Rick James was found expired at this location on August 4, 2004. He had had a pulmonary and cardiac failure associated with a previous stroke, heart attack, and an installed pacemaker. The coroner's report said James had the following drugs (although at non-lethal levels) in his blood: alprazolam, diazepam, bupropion, citalopram, hydrocodone, digoxin, chlorpheniramine, methamphetamine and cocaine.

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According to Tom Waits, all the winos refer to downtown Los Angeles on 5th street (skid row) as the nickel. His hobo's lullaby 'On the Nickel' was recorded for the Ralph Waite film On the Nickel and also appears on his 1980 album Heartattack and Vine.

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Featured in the cover art of Pure Guava, the hippie house/commune/hillbilly mansion known as Brookridge Farm was a clubhouse for Ween as they developed as musicians and as a band.

Gene Ween used to live here, and Deaner would often visit him and other friends, including Mean Ween and Guy Heller (aka "Dickey Moist" of the Moistboyz).

Deaner played in a band named Echoes with some of the Brookridge residents. Their only material was an extended version of Pink Floyd's 1971 song "Echoes."

Note: Not sure if this is the precise spot, but I think it's pretty close. If anybody has more definitive info, much appreciated.

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Singer/songwriter Harry Nilsson was walking back to his hotel room on August 12, 1973, when he saw a 19-year-old girl working in Rumpelmayer's ice cream parlor.

Una O'Keefe was working in NYC on a summer exchange program from Ireland with a friend. Nilsson walked up to the two of them, and told Una, "You have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. Will you marry me?"

Una and her friend demured, and Nilsson asked them how he could prove that he had good intentions. They said they liked flowers and melons (they had never had a honeydew melon).

Nilsson went back to his hotel room, sobered up, bought the melons, and then found a florist down at the docks who was preparing for a funeral. Nilsson returned to the ice cream parlor in a limousine, and lined up rows of flowers and melons on the street outside of the limo.

The two were married later, and Ringo Starr was the best man at their wedding.

*From the documentary Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talking About Him)?

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In his song "Outburst", Willis, a 6'5", 300+ lb man, describes an incident at this location where he has a schizophrenic outburst. Willis claims to have "freaked out a lot of customers" and "also said 'suck my dick' in front of a lot of people". Store manager Jim Simm subsequently threatened to bar Willis from the store for life.

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