Girl George has been an Icon of the Music scene since the early 60's. Long before anyone had ever heard the word Hippie.On her own from the age of 16 Working in bars.With Fake ID's..Singing in Jam Sessions.Picking up Guitar at 21 years old .. Running Clubs,Booking Acts, Running Open Mic's....Playing the Fillmore and The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco . She was in Nashville from 1971-1973 where Girl George performed with a Woman named The Arizona Star. Together they toured with Dr Hook and The Medicine Show, Chuck Berry and Stevie Wonder... When the duo broke up Girl George went West... She produced and hosted her on Variety Show on TV in San Francisco live from The Mabuhay Gardens and The Coffee Gallery.

She moved to Los Angeles in 1983.. Where she performed at Al's Bar, Cathay De Grande,The Central, The Roxy, The Troubadour and The Palomino. She produced the Love- In at Griffith Park for ten years... She has moved back to the Bay Area and is currently doing a weekly blog Talk Radio Show with the Gypsy Poet... I hope you enjoy my interview with the fabulous Girl George!!

When was the First time you were on stage?

I was 8 yrs old and in the 3rd grade in the school talent contest.. I was singing accapella Nat King Cole's song "Too Young".. It was scarey as hell! But I did it. The next time I was 16 years old..( I had been working in bars by then with fake ID's) At the "Top Hat" bar located on Broadway in Oakland,Ca. The Singer would take song requests.for money and he would fake the song by making up half the lyrics if he didn't know the song. Later that night I told him the real lyrics for "You're Mine and We Belong Together" I knew all the songs on the radio.. The next week he called me up on stage and had me sing that song.. I think his name was Clyde Arnold. After that I started going to all the Jam Sessions in Hayward, California. They had them all night on Friday and Saturday. At The Town House would go until 2am.. Then there was an after hours club.. It had a jam until 6am then back to the Town House to go all day.. I used to sing "Angle Baby. '

.Did you ever get into any interesting predicaments Girl George?

In 1966 there was this guitar player that rode a big Hog. Every time I saw him roar up to the club I would say "Give me a ride" Well one night he said to me "If you're here in the morning at the jam..I'll give you a ride" So after staying up singing at the after hours jam. I hit the Town House in the morning. There he came (I don't remember his name now) roaring up on his Harley. He said hop on and I did. We went to the Hells Angle Club House in Oakland. There we joined up with 100's or maybe 1000's of other bikers.. And headed on down the highway to Bass Lake.. This was the run that Hunter S.Thompson was on when he wrote about in his Book "The Hells Angles" Cops and citizens would be gathered as we entered each little town.. The Cops to make sure we kept going .. The girls would wave and beg to go along with us. I was about the only girl there.. Everyone assumed I was the guys old lady. So No one bothered me.. Years later in Nashville in 1971 I met Hunter S. Thompson and he gave him a ride to the Great Smoky Mountains.. I spent 3 days with him. Just as friends. Years later in 2000 or so my nephew called to ask if that was me on the History Channel "The History of the Hells Angles." Sure enough there I was sitting at a table with Sonny Barger.. My nephew was more impressed by this then anything I had ever done on stage.

Were you born in the Bay Area?

I was Born in Alameda Ca. My mother delivered me herself as my father ran to get the Doctor. I was born dead! The umbilical cord around my neck. My mother unwrapped it and held me up by the ankles and smacked my butt.. We moved to East Oakland when I was a month old to a 2 bedroom house by the second set of rail road tracks.. Six kids in one room. My mom and dad in the next room. I had a brother and 2 sisters who were older then me. Then a sister and a brother who are younger... They are all gone now except myself and my little brother... I am now the Matriarch of the family..

When and how did you finally leave home?

At the age of 16 I'd had it with my family.. I married a guy I hardly knew just to get away with out running away. We joined the traveling magazine crew..Traveling state to state with 40 other people in a car caravan.. Selling magazines from door to door.. After a month I left my husband.. He decided to leave and I stayed on the crew for six more months.... I hit 18 states.. Then I went back to the S.F.Bay Area. Someone gave me an ID saying I was 26. So I started working in the bars. in San Francisco. San Diego, Long Beach, Los Angeles. Then Back to S.F. when I was 20.. I went half way through Beauty College, And then taught ball room dancing for Fred Astaire.. When I turned 21, I Said the hell with this and went back to working in the bars.

When did you get to North Beach in San Francisco, CA ?.

