Listen to Gary discuss Cadillac on Art Music Coffeehouse and play Cadillac by Gary Newton.

It was late summer in 1970 up in the Pocono Mountains, and I had some music to play.

There was an inpromptu jam going on in the small park next to the high school at the end of Main Street, about half a mile from Mainline Music, where I was hanging out.

Although I didn’t have my own guitar or amp with me, that was no problem at all. I just borrowed the equipment from the store. Luckily the amp (an old Sound with 1 12-inch speaker) was on wheels, so I carried the guitar and pushed the amp to the park.

The music, as I recall, was mostly bad, and, in the days before electronic tuners, out of tune. But what can you expect from 16-17-year-old kids?

Anyway, I had to return the stuff I borrowed, but the store was closed for the night. But that was OK, because my pal Bob Weidner lived across the street, and he had keys to the store.

The only problem was that he was playing his own gig and wasn’t home. And it was only 10 PM — he wouldn’t be home for hours. But that was good, because sitting on his stoop(they actually do not have them there) were two friendly girls… and their brother.

The older of the two girls (five years older than me) became my girlfriend that night, and the next day we set out for an adventure (for me anyway) to New York City. Her name was Jesse.

We (Jesse and me) met in town the next afternoon. She wanted to go to a party, so we stopped at my house to get my guitar and then went on our way. Our main, and actually only, way of transport was sticking out our thumbs.

We soon had a ride — a tractor-trailer 18-wheeler pulled over and was happy to oblige, so me and my guitar climbed into the sleeping car, while my girl sat on the seat beside the driver.

Our destination was only a few miles away, but after traveling a few minutes, Jesse turns to me and asks if I want to go to New York instead, to Greenwich Village. Sounded good to me! And we were on our way!

By now, darkness had fallen, and we were cruising along Route 80 toward NYC. Then, near the George Washington Bridge, the driver pulled over.

Jesse grabbed me, and we jumped out onto the entrance ramp to the bridge and got a ride to the city in a VW van. That guy was headed to the village, too.

Jesse knew her way around and had friends in the ‘hood. Everywhere, you heard Norman Greenbaum’s Spirit in the Sky. We went into a café off the square, and she told me to sit in the back. She returned with two beers.

After a while, a couple of her friends came in and invited us to their crib in the Greenwich Hotel, right on the perimeter of the park. We went up the back stair, because Cadillac wasnt allowed to be there. Then we played some blues — he crooned some tunes.

My first city night I spent there, sleeping on a bench in Washington Square, tethered to an angel with the belt she made us to wear, so we could tie ourselves together when we slept.

Cadillac by Gary Newton