Ass Happy.

I got the new amp today. I've got some disappointments to list. First, the speakers are not the original ones (i knew about this but i've denied it for too long). They are really good Fender ones, though. Second, the grill cloth is not original. Some dope used Fender grill cloth. When I first checked out this amp, i was so in love that i didn't go over the little things. Lastly, it doesn't sound as loud as i think it should be. This could be a problem if i want to play out with it. It's probably just the acoustics of my living room. I just looked on a website and I think it was made in 1963. The good part is....it sounds incredible! The tone is real bassy and the reverb and tremolo are excellent. What a find!

My friend Dave is coming down from D.C. and Keith and I are selecting four cds/lps to discuss on his podcast. I've chosen ('cause I have to be weird) Teenage Fanclub's Bandwagonesque, Alexander Spence's Oar, Missa Luba (an African Mass lp) and The Louvin Brothers' Satan Is Real. All great works of art. It's been bugging me to no end whittling these albums down to four. I've posted them here to make me stick to the list. Tomorrow night, Kris and I are going to meet some Funkabillies at The Bamboo Room to hear The Spoon Benders since we've never been to see them and they support us all the time. I may bring the camera to practice my photography skills.

What Up, Cuz?

Yesterday, I went to Naples with Jojo to see Jimmy. Boy, has he changed! Granted, I haven't seen him since we were teenagers. We settled right in like there hadn't been 20 years between times. He's doing very well and he married a swell lady, Debbie. Jojo was getting restless (2 hours in a car for a 5 year old? Duh!) so Debbie took walks with her so Jimmy and I could catch up. I really wish I had more time to get to know Debbie though. Jimmy told me all the family secrets and we had a great time. No wonder he was my favorite cousin! He used to be a bouncer in clubs and it shows. He's huge! I'm really glad i'm on his side! He could crush me like a bug. I was sad to say goodbye but we made promises to get together more often (than 20+ years!) and I hope we make good on them.

Last night's O'Hara's "Kilt Night" gig was actually pretty good. We wore kilts in honor of a waiter friend of ours, Justin, leaving town. He's going back to school in Kentucky. He got completely shit-piled and was dancing with complete strangers. Good luck, pal! Been good to know you! Chuck was sick as shit. Normally when a member of the band doesn't feel well, they usually take everyone down with them. Chuck really came through and played a blinder. Everyone seemed to be on top of their game. There was a good crowd too, and that usually inspires us to try harder. Matt and Judy Blem (and their crowd) were there. James tried to talk me out of my self-esteem issues, but they weren't budging. Thanks, pally! I had some guitarists in the club checking out the competition. I can usually tell when they're looking at the fretboard or trying to look around me to see what amp i'm using. Last night was the Deluxe. The Amp Shop fixed the problem and i'm gonna be sad to return it to John. Hopefully, the new Gibson will be comparable and I won't miss it too much.

Today is Elwood's with the regular creeps and it ought to be fun....if not deafening! Must change the snare head and deal with garbage duty.

Eecha, Aacha, Oocha.

Last night at The Bamboo Room, we broke the land speed record for loud power trios. Blue Cheer had nothing on us...'cept cool hair. Some SpoonBenders were there and I had a guitar conversation with their guitarist Matt. Today, I finally got in touch with my cousin Jimmy who's here (Naples area) on vacation. I haven't seen him since the last time I was in New York which was probably 1988? He was my favorite cousin when I was little. Most of the memories I have of him are when I was five. I'm gonna go see him tomorrow and I hope we are similar. Unfortunately, we didn't grow up together. I envy people who's relatives are close. All of mine are in New York so I can't say I really know them well.

Jimmy's parents were the cool couple in our family. They were into music and dance and had a great record collection. Jimmy told me my Uncle Anthony died a few months back. Uncle Anthony was my first musical influence. He could play guitar and he did so at family parties. He had a Dion-Van Morrison kind of voice and he sang a lot of Beatles and doo-wop stuff. Last time I saw him, he gave me a tape of some unfinished songs he was writing and he asked me to finish them. I never got around to it because a lot of the ideas were just short fragments. RIP, Anthony Giattino. I hope you would have been proud of me for carrying on the tradition.

My Wallet's Ass Hurts.

