Standing on a corner on Sunset Boulevard, perhaps the first time I was ever in LA, I'm guessing the same day I arrived by thumb. Waiting, waiting...--years later on another LA 'layover' on my way back from Mexico I was walking, walking walking up Sunset or down La Cienega, and some A-hole in a convertible yells out to me, laughing, "Get a car!!!!, Buddy! You're in LA now!". Guess he was right.--ok, back to waiting, waiting...still seeing the WAIT sign. A tall skinny fellow not carrying a backpack ( as I was carrying one) sidled up to the pedestrian crossing next to me and starting chatting...
I think we had some coffee at the Denny's on Sunset, or maybe IHOP. Then the subject got around to work.
"Hey, man...if you're looking for some work, I know a guy.." This guy he knew had been a manager for the DOORS, and the guy telling me this apparently had worked for this 'manager of the DOORS' fellow in the past, as a 'roadie', moving amplifiers, etc.
He knew where the guy's condo was a block or so off Sunset. After coffee, as the evening crept up on us, some other guy joined us, I think, and we found the condo, or apartment of the "DOORS manager" dude. But he wasn't home.
My acquaintance knew enough about this guy to convince his roommate that we were authentic, so he said, " Sure, come on in! He's working his own band now, but he'll be off around 4 AM or 5 AM maybe back here about 6, but you guys can crash in the living room chairs if you want." As I glanced around the room, the amplifier cases, black suitcase like things, had white paint stencils on them which indeed spelled "DOORS". So I give him the benefit of the doubt.
We chatted some, perhaps, and fell off to nap as the hours ticked by. Until about 6 AM, when the real person of the 'DOORS' manager guy got home.
My acquaintance awoke with his spiel ready, "Hey man! Remember me?! I worked for you a year or so ago! You're roommate said we could crash and wait. We're wondering if you have any work?"
The 'DOORS' guy didn't miss a beat.
"YOU!!", he shouted. "Yeah..(sarcastically)..I remember you, alright!...What the hell are you doing in my home!!??" then he went on about how he had not been happy with this fellow I was with as an employee.
At least I'd found a warm cozy place to catch a few winks, but once kicked back onto the street, I made light of it and we parted ways, I finding my way back to the IHOP or Denny's on Sunset. It may have been that same morning, as I hitchhiked down Sunset that a middle aged fellow named Sky with long hair, driving a Mustang ( convertible I think) gave me a lift and even bought me breakfast at Denny's. This SKY--another brush with fame-- told me as we drove down Sunset that Vince Edwards had slept on his floor before he got the role of Ben Casey. Sky, himself, was friendly and not looking for anything else, it seemed from a young man hitchhiking...but seemed to be looking for some attention he'd not succeeded in getting somewhere else. A lonely LA character. Gullible or not, I find no harm in giving these types the benefit of the doubt.
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