Gone But Not Forgotten in San Antonio! - Part II (Houston: reviews, studio)

[RGJ]

Originally Posted by RGJ

Funny story, I walked in to the Olds dealer on Broadway around 1971. They had a Cutlass Supreme on the showroom floor and there were about 5-6 sales people standing around drinking coffee and chit chatting. I was probably all of 17 in jeans and a T-Shirt. While I didn't ask for help, no one came up to me asking me if I needed any help. After about 15 minutes, another salesman came from the back of the showroom and immediately came over to me asking if I needed some help. I told him,"I'll take this one" pointing to the Cutlass on the showroom floor. He asked how I was paying and I said, "cash". When we got back to his office, I called my banker and he spoke with the salesman(anybody remember counter checks or drafting instructions?) and I walked out 30 min later owning that Cutlass. The other salesmen(yes, they were all men) jaws were dropped damn near to the floor. Anyways, that taught me forever to never, ever, judge someone by their age or dress.

And I'm going to add that I was from the southeast part of San Antonio /and while going to high school, I had three different jobs. So it wasn't anybody's money but my own.,

[gy2020]

Good for you RGJ. I would love to see those salesmen's faces! That would have been a show unto itself. I've seen that played out in the movies. And of course the sceen in Pretty Woman when the tacky clerk wouldn't sell Julia Roberts a dress!

[SATX56]

Originally Posted by BudB

The dealership in my postcard was at S. St. Mary's and Nueva Streets just south of downtown. Memory tells me that the adds began appearing in SA by 1960 or so as Persia started out in New Orleans. I left SA for Austin in 1966 so cannot say when Persia closed and also have no idea where the "Chevy Terrace" car lot was located. But somebody else will answer your question so stay tuned. And we all remember the crazy bongo guy beating out the Mike Persia jingle which could get old fast when frequently popping up on TV back in the day.

That's just north of Herman Son's where Tom Benson Chevrolet was located later ..so they probably took over the Persia Dealership. I remember the Mike Persia jingle very well!!

Originally Posted by ged_782

Don't know when they opened, but the main location was 457 S St. Marys. That would have to be the location in the first picture in the previous post. The "Chevy Terrace" location was at 1258 Austin Hwy. They also had a "Chevy Center" location at 1505 SW Military, and a "Bel-Air Center" at 4206 San Pedro.

The "Chevy Center" location became Hemphill McCombs Ford by !970. The son of Mr Turbiville of Turbiville Mercury DM'ed me after I posted about my father buying a new Mercury there in 58' or 59'. Real nice fellow now living in College Station. This dealership later became Main-Lincoln Mercury I believe.
North Star Dodge

[BudB]

Originally Posted by satx56

The son of Mr Turbiville of Turbiville Mercury DM'ed me after I posted about my father buying a new Mercury there in 58' or 59'.

I wonder if he was reading a couple years back when we went thru a similar series of posts? I told the story about wandering around the Turbiville showroom, while my dad's '59 Merc was being serviced, and leaning into the front passenger window of a new pinkish 1960 Lincoln Continental Mark V. When I stepped back after examining the controls, radio, dash, etc. there was a 3 or 4 inch vertical scratch on the door below the window and pink paint on my large western style belt buckle. Nervously walking away and out the door, I probably stopped breathing for a few minutes at least until it seemed nobody saw it happen. 50 years later and I still feel bad about that and always hoped their insurance covered the damage. Here's a foto of the same type car and you can see how the upper door panel flared out making it easy for me to scrape accidentally. Sorry Mr. T .... you can take it out of my allowance for the next 200 years.

[RGJ]

On a different subject, but one that may have been discussed here. I've searched trying to find some old tapes of the show Swingtime that aired in San Antonio during the 60's to no avail. Of course, this was all before VCR's, etc.

KTSA and Swingtime brought Eric Burdon and Animals to San Antonio. I'm not even sure if the station kept, or made, tapes of the show. Concert was $2.00 in advance and a whopping $2.50 at the door

[*mud*]

Originally Posted by RGJ

On a different subject, but one that may have been discussed here. I've searched trying to find some old tapes of the show Swingtime that aired in San Antonio during the 60's to no avail. Of course, this was all before VCR's, etc.

KTSA and Swingtime brought Eric Burdon and Animals to San Antonio. I'm not even sure if the station kept, or made, tapes of the show. Concert was $2.00 in advance and a whopping $2.50 at the door

.
.
I was at that show.

I remember the Animals were on the stage all set up, when Eric Burden, (little bitty guy),
came out walking on his hands, and then into a series of cartwheels, flips, etc, all the way around the band's setup.

then launched off into an incredible show. the early Animals were definitely top shelf.

notice that the Moving Sidewalk opened. that is ZZ Top
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[RGJ]

I was in one of the bands that opened the show. When Eric Burdon and his band showed up, they stunk all to hell. They had girl groupies douse them with cologne before they went on stage. and they were all very drunk or high....

[Dwangle]

I get confused when I think about Swingtime. I remember the host as being Don Couser, a DJ on KONO. His sponsor was "Big Red" and Centeno's supermarket. I guess at some point when I quit watching it, it changed to Bruce Hathaway and KTSA. Maybe I am mixing up two different shows. There was another one earlier than Swingtime called Teen Time or Teen Scene --does anyone remember that one?

[BudB]

Originally Posted by mudpuddle

.... then launched off into an incredible show. the early Animals were definitely top shelf.

The Animals appeared here in Austin the night following the SA show. My college room mate at the time did movie and music reviews for the UT Daily Texan newspaper so had passes for their show. I tagged along so met then visited with Burdon and Animals backstage before and after the show at Palmer Auditorium. It was a sold out concert that went well so got a good review. Afterwards in order to do a complete interview for the Texan we went with the band to the Toddle House, a small, all night coffee shop near campus. Eric Burdon was a damn nice guy and they all seemed like a good group of gents who treated the two of us in a friendly manner. The interview went well until a drunk redneck came in about midnite. Seeing that much long hair was apparently too much for the jerk so he wanted to fight any or all of us right then and there. The obnoxious prick became more belligerent as we tried to ignore him until it seemed a fight was coming. The Brits tried to avoid confronting the loudmouth but he was too drunk to be put off. Fortunately just as the poop was about to hit the fan, a Deputy Sheriff walked in for some coffee and got the boozer distracted long enough for us to pay and leave. Obviously it made a sorry impression on the group of touring Englishmen but they seemed to accept it as inevitable given the times and mood of the average American/Texan to long hair. That was neither the first nor last time I got hassled for having long hair then.
Mudd's ticket reminded me to post this old concert poster to see if it rings any bells out there.

[Dwangle]

[quote=BudB;13468504]The Animals appeared here in Austin the night following the SA show. My college room mate at the time did movie and music reviews for the UT Daily Texan newspaper so had passes for their show. I tagged along so met then visited with Burdon and Animals backstage before and after the show at Palmer Auditorium. It was a sold out concert that went well so got a good review. Afterwards in order to do a complete interview for the Texan we went with the band to the Toddle House, a small, all night coffee shop near campus. Eric Burdon was a damn nice guy and they all seemed like a good group of gents who treated the two of us in a friendly manner. The interview went well until a drunk redneck came in about midnite. Seeing that much long hair was apparently too much for the jerk so he wanted to fight any or all of us right then and there. The obnoxious prick became more belligerent as we tried to ignore him until it seemed a fight was coming. The Brits tried to avoid confronting the loudmouth but he was too drunk to be put off. Fortunately just as the poop was about to hit the fan, a Deputy Sheriff walked in for some coffee and got the boozer distracted long enough for us to pay and leave. Obviously it made a sorry impression on the group of touring Englishmen but they seemed to accept it as inevitable given the times and mood of the average American/Texan to long hair. That was neither the first nor last time I got hassled for having long hair then.
Mudd's ticket reminded me to post this old concert poster to see if it rings any bells out there.[/quote

I was at that concert. It was all Jefferson Highschool people and we were talking about going to the Coast. The Municipal Auditorium was mostly empty except for us on the first few rows. If you really were there then I am sure you were one of those or one of us. If you were one of us then you know everybody I knew. Mudd might have been there too but I left when the Spiral Staircase came out because they were just too Hollywood!