Max and DPK Interview, Part 3

Part 3 of some excerpts from an interview conducted by Max The Drunken Severed Head with my adopted actor, David Patrick Kelly.

The interview was conducted in Pittsburgh on May 19th, 2007.

This portion deals with DPK's early work as an actor and musician in New York City in the 1970's.

Max's wife Jane also puts in an appearance.


DPK:
Max's [Kansas City] had 150 seats with little tables that were lined up in rows. I saw everybody -- from Bruce Springsteen with his first record out, "Greetings from Asbury Park"; the Wailers, the original Wailers, Bob Marley and Peter Tosh; Robbie Shakespeare and Sly Dunbar...


Jane:
Wow, I'm jealous of that.

[Max laughs]


DPK:
It was great -- [the Wailers] had just had Burnin' out on record. Patti Smith made her first appearance there, when when it was just her and Lenny Kaye on guitar... Charles Mingus quartet...

So once in a while it'd be really packed with people. We'd have to help down the stairs. Then I did a play there, and that moved into what they called a punk -- we didn't call it punk rock -- but it was the punk rock era.

And we'd read about the band Television playing at CBGB's, and so I went there too with my band. Very good band, still got some live tapes, gonna bring them out. I had to dissolve my band, and then...


Max:
You played guitar?


DPK:
I played guitar, and played all the cabarets in rock. It was a wonderful scene, actors and songwriters in the 70's in New York, and that new music, or punk, if you wanna call it that, that THING was going on.

It was very creative. It was a wonderful time in the theater too. There were a lot more theaters then. And I did a play at Max's, and then my first New York job, big job, was Sergeant Pepper on stage.

I played Sergeant Pepper himself and sang "Get Back" and "Saved the Day" at the end of the show. It was by the people who did "Hair" and "Jesus Christ Superstar". John Lennon and Paul McCartney came to the opening. It was really fantastic.


Jane:
VERY nice...


DPK:
It was like a dream. Did you ever see that book "Rock Dreams"? By a guy named Guy Peellaert? David Bowie has an album called "Diamond Dogs".


Jane:
Uh-huh.


DPK:
The cover of that, where he's half dog and half human -- it was done by an artist called Guy Peellaert. He had a book called "Rock Dreams" where it was just fantasies, like Dylan sitting at a diner with Elvis, and stuff like that.

And so, being with John Lennon at the party was a little bit like one of those rock dreams. There he was, talking to me!! Taking me around, introducing me to people.

Because, it's a long story, I know I had gone on in place of somebody, and I know all the words, and he said [imitating Lennon] "Here's Dave, he knows all the words, I don't know all the words to my songs". [laughter]

He was being hounded by Nixon during that time, because he was in protest at the big convention that was coming up. He'd done an interview with himself, "Dr. Winston O'Boogle Interviews John Lennon". And so I told him, "John, you did a good interview with yourself". He says, "Yeah, I asked myself some very pertinent questions". [laughter]

He was a wonderful guy. It was just another horrible tragedy, you know...


Jane:
Yeah.


Max:
I was so...


DPK:
Inconsolable?


Max:
Saddened about that.


DPK:
I'd seen the Beatles. I'd seen them in Detroit, at the Olympic Stadium. Yeah, it was me, Larry Francis, and 12,000 screaming 12 year old girls. That was it.