Speak Easy - Dedicated to Quality Acoustic Music

In the summer of 1981, a group of freelance folk singers and songwriters banded together to find a public venue for their music.
Two of them -- Angela Page and Vinny Vok, tracked down a struggling Reggae/Disco dive within shouting distance of Cafe Wha? and Folk City.
The owners, as it turned out, welcomed the idea of letting the cooperative handle the bookings, publicity and door receipts, while the club could profit from sales of food and spirits to the folk audience.
A deal was struck, the disco ball came down, and on September 18, 1981, Speak Easy reopened as a folk club, run by the "Musician's Cooperative -- a loose knit group including "Old Guard" members Dave Van Ronk and Ed McCurdy, along with a host of newcomers.
Many of the musicians were also members of Jack Hardy's "Greenwich Village Songwriter's Exchange" (formerly the "Cornelia Street Cafe Songwriter's Exchange," until the Cafe threw them out), including one relative newcomer to the Folk scene, Suzanne Vega.

As a founding member of the Musician's Cooperative at Speak Easy, Suzanne headlined one of the first weekend showcases, along with Erik Frandsen.
Her final Speak Easy appearance took place on February 18, 1990, for two sets of a fundraising benefit to save the club.

Though she graced the stage at Speak Easy on no fewer than thirty occasions, unofficial tapes of only three Suzanne Vega performances survive, all from 1986, between the release of her self-titled debut LP and the Grammy-nominated follow-up "Solitude Standing."

Disc 1: Saturday, February 8, 1986

1. Tom's Diner 3:10
2. Some Journey 4:37
3. Small Blue Thing 3:53
4. Undertow 4:37
5. Cracking 2:49
6. Straight Lines 4:50
7. The Rent Song 2:36
8. Calypso 3:27
9. Luka 3:31
10. Freeze Tag 2:53
11. The Queen and the Soldier 7:13
12. Knight Moves 4:44
13. Neighborhood Girls 3:49
14. Lonely Avenue (Pomus) 4:37
15. Marlene on the Wall 4:35

Total Time: 61:25


Disc 2: Tuesday, August 12, 1986 (1st Set)

1. Intro :38
2. Tom's Diner 3:40
3. The Leaf Song 2:55
4. Some Journey 5:13
5. Undertow 6:00
6. Cracking 3:10
7. Daniella 4:01
8. Luka 4:31
9. The Rent Song 2:38
10. Small Blue Thing 4:12
11. The Queen and the Soldier 6:01
12. Knight Moves 4:45
13. Calypso 3:46
14. Marlene on the Wall 4:42
15. Gypsy 5:49
16. Neighborhood Girls 4:58
17. Lightning 2:41

Total Time: 69:45


Disc 3: Tuesday, August 12, 1986 (2nd Set)

1. Intro 1:24
2. Tom's Diner 3:55
3. The Leaf Song 3:55
4. Some Journey 4:58
5. The Queen and the Soldier 5:56
6. Calypso 9:00
7. Gypsy 4:32
8. Luka 4:45
9. Daniella 3:58
10. Black Widow Station 3:26
11. Small Blue Thing 4:02
12. Undertow 4:38
13. Cracking 2:57
14. Freeze Tag 2:34

Total Time: 60:00

All songs by Suzanne Vega, copyright Waifersongs, Ltd, except "Lonely Avenue" (Music and lyrics by Doc Pomus, Progressive Music) and "The Leaf Song" (Lyrics by Suzanne and Alyson Vega, Music by Suzanne Vega)

Front Cover: The Speak Easy, circa 1982 (Photo by Angela Page)
Back Cover: 107 MacDougal Street as it appears today, as the home of the "Village Ma Bar & Grill" and "Sal's Comedy Hole."
Inset: Suzanne Vega from the first Speak Easy advertising flyer, September/October 1981.