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The Greenbriar Boys at the Fifth Amendment

Black and white photograph of four men wearing vests and ties singing and playing guitars, mandolins and a standup bass.

Date: January 1965
Credit: Ron Petronko (photographer), copyright 1965
Harriet Eisenkraft collection. Courtesy of Harriet Eisenkraft

Here are the Greenbriar Boys bluegrass band from New York playing at the Fifth Amendment. That club was a tiny space, located on Bleury Street. It was the first venue Eisenkraft managed before The Penelope and The New Penelope.

A review by one Martin Bailey published in The Georgian student newspaper (vol. 28, no 1, January 26, 1965) describes the show:

The Greenbriar Boys’ style of playing is a mixture of ham, bluegrass, and country and western music. […] Cripple Creek, the next number, gave all the Greenbriar Boys a chance to show their mettle. Their playing was lively. It consisted of plucking and whaming the greatest possible number of notes in the shortest possible time. […] If you like corn huskings and chewing Red Indian Chewing Tobacco, the Greenbriar Boys are a must. If you don’t, you can always go up to the Fifth Amendment to see Gary’s Beatle boots.