The Untold Stories
The Untold Stories
The amazing George Victory
Over the past 14 years I have interviewed 205 Key West musicians (and counting). I’ve written three books about them – the Soul of Key West, Volumes 1, 2, & 3 that included photos and very short biographies of over 160 of them. I record all my interviews they usually go for 45-60 minutes in length. Once in a while, I go back and re-listen to a musician interview or sometimes update with a follow-up interview.
I wrote a column for the Citizen in 2025 about the great George Victory who passed away in 2016 after a long battle with heart disease.
As I listened to that interview, I heard George’s voice talking about his father and how he influenced his music. George talked about his tiny village in the Arouca area of Trinidad. He talked about his first guitar and how his father told him to “feel the chords in your heart”. It was like reliving that luncheon interview with my old friend George.
I have so many of these recordings that include many interesting chapters of these artists lives that go untold. I have interviewed and re-interviewed many of our musicians over these past years. Even my column in the Citizen is limiting and constrains the discussions to the more important musical topics that can be included within my 1,000 word limit.
Key West legend Coffee Butler
I have often thought how I could tell these stories to the many fans of our beloved Key West musicians. Some stories are mere anecdotes, some are serious thoughts, many are very humorous, and some may be more interesting than others. I’ll start and see how far I get:
1964 – the Beatles were in Key West
A close encounter with the Beatles figures in Coffee Butler’s story. Coffee hardly ever spoke about this encounter. I assumed it was not a big deal to Coffee. One afternoon while discussing music in general, the topic came up. Coffee shared some details with me that sounded interesting.
On September 10, 1964, the Beatles were flying from Montreal to Jacksonville, FL for a concert. Due to the threat of Hurricane Dora, their flight was forced to detour to Key West. The Beatles stayed at the old Key Wester Hotel on South Roosevelt.
They jammed all day with a number of different groups. After Coffee finished his gig at the Bamboo Room, probably close to 2:00 am, his good friend Herb Rosenburg took him to the Key Wester to meet the Beatles. Coffee was almost immediately asked to join in and play a song. He chose an old Fats Domino tune, “Blueberry Hill”, one of his favorites. While Coffee finished his song, a large crowd had been gathering and the hour was late. This caused the local police to ask that the music end. Coffee said Beatles drummer Ringo Starr yelled, “Let the man play.”
The young “folksinger” that Coffee befriended – Jimmy Buffett.
Another story related by Coffee Butler was about a young folk singer in the early 70s who was new in town. He attended one of Coffee’s gigs at Howie’s Lounge which was located in the 100 block of Duval Street.
Young Key West vocalist Dottie Martin.
Dottie and Coffee celebrating her 90th birthday.
Another more illuminating Coffee Butler story that he also confirmed as true was related to me by vocalist Dottie Martin, a beautiful young blonde lady who often performed with Coffee during the 50s and 60s. She was tiny and very feminine, she had once had a date with actor Peter Graves while he was filming Beneath the Twelve Mile Reef, Dottie said she came up to his navel he was so tall. She performed with Coffee Butler, her favorite entertainer, for a long time, when it was extremely difficult for black men and white women to work together.
One night after their late-night gig, she noticed Coffee leaving the Bamboo Room and walking down the street alone. His car was being repaired. Dottie pulled over to the curb and offered Coffee a ride home. Coffee without hesitation blurted. “Are you trying to get me killed.” When I was first told this story, I could not fathom how anyone could be mean to the kindest human being I ever met, let alone do him harm. But the threat was real. Jim Crow was alive and well in Key West.
More of these short mini-stories will be available in the future as I re-listen to some of the recordings. I hope you enjoyed them.
The legend, Lofton Ambrose Butler.
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