I was going to graduate school at NYU at the time and worked at the Cookery as a host, showing people to their tables and making "gourmet omelets" at the copper omelet bar that can be seen in the video.
I used to annoy the owner, the legendary Barney Josephson (you can see him leading Alberta to the mike in that video), by giving kids from NYU the prize 4-top right in front of Alberta, known to the waitresses as the "diamond by the mike." The owner preferred to have big spenders there and the waitresses preferred to have big tippers there, but Alberta loved having college kids who really got into her music, no matter how much they drank or ate or tipped.
After a few months, Barney, who was almost as old as Alberta, couldn't stay to introduce Alberta at the late show, which was Saturday at 11. So he asked me to do it, but I was not allowed to veer from the exact intro he used: "Ladies and gentlemen...the Cookery is proud to present...the legendary...Miss...ALBERTA HUNTER!" And then I would take her by the hand and lead her to the microphone.
So I would take longer and longer with the pauses, which at first amused Alberta, because she realized that the longer I paused, the louder they applauded. But one night, I went too far and when I went to get her to lead her to the mike, she stood there, hands on her hips, shaking her head. And that pause made them applaud even MORE!
One night, during one of Alberta's songs in which she got the audience to clap their hands along with her (like the one in the video), I got the waitresses to stand with me at the copper bar and do Supremes-style synchronized hand-clapping. Alberta turned around and saw us and laughed and came over and joined our back-up troupe while the trio kept playing. Barney heard about it the next day and told me to "cut out the monkey business."
More and more, Barney started to resent how much fun I was having. One night he had his manager, Mo, fire me while we were setting up. Mo told all the waitresses I was stealing liquor, which was not only a lie but devastating to me.
On my way out the back door, I walked by the booth where Alberta and her trio were having dinner. She reached out her bony little hand and pulled me down next to her. I was on the verge of crying and I said, "Alberta, I can't believe he's saying I stole things. I love working here--I wouldn't steal anything."
Alberta squeezed my hand tightly and said, "You listen to me. People are gonna say a lot of untrue things about you in your life--you pay them no mind. You understand me? YOU PAY THEM NO MIND." And with that she gave me a kiss on the cheek and sent me out.
It wasn't the last time in my life I was fired, and it wasn't the toughest. But I never forgot the fierceness of that advice from a woman who had lived through so much.
Somewhere I have a VHS copy of her show. I'll see if I can upload her rendition of "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out," which she does as a life statement as moving and as profound as a Shakespearean soliloquy or a Verdi aria.
Updated On: 10/11/08 at 12:36 AM
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