Saturday, June 29, 2024

Mike Porco: From Cabinet making in Calabria to the stage at Madison Square Garden

 

Bob Dylan Acknowledges his New York Father before a packed house at MSG in 1975



Bob Dylan was busy in the Summer and Fall of 1975. He was spending a lot of time in Greenwich Village and surrounds.


๐ŸŽผHe was recording the Desire album and assembling the troops for the Rolling Thunder tour. This is a snippet of the Gerde's Folk City doc pointing just how important Mike Porco was to Bob Dylan.The first leg of the Rolling Thunder Tour culminated in a benefit concert for framed-boxer Reuben 'Hurricane' Carter at the World's Most Famous Arena. Mike was there to the delight of Dylan.


They had both come a long way from Dylan's first weeks in NYC in 1961 when Mike sponsored Dylan's Union and Cabaret cards as his PARENTAL GUARDIAN. AND Mike gave Bobby a little red wine and roast beef. Not a bad deal.

The Italian immigrant found himself on the stage at Madison Square Garden with all of his famous friends.


๐ŸšจThe GerdesFolkCityDoc is a SUBSCRIPTION ONLY VIDEO.๐Ÿšจ Subscribe for free to get free content. Pay for a subscription to get access to the Folk City documentary.


Help me gain 600 new subscribers so the unbelievable tale of Mike Porco can be told๐ŸŽฅ๐Ÿ†๐Ÿฟ๐ŸŽผ๐Ÿฟ๐Ÿ†๐ŸŒŽ๐ŸคŒ๐Ÿผ This link will take you directly to the post with the GerdesFolkCityDoc๐ŸŽผ๐ŸŽผ๐ŸŽผ๐ŸŽผ๐ŸŽผ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿฝ ๐Ÿ™ ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿฝ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿฝ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿฝ https://bobporco86.substack.com/p/documentary-on-mike-porcos-folk-music



Saturday, June 1, 2024

Gerde's Folk City Documentary Made Available

After 11 years I jumped the gun And released the Gerde’s FolkCity doc May 31. 




 In case you missed it


 It’s a pay-per-view set up on Substack.  It seems pretty straight forward and the first hundred people already subscribed seem to be busy watching Positively Porco in its entirety.   

 Substack makes it easy. So click in and through to the link for the “Bob Porco’s Substack” or search for the GerdesFolkCityDoc and you’ll have access to the full documentary about my grandfather Mike Porco and his cabaret called Folk City.  

 On occasion, I will drop some other clips of B-Roll or concert footage as I see fit.  

 Bob Porco’s Substack will be predominantly about gaining more exposure to the GerdesFolkCityDoc.  So include yourself! Help me reach the first 600 views for June 2024. Subscribe for a while to absorb the doc and share my Substack with your friends.   

 Cheers, Bob 

Thursday, May 23, 2024

Gerde's Folk City Doc Shall Be Released on Bob Porco's Substack June 1

๐ŸŽ‚๐ŸŽผWill You Still LOVE Folk City when it’s Sixty Four?๐ŸŽผ๐ŸŽผ๐ŸŽน

The four (4) hour ‘director’s cut’ of the FOLK CITY documentary POSITIVELY PORCO AKA the GerdesFolkCityDoc will be on Substack. Free enrollment gets you free content. Subscribe for occasional exclusive content. The GerdesFolkCityDoc will be pay-what-you-wish and will be found here on June first.

You’ve already found me here at BOB PORCO’S SUBSTACK so please have a look at the following email/post and share Substack with those Folkies who are familiar with Gerde’s Folk City.

It’s only been eleven years!! 

Actually, I entered the Greenwich Village scene 15 years ago right before the Folk City 50th anniversary concert!!

The first of June 2024 will be FOLK CITY’s 64th Anniversary. From January 1960 to late May, Izzy Young ran the stage. After being closed to music for a few days, my Grandpa Mike Porco took over in June 1960.

๐ŸคŒ๐Ÿผ ๐Ÿ‘€ I want you to read this email so that you get the main idea about what the GerdesFolkCityDoc is all about.

๐ŸคŒ๐ŸผDo ya love Rock and Roll?

๐ŸคŒ๐ŸผHow about Folk Rock?

๐ŸคŒ๐ŸผHow about The Blues?

๐ŸคŒ๐ŸผAmericana?

๐ŸคŒ๐ŸผSinger songwriter???

๐ŸŽผ๐ŸŽผ Ever wonder where all that came from?

Try imagining a place where it was always safe and warm for the stray musician during the Folk Revival of the 1960s.

Gerde's Restaurant was an Italian eatery situated East of Washington Square and MacDougal Street yet it became the unlikely epicenter of a musical movement.

In his autobiography, Bob Dylan called Gerde's "the preeminent Folk club in America." Mike Porco, an opportunist who was never one to turn away a crowd, was instrumental in, literally, setting the stage for the music revolution of the 1960s.

