Seen In San Francisco: Shrine to Swarthy, Manson Look-Alikes?

Click on picture for disturbingly large version

​It takes a lot to throw a San Francisco pedestrian for a loop -- our favorite example is how a bearded man wearing a colorful, flowing dress and pushing a conga drum on wheels turned nary a head. Yet the above scene was indeed jarring.

At first thought, this looked like a shrine -- a shrine for a pair of men who finish Nos. 1 and 2 in the "People You Don't Want To Find Standing At The Foot Of Your Bed When You Wake Up At 3 a.m." contest. The gentleman on the right appears to be outfitted in a shirt crafted from the finest Italian tablecloths while the lad on the left really and truly is a dead ringer for Charles Manson. Since shrines are usually placed at the site of a horrific incident, one can only speculate that this is where these two men were set upon and gunned down by the fashion police.

And yet, a closer inspection revealed that this was not a shrine at all. It's an LP.


We approached and lifted up what turned out to be a album cover (which we did with great caution ever since some jackass left a few baseballs on the street that he'd surreptitiously doused in urine).

This is the 1977 album "Mr. Lucky" by the country rock duo Fool's Gold. The band was a collaboration of Torn Kelly and Denny Henson -- but, for the life of me, I haven't been able to determine which one is Manson Look-Alike and which is Tablecloth Man. There are limits to what one man can do on the Internet, and I don't feel inclined to start making phone calls about this. Enlightened readers are welcome to weigh in.

In any event, the record sleeve was empty. Based upon the reviews this LP received, I think those of us walking down the street were treated to the better deal than whomever possesses that vinyl.