Panama Red

Who is Panama Red?

Danny Finley is an American musician and song-writer, best-known under the name Panama Red.

He enlisted in the US Army in 1962, studied at the US Army Information School at Fort Slocum, NY, and was a Korea stringer for Pacific Stars and Stripes in 1963-64. He worked as a feature writer for the United Nations Command Korea Magazine "Friends of Freedom" in 1964-65. He was separated from active duty in 1965 and honorably discharged in 1968. Upon separation he lived for a short time in San Francisco, where he acquired the nickname Panama Red.

He left San Francisco in early 1966 and returned home to St. Petersburg, Florida. There he began to perform as a guitarist in several bands and as a solo folksinger, notably at the Beaux Arts Coffeehouse in Pinellas Park. In 1967 he moved to New York's Lower East Side and for six months managed a coffeehouse called the Cafe Eye on 10th Street across from Tompkins Square Park.

Returning to Florida he became a managing partner in a head shop called Yellow Submarine in Clearwater. Continuing to perform, he was a founding member of Bethlehem Asylum, a fusion band with two recordings on Ampex records, 3 "Commit Yourself" and4 "Bethlehem Asylum" in 1970 and 1971. Bethlehem Asylum officially disbanded in 1972. The surviving members, Charlie DeChant and Russell Buddy Helm remain close friends.