What began as a book project about my grandfather became a film project. I started it 3 presidential admins ago! That’s why some consider the project unfinished; THEY’VE NEVER SEEN IT. Truth is, “it” existed on my lap top for many years. I only wanted TOP SHELF production and fanfare. I held the film closely until the ink was dry on BIG contracts. ๐Ÿฅ‚ 

⏳The contract hasn’t come, but I never stopped working on making the GerdesFolkCityDoc. I called it POSITIVELY PORCO for many years and I think the story still answers to that name.

Instead of the Opera House Folkie Overthrow, ‘it’ be released digitally on Substack AS IS.

๐Ÿ›Ž๐ŸŽ๐ŸŽ‰๐Ÿ“…JUNE FIRST. 

Between you reading this NOW and June 1st, the GerdesFolkCityDoc will be undergoing one hot and heavy LAST edit and get uploaded ‘completed’ or not. 

๐ŸคŒ๐Ÿผ๐ŸคŒ๐Ÿผ๐ŸคŒ๐Ÿผ๐ŸคŒ๐Ÿผ๐ŸคŒ๐Ÿผ๐ŸคŒ๐Ÿผ๐ŸคŒ๐Ÿผ

๐ŸŒŽSubstack is popular with writers and content creators who have daily essays and videos to distribute to their readers and subscribers. I never gave it a thought to upload the GerdesFolkCityDoc to a writers’ subscriber page…WTF

It was always the ‘plan’ to get my final product the GerdesFolkCityDoc out to everyone through the Internet of things.

In my dreams I had visions of selling individual digital views of the GerdesFolkCityDoc.

BUT HOW???

Eleven years later, I discovered a way. ๐Ÿคž๐Ÿผ

I need to share it for a very affordable price since everything is digital these days. The COSTS, really, are only for Substack to incur. My 15 years of sweat equity was from a labor of love❤️

NOW

All I need for the documentary to FINALLY get out is for everyone to have-a 

✅ Clean signal 

✅ Electricity and 

✅ Substack subscription to The GerdesFolkCityDoc

It will be found here the FIRST of JUNE 2024!!!

It’s only been eleven years!! What’s the rush??? I’ve been planning this release for several weeks now and I’d love to see-a wha-comes out of it, as Mike would say.

This is folk music. The GerdesFolkCityDoc needs to be accessible to all People.

Acoustic music is supposed to be automatic for the People. EVERY musician hustles for their own benefit, but no one really over-charges, as a rule. The Show must be accessible to entire families.

I’m relying on Substack to work smoothly so people all around the world can watch 24/7/365 worldwide.๐Ÿ’ซ

Countless hours have been spent on the material and I finally want to share it.

๐Ÿคž๐Ÿผ๐Ÿ•ฐPOSITIVELY PORCO will become known as the definitive document of the rich history of Gerde’s Folk City. Using first-person testimony, archival footage and authentic recordings, the movie will demonstrate the profound affect the music emanating from the Village had on the collective consciousness of a generation.

The interviews that I conducted in 2013 and 2014 include

BRUCE LANGHORNE

JOHN P. HAMMOND

ARLO GUTHRIE

TERRE ROCHE

BARRY KORNFELD

DOMINIC CHIANESE

VINCE MARTIN

IZZY YOUNG

BOB PORCO SR.

ANGELO PORCO

GEORGE GERDES

SONNY OCHS

PEGGY DUNCAN-GARNER

LARRY ‘RATSO’ SLOMAN

ROB STONER

ROD MACDONALD

HAPPY and JANE TRAUM

ERIK FRANDSEN

ERIC ANDERSEN

JOSร‰ FELICIANO

DELORES DIXON

DAVID MASSENGILL

๐Ÿ“กI’m giving you the GerdesFolkCityDoc for a pay as you want price.

If you happen to recognize the great contributions that Gerde’s and the musicians gave to American music itself,

Pay a few bucks more. It’s up to you and 

I’m grateful for what you give..

⚖️Substack will send you all the information you need to pay and PLAY THE GERDESFOLKCITYDOC.

It will be a SUBSCRIPTION ONLY VIDEO.

I need to get the word out now!!!

๐ŸŽช๐ŸŽ–I’ll be sharing other clips and shorts to Facebook and where ever hoping you’ll find the DOC from one direction or another. PLEASE SHARE ‘Bob Porco’s Substack’ to find the GerdesFolkCityDoc.

If you gave a shit about Folk City then, then you’ll probably take some interest in Gerde’s Folk City today.

๐Ÿ†My very noble grandfather gave a lot to the scene.๐Ÿ†

Please spread the word! This always has potential to blossom into more tributes.

Come on over and subscribe for other content in the future.

Pass it along to your folkie buddies. Substack will keep you in the loop through emails.

For years I kept telling people this film is coming, It’s coming, IT’S COMING‼️Now we have a date.

On June 1st you’ll have your chance!

Get Folked,

Bob

https://bobporco86.substack.com/p/gerdes-folk-city-doc-to-be-released