Funochios Duane Blalock- An Atlanta story and in relation to Al Kooper’s Book:” Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards”
Let me tell you about my personal account in relation to the AL Kooper book listed above. In the book in 1972 Al Kooper plays at Underground Atlanta. I was there to see the show and used a fake ID to get in the club and a waitress was flirting around with me and after a while she came over and asked me how old I was? Being dumb and honest, I told her told 19. She was pissed and said that I should be thrown out, well she let me stay and I enjoyed the show.
In the book Kooper says during his stay in Atlanta he ended up hanging out with the Atlanta Rhythm Section at their studio. He had known them since they were the Candymen and backed Roy Orbison. Anyway he fell in love with the city and moved down from NY. They would jam and record and then hang out at a club on Peachtree called Funochios. There he watched the local bands play and produced and secured record contracts and started up “Sounds Of The South” label for MCA. He signed Lynyrd Skynyrd and Mose Jones, check out: www.java-monkey.com/remember-mose.htm
I used to hang out at the club and dated a girl named Lisa from there, well quite a few girls from there, but one in particular, and she also hung out(groupie) with Lynyrd Skynyrd and we’d go down early while they warmed up and they would come sit and hang out at our table. I just considered them a local band and remember remarking to Lisa that they were pretty good but “Crossroads” was not as good as Cream’s version and they showed off too much. This was before they had an album out. Attached is a picture from upstairs at Funochios and Lynrd Skynyrd playing. They did not have the piano player then and had a different drummer.
Anyway in the book, Al Kooper talks about Funochios and how there were fights and stabbings and he witnessed two shooting!
Well, at the time I was attending the Atlanta College of Art and my friend who also attended there, the late Jeff Yero, had a roommate named Mike who was also a student with us and worked as a bouncer at Funochios. He threw a guy out one night and the guy came back and shot and killed him. After that, I stayed clear of the club! Too bad Mose Jones did not make it along with other bands like Eric Quincy Tate, Kudzu and Hydra. They, by the way had a reunion and released a live album last year and you can download it on ITunes.
The drinking age in Atlanta was dropped to 18 some time in 1972. I moved there to go to Tech in August 1972. I had to use fake ID to go to Funocios with my buddy from Jacksonville that wanted to go see that Jacksonville Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd. I had to use fake ID because i was still 17.
Who were the owners of Funochios in Atlanta ?
Where on Peachtree was Funochios? I’m in my seventh decade and memories fade. What was it after Funochios, for reference. What is there now. Went a few times, but was never in great enough shape to remember area.
I think it was 875 Peachtree Street NE and looks like a large building is there now. Sounds like a wild place.
It’s a Park & Pay Lot now, one small corner of the building remains in the middle of the asphalt..
I see a small section of brick wall, maybe 10′ x 3′, in the middle of the parking lot on Google Maps…is that it?
I think it was at 6th. Ave.
It was closer to 7th street on the east side of Peachtree.
I used to go there a lot. Had my fake I.D., but rarely got carded. Tons of fun there, many famous musicians performed. Also, a huge place on Ponce de Leon near Piedmont park , can’t recall the name and a place I think was called Hot Lanta, where Eric Quincy Tate and Lynard Skinner played
I went there with a young lady who worked at the Spanish restaurant in the Underground
after she got off work one evening . I was in there having my first Spanish food ever, spoke to her a bit and then. She left work, asked me if I wanted to go to a place called Funnocios so I obliged.
We grabbed a cab, she took me into the place & it was packed, music from the band was blasting at about 100 decibels plus. The young lady who was 10 years my mentor,
(27 vs. 17) gave me a fair share of Tequilla that night . She was known as the Sprite girl. After several hours of dancing and drinking, then staying till closing we left in a cab. She was definitely in charge and ………………( “ I went home with a waitress……..etc etc”. )
And after ( ya know) in the morning we sat around , looked through her portfolio , and said our goodbyes. She was a model and the photos showed all beauty, she was pretty. She did a commercial for Sprite where she came up out of the water shaking her head & the commercial said how refreshing Sprite was. So that’s one Funnocios experience – God bless her wherever she may be and who knows who the band was maybe it was Skynyrd.
Cool story, man. I dig it!
Watched a 2016 documentary on the early days of lynyrd skynyrd a few weeks ago.I think it was a manager who was being interviewed and he talked about funochios and how it was” in a loopy part of town and a frUIt aNd nuT bar”..if you know what i mean..lol.I believe it’s a qt gas station now just a few blocks north of the fox theater.And what a lot of people don’t know is that funochio is an italian slang/street term/insult for homosexual.And anybody who knows about midown atlanta where the club was located knows what i’m talking about.
I worked there. I as there the night Kooper came in and took him up to the VIP was there the night the Dixie mafia was I. And had a shoot out and killed one of the doormen. It was one hell of a party club between the coke, PCP and Qualudes. You never knew who would show up.
I worked there and was in The fight with mike the doorman who was shot and killed by one of the Dixie mafia guys that used to come in. I was there the night Kooper came in and took him up to the VIP area and he asked me to bring Ronnie up to talk. Such a great party club filled with other the crazies of the time. Coke, PCP and Qualudes flowed freely. You never who might show up to jam with the bands. EQT or anise Jones among many.
Was attending trade school and went many times there. I remember walking in one night and looked up at stage and was mesmerized because the door so close stage and saw the bass players right arm was only to elbow but he was fantastic
I played in Buster Brown at Funochio Bar in 1973. We were there more than once.
We were sandwiched between two weeks of Lynyrd Skynyrd. They played both the week before and after us. Rumor has it that Al Kooper was in the VIP booth.
I played guitar in an Atlanta Band Called “KUDZU”
Al Cooper came & jammed with us at Funnokeoes