It took me along time to become satisfied with my guitar playing. But I finally became a good picker in an assortment of different styles that I love (blues, mainstream jazz [with a bebop base], Merle Travis/Chet Atkins/Jerry Reed picking, bossa nova, classical guitar, ragtime guitar—and don’t forget Folk).
I have been fortunate to play gigs on Guitar since I was 13 (1961), until my onset of hemi-plegia in late 2003.
I started taking guitar lesson at the age of 11. I went with my mother Marge, to a Bar Mitzvah. At the party afterwards she noticed me watching a boy playing the guitar.
She smiled her special smile, and said `Would you like to do that?’
So I started taking guitar lesson at the 93 St YMHA, from a friend of the family (Mira Gilbert) who was an accomplished Hebrew and American folksinger, and a cool person.
As I was a lost adolescent I really found my niche and identity!
At one point I took some guitar lessons from my family doctor's son. Jeff Gerber had the good luck to study with Josh White – to this day I am a big Josh White fan. And Jeff could play!
What a golden era to be active in guitar playing and teaching the “six string charmer.”
And how was I fortunate to be living in NYC then. I got to see playing live Reverend Gary Davis and Lightnin’ Hopkins, and studied with Dave Van Ronk.
The 60’s were filled with trips to Greenwich Village, when I was in Junior High School. A couple of kids at the school JHS 118 (Joan of Arc on the upper West Side, 93 St. to be exact) were good players already – including Elliot Randall, and Peter Shutz and Paul Glusonic.
Elliot was already playing pro levels gigs. He used to play at the Metropole a bar on Seventh Ave. between 49th & 48th St. right near all the great music stores on what we called “Music Row.” He described to me how he played & did the twist at the same time, on stage. I believe he studied with Roy Schmek – a famous muti-instrumentalist, who lived near by (West 90s in Manhattan). Later Elliot became well known as a busy studio guitarist (we heard through the grapevine that he was the guy who created, and played down the famous guitar riffs in Steely Dan’s `Reelin’ In The Years’). He was also a real experimenter in the new field of guitar effect and processed sounds. Thus he had a lot of influence in the rock styles of the 1970-80s.
I caught back up with him in the 1990 at a guitar trade show on Long Island. He had just moved back from England. Unfortunately he had a significant amount of hearing loss. But he became a very accomplished web programmer, and of course still was a busy player. He was always very skilled and smart.
And in high school (I lasted one year at Bronx High School of Science), where I hung out on “the Hill” after school and watched Ronnie Herman & Albee Gorn pick. Ronnie was truly inspiring (his brother Gene played good harp, too). Ronnie was a brilliant ragtime fingerpicker. Once at my house on West 86th St and West End Avenue he recorded an original rag called “The Oily Rag” and also recorded his arrangement of “Somebody Stole My Gal.” Damn it: when my mother passed away, I lost track of that decayed vinyl tape. Ricky Brand was there at Bronx High Shool of Science at the time he played both guitar and banjo. Ricky later was the guitar playing with the Left Bank ('Just Walk Away Renee’).
Then I attended a private high school for my Junior and Senior years. New Lincoln School. I just missed Carl Knobler who was a presence (on banjo) on the bluegrass scene in NYC. I believe he graduated just before I got there.
Since New Lincoln School was on 110 St near Cathedral Parkway, it was just a short walk to the Apollo Theater. I made a fairly regular habit to walk up there on Friday afternoons and sit in the Second Balcony. At the time it cost all of $2, to catch a stage show, and a really lame movie (never first run, often a black & white flick with a WWII theme). The stage show was really unbelievable!
I saw:
Otis Redding with his great band (boy was he a big guy, he dominated the stage). He band was sax & trumpet, guitar, bass & drums (so hot!). Of course he was a brilliant performer, and a great musician.
The James Brown show, which was filled with really bad opening acts (like `TV Momma’),
James & Bobby Purify,
Major Lance,
The Marvelettes,
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.
There must have been more, but it was a long time ago, with mucho lost brain cells since then.
In 1964, Ricky Winston obtained some tickets to the Shea Stadium Beatles concert. He took me and his brother John. We could not hear too much because the screaming was so loud. But it was quite an event.
