YEAR IN REVIEW: Accompanying himself on oil drums, he improvised songs fusing humor, philosophy and an ineffable spontaneity, all sung through a DIY PA system. SanAntonio SATX SanAntonioTX SanAntonioHistory SanAntonioMusic
Ask longtime San Antonians who recall George"Bongo Joe" Coleman, the street musician who was a downtown fixture for nearly two decades, and their eyes often light up. Across almost every social class and divide, Coleman was revered.
They rang out from Alamo Plaza and later, down the Riverwalk and on the Commerce Street Bridge, from his arrival the city in 1968 until his retirement from the street performances after a 1987 tangle with the law. San Antonio paper artist and conservation advocate Kathy Trenchard remains equally dazzled with Bongo Joe and is a key advocate for remembering his life, music and contributions to the city's culture.
Author Rob Johnson, a literature professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, spent five years chasing down the Bongo Joe mythology. His book, released in 2018 by Beatdom Press, collects almost all existing research and exposes a fascinating untold chapter: Bongo Joe's time in Fort Worth. "I probably spent more time with him, talking, than anyone else he knew at that [later] stage in his life, and perhaps years before that," said Mehl, who featured Bongo Joe in his KLRN-TV show"The show was meant to shine a light on the more unusual, interesting people of San Antonio," Mehl said."So, I hunted him up and found him. It was a convoluted process, because he had moved in with Helen Glau, a friend and partner of his.
McCormick's accompanying essay on Coleman, the first of its kind, avoids the reductive dismissals found in later profiles and proves as interesting as the recording itself, especially for those in search of the elusive Bongo Joe. At the time, Fort Worth retained a lawless, Wild West atmosphere, especially along Jacksboro Highway, where The Cellar was located. The establishment's"coffee house" tag was partially a ruse to circumvent alcohol laws.
Though unconfirmed, Coleman himself has claimed that he was whisked to JFK's room at the Hotel Texas for a private performance. "The responding officer said, 'I don't think he's disturbing the peace. In fact, I think he's pretty good!'" the author said, laughing."It's really a credit to San Antonio that, at that time, they embraced him."
"He told me, 'My kids are here, so at least there'll be a small audience for him,'" Strachwitz recalled.remains a cult classic and proof positive that compelling music doesn't require fancy equipment. At the time,the bible of the folk movement, praised the record."What a satirical and social observer Bongo Joe is ... In 'Innocent Little Doggie' ...
To that point, street music has long been viewed as"low art," and Bongo Joe, by that virtue, falls into the genre we now know as"outsider music." During the incident, a heckler pulled a knife and Bongo Joe, in self-defense, shot the man in the shoulder, according to artist and conservationist Trenchard.
UTSA's Institute of Texan Cultures did, however, stage a posthumous exhibit,"Bongo Joe: An Artist Before His Time," featuring his painted oil drums and bicycle alongside photography, film and other contextual material. The 2003 exhibit was only temporary, however, and the Bongo Joe artifacts, on loan, were returned. As of this writing, their location is unclear.
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