Last night, Kris and I saw The Police at Dolphin Stadium. We paid 90 bucks a ticket to have the best of the worst seats available. Here's the kicker; As we were pulling up to park (we were late and missed both the opening acts-my fault-i get out of work at 6 and the show started a 6:30-i've never heard of a show starting that early...EVER!) and we saw a sign that said.....PARKING $30.00!!!!!!!! WTF! It doesn't cost that much to park in freegin' NYC!!!! My ass still hurts from that reaming. We decided then and there not to attend any stadium shows ever again. Unless it's U2 or David Bowie or.......Anyway, the show was great! This is a photo from the show that was in the paper. Andy Summers was the show for me. His tone was delicious and his playing superb. Stewart Copeland was wonderful too, but his snare drum (thanks to the crummy sound man!) sounded like a "POCK" instead of a "CRACK". His playing was somewhat restrained, but that's OK. He's still a GOD and i'm not fit to shine his cymbals. Sting was Sting. He didn't look like he was having any fun and his bass just doinked along. But he did sing a few songs in the right key (i had to take a break just now 'cause Kris called me in to see Mavis Staples on Tavis Smiley....I love her.). I found out, after the show, Bongo and Chuck were there. The Turnpike was closed in Broward so we went to I-95 and that was down to one lane so we didn't get home until nearly 1:30. Stupid assholes! Needless to say, I was beat as shit this morning at work and it was a real busy day.

Tonight, I played a benefit for this rehab place in Delray. I didn't know what it was for until I got there. I was late 'cause work ran late but I wasn't late for the gig. Pete and I double-drummed for this one. Some of the other musicians were Rich Friedman on guitar, Pete Quigley on another guitar, some guy named Craig played bass and there was a violinist, percussionist and a keyboarder. Here's where I give some love to my pal Pete; I was really tired and I didn't feel like playing but Pete encouraged me and bought us some yummy pizza. When we were playing, we were cracking each other up putting crashes in weird places. He really held it down and let me do the weird stuff and I really appreciated that. Pete is my longest running friend and tonight he really helped me out and played exceptionally himself. Thanks, Pally! I just took another break and watched Mavis sing. Damn! I've got a long-standing invitation from Russell at the Bamboo Room for seats if and when Mavis plays there and I WILL NOT miss it. We had tickets to see her at SunFest and we couldn't go 'cause I was really sick. Damn! Tomorrow, we play the Bamboo with the Dillengers and I found out Saturday at O'Hara's is a kilt night. I'm tired.

And Roll, Dick, Roll.

Hello. Yeah, it's been a while. Not much. How 'bout you? Where did I leave off? Last week is just a blur but I do remember Friday's gig being a rather loud turd on ice or in a bowl of Kool-Aid. I brought the Super Reverb and it was ok. Saturday, Kris went out of town with a friend and I had little Jojo boogerpants all to meself. We ran some errands, ate some bad food, did kid stuff until bedtime. Keith came over for a bit to steal some stolen licks and friend Matt also came over for a while and left with the Columbia House music collection. Next day, Mommy came home and Keith came over again and was forced at ball point to watch both Powerpuff Girls and Spongebob Patrickpants. Tomorrow, we see the Police. Ever notice you have to go through hell to see a concert nowadays? The traffic, the expense (parking not included), the weather (permitting). the crummy seats (it's all we can afford). I haven't had a great seat to a show in years (not counting running up to the front near the end). A few weeks ago, I ordered a shirt with the Capitol logo on it and it finally came. Kris said it was really silly and corporate to wear a record label logo and she's got a point but it's more sentimental than that. Capitol brought us The Beatles and The Beach Boys. I used to just stare at the record label going round and round and Capitol has this cool rainbow around the perimeter and a yellow-orange swirl on the 45s. So i'm not supporting a corporation (i didn't buy it from them). I'm paying tribute to my many hours of record playing. Screw it. I think it looks cool.

Two Tingles Intermingle.

Today, during lunch, I went and laid down a layaway payment on the new amp and I got to play on it. It sounds fab! Some of the cool amps from the 60's (especially plexi Marshalls) can do this thing where you plug one input of one channel into the other to overdrive it. I think they call it "daisy chaining". I tried it and it sounded really munchy. I can't wait to raise the rest of the cash so I can bring it home. Probably by the end of the month, I hope. Next week is going to be yet another busy one. I've got the Police concert on Tuesday, a benefit of some sort where i'm double-drumming with my friend Pete Lavezolli at City Limits in Delray on Wednesday, Bamboo Room with the Dillengers on Thursday and O'Hara's (i think) on Saturday. This Friday, i'm at O'Hara's and all the amps i'd like to use are in the shop so I guess i'll be fighting my sound all night. This Saturday, Kris is going to Orlando with a friend so I have little Jojo all to myself. Sunday, I'm not playing Elwood's 'cause Rick is out of town. Tomorrow is the birthday of our nation. I always think of Jimi Hendrix on July 4. I don't know why.

Keeping An Eye On The World Going By My Window

Jeez! Now i've got it down to once a week. I really gotta find the time to blog more (KEITH!). Just kidding. I know you're busy. Last post, I was gonna include something about Paul McCartney's new album and I forgot. After Kris telling me I shouldn't write off the whole album "cause I didn't like the single (thanks!), I went out and got Memory Almost Full. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. It's quite good. I'm even starting to like Dance Tonight. It's kinda like what I said in an earlier post about REM's Stand. At first it was annoying but i've grown to like it. Good job, Mr. McCartney! I'm sorry I doubted you. The Twotles (Ringo and the other guy) were on Larry King this week and that was cool. As you've probably already read, Larry called Ringo "George". What an idiot. It was nice to see anything Beatles-oriented on TV. It was also nice to see Yoko and Olivia. I'm a big Yoko fan. Fuck You.

Now that i've gotten that out of the way, Tuesday I went to see my friend Sean Hanley play at Elwood's and that was fun. He plays some great songs and I sat in with Woody for half the night. I must say Woody sounded fantastic! Looked good, too. We played some Beatles and Elvis Costello and some other songs I can't remember. I did some off-mic harmonies that didn't deserve to be heard and Sean was kind not to tell me to shut the hell up. This past week was very busy work-wise and i'm sore in places I didn't know I had/have. I've been sweating with all the heat and I got a great honker of a zit on the forehead (see photo). OH, NO!!!! A ZIT ON PROM NIGHT!!! I'LL BE RUINED!!!! Friday, The Dillengers played Elwood's and Bill was back from Alabama/New Orleans and it was nice to have him back. Some drunk lady kept invading the stage to request some drivel and it took a member of the crowd to tell her to get off. Nicely done! Yesterday, I brought some amps to The Amp Shop and Parlor to be repaired and I saw the coolest old amp that i'm going to layaway. It's a '60's Gibson Invader all-tube jobbie with 10 and 12 inch speakers. Neato!

Last night was O'Hara's with the Punkandfrilly Playtoys. Effort - 10. Execution - 6. We finally managed to get all the way through War Pigs which is why my voice sounds like a squeak today. Can't really remember too much about the evening (even though it was just last night)...Oh, wait. Matt from the Spoon Benders was there with Judy Blem and crew and Matt said some nice things about my playing and we had a good conversation. At the end of the night, Judy beat me up about not taking a compliment well and I deserved it. I don't know why but i've never been able to take compliments. I'd like to apologize to anyone who's tried to say nice things to me and i've gone all low-self-esteem on them and made them feel like their opinion is shit. It's something I need to work on. Judy suggested I just say thank you instead of giving 30 reasons why I suck. I hope to learn to take your advice. I must also point out Kris has told me those things quite a bit so I thank her for making me aware of it.

For the last two mornings, I've had the pleasure of having breakfast with Jeff Schwier. He's a friend from Apollo Beach who's in town to see some gigs and pick up some drum parts from me for his son. We sat talking about music and the lack of a scene here. Great guy. He co-runs Charlie Pickett's site www.trashfever.com and he offered to put some mp3s of some of my songs on his site....thanks, pally!

Now i'd like to switch gears and list the music i've been listening to this week;
1. Sam Phillips - Martinis and Bikinis
I've loved this album since it came out in '94. Great production and it reminds me at times of what the Beatles might sound like with a female singer.
2. The Who Sell Out - Petra Haden
This is a remake of The Who's 1968 lp, Sell Out done acapella on a four-track cassette machine.
Excellent.
3. The Bee Gees - First
Revolver with mellotron.
4. Dirty Dancing - Soundtrack
Fuck you! This is great! This soundtrack informed the world that Otis Redding had more than Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay. And it also contains Be My Baby by The Ronettes which one of THE GREATEST SONGS EVER!!!
5. The Doors/Love/Beach Boys/Velvet Underground & Nico - The Doors/Forever Changes/Smiley Smile/Velvet Underground & Nico
I was all into the class of '67 (#3 was part of that)
Tonight is Elwood's and trash duty.
I never did have another weird dream last week. But i'm still trying