Greenway 1973

[JAM]

Hemicudas a/k/a $Bill ran across this old black-and-white video of the Greenway pool room in Louisiana, taken in 1973 era.

I hope Hemicudas doesn't mind me sharing this video with the forum.

Keith McCready and I just watched it a couple of times, trying to identify some of the players. Keith thinks that he is at Counter 2:41. :grin-square:

Here are some other players Keith recognizes:

Don Watson
Larry Lisciotti
Belinda Compos
Barbara (Cooney's girlfriend)
Willie Munson
Annie Mayes (unusual story about her, Keith just told me)
Gary Nolan

So do y'all recognize anybody else? It's an old black-and-white film, but it sure is cute: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7229983054352699951

That place was packed. It sure did look like everybody was having a grand old time.

 

[jay helfert]

Hemicudas a/k/a $Bill ran across this old black-and-white video of the Greenway pool room in Louisiana, taken in 1973 era.

I hope Hemicudas doesn't mind me sharing this video with the forum.

Keith McCready and I just watched it a couple of times, trying to identify some of the players. Keith thinks that he is at Counter 2:41. :grin-square:

Here are some other players Keith recognizes:

Don Watson
Larry Lisciotti
Belinda Compos
Barbara (Cooney's girlfriend)
Willie Munson
Annie Mayes (unusual story about her, Keith just told me)
Gary Nolan

So do y'all recognize anybody else? It's an old black-and-white film, but it sure is cute: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7229983054352699951

That place was packed. It sure did look like everybody was having a grand old time.

That's Larry Hubbard sitting on the bar stool during the first 10-20 seconds.

 

[JAM]

That's Larry Hubbard sitting on the bar stool during the first 10-20 seconds.

Hey, is that Dave Matlock sitting next to him?

 

[Holly]

Great video Jenny, thanks for sharing it.

 

[JAM]

Great video Jenny, thanks for sharing it.

Hemicudas actually discovered it first.

It's definitely what I would call "vintage." There ain't too many of these around! :smile:

 

[lunchmoney]

Hemicudas actually discovered it first.

It's definitely what I would call "vintage." There ain't too many of these around! :smile:

It turns out the video may be from 1978. I spotted Jamie Farrel eating and talked to $Bill about it and he is doing some checking to confirm the date but the people he knows say 1978. I believe it was during the Southern Open Tournament. I was there but can't seem to find me anywhere. There is also a shot of Lambert behind the counter.

Lunchmoney

 

[ShootingArts]

could be

I thought I recognized someone but he was considerably woollier in the video than he was in '73.

Hu

It turns out the video may be from 1978. I spotted Jamie Farrel eating and talked to $Bill about it and he is doing some checking to confirm the date but the people he knows say 1978. I believe it was during the Southern Open Tournament. I was there but can't seem to find me anywhere. There is also a shot of Lambert behind the counter.

Lunchmoney

 

[Big C]

It turns out the video may be from 1978. I spotted Jamie Farrel eating and talked to $Bill about it and he is doing some checking to confirm the date but the people he knows say 1978. I believe it was during the Southern Open Tournament. I was there but can't seem to find me anywhere. There is also a shot of Lambert behind the counter.

Lunchmoney

Had to be from at least 1978 as the video game is "Space Invaders" and was not released until 1978.

 

[Snookerd]

Wow.. that is a GREAT vid.. Thanks for the post!

 

[jay helfert]

Hey, is that Dave Matlock sitting next to him?

It does look like a young Dave Matlock sitting on the other bar stool. I also thought I saw Bob Williams briefly in this video, sweating a game. He was wearing a short sleeve b/w striped shirt.

 

[JG-in-KY]

I agree great find, Hemi & JAM! That room was booming. Remember when Space Invaders was cutting edge? LOL. Had one of those Brunswick Sport Kings, great tables.

 

[lunchmoney]

Had to be from at least 1978 as the video game is "Space Invaders" and was not released until 1978.

I'm sure that it shot during the Southern Open which was held twice, once in '78 and once '79. The only time there was that much talent in the place was during one of those tournaments. You were subject to find any top player in the country at any time in the Greenway but collectively, like in the video, it had to be a big tourney. You could name any top player from that era and they were there along with some old timers and up and comers.

