I was the keyboard player for a band that played Zack's frequently during the '70's. My memory: the "stage" was the smallest I had or ever have encountered in my career. We were so crowded that when I tried to play a "high C" I actually was giving the drummer a prostate exam :)
One Sunday morning in 1969, I was sitting inside at Zack's, when I noticed a commotion out on the dock. I went outside to investigate and discovered Wilt Chamberlain unfolding from his boat, which he had just pulled into the slip. He made his way through the crowd in my general direction, with a baker's dozen female groupies hanging on for dear life. I did manage to shake hands with him and remember thinking he was the largest human being I had ever personally come upon. It felt like I only came up to his knee, but surely that was an illusion - wasn't it? I do like to think he treasured this encounter for the rest of his life. Of course, I like to think a lot of things.
Yeah, I knew the owner that ran Zack's, he had a place in San Francisco on Clement st. that had slot car races. One day he just closed both places. It was a very popular place.
I totally remember Zack's. We went there every Saturday night in the early '70's. They made great White Russians. I was the only one with a car, too. I bought it for $50 and it was a convertible but had no top for some reason and it was this big blue thing - don't remember what it was but it was big. My brother and I hid it down the street from our house so my mom would not know - I don't even know if it was registered or not! It didn't have a reverse gear so I always had to make sure I parked it correctly so I could just go forward and not have to back up. It lasted about a month before mom found out and made my dad get rid of it! We would pile everyone in the car and drive to Zack's to dance.
Does anyone else remember Zacks in Sausalito? What a place to dance and meet people. It didn't matter how old you were, you could be 40 and you still had to show ID to get in the door.
I did a lot of dancing in that place - and met some interesting people there. Those were the days!!!!!!!!