I met Rickey and John at a summer camp, "Buck's Rock Work Camp." It was in New Milford Connecticut, and was very popular with the progressive parents of my social circle.
Reverend Gary Davis was brought up to camp by the folk music counselor Barry Kornfeld. Barry was a free lance musician who always seemed to have some impeding scheme to bring in the dough; at one point I heard that he was going to copyright many of the songs in the public domain -- this may not be true, but was fun to ponder. Since my Dad was a big gambler and loved the Race Track crowd, I could 'dig this point of view.'
Anyway, the Reverend Gary Davis was pretty amazing to watch him play and sing and preach. He knew every jazz chord and could explain them.
Most of us at this camp played guitar in some form or another. Remember this was the early 1960's. The folk guitar was big in our crowd. Almost every one knew a G & D chord. We were not into the teased hair, more attracted to the "Maynard G. Kreb's" stuff. We read paperback books from San Francisco City Lights Press of the beat poets (you know the type). We were cool.
Todd Capp was at the camp. He ran the radio station, and was really into jazz. The first Mingus album I ever heard was from his collection. In later life I ran into Todd in the East Village where he started an art Gallery.
But let's get back to the 1960s. At the time Birdland was on Broadway and I believe 49th St. Todd and I made plans to meet there and catch a live jazz show. Well Todd never made the scene, but I went in anyway. Get this: when they saw me a short little kid (about 15 years old, I think). The door person gave me a blank bill stamped NO ALCHOHOL,.They then proceeded to seat me in a special section (where I guess I could not drink).
The show was unreal! Monk was the Opening act and the headliner was the Cannonball Adderly band with Joe Z, Yuself Lateef, Nat, Sam Jones, and Louis Hays etc. All the players that were listed in the Riverside LP liner notes. I could not believe what I was hearing and seeing!
Monk played in a button-up raincoat and a hat, he was sweating, as well.
Cannonball played "Unit 7."
And the bad players could often be a hilarious trip! Which could be OK if you are getting paid enough.
Note to the OK above: If you could disassociate for a moment. This is not possible at all times if you’re a real player. Some wild scenes resulted.
This was a New Years Eve Brawl (fairly typical of the date – NYE paid a good scale ; and if your axe was in demand you could charge a `nice taste.’ Which is one reason why musicians work on that night. Besides who wants to be doing nothing on that date?).
The pressure is intense on New Years Eve on the audience to Make Sure You Enjoy Yourself. [Just watch again When Harry meet Sally] However, irregardless of the Gramercy Park Manhattan Setting. Things got quickly out of hand, and the open bar added to the chaos. I seem to remember a female member of the audience got up on a large table and sang a rough set – Real Ether Merman style. We of course played the “show.” At least the job was close to home, I lived at the time on east 26th St.
Chicago 1986 Ratso's on the North Side.
The time I got fired for rocking (really funking – as in soul guitar i.e. Joe Tex (`who’ll take the woman with the skinny legs’/MarKeys Style) Blowing in The Wind on the gig with Mary Travers.
Peter Paul And Mary had a great blend, and have done a lot of good in this world.
This job was Mary's solo act, and she was a lively stage personality.
The band: Dennis Androplus on piano, Bob Fish on Drums, Russell Shinirer on bass.
Once in a while Joel Reif on bass (what a player)! David Buskin (the established Jingle Singer, Songwriter, Performer) got me the gig.
1)Lester Lanin gig with George Mell & Steve Kuhn at another un-namable North Shore L.I. country club. out of tune pre-heat with my malfunctioning untunable B C Rich Seagull w Bad Ass Bridge (hard to turn if there was any humidity, on a porch off the Long Island Sound).
1a)And the other one with Steve Kuhn as sub-leader small party with a small quartet
I was so pleased that Kuhn forgot about the gig (where I could not keep my Seagull in tune). This gig went well, at that point I was used by this music office, more for my singing and since I brought a list of standards that I sang with the keys. Steve used that as a basis to play the gig. I played "fender" bass for that gig.
2) Excellent Pianists who were good sub-