Grass Menagerie Bronx, New York 1967-1971    After the break up of my band "Pecks Bad Boys", Bruce, the organist and I got a lot of different musicians and vocalists together, rehearsed for awhile and started playing The Crystal Room in Manhattan (The first topless club in New York City). We played their opening and they booked us for the next two months. During that time we weeded out many musicians and singers until we wound up with the five of us. The Crystal Room was a great gig because we got very tight and very good and built up a very big play list. Since Charlie (Chazz Palminteri - He was called Charlie back then) was "Connected" we were never not booked. We played most of the famous clubs in and around New York City. The ones I remember are Club Maxims in the Bronx, Fun City on Broadway in Manhattan, The Cheata in Manhattan, The Office Lounge in the Bronx, A Place in the Sun in St. Thomas Virgins Islands and a bunch of clubs in The Village (Can't remember their names). When I say that Charlie was connected - he really was - he wrote and starred in "Bronx Tale" with Robert DeNiro. So we played a lot of "Mob" owned clubs the main one being The Office Lounge in the Arthur Avenue section of the Bronx. The Office Lounge actually was the bar that was depicted in the movie "Bronx Tale". Charlie wrote that story about himself growing up in that neighborhood (He was actually the kid in the movie in real life but he played the gangster in the movie). We were actually a very good, tight band. We may have made it big but I got drafted and decided not to go to Canada. The band got another guitarist to take my place when I left for the Army and the guys waited two years for me to get back. When I got discharged from the Army (June 1970) the band dumped the other guitarist (I still don't know his name) and we tried to make it work again but by that time Bruce the organist left and I couldn't get back into the club scene any more. A year in Viet Nam had changed me. We Changed our name to "The Human Sacrifice and we played a few clubs for about a year and a half and then played our last gig at A Place in the Sun in St. Thomas the Virgin Islands. We played there 3 months but only mostly partied all the time and never rehearsed which got us fired. We returned to New York, rehearsed 2 or 3 times and broke up (July 1971), then all went our separate ways. Personnel: George Amato - Lead Guitar and Vocals Bruce Sacks - Organ, Billy Harding - Bass Guitar Pat Tartaglia - Drums Charlie Palminteri (Chazz Palminteri) - Lead Vocals. Influences: Motown, Hendrix, Cream, Vanilla Fudge, The Band, Creedence, The Beatles, The Bee Gees and many more Setlist Sample: Purple Haze, Spoonful, My Girl, Shotgun, Sunshine Of Your Love, Yesterday, A Day in The Life, To Love Somebody, MacArthur Park Equipment: Double stack Marshall with Wha Wha Peddle and Fuzz Tone, Fender Bassman and Ampeg bass amps, Lowery double keyboard organ and Leslie. Rehearsal Space: Basement of parents home. Band Vehicles: Rentals for equipment - can't remember the cars. Fashion Statement: Very Hippie and Psychedelic Best Gig: A Place in the Sun - St. Thomas - We partied all the time. Gig from Hell!: Fun City - Manhattan - to many fights. Last Gig: A Place in the Sun - St. Thomas.         The Grass Menagerie playing the Office Lounge in the Bronx          Where are they now? Spring, 2005 I formed a few Christian rock bands and did concerts and ministered through song until 1992. I still play and even have a recording studio in my home. I live in Florida and Maine 50%-50%. Charlie, who changed his name to Chazz Palminteri, became and still is a very famous movie actor (Bronx Tale, Mulholland Falls, Analyze This, the new Kojak series). Bruce moved to California and is a very successful businessman. Billy was a real estate broker the last time I saw him in 1973. Don't know what happened to Pat the drummer. Chazz Palminteri    Information contributed by George Amato pra@bellsouth.net

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