Sleepy labeef

One day back in the late 90’s, my wife and I were having dinner at

the Kensington Circus Pub in Kensington, California. I noticed a bunch of

guys sitting at the next table, and one of them in particular looked familiar.

Completely out of place, but familiar. I approached him.

“Excuse me, are you Sleepy LaBeef?” All six feet, six inches of the

man rose up out of his seat. He extended his hand. “And you are...?”

For those of you who don’t know who Sleepy LaBeef was, he’s a

rockabilly cat who played a zillion one-night stands in bars and

roadhouses all across the U.S., and even more so in Europe. He and his

band played honky-tonk, blues, rockabilly, rock ’n’ roll. He was the

Ramones before the Ramones. Short songs, one after another, delivered in

a no-nonsense, rapid-fire style. The main thing is, he sounded great. He

must have known hundreds of songs. Marvelous baritone voice to match

his bulk, and fine guitar-picking. His name at birth was Thomas LaBeff

(modified from the original LaBouef), and he was called “Sleepy” because

he had a lazy eye. I’d attended his shows a time or two, definitely dug his

act.

Being from Arkansas, Sleepy didn’t actually say “you are...?” He

said “you ‘or’...?” (Just trying to be accurate here.) I introduced myself,

and asked him what on earth was he doing in Berkeley. He said he and his

band (the guys sitting with him) were playing a show later that night at The

Ivy Room in Albany. (A great music venue/dive, still going strong.) I had no

idea.

So, being me, I piped up and said I played harmonica and might I sit

in with the band that evening? He assented. A guy in his party cracked up

at the absurdity of it all. (I found out that night that he was the drummer.)

And that’s how I wound up playing a few tunes with the legendary

Sleepy LaBeef.