Bird Page #7

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and I pay him $50.

And it don't help me.

I go to an ulcer doctor...

...same thing, except I pay him 75.

But I go to some little cat up in

a house somewhere and pay him $10...

...for a bag of sh*t

and a little peace...

...my ulcers don't hurt,

liver don't hurt.

My heart trouble is gone.

And this is the man

I'm supposed to stay away from?

Mr. Gillespie, my comrade in arms...

...that is what I call...

...a paradox.

Give her to me.

I have an important question

that can't wait. Is she baptized?

Birks.

It's just you and me and the water.

Just tell me the secret.

I'm not having an easy time

talking to you tonight.

Don't talk,

just tell me the secret.

What secret?

I know my own secrets,

just like you know yours.

What you're really asking is...

...how come when I'm supposed

to hit at 9:
30, I hit at 9:30?

How can I land on a cat I love

as much as I love you...

...and then fire his ass

for showing up late or stoned?

Why I can hold a group together?

Why I'm a leader?

That's what I'm asking.

Because they don't expect me to be.

Because, deep down, they like it

if the n*gger turns out unreliable.

Because that's the way

they think it's supposed to be.

And because I won't give them

the satisfaction of being right.

Here we are.

Brothers.

I'm a reformer,

you trying to be a martyr.

They always remember

the martyrs longer.

They gonna talk about you

when you're dead, Bird.

More than they do now.

They gonna shovel you under

like they love to do.

They gonna talk about you.

My secret.

My secret is, if they kill me...

...it won't be because I helped them.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you

very much for your patience.

And once again, please accept

my heartfelt apologies...

...for being unavoidably detained.

Right now, we'll take a short break

and we will be back shortly.

You got a message. Call home.

Telegram to Mrs. Chan Parker...

... 151 Avenue B, New York City.

My darling...

...the news of our daughter's death...

...surprised me more than it did you.

Do not fulfill funeral proceedings

until I get there.

I shall be the first one to

walk with you into the chapel.

Forgive me for not being...

...in the hospital with you.

Yours most sincerely...

... your husband...

... Charlie Parker.

Western Union?

Telegram to Mrs. Chan Parker...

... 151 Avenue B, New York City.

Chan...

...for God's sake,

hold on to yourself.

Charlie Parker.

Western Union?

Telegram to Mrs. Chan Parker...

... 151 Avenue B, New York City.

Chan...

...comma...

...help.

Period.

Charlie Parker.

This is a telegram...

...to Mrs. Chan Parker...

... 151 Avenue B, New York.

My daughter's dead.

I know it.

I'll be there right away.

My name is Bird.

It's very nice out here.

People have been very nice

to me out here.

I'll be there right away.

Take it easy.

Let me be the first one

to approach you.

I'm your husband.

Sincerely...

... Charlie...

...Parker.

Case number 1540.

Patient admitted to psychiatric

at request of wife...

...following suicide attempt

by ingestion of iodine.

Time:
5 a.m., September 1, 1954.

Patient has a past history

of nervous breakdown...

...for which he was hospitalized

in California for eight months.

The wife says

this was related to depression...

...over their daughter's death...

...and also by reverses in,

quote, "his career"...

...end of quote.

Can't sleep either, huh?

Yeah, I'm giving up all my bad habits.

So, what do you think of this...

...Chummy Morello?

He wants me to tour

with him and some singers.

Chummy Morello.

- Violet Welles.

- Who?

No, no. See, you don't know her.

You're too young.

She's probably dead by now.

But Violet....

"The vibrant Violet of song,"

they billed her at the Apollo.

This is the chick I was playing behind

when I found my style.

I was just backing her up.

I didn't even have a regular gig.

I was just washing dishes

and jamming after hours.

Of course that's before I became...

...the titanic commercial success

that you see sitting before you.

That's before I captured the fancy...

...of the adoring public.

Yeah.

But I started playing these little....

These figures behind her, see?

And they fit with the song...

...but it was like

going inside the melody.

And she says, right on the stage...

...she says:

"N*gger...."

- -don't be playing that sh*t

behind me while I'm trying to sing.

After that, a little later on...

...me and the piano player,

we got together...

...and we were working on "Cherokee."

Now, this was a song that

I had played 10,000 times...

...and I was sick of this song.

But I found this new way...

...of extending the chord changes...

...so it was like a whole new song.

And it still fit.

I've been trying to do this since

they gonged me off the Reno Club.

The bridge of "Cherokee."

That's the bridge I crossed...

...two days before Christmas...

... 1939.

What a Christmas present.

Anyway-- And that's why

you're sitting there...

...listening to me...

...instead of being Red Hot Rodney

from Gene Krupa's band.

So what you think

about Chummy Morello?

I figure a good 16-week tour...

...I could pay a lot of bills.

- Jesus, what are we talking about?

- What are you doing?

I'm talking about

a musician making a living.

That's what I'm talking about.

Look, don't cry for me.

You can kick me in the ass--

Come on.

Kick me in the ass.

Kick me in the ass!

Kick me in the ass!

You're so f***ing dramatic

all the time.

You ought to go into show business.

Violet Welles.

Chan.

What's wrong?

What are the police doing here?

You okay?

During the night, somebody came in

and took some clothes, suitcases.

- Kids?

- They're good, good.

I was just thinking...

...what if we got out

of New York for a while?

My mom's got a house she can't rent.

It'll cost us close to nothing...

...and it's not far from Westchester.

Junkies dream their lives away...

...just thinking about living

in places like this.

What was I thinking about, pudding?

What?

Music?

What is this?

Bach?

"Sheep May Safely Graze."

Did you get my prescription filled?

Yes.

Ha!

Morello, he says he's going

out of town for a month.

And he wonders...

...if I might get together with him...

...bring my ax,

maybe go over a few tunes.

A few ideas.

Bring my ax.

You see that? You see that?

He wants to audition me.

I don't believe that.

He wants to see if I can hold it

and stand up at the same time.

I couldn't yesterday.

I might not be able to today.

You know, if you took the train,

you could sleep longer.

Well, Bernie said something

about a gig in Boston.

And they don't pay

my airfare these days.

I'm rested.

Gotta go.

Girls! Girls! Girls!

One show-- Hi, Birdy.

What happened here? All the clubs

turned into strip joints.

You think this is bad, you should

see what's going on at Paramount.

Paramount?

That's a movie and a stage show,

like always.

Not like always. Never again.

Girls! Girls! Girls!

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