in our continuing quest to make the planet a better place, The Paper Bag asks you to

Adopt
Roast Beef Joe
for a day

On December 14, I received an email, reprinted below, from Rich Campbell, noted Paper Bag keyboard and world renown shenanigist. I suggest we each select a day between now and February and make a phone call to Roast Beef Joe.

you can reach him directly by phone at
(516) 623-4001, ext. 7213.

Our buddy and keyboard player “Roast Beef” Joe injured himself at his day job and just had surgery at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola. He fell on the job, tripping over a forklift…..I kid you not. He had surgery to re-attach a tendon in his left knee and he also broke his right ankle….(thank God his hands are okay!). He sounded in good spirits on the phone and asked me to get the word out about his accident. Joe is currently at South Shore Healthcare for his sub-acute physical rehab and tells me that he expects to be there for a month or two (YIKES!). You can visit him there at

Joe Samuels • Shore Healthcare
275 West Merrick Rd., Freeport, NY 11520, Room #112
Visiting hours are 7 days a week, 10am-8pm.

A partial list of "Roast Beef Joe" Samuels' Accomplishments

  • Keyboard player and friend a thousand fold to Little Buster
  • 21 year Paper Bag Veteran
  • Interim Tony Rome, Paper Bag #10
  • Usually the first one to pay for his Paper Bag Tickets
  • At Paper Bag #13 Joe played the organ solo to Procol Harum's Whiter Shade of Pale. During this solo, RBJ became the first human to ascend into space without a rocket or even a space suit. He actually reached the troposphere before returning to the stage at Sundance in Bay Shore.
  • The back of Joe's Bag T-shirt is a leading economic indicator
    ( every year Joe goes to Boomies Deli in Plainview to ascertain the current price of sliced roast beef. In 1987, roast beef went for $8/lb. By 2007 it was up to $21.80/lb. It should be noted that for the year 2002, in a transparent attempt to obscure the effects of inflation on their prices, Boomies quoted a price of $9.60/half pound! shown above)