I used to play Jamie Farrell at a place called Tony and Lela's in Baton Rouge. He could get in there but not the Greenway because he was only 17 at the time. I believe he turned 18 in 1978.

I remember Grady being there and busting everyone in a ring game. Keith was there as well. He was robbing everyone in the same ring game as Grady until he had a match.

I was hanging out with Dan Louie at the time. He and his girlfriend Barb had come down to BR and were staying with my buddy Mark and myself. Dan was busting everyone in several states before the tournament. This was only a couple of years or so after he won the Worlds title in Bend, OR and no body reconized him at first until Lambert spilled the beans. For some reason I can't remember the name of the player who won the tournament in '78 other than he was a bar table player from Alabama and the FBI was interested in him (David Howard won it the following year). But I remember who got third, Dan Louie. He was knocked out of the tournament by the second place finisher - Keith McCready.

Grady or Keith, have anything to add?


Lunchmoney

 

[JAM]

I'm sure that it shot during the Southern Open which was held twice, once in '78 and once '79. The only time there was that much talent in the place was during one of those tournaments. You were subject to find any top player in the country at any time in the Greenway but collectively, like in the video, it had to be a big tourney. You could name any top player from that era and they were there along with some old timers and up and comers.

I used to play Jamie Farrell at a place called Tony and Lela's in Baton Rouge. He could get in there but not the Greenway because he was only 17 at the time. I believe he turned 18 in 1978.

I remember Grady being there and busting everyone in a ring game. Keith was there as well. He was robbing everyone in the same ring game as Grady until he had a match.

I was hanging out with Dan Louie at the time. He and his girlfriend Barb had come down to BR and were staying with my buddy Mark and myself. Dan was busting everyone in several states before the tournament. This was only a couple of years or so after he won the Worlds title in Bend, OR and no body reconized him at first until Lambert spilled the beans. For some reason I can't remember the name of the player who won the tournament in '78 other than he was a bar table player from Alabama and the FBI was interested in him (David Howard won it the following year). But I remember who got third, Dan Louie. He was knocked out of the tournament by the second place finisher - Keith McCready.

Grady or Keith, have anything to add?


Lunchmoney

That is some great memory you got there. Thanks for the read. I enjoyed those little snippets of what happened.

If y'all think it happneed in 1978-1979 era, then I am going to run through my pool mags and newspapers to see what I can come up with. Those are the only historical archives in existence that I know of, especially The National Billiards News.

I've heard a lot of stores about Jamie, the redheaded gambler! :wink:

Stay tuned. In the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, "I'll be back." :grin-square:

 

[JimS]

Great stuff. Thanks!!

 

[Fatboy]

this video is from 78 there was a Space Invaders pinball machine(i currently own one) in the first 10 seconds, its the only pin that had the flashing light pattern around the backglass like it, until Xenon cam out a coupleyears laster, but Invaders was a twin size machine(in the video) and Xenon was narrow, I watched that part 4 times te verify it,

Then towards the end I heard a Space Invaders video game the shooting of the little cannon has a very distinctive sound, Then I knew it was from 78, also they showed the Pin Ball maching back glass for a split second. there is zero doubt about this is from 78.

I know more than I'd like to admit about pinball/video game history from 77-84

I was in that room one night in july 86 watching Buster Merchant play a guy 10 ahead for $1000, they stopped at 8 AM even, I went out to the Vanand went to bed then in the front of the room. Great pool room for sure!!

 

[JAM]

So far I have perused everything I have in my pool library for 1978 and came up empty for this tournament. Of course, it could be that there was no print media coverage.

I'm going through 1979 now, hoping I find a snippet about this event, at least to put a name on it!

EDITED: Well, I've gone through every single piece of print pool media I have for 1978 and 1979, and there is not one mention of this tournament in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at Greenway. It is possible, however, that nobody bothered to write an article. What a shame that would be. It is also possible that this tournament could have occurred later than 1978 and 1979. Maybe someday I will come across it.

That said, I did enjoy reading some pretty cool pool articles this morning.

 

[lunchmoney]

So far I have perused everything I have in my pool library for 1978 and came up empty for this tournament. Of course, it could be that there was no print media coverage.

I'm going through 1979 now, hoping I find a snippet about this event, at least to put a name on it!

