE I KNEW.
FRIENDS MAY COME AND FRIENDS MAY GO, AND FRIENDS MAY PETER OUT,
YOU KNOW.
BUT HERE’S TO EVERYBODY IN HARVARD SQUARE THROUGH THICK AND
THIN, PETER OUT OR PETER IN.
SHAYNA: LIVE MUSIC VENUES HAVE STRUGGLED A LOT DURING THE
PANDEMIC, FORCED TO CLOSE THEIR DOORS TO PATRONS.
SO CLUB PASSIM AND MANAGER MATT SMITH PIVOTED TO VIRTUAL
PERFORMANCES, WHICH HAVE BEEN A SUCCESS.
THE CLUB ALSO LAUNCHED AN EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND TO PROVIDE
MUCH-NEEDED FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO MUSICIANS.
COMING UP, THE HARVARD SQU