David Kelsey - Flights of Fancy

Fantastic Site!

We just played David Kelsey on the radio this past weekend:
http://www.nowlikephotographs.com/playlists/2006/02.19.html

I was looking for any info on Kelsey after the show & your site was thee only game in town. Info on the elusive winged wizard ain’t easy to locate. Our band Bodega System were guests on the local instrumental show & Mr. Kelsey was in our stack of platters. The DJ went w/ “Evergreen” although I’m personally a fan of “Marijuana”…ahem. I always dug the Suicide-esque Rhythm Box trucking thru the track but “Evergreen” was not a bad choice at all (Nice work Joe). A listener even called in to find out the particulars on the tune. Anyhow thanks for doing what you do & David Kelsey please phone home. Dude is nicer than Bruno Martelli on those keys. Oh yeah, what’s a “PNP vibe”?
Best, Patrick

David Kelsey, originally from Washington State, was a young marvel in the 1950’s on radio and TV in the State of Washington. He made his way to San Francisco and played for years at a now defunct saloon called the “New Belle” on Polk Street in the heart of the City’s Gay District. He played his Custom Allen Theatre Organ, his Baldwin synthesizer, and also his grand piano sometimes simultaneously with the organ. He also had a band called “Pure Trach” - there is a record by that name with him and his group - even pictures the whole group. He packed the place for years until it closed and then played in Walnut Creek at a piano bar. He passed away in San Francisco in 1998 at age 58 or 59. Long may his wonderful music live.

I was one of the trumpet players in “David Kelsey & Pure Trash.” David was an amazing talent and a great guy to know. He and a number of the other members of Pure Trash have gone to the “jam session in the sky.”

I knew David Kelsey as Uncle David. Yes, he was my dad’s brother. He was not from Washington State, but from the far north of California.

Uncle David was always bigger than life to me. I loved listening to him play and own a few of his albums. I really miss having him around. He is one of the reasons I learned to play, though I cannot hope to reach the level of skill that just seemed to ooze out of him.

I met David Kelsey in 1983 on my first visit to the USA to meet a friend who lived in San Francisco. That was at New Belle on Polk Street and it was one of the best experiences I had during that trip. I just loved his music and his skills playing the Theatre Organ, and I bought his record, which my husband digitalized so I can still listen to it today. I am very sorry he died so early.

I have this album as well. I remember taking my parents to see David at the New Belle. It was their first time in a Gay Bar, and they were a bit freaked out by it. However they enjoyed his show, well enough to purchase that record. My father often talked about what a great show it was, right up until his death a year ago.

I lived in the Polk Gulch area in the 80’s and, I used to enjoy listening to David Kelsey and Pure Trash on Sunday evenings, for many, many years.
What a great talent indeed.

Does anyone know where I get get his Album?

Trying to locate digitized or tape recordings of David Kelsey’s music from the 70’s and 80’s…any leads appreciated.

Ah, the memories!

David was a consumate performer and I made the New Belle obligatory whenever he was playing. Met a lover there (another organ player) and never happily anticipated the swinging chandeliers at the end of an evening.

No matter what he did, it was fun and he was always friendly toward us. The real treat was his self-accompaniment on the organ with the piano–or was it vice-versa?

That smile and certitude will always be with me and will be foremost among my many memories of my San Francisco life!

I lived a few blocks from the New Bell Saloon in the ’70s and ’80s. David Kelsey’s shows became a mainstay of my Saturday nights. The bar would be packed, smokey, and David’s show, often filled with hysterically raunchy humor, had the crowds roaring. In between his banter, he would play the organ, and often the piano simultaneously. I got to know David. I hired him and his band Pure Trash to be the house band on a local TV show on KRON-TV, called SFO. They blew the roof off the studio every Saturday night — so much so we had to ask them to tone it down — they were blowing the audio man’s headsets off. David was a very sweet guy. I remember seeing him on a float, organ and all, going down Market Street during Gay Pride parades. Undoubtedly his smoking did him in. He would have a cigarette every time he stopped playing. I’ll never forget the amazing talent, smiling face, and the devilish humor — and of course his orange/red Polo shirt he would wear each week. (Did he have a closet full of them?). He would always finish up playing “San Francisco” and the bartenders would swing the chandeliers above the bar as if there had been an earthquake. I’m consoled by the fact that I have a copy of his one (and only?) album, Flights of Fancy. David was an incredible talent and one nice guy.