Member-only story
Leave Your Ego at the Door
Even legends have their detractors
The year was 1977. The end of July in fact. I’d been playing in a no-name band at a Catskill Mountain resort 100 miles north of New York City until I got fired by the other members for the crime of sleeping with the lead singer.
What can I say? I was in love with her — and not the job. Unemployed, back in New York, and separated from my boo, I was not a happy camper.
Not to worry. Three weeks after my termination, the call came in. The Shirelles’ manager needed a band in a hurry to play 29 dates in August. Could I pull one together in a week?
The call gave me a chance to be employed again and out of New York for a hot summer month. As for the girl? Oh well. We were already separated. A hundred or a thousand miles didn’t make a huge difference. It was a “See You In September” situation when both jobs would end.
I knew a brother drummer and pianist duo who were looking for work. They brought along another guitar player I’d never met. Greg and I compromised. He played guitar (and I the bass) on the dance sets — and we reversed for the girls’ show. Come August 1, we were on the road headed for Wildwood, New Jersey, Titusville, Pennsylvania, Altanta, Georgia, Petoskey, Michigan, Port Stanley, Ontario — and like that.
