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Killers Before Breakfast
New York City, 1974
It was the morning after. On the night
before, we'd played at Max's Kansas City,
with Stevie Wonder sitting in the house,
and Johnny Winter joining later. They
had come for Bobby Bland, for whom we opened,
but they heard our set. The room was small,
not deep, and we could see the audience.
When you really get them – you can tell.
For once we weren't driving overnight,
so we stayed up and crashed in the hotel,
and it was early, much too early, when
a few of us went out to find some breakfast.
We dragged ourselves into the elevator:
Duke in his fedora, Rich with locks
flowing long below his pork-pie hat,
as if Lester Young were Wild Bill Hickok.
John had his wig, and I just had my hair,
but motionless, eyes slitted against morning,
we four leaned back like tilted packing crates
against the back wall of the empty car.
We crawled down a few floors; came to a stop.
The doors slid open, and a woman peered
in at us and blanched, and paused; then, eyes
big with alarm, she stepped into our space.
She stood at the side wall, by the door,
and clutched a shopping bag, a kerchief on
her head, tensely alert, fully awake.
We made no remark. Our ride resumed.
After three more floors, she broke the silence.
“Please don't kill me,” she said. We assured her
we were just musicians who'd stayed up
and hadn't slept much, and we needed coffee.
This seemed to calm her down, and we descended.
Before the doors could open on the lobby,
solemn, plain, she spoke once more: “I have
to tell the truth. You look like murderers.”
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Poet/playwright, singer/songwriter, and cornet player, Al Basile is known to blues fans world-wide, with 20 solo albums and 8 nominations for Blues Music Awards. He has three books of poetry (the most recent is 2021's Solos, from Antrim House) and five verse audio plays (his 2021-22 plays Hill&Dale and Open Question won gold and platinum awards from the HEARnow national audio drama festival). He is a member of the Powow River poets and is the host of the online poets-in-conversation show Poems On.
To hear Al Basile reading “Killers before Breakfast,” click
Killers Before Breakfast – Al Basile
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Max's Kansas City, 1970s