EDITED: Well, I've gone through every single piece of print pool media I have for 1978 and 1979, and there is not one mention of this tournament in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at Greenway. It is possible, however, that nobody bothered to write an article. What a shame that would be. It is also possible that this tournament could have occurred later than 1978 and 1979. Maybe someday I will come across it.

That said, I did enjoy reading some pretty cool pool articles this morning.

I'm pretty sure that the years are correct. I moved down to Baton Rouge in 1977 and the tournaments occurred about a year after I got there. Grady talks about it in his book "Bet High and Kiss Low" and I believe he even specified the years. It was also the first time I ever saw Keith and people were saying he was a favorite to win. I seemed to remember someone saying that Keith was only 19 or 20 years old. After I heard he was the favorite I started sweating his matches, he played absolutely fearless. The tournament was set up by Buddy Bonacaze (sp). There was an empty store right next to the pool room. They rented it and made a doorway in the wall going from Greenway to the tournament room. Greenway served as the "Green Room". I can still remember a lot of the people that were there. Mizerak, Handsome Danny Jones, Buddy Hall, Grady, Larry Hubbart, Flyboy,Mike Siegel the list goes on and on. I finally remembered who won it in addition to David Howard, it was Jerry Brock. I can't remember what the payout for first and second was but Dan Louie got a thousand for third place. I have looked high and wide for any information about the tournament for years as I wanted to see a players list. I couldn't find anything at all. All I know is that the Tournament was called the Southern Open and it was set up rather quickly if I remember correctly. Somewhere out there someone has that information. You would think that a gathering of players of that caliber would warrant some sort of documentation.

Lunchmoney

 

[ShootingArts]

State Times/Morning Advocate?

The Baton Rouge newspaper morgue might have something. Back in that day I read almost every word in the newspaper every day and I seem to remember coverage. The State Times was the afternoon paper and tended to carry the lighter news, the Morning Advocate carried more hard news. They merged, I think they were already published by the same company, anyway the Morning Advocate is still in existence and should have the records for both papers. I'm not sure if they can check display ad's but I seem to remember one taken out too, one reason there would be coverage in the paper.

Hu

 

[hemicudas]

Try 1981

So far I have perused everything I have in my pool library for 1978 and came up empty for this tournament. Of course, it could be that there was no print media coverage.

I'm going through 1979 now, hoping I find a snippet about this event, at least to put a name on it!

EDITED: Well, I've gone through every single piece of print pool media I have for 1978 and 1979, and there is not one mention of this tournament in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at Greenway. It is possible, however, that nobody bothered to write an article. What a shame that would be. It is also possible that this tournament could have occurred later than 1978 and 1979. Maybe someday I will come across it.

That said, I did enjoy reading some pretty cool pool articles this morning.

The owner of this VHS shot video is Jim Wax. Jim converted it to DVD and sent it to me last week. So far I have only uploaded the first part of the video, it is in 3 parts. I will be uploading the other 2 parts shortly. I may try to combine them into one part. In the 3rd part of the video Jim, now 70 years old, executes the same trick shot for a Baton Rouge TV station. This was done in 2008. At the end of the video the TV announcer states that Jim preformed the original shot 27 years earlier which would make the first part have been shot in 1981, which is totally possible.

JAM, check out what you can find in BR for that year and see if anything jibes. That is Jamie Farrell for sure eating and he could easily be 21 years old at the time. I guess he could also be 18. I will ask him and get back to you guys. Part 2 and 3 will be up soon. It has to be shot in either 78 or 81.

 

[lunchmoney]

The owner of this VHS shot video is Jim Wax. Jim converted it to DVD and sent it to me last week. So far I have only uploaded the first part of the video, it is in 3 parts. I will be uploading the other 2 parts shortly. I may try to combine them into one part. In the 3rd part of the video Jim, now 70 years old, executes the same trick shot for a Baton Rouge TV station. This was done in 2008. At the end of the video the TV announcer states that Jim preformed the original shot 27 years earlier which would make the first part have been shot in 1981, which is totally possible.

JAM, check out what you can find in BR for that year and see if anything jibes. That is Jamie Farrell for sure eating and he could easily be 21 years old at the time. I guess he could also be 18. I will ask him and get back to you guys. Part 2 and 3 will be up soon. It has to be shot in either 78 or 81.

$Bill,
Have anything to add about the Southern Opens? Didn't you stake Danny Jones in the payball game?

Lunchmoney