The celebration of Al Capone’s twenty-seventh birthday at the Hawthorne Inn was etched indelibly in Alois’s memory. The evening’s guests included the pianist Thomas Wright “Fats” Waller — delivered to the party against his will. After finishing one of his performances, Waller was leaving the club when four of Capone’s men shoved him into a car and drove him straight to the hotel, where the party was already in full swing. In his diary, Alois describes the pianist’s arrival: “They pushed Waller to the piano and ordered him to play. At first he was terrified but he soon realized his life wasn’t in danger. On the contrary — he was the evening’s main attraction. I had to keep him on his feet and make sure he was just drunk enough to play but not so drunk that he collapsed.” To that end, Alois served him his special highball — whiskey, citrus soda, mint and spice.
The birthday party reportedly lasted three days and Waller was made to play the entire time. He left the Hawthorne Inn exhausted and drunk — but also thousands of dollars richer, having received generous tips from Capone and his guests. Alois noted in his diary that if he ever opened a bar of his own, it would definitely need a pianist.
Fats Waller