Episode #1
Long ago, in another place and time, I decided that music was going to be a part of my life. Too many years ago I convinced my parents that I needed to take up the guitar. My Mom took me to the local music store and they abruptly sold her on the notion that the first thing to learn was the accordion. Say What?? Being the good kid that I was, I agreed. That didn't last long. I told Mom that I didn't want her wasting money on rental and lessons for something I didn't want to do. Wow, that was tough. Anyway, I got 50 bucks from my Grandmother for Confirmation and bought a cheapo guitar/amp combo at Two Guys and haven't looked back. The Beatles and Beach Boys were major influences along with most other "British Invasion" groups. A big thank you goes out to Ed Sullivan for the TV show that featured so many cool bands. I later bought a cool "Domino Californian" guitar and had that through most of high school.High school found me in two different bands. Played at the senior yearbook party to a good group of classmates then the principle put the k abash on that to end it early. What fun ;-)
Building the band was tough but I never backed away from a challenge. I guess I was too dedicated to quality while the other guys, not so much. It was fun and a great experience. Lots of talent but... after all, we were just kids.
Bought my brand new Gibson Les Paul Gold Top Deluxe back in 1969-70 for $300.00, my used Ampeg Gemini II amp along with a Shure mic and stand and a Clark PA system. Got out of high school without being too traumatized and played, wrote and did a bit of recording at home. The normal high school drama, relationships and all that growing up crap is after all what songs are made of. Look at Taylor Swift. That's all she writes about.Back then there were a lot of guys playing instruments, and I use the word "playing" very loosely, so finding band members wasn't too hard. What wasn't so easy was getting everybody together to work on stuff. Some things never change. We practiced in my parents basement, Bob's basement, Kevin's garage, Joe's living room or garage. Anyplace we could make noise and not get in trouble with the cops or the neighbors. Songs of the day were from Beatles, Stones, Grand Funk, Cream, Beach Boys and some obscure "underground" groups that only got played on those new "FM" band radio stations like Ten Years After, Johnny Winter and The Doors. Things were tough back then when it came to learning songs. Using a record player, lifting the arm to play back a part of a song over and over, wearing out and scratching albums or 45's. No cd's or tabs back then. Closest thing we had to help was sheet music from the record store or the occasional "fake book" that had a mix of 20 or so songs in it. Still have two of mine on a shelf along with some sheet music and song books from back then. It payed to have a good ear for music and I think I have a pretty good one. Bands were made up of members who could read music, had a good ear, could watch what you did and then do the same or just plain sucked. That was then, but now... pretty much the same.
I hope that gives you a good idea of where this is going. I'll move forward in the next episode and look forward to expanding on dealing with the different goals of a band and how each of us members ideas add and subtract from the success and failures in "Building The Band".
