Suddenly, I'm Out-Of-Phase or FINALLY!!!

Here are some older RoosterHead photos contributed by Sarah (thanks!). At the last Eat gig, I went to the record store that's down the street and I saw the staff there playing Beatles Monopoly and it got me started looking for it again. I found it yesterday at the Borders in Byoca. Me and Kris played it last night and she kicked my ass on it. I was happy to at least own Beatles' '65.

I'm in a new phase now and it's the Doors. I bought some magazine with them in it it a few weeks ago and that planted the seed. My first Doors memory happened when I was probably about four or so. I remember my Dad really liking Riders On The Storm (I guess it would have been pretty new at the time) and I have a clear memory of driving somewhere in New York and it was raining pretty hard and that song came on the AM radio. It was the perfect soundtrack for what was out the window. Later on, my friend Pete really got me into them in 6th grade. I knew about them but he had all the important info. I remember he made me a tape with the Apocalypse Now version of The End on it with Jim yelling Fuck and that was pretty cool in 6th grade. Pete was always ahead of his years. I remember, before knowing Pete, owning Weird Scenes Inside The Gold Mine which was a compilation. Through a series of trades with him, I aquired Doors 13 which was another compilation.

I was reading that Doors article and I really like something Robbie Krieger said. He said Jim was only a shaman and a sex symbol and all that junk to other people. To the band he was just Jim. I never really got into the Morrison myth. I always thought what I read about him portrayed him as a spoiled pain in the ass with really bad habits. I knew people just like him. They were weird in their own way and definitely followed their own paths. It sucks when you get older and find out your heroes could be giant assholes. Like John Lennon. When you're a kid, you're impressed with their ability to stand out from the pack and maybe what they believe in but that doesn't mean you really know them at all. But I did think Jim was a great singer for someone who couldn't sing. And Love Street and Indian Summer are cool songs. I always thought Robbie had his own stlye and sound. I learned a lot from John Densmore like the latin beat and the bossa nova. That was some of my first exposure to that stuff. Pete abandoned the Doors long ago for more heady pasture but I still find merit in what they did.

And What A Time It Was It Was It Was.

OK, short recollections on the Eat gig.... Charlie went up first and we played a few Chuck Berrys and he gave some shit to Kenny for moving away (he said he was moving to Arizona but he's going to New Mexico). Rick got a great sound out of my amp. Mr. Entertainment was next and they were superb as usual. Brandon did some Rudy Sarzo over-the-neck tricks. The Eat were next and we played pretty well. John Salton crashed the stage and sang with us. At the end, the rhythm section came out front and Kenny and I played guitar. That was fun. I did a bunch of feedback noodling that i'm sure caused a few people to go deaf. The Eat is gonna be on hiatus for a while with Kenny moving and all. I'm pretty sure I saw Karen filming so I can't wait to see the DVD.

The Past Is Not Always.

Right about now, I should be talking about the great Charlie Pickett/Mr. Entertainment/The EAT show at Churchill's last weekend and I will get to it eventually. Lately, i've been a little obsessed with an old band I was in called RoosterHead. It all started when I found out Mr. E's bass player, Brandon, was a fan of that band. For years, I didn't think too much about it. There were some bad memories associated with the whole thing. Thankfully, it didn't break up badly or anything. I just moved out of state and that ended my time with them. I kept in touch with most of them. While I was gone, two members died of drug abuse/suicide. A few years back, I decided to try to get the band back together just to see if we could still play music together and only that. It didn't go very well and that's why I put it out of my mind.

But here I am now going over the old songs and now most of the memories are good (and great songs they are!!!). I still work with Bob just about every week. I see John quite regularly, too. Pete and Mike are dead so I don't see them much. I never really had a real relationship with Mike. We had conversations and spent a lot of time together but I can't say I really knew him. I used to go to Pete's house every now and then to discuss the merits of the Monkees. Bongo was our helper of sorts and generally made our lives easier. He's in the Funkabilly Playboys with me. I never hear from Dave. I don't have any way of getting a hold of him and I like it that way. Something snapped in him and he decided not to like me one day. He was the main problem when we tried to reunite. He's probably what would stand in the way of it ever happening again. One day, i'll post some good memories and if I find someone willing to transfer some videotapes to DVDs or QuickTime files i'll post some YouTube videos. And if anyone reading this has pix or anything, pass 'em on. All in all, they were a great fucking band and probably the best i'll ever be in. I miss them.

Richard Wright RIP.

There goes any Pink Floyd reunion. Why couldn't they have taken Roger Waters? He's a real shithead.

Just goes to show..

Tonight, I went to the gig with a blazing headache. Can't say I was really in the mood to play. Rick informed me that we would probably be doing a half hour on acoustic guitars because Charlie (who's filling in for Bill) had to leave early to make his own gig. I started noticing people paying attention to what I was doing and I wondered what was up. Someone told me that Stanton Moore was playing at City Limits behind us tonight. I don't know much about him...only I've seen him in the drum fag magazines all the time and I've heard his band Galactic. Not a few minutes after I was told this, he comes strolling by. He stopped to listen and smiled and walked on. He did this a few times. I just looked at some of his stuff on Youtube and it is impressive but I think he's one of those musician's musicians where drummers and their buddies get together and ANALyze his every fill and what kind of sticks he uses. Well, it was nice to be cruised by him anyway. Time came for Charlie to leave and we were just getting the acoustics out when Rick anounced that Rick had arrived. He meant this guy Rick Krevy (?). I'd heard of him through other people. I have to say I was a little leery 'cause I didn't know what he'd be like. He set up and we started playing and it was wonderful. We did some Ray Charles and Jimmy Smith-type organ jazz and Watermelon Man and even The Girl From Ipanema. It was loads of fun and I felt shitty about pre-judging the situation. This week will probably be the last session at Bob's. Last Thursday, I pretty much completed my song except for vocals. Matt came along and did some acoustic guitar playing and helped me add some stereo wah to Jim's song. This is also the last week to rehearse with The Eat for the show on Friday. Since this may be the last show for a while, Kris agreed to go.

Ok,

Here's the three best songs in the world and, no, i'm not depressed.

Vi Vi Vi Vi Vi.

Don't watch this video unless you have a lot of time and are bored. I just found it on youtube. Goodness knows how old it is.
So Danco Samba. Well, the hand seems to be healed. Thanks for the cards and letters. I think rest cured it pretty much. It still hurts a little if I overuse it, but so far so good. Tonight was an Eat rehearsal and it went well. I really should take pictures while Kenny is still here. Kenny, the bass player, is off to New Mexico at the beginning of next month. This will probably be the last show with him (Sept. 19). Tomorrow is another night at the studio with Bob. This may also be the last one of these for a while as our project is coming to a close. I hope I get to help Bob mix. Tomorrow, i've got to finish up my song with some electric guitars and some acoustics on Jim Wurster's song. I've been feeling very hermit-like lately. I wish I never had to go out of the house. It's so fleepin' hot out, I don't know why anyone would go out. I'm also having serious brain problems as i'm trying to remember where my stuff is...two Beatles books to be exact. I lend things out and I forget who to. If I ever got all my stuff back from everywhere, I could open a store. This weekend, i've got Elwood's on Saturday and Sunday. Ought to be good for the pocket and bad for the voice. I'm waiting for it to finally go as it's been raw for a good, long time. I haven't had it back full strength in a while. Gotta quit taking the high harmony parts. How've you been?
P.S. Just got word today that some stupid fuck stole Peter Buck's Rickenbacker 360. This person must burn! I remember the first time I heard Peter's style and it blew me out...so, naturally, I had to copy it. There's so much '60's influence there. I hope he gets it back. I had a 330 that I sold a long time ago 'cause I didn't use it much. Boy, I regret that one!!! Hopefully, I'll own another one before I kick it old school.

MMMMMMMMMMMMM....Not Quite.

An update; I went to an orthopedic surgeon Tuesday and he diagnosed my condition as intersection syndrome. The place on top of my forearm where the tendons mix with muscles gets inflamed from overuse...which is basically playing guitar, playing drums, painting the fence, putting up shelves, strumming the banjo, making soup, punching the clown, varnishing the banister, taking a load off, oiling the pennywhistle, manually increasing the surface temperature of the Ship's primary cannon by repeated linear manipulation....you get the idea. I had a cortisone shot but it doesn't seem to be working.

Fucking OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

I've been lowdown lately so I haven't felt like writing anything. I haven't really felt like being social or even contacting anyone. It all started last week. The family went to our nephew's first birthday on Saturday and I was asked to bring a guitar to have a sing-a-long. Normally, I don't like these things 'cause I get real nervous singing in front of people but when it gets going that wears off. I left the guitar in the car and a few people were bugging me to break it out. Finally, I got it out and started playing and I ended up playing for about 6 hours straight. When I was younger, it wouldn't have fazed me a bit (not to mention I was really enjoying it and my voice didn't sound too bad. Kris sang some with me and that sounded really good.). The next night, I played Elwood's and that's where the trouble began. The next day, my wrist/arm was on fire. My tendonitis flared up in a major way and any slight movement hurt like fuck.

No time to slow down. I had rehearsals with Charlie Pickett for our big gig with Johnny Depp (the Sheila Witkin Memorial Show at Club Cinema in Pompano) and I was real worried on how that was gonna work out. The first rehearsal went OK on Monday. I narrowly missed meeting Mr. Depp but did see some of his family. We had another rehearsal on Wednesday and that one hurt. We were booked in another rehearsal studio but it was occupied so we got to rehearse in the one occupied by Mr. Depp and the Kids. Right before I got there, Charlie met him and showed me where he was standing and there was some guitar picks on his amp so I snagged one. We weren't allowed to use their gear and our rehearsal was cut short by all the time used to haul other gear into the room. I didn't sleep very well thinking I was gonna blow the gig if I couldn't grip my sticks or was in too much pain. Friday came and the soundcheck went OK without too much pain. No problems at the show either (thanks to Karen Wideen for the photos!). I kinda laid off the fancier stuff and just kept the beat and that probably helped, I didn't think we went over too well. There was mostly teenagers waiting to see Mr. Depp and our sloppy brand of garage blues didn't seem to move them. In fact, the most applause we received was from Charlie introducing his Hello Kitty Stratocaster. Hmmmm. Rick and I didn't stick around and as we were leaving, Johnny Depp arrived in a Lincoln Navigator. Yet another missed opportunity. I'm not crying.

Saturday was a Funkabilly gig at O'Hara's and the arm was fine for the first set but after that it was uncomfortable playing through the pain. Last night, Kris and I had date night and had a great time. We ate at a Brazilian steakhouse called Amazonia in Palm Beach Gardens. Then we ended up at SalonChair down the street from us. A great night! Tomorrow, I go to the orthopedic surgeon to see what he can do about this. As i'm writing this, i'm wallowing in a Percodanic haze. Let's hope it's just a simple cortisone shot and not too serious.