If Clapton was God, then Eric was his mother, my musical mentor from the beginning. He's in the cap, center left, leading the band as always! We were way too far ahead of our time, playing blues to the Japanese infatuation with the Beach Boys and the Beatles, but we wowed them in the teen clubs, had them hootin' and dancing up a storm, which only fed our energy on stage. How do you go back to the farm after having a crowd of rowdy kids screaming your praises! Coming back to LA in '67 without these wild guys was a real let down. Monterrey cured that, when I saw Otis Reading perform some of the songs we had been playing in Japan. We were doing "Respect" before Aretha ever got into the studio and stole it from Otis and made it into a hit! When we reunited in 2000 to rehearse for our performance at the high school reunion we had coming up in New Orleans in 2000, it was almost like we hadn't been apart for 30 years. It took a lot of work, but we got 10 songs together for our set of the night. "House of the Rising Sun" was my favorite, although the crowd once again began hootin' and hollerin' when my little brother Bob started picking up my opening bass line for "My Girl". He could still wail it, but nothing like he did at 15 years old in Japan. We did a bunch of the early Stones tunes (Rob had more soul in his little finger than Mick Jagger had in his whole body) from '65 that we did back then. My only regret is that we didn't do "Mona" which I named one of my best dogs ever after, and we almost had it down, Dr. Palmer had the groove going on the drums, but we just didn't have time to perfect it, and Eric would never let us go on stage with a song we didn't have down pat, he was a slave driver, never let us have a drink until after the gig, and then we partied hardy. Remember Snake Hill bro?
I bring this up only because for first time he's contacted me since 2000, the reuniting didn't end well, probably just as much my fault as anyone's. I posted a link to this new site in a couple of places, and sure enough, he was lurking on one of them this evening, and sent me a cryptic note with no message. I got what he said, and thanked him, and started fantasizing about reuniting again. We'll see. Like I don't have enough to do, and like the last attempt didn't cost me a small fortune! I'd rather spend any extra money I can on Dancin' in The Chugach!
Having been at Kanto Mura around this time and going to the teen club often, I wonder if I was there for this one. "Mona" - great song - I liked Stones version better than the original by Ellas McDaniel (aka Bo Diddley). I like the Quicksilver Messenger Service version too from "Happy Trails".
I remember scanning the radio waves trying to pick up more music since it was limited on AFRN.
That's me on the far right playing my bass, always with a Marlboro hanging from my lips.
ReplyDeleteI remember a VW Bus with The Others written on the side I was 6 years old.3 years at Kanto Mura 1965-1967 Gerald Cory
DeleteIf Clapton was God, then Eric was his mother, my musical mentor from the beginning. He's in the cap, center left, leading the band as always! We were way too far ahead of our time, playing blues to the Japanese infatuation with the Beach Boys and the Beatles, but we wowed them in the teen clubs, had them hootin' and dancing up a storm, which only fed our energy on stage. How do you go back to the farm after having a crowd of rowdy kids screaming your praises! Coming back to LA in '67 without these wild guys was a real let down. Monterrey cured that, when I saw Otis Reading perform some of the songs we had been playing in Japan. We were doing "Respect" before Aretha ever got into the studio and stole it from Otis and made it into a hit! When we reunited in 2000 to rehearse for our performance at the high school reunion we had coming up in New Orleans in 2000, it was almost like we hadn't been apart for 30 years. It took a lot of work, but we got 10 songs together for our set of the night. "House of the Rising Sun" was my favorite, although the crowd once again began hootin' and hollerin' when my little brother Bob started picking up my opening bass line for "My Girl". He could still wail it, but nothing like he did at 15 years old in Japan. We did a bunch of the early Stones tunes (Rob had more soul in his little finger than Mick Jagger had in his whole body) from '65 that we did back then. My only regret is that we didn't do "Mona" which I named one of my best dogs ever after, and we almost had it down, Dr. Palmer had the groove going on the drums, but we just didn't have time to perfect it, and Eric would never let us go on stage with a song we didn't have down pat, he was a slave driver, never let us have a drink until after the gig, and then we partied hardy. Remember Snake Hill bro?
ReplyDeleteI bring this up only because for first time he's contacted me since 2000, the reuniting didn't end well, probably just as much my fault as anyone's. I posted a link to this new site in a couple of places, and sure enough, he was lurking on one of them this evening, and sent me a cryptic note with no message. I got what he said, and thanked him, and started fantasizing about reuniting again. We'll see. Like I don't have enough to do, and like the last attempt didn't cost me a small fortune! I'd rather spend any extra money I can on Dancin' in The Chugach!
Having been at Kanto Mura around this time and going to the teen club often, I wonder if I was there for this one. "Mona" - great song - I liked Stones version better than the original by Ellas McDaniel (aka Bo Diddley). I like the Quicksilver Messenger Service version too from "Happy Trails".
ReplyDeleteI remember scanning the radio waves trying to pick up more music since it was limited on AFRN.
John