[78-L] Spivey... no not THAT Spivey

[Jack Raymond]

I've got two of her albums -- "An Evening with Spivy" (Gala Records) and "Seven Gay Sophisticated Songs by Spivy" (General Records).  Do you want photos of both album covers/notes?

Spivy operated Spivy's Roof on East 57th Street through the 1940s.  Later she ran the Bricktop club in Rome, the Cafe de Paris in London, and Spivy's Club in Paris.  She also had cameos in "Requiem for a Heavyweight" with Anthony Quinn and "The Fugitive Kind" with Marlon Brando -- this from the NY Times obit in 1971.

Although I never saw her in person, I first heard of Spivy around 1940 from a friend in boarding school whose family (in Manhattan) knew her well.  I remember his telling me of a time when he and Spivy hitchhiked from New York to Cape Cod, adopting a new set of personas and life stories for each new ride they got.

-- Jack Raymond
> Malcolm Rockwell wrote:
> Okay, I'm stumped!
> A while ago I bought an album from the 40s on a minor label by an artist
> named Spivey. Not Victoria Spivey, not Sweet Pease Spivey, just Spivey.
> Turns out she was a gay, "blue" piano player with a notorious lounge act
> in New York that many lads went to see as a rite of passage, sort of. I
> cannot find the fool thing. It's hiding somewhere in my collection and
> being very elusive.
> I've tried Googling "Spivey" and "lounge act" and "New York 1940" all to
> no avail.
> I could use a scan of the cover and the notes on the inside cover if
> anyone has this item.
> Meanwhile I'll keep searching.
> Mal "aaaaaargh!" Rockwell