In October of 1965 I turned 21. So I came to North Beach in early 1966. I thought I'd go to Broadway and make a killing in the new topless clubs. Carol Doda was making news all over the world. Here I was a cute little 21 year old with five years experience working at the bars.. But when I went there all they offered me was dancing Jobs.. The first place I hit was GiGi's. The club was in the same block as the legend Italian restaurant Enricos. They had go-go dancers in the afternoon.. You could keep your top on. I took the gig for $25 a day..Then I walked up Broadway almost to Powell Street. This was the biggest club on the Broadway. It held 500 people. It was called The Peppermint Tree.. I talked to the door man and he told me they'd Pay me $25 a show .. If I'd go in the amateur topless contest. at 5 shows a nite that was a lot of money. That is when I got the name George.. I needed something funny in the show so I tried using the name George one night and the crowd fell over laughing. I weighed less then 100 lb. I won every show after that I ended up running the show. Hiring all the girls, They all worked there.. Then I was offered a gig in the Tenderloin at a drag club, doing the intermission show with me dancing with another girl and a guy. This was again with my top on.. I bought a $25 guitar about the same time at Woolworth's.. I'd go hang out at the Coffee Gallery on Grant Street or The Committee between shows. After I'd Been playing guitar for 3 days..I knew 3 chords and one song "Tambourine Man" The guy who ran the open mic at the Coffee And Confusion a few doors down. Came in and asked me to come over and play at the open mic..I told him I only knew one song.. He told me that it was OK.. So I went over and played my song.. I played every open mic that I could after that.. and I still do!

How did you meet The Arizona Star?

Well I had been in two plays in my life. I don't really like acting, I would rather sing and do my own thing. So the Writer/Producer/Director of one of the plays that I had been in called "The Pot Boilers". In the play we were all cats in it (Long Before "CATS").... It was hell I really hated it. He wanted me in it again.. He had a club "The Tropicana" it was up above the tunnel on Broadway. This was 1970 I had a band by then "Summer Rain"..I told Monty Pike if My Band could Play the during intermissions and I would be in his play. So the first night we played as always I try to drag everyone up on stage.. A pretty 20 yr old girl in the play came up to sing back up.. She was very funny very campy and would do anything I told her to.. When we were at Enricos a few days later she said "everyone is named Christina. Give me a new name" ... We were in the Restroom at the time,I looked up at the wall paper it said superstar all over it..I said there you go "Star".. So she then became STAR until we went to Nashville the next year were she picked up the name Arizona Star.

How did you start wearing a Sword?.

Before I met Star in 1968 I guess I had already started wearing the velvet (my mother made them for me) and the Black knee high Pirate boots.. I saw my reflection in one of those big store windows and I thought all I need now is a sword. I was at one of those all nite Jams in Hayward, at 6am.. I looked up at the hills and I saw snow.. Being from the Bay Area you never see snow. So I started driving toward the snow, just to see it. I drove through a little town named Saratoga.. There was a cute little Antique Shop just opening.. I went in and there I found my sword.. I pulled it out of its hilt the engravement on it was George W.French. They wanted $150 for it I only had $50 on me. So I gave it to them and said I'll be back soon. I stayed up a second night at the Jam and came back to Saratoga.. I got My Sword. I found out much later it was an old Odd Fellows Sword. I wore that thing for over 30 yrs.

How did you meet Kris Kristofferson?

One night on Broadway this guy comes up and said Hi George where are ya playing now? I told him I'd Be playing the open Mic at the Coffee Gallery the next night. So the next night Bobby Neuwirth Was there to see us play. It was myself, Star and Alan on guitar. We were talking to him at the bar when Kristofferson walked in. Boy what a sight he was all dressed in brown suede. Long dark hair and the bluest eyes ya ever saw.. We had never heard of him or Bobby. We found out later Bobby was my hero 'Bob Dylan's" Friend & Road Manager.. But at the time to us they were just a couple of cute guys that wanted to see us play. So we went on stage and did our normal crazy act.. Kris thought that we were great After the show we all went over to Enricos.. Janis Joplin was buzzing around our table. Babbling about a big story about her that was in the newspaper waving in her hand. They said I Fucked everyone from the janitor on down.. Couldn't they have said "From the janitor on up?".. Then she flew off..Next time I saw her was a a concert in San Rafael.. It was getting a little hairy in there..Lots of whacked out Hells Angles So me and My Guitar player left before Janis went on.. That was the night that Janis got hit on stage by one of The Hells Angels... Now back to Kristofferson he had been staying with Janis for a week or so before we met him..Kris proceeded to drag Star ,Alan and myself to all the clubs in Berkeley..(We only played S.F.) Everyone knew him there. The Iron Butterfly, Nick Gravenites. We didn't know who they were either... He told them we were going to be the next big act.. They'd put us on the stage and both Alan and I both managed to both break our guitar strings.. What fuck ups !!! Kris always thought we were great though.. And he brought people to see us play at the Red Dog Saloon in Nashville the next year.

What made you move to Nashville?

After Kris Left town. He came back a few times and we'd see him. By then he was famous and even we knew it. Then one night in 1971 I wandered into the Cigarette /Magazine Store on Broadway I remember we used to call it the "Dirty Book Store"... But they also sold cigarettes and booze... I noticed a magazine with Kristofferson's picture on the cover.. So I bought it.. There I found an article about Shelby Singleton..He now owned the Sun Records in Nashville.. It said if something could be sold ..He could sell it.. So I thought this is the producer for us.. I wrote him a letter with pictures.. Told him we were going to be bigger then the Beatles and that he should produce us. He called me three days later and told me "I have to be in N.Y. in three days So if you can get to Nashville before that I will see you" I called Star up and said "We have to go to Nashville" ... So Star wrote a bum check and off we flew to Nashville... George and Star along with our piano player Jeff Ross. When we got to Nashville it was very Country Western .. But We soon turned it out.. We were there off and on till 1973 when Shel Silverstein Saw us play at the Red Dog Saloon..He told me "I have not been so Impressed by an act since I saw Elvis Presley Play for the first time" You should be with my producer..He handles Dr.Hook and The Medicine Show.. So we broke our contract with our producer Pete Drake and came Back to San Francisco to Sign with Ron Haffkin.. He put us out on the road with Dr.Hook.. We sang one of our songs in the middle of their set.

Tell the readers about the movie that was made about Girl George & The Arizona Star?

Guy Clark wrote a song about us in about 2000.. It was called "The Arizona Star" on his Album... "The Dark" who is a Nashvlle newscaster that makes documentaries on the side had heard the song and started asking around about us. Everyone in Nashville had crazy stories about us.. So they found me on the Internet.. The film crew flew out from Nashville to the Stork Club in Oakland where I was running an Open Mic. They interviewed everyone and filmed me playing and of course talking about the past. I gave them a box full of video tapes pictures and press..To take back to Nashville with them.. They interviewed everyone that knew us in Nashville. Then they found Star in London. They flew there and filmed Star in London..They edited the film and showed it at the Nashville Film Festival .. A while later they came To Berkeley and show the film at the Starry Plough.. Where I Co-hosted the open Mic... They also put it in the Berkeley Film Festival..Where it won a prize. Here is a link for the film

Tell us how you got into punk rock?

I was living in London in 1974 and I happened into a clothing store called Sex. It was owned by Malcolm Mclaren.. I met a really cool salesgirl who worked there. Here name was Chrissie Hynde. We became good friends and when my roommate moved back home. I stayed at Chrissie Hynde's place. I moved back to San Francisco but we stayed in touch with one another for quite some time.. I then started going to The Mabuhay Gardens and did my TV show from there.. Dirk Dirksen and I became friends and he asked me to be a presenter at the now legendary Dummy Awards. The awards were named after his dog Dummy....

: Tell us what you are currently doing Girl George ?

Well Since December of 2012.. I have been doing a blog Talk Radio Show with The Gypsy Poet.. We are just talking to old friends of mine.. Thanks to Facebook I have found Musicians & Artrist Friends I haven't Seen For years.. Its a Lot of fun talking to Tattooist Lyle Tuttle (I've known him over 50 years), Guitarist Cyril Jordan from the Flamin'Groovies, .Nick Scott from the Punk Group POPDeFECT, Helios Creed, Larry Nobel, Paul Pot.. and soon we will be talking to you my dear Ginger Coyote ... On April 28th in fact. The Show is called "The Gypsy Poet Radio Show' Here's a Link http://www.blogtalkradio.com/gypsypoet
We do the show every Sunday at 2pm (PST).. After we do the show I take the audio of the show..Put Pictures and Music of the guests on the show. I also post it up on youtube..so you can see all 13 shows we have done so far on My Youtube channel.. Along with clips from my old TV show..Such as Pearl Harbor & the Explosions, Blue Cheer Wavy Gravy, Dirk Dirksen, Roy Loney, Mike Wilhelm, Norm Davis. Naomi Ruth Eisenberg, Fast Floyd, Queen Ida,
http://www.youtube.com/user/GirlGeorgeTVshow?feature=mhee

Are you still performing Girl George?

Yes of Course every Wed.at the Missouri Lounge Berk. And I write a New Song every week.. Here's My Facebook... I live there.. https://www.facebook.com/GIRL.GEORGE?ref=tn_tnmn

So is it still true that Everybody's Crazy But You..

Why yes of course.. Even more so.. Here' s a link to the song with Naomi Ruth Eisenberg playing fiddle at Al's Bar in L.A.