Introduction to 58 years in Music
Part One
Rome, May 13, 1974
The audience was waiting for John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers to come out to the stage. Drums, guitars, piano and saxophones were set up. Looking out from behind the curtains, it was this moment, the first concert in the tour, that suddenly brought the excitement to me at full strength. Three thousand people began to applaud and whistle as the announcer quieted the audience down and spoke, ending with “John Mayall and his Bluesbreakers!” We walked out first. “They’re applauding for us!” I thought. Then John walked out and the fervor stepped up a notch. Being on the stage with 5 of the most accomplished musicians in the world was reassuring, I just had to do my part. John counted off “Brand New Band” to introduce us and the first notes of the European tour were heard.
I was born in Minnesota. I must have been around 10 or 11 years old when I started clarinet lessons. I played in the school band, but it was a rehearsal band, never played out. I remember the teacher promising a case of soda if we ever played any piece right, which if course we never did. But think of how the promise of a soda was a huge deal. Sadly, my clarinet career ended several months later when I smashed the clarinet on the basement banister, because “it” squeaked too much. What a shame. Had I continued, my saxophone playing would have had a jump start when I started that at age 71.
When I was in junior high, my family moved to Bellevue, Washington. In the second year, I was just starting to have a social life with kids of my age. In the middle of 8th grade, we moved back to a Minneapolis suburb, where I knew no one. I think that move radically changed the course of my life. Owen Husney lived a few blocks from us and we became close friends, both of us being weirdos that most of our peers wanted nothing to do with. We figured out that it helped socially to play guitar, so we formed a band. How fortunate that the means of recording weren’t ubiquitous in those days, but I know we were awful. I think we were called The Jaguars, then The Treblemen. We reformed the band with a different guitar player. Bob Cohen knew a lot of Ventures songs and could play those leads. We had cards and posters printed. I can’t remember how many actual concerts we played or whether any of them were paid. This was also around the time of the “British invasion”, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and a hundred other creative bands like The Zombies, Georgie Fame, who’s still playing and creating. Psychedelia was about to break through bigtime. Local bands flourished in the Twin Cities with The Trashmen, The Chancellors (David Z on guitar), The Underbeats, The High Spirits (which Owen played in).
My professional musical career started in Minneapolis around 1966. It’s also where I began playing with Black musicians on most of the professional gigs, and came to understand the truth they brought to the music. Sometimes, the whole band started imitating their language or mannerisms, because they were catchy and cool. I wouldn’t do that today, but back then we were like family and it stayed between us. Around this time I attended one quarter at the University of Minnesota, but I decided I could read literature at my own speed. It was a smart decision. My best friend in high school and early fellow band member, Owen Husney, went into the music business in a big way: he discovered Prince, developed him as an artist, and signed him to his first record deal with Warner Brothers. Some of my other friends, like David Z, also developed their own talents for music production and did well in Nashville and Los Angeles. Owen and I have kept in touch over all these years. His book, “Famous People Who Have Met Me” is a good read.
While working a B-Sharp Music in 1965, I had the PR idea of giving George Harrison a guitar when The Beatles played the Twin Cities in August. I was able to speak to a local AM radio DJ and he helped make it happen.
What an incredible moment it was, at age 18, to meet and shake hands with all four Beatles!
These past 57 years have been full of experiences, mostly good, and I wanted to set them into writing. As I am not a methodical writer, but an improviser, I have to just lay it out as I remember things, sometimes getting the chronology wrong. I will have to go back through, correcting typos, adding anecdotes, and fleshing out the story with any new things I may recall. Not only am I not famous, but even the people I worked for, such as John Mayall, are not household names, either. I think telling my story is a worthwhile endeavour, because I have had a varied life, not just playing and later composing music, but also letting the geek in me express himself thought technology while making a living.
NEXT PART: Sock Hops and Bar Bands
