Dukin' It Out With The King

Chuckles are in very short supply these days, as any of you who’ve read my recent posts will surely understand. But despite the hell I’ve been enduring, I still retain my sense of humor ‘cause without the ability to laugh at myself and the absurdity I’m subjected to, I’d be double clutch fucked and quick! So I search and search every day for reasons to guffaw, to allow the mirth and merriment to spirit me away from the senseless pain that is so pervasive in these mean spirited times. Sometimes the gods smile upon me and in turn, the reasons choose to seek me out. This morning, such was the case. It all had to do with a king and his music; King Sunny Ade’, and his recording, “Juju Music” -which I highly recommend, by the way. One day, a long time ago, me and The King got crossways, and today I got a big ass chuckle out of it.
I once dated a most rambunctious young Greek woman, Estheraki Ash. A spitfire. Hellified woman in the making. Devilishly good looking courtesy of a gene pool that was top shelf; her mother a cross between Gina Lollabrigida and Raquel Welch. But moreso than her looks, Estheraki had a flaming spirit that was unquenchable and she and I enjoyed many years together, traveling the world, enjoying everything we encountered to the nth degree, squeezing the maximum yield from every day. A relationship of a lifetime.
Through my musical travails and my inadvertent association with Island Records, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon the aforementioned debut by King Sunny Ade’, an honest to god Yoruba prince who was making international waves at the time with his infectious high life music. Both Estheraki and I fell in love with this record, always the perfect accompaniment to any desert hideaway soiree, of which we had many. And as luck would have it, King Sunny was touring only a handful of U.S. cities to support this new release and one of his stops was at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles, our home at that time.
The both of us were beyond excited to be able to go see this man in concert, and the added touch was it was at The Greek, one of the coolest outdoor amphitheaters on the planet, nestled as it is in heavily wooded Griffith Park, high in the mountains above Hollywood.
The mood was set.
The concert was pure magic, No other word to describe it. Under the night sky and the stars, the King commanded a forty-five piece band of which almost forty were percussionists. The rhythms were dastardly. Divine. Diabolic. One’s ass could not be still. The crowd swayed like a cobra before its master. A joyous musical celebration lifted every one there beyond the surly bonds of this earth, if only for a little while.
After the show we were due to meet our good friend, Der Jamie and her new beau, Baby Huey, at Carlos and Charlie’s, a rather notorious, exclusive nightspot on Sunset. Der Jamie is another larger than life character, at one time managing Prince and a host of others. Never a dull moment when in this woman’s company... trust me.
The four of us were enjoying ourselves beyond compare, still bubbling from the concert, knocking back some first class cocktailage when in walks King Sunny himself, attended to by a squadron of beefy bodyguards, all resplendent in regal Nigerian garb.
Now, I will admit Estheraki was always a bit star struck even though we regularly traveled and existed in these circles. And true to form, when the King walked in she was suddenly pure liquid without a container.
All was cool... for a minute.
Without any provocation, suddenly there was one of the King’s bodyguards next to Estheraki, reeking of vanilla, informing her in his broken english that, “The King would very much like to meet you, madame. It would be the King’s honor.”
With those big brown eyes that were framed by a set of exquisitely sexy dimples, Estheraki pleaded with me to let her go meet him, and hell, how could I say no? Not everyday you get a chance to meet a king, much less one whose music you love, so I told her, “Sure, why not?” I wasn't, and am not, an insecure person by any stretch.
The bodyguard took Estheraki’s hand and away they went. Der Jamie kept shooting me looks, keeping me in check. I remained chilly, ordering another drink as the evening’s buzz needed some fine tuning.
Several minutes passed by and all was fine until the King and all his minions rose, taking a surrounded Estheraki out the side door with them.
I’m no small guy, and prefer peace to violence, but I’ve dealt with my share of horsehockey and if it comes down to it I’m not averse to mixing it up. A line had been crossed and King or no King, I wasn’t about to stand for it.
Der Jamie immediately saw the mood swing and tapped Baby Huey on his shoulder -himself no small fry, an ex-NFL player- and said, “You better go get Esther or a kingdom will be without a king tomorrow.”
Baby Huey gave me the eye and told me to stay put, then he stood up and hustled out the door after my girl. Shortly Baby Huey returned safely with Estheraki in tow. Even though excited by the King’s overtures, gloating over the fact the King wanted her, Estheraki was reasonably contrite and promised to make it up to me later.
I really couldn’t blame her. I mean, who can resist the allure of being seduced by a King, for goodness sakes?! A talented one, at that?!
And true to her word, she indeed did make it up to me later. Big time.
So today, as I put on “Juju Music” to be my theme music for concocting a brekkie repast, this memory came back to me, providing a chuckle or seventeen.
Thanks Estheraki. Thanks Der Jamie. Thanks Baby Huey. And special thanks go to King Sunny Ade’, for without him and his music none of this would have been possible.
Laughter is good. I highly recommend it. As I do “Juju Music”.
And the beat goes on... ladee dadee dee, ladee dadee di... Same as it ever was, same as it ever was.