Over the years there have been so many requests for Street Choir music. This website chronicles the history of this amazing group and provides a space where people can share their memories and renew contacts. Many people had a chance to express themselves through this vehicle called The Fairfax Street Choir. The Choir had a simple musical platform. Anyone could sing in the Choir if they could carry a tune. The amazing thing about the Street Choir was that everyone at one time or another had a chance to at least try to give life to their musical dream. That's how it was set up in the beginning and as long as that principle was followed Peace reigned in the ranks.
The first gig that the Street Choir played was at the Sleeping Lady Cafe at 58 Bolinas Rd. in Fairfax, CA. Several people who worked at the Sleeping Lady Cafe were also members of the Choir. They came out from working in the kitchen and got up on the tiny little stage to sing with everyone else who was a part of the Choir. Sarah Fulcher who sang with the Jerry Garcia Band and Mark Springer who sang with Van Morrison were up on stage singing with the choir that night. I remember looking over at Mark Springer and he had a big grin on his face while he was singing. I was playing the old upright piano next to the stage. Pretty soon everyone there was singing along and a great time was had by all.
There was a hierarchy in the musical landscape of the Bay Area in the 1960's. Bands competed for the best jobs hoping for gigs at the Avalon Ballroom, run by Chet Helms or the Fillmore Auditorium run by Bill Graham. Of course Winterland was the supreme place to play. Even smaller clubs had bands competing for jobs. The Street Choir was loved by all but was considered to be just a fun group of people who were not serious musicians or singers. Because there were so many beautiful ladies in the Street Choir, in jest, someone dubbed them "The Heaven's Hookers" and somehow it caught on. Musicians who knew Marla would ask "How are the Heaven's Hookers doing?". Then they would laugh and Marla would respond with "Well, we are having a lot of fun if nothing else". What they didn't realize was that the Choir was a talented, dedicated group of people who had begun practicing several times a week on both a group and individual level and they were getting better every day.
After a time the other musicians stopped laughing because the Street Choir was being offered the gigs that other musicians were competing for and all of a sudden the Fairfax Street Choir had some clout. The Fairfax Street Choir had become a contender.
The unique and inspiring group of people who passed through the Street Choir's dynamic group consciousness became better within themselves because of it and as a
result so did the Choir. There is a place where people meet that is
well beyond space and time. Those of us who were members of the Street
Choir all know where that is.
