The Lucy Book

YOU CAN NOW SEE PICTURES OF THE BOOK HERE!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the making of this book for Lucy and a very very special thanks to Renee who was the one who delivered the book to Lucy. It was delivered on September 20 at the Bottom Line show and was definately a success.

For those of you who do not know what the Lucy Book is; it was a book that we made for Lucy from all of her fans and musical friends. I compiled letters, interviews, pictures, stories, ticket stubs, ads and so much more and put them in a book which was given to Lucy.

A note from Lucy about the book is below

Dear everyone involved in creating that incredible book for me, and especially Kristen for organizing and creating it, and Sharon, Renee, Benay and Donna for presenting it to me so movingly at my Bottom Line show:

I don't know how I can really thank all of you enough for the amazing gift. I was practically speechless when I got it, and now I've finally had a chance to really look through it and take it in and I'm still pretty speechless. You guys have no idea how much this all means to me: the incredibly nice things you all said in your notes that were so sweet and moving, the amazing souvenirs (including an ad for a show I did in 1982, how did you find that?!!), the great, great photos, the notes from my pals Richard S., John G. and Jennifer K., the wacky quotes from me (eg, "I'm such a girl"), the sad, moving drawing of the World Trade Center behind me when I played there this summer. I could go on and on.

You probably don't realize it, but you guys are a really big part of my being able to believe that I'm doing the right thing by singing for a living, that I made the right decision to leave psychology, that there's value in what I do. And the book you gave me just underscores that even more. I don't think I can express just how much I appreciate that.

So thank you, thank you, thank you.
Love, Lucy

A review from Renee- the person who was chosen to deliver the book to Lucy- is below. She did an amazing job presenting it and I am so proud of her :) Pictures will be up as soon as I get them.

After a brief intermission, Lucy took the stage. In a blue denim jacket and brown leather pants that she had just bought, she opened with "Wayfaring Stranger". This was my first time hearing her do this song. *I will include an official set list at the end of this message* She had Lincoln Schlaefer on bass, Ben Wittman on drums and ben butler on lead guitar. She then sang "Written On The Back Of His Hand', "Don't Mind Me", "TYN"(she told us it was her & Rick's official '16 year night), "Guilty As Sin", "Broken Things"-*wow*, "No More Excuses". Lucy chatted with the audience for awhile and was very impressed that so many of us had to work in the morning and were still out so late. As she started to sing "Scorpion", Catie Curtis came running on stage to surprise Lucy and sing with her, only to find there was not an extra microphone on stage and tried to run back off the stage but Lucy insisted she stay and share one microphone. Lucy commented that Catie was a LOT taller...soooo...Catie kicked off her shoes and sang with Lucy in her socks! :) They sounded darn good together :) :) After the song, Catie jumped back into her shoes and ran off the stage.

Lucy told us that her mom continues to be a source of amusement for her as well as an inspiration for her song writing process. She said her mom has been going to every record store in her area to make sure not only that they carry ESD, but that they put it in the front of the store AND even made them open up a CD so she could show them the photos inside! :)She said her mom has a shrine of Lucy as well. Ya' gotta' love her mom! :) Lucy told us how for the first time she hired a hair and makeup professional and decided to shoot the photos 'indoors' with lighting, rather than when it's 40 degrees and raining(like with TYN photos).This story led right into "Song For Molly". Then an unexpected and very lively version of Buddie & Julie Miller's "Hole In My Head" followed. Next were "Turn The Lights Back On" and "Nowhere", with a kick ass guitar solo provided by Mr. Ben Butler-WOW, is all I can say!! :) "End Of The Day" also sounded terrific with this band. For her encore Lucy performed "Mary and The Soldier" (it was a request from an audience member). All in all, the show was nothing short of spectacular, the band was incredible and Lucy's voice has never sounded better! Not that I have ever heard her sound anything less than fabulous, of course!:)

Now, it was time for the big moment...THE BOOK Presentation!!! As the four of us 'Bitchin Babes'(Me, Sharon, Donna and Benay) waited around for Lucy to finish up signing some cd's and chatting with some fans, I told Benay that I felt like I was at an awards show and was about to present a lifetime achievement award. In a way, I was. Although Lucy is no where near done musically, this was still a gift that thanks her for all she has achieved and how much she has touched all of our lives in the process. So, I handed Sharon my camera and told her she was in charge of capturing the moment on film. She happily accepted the challenge. I decided to just kind of 'wing it' rather than plan out what I would say to Lucy before I handed her the book. I said something like "Lucy, we have a special gift for you. This was made by the 'listers' but one person in particular is responsible and she chose me to be 'the one' to do this". I then turned the book around so she could see the cover and her mouth fell open and continued to stay that way for the next 10 minutes or so :) I handed it to her and she was in such a state of shock, I cannot even begin to tell you! But luckily Sharon was snapping pictures the whole time so we will have the visuals to accompany this story :) Lucy took the book and stood by the bar looking at it, and just kept saying "Oh My GAWD", "Oh My GAWD", "Oh My GAWD", with her jaw still hanging open and her eyes wide! :) She was sooooooo touched, so surprised! She then said, again, "Oh MY GAWD, I love you guys, I love you!!"

I told her that Kristen was the mastermind behind this great project and that it was her idea and we all contributed our stories and messages and Kristen put the whole thing together. She said that Kristen was definitely going to get a message from her, as she continued to flip through the book, smiling. Rick (her husband) was right there for all of this as well and was very blown away by the book. He was flipping through it and said "This is really special, she is gonna' treasure this". While I had the book in my possession, I had noticed there were a couple of blank pages and I asked Kristen about them and she told me if I could think of anything to put on the pages to go ahead. So, I did a pencil sketch of Lucy(from ESD cd) on one page and on the other I did something a little 'risky'. I only say 'risky' because due to the tragic events of last week, I wasn't sure if it would be a good idea or not. But I went with my instinct and did it. I had a photo of Lucy on stage this past July at the World Trade Center concert, I cut the top of the photo to resemble the shape of buildings, and then I drew a full skyline above/around the photo, complete with the Twin Towers, a moon and star filled sky. I wrote beneath it- "July 18, 2001- Lucy, thank you for making my memory of the World Trade Center so unforgettable".

Well, I'm glad I went with my instinct to do that for the last page because Lucy loved it and said it was really moving. We all chatted a bit more with Lucy, she signed all of our Cd' with " To (Renee, or the appropriate name the cd belonged to)- I LOVE RENEE! Love Lucy Kaplansky. ALthough I think Sharon got "I LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!" Hmmmm...Sharon....I'm a bit jealous!:)

We said our goodbyes, hugs and kisses all around and Lucy asked us if we were all going to be ok getting home and said "Are you sure? Great, now I'm gonna' worry ya' know!" We all parted and headed home, glowing from the magic that took place at the Bottom Line, both on stage and off!! :) I made it home by 3 or 3:30AM, just in time to get about 2 and half hours of sleep and get up for work! :) It felt really great to *finally* smile again after crying so much over the last 10 days. It felt wonderful to be surrounded by live music, and more importantly-FRIENDS!!:) :) :)

Thank you Kristen for making the book and asking me to present it, I hope I fulfilled your expectations. I know Lucy is very thrilled and touched by it, so the mission was a huge success!!! :) Hey Kristen- well, you wanted *details*, so how'd I'd do? Enough details for ya'? :) :) :)

And here's a short add on from Sharon who was present and was taking pictures of the presentation

the book was impressive kristen.. oh my GAWD.. oh my gawd.. she kept saying oh my gawd.. no one has ever done anything like this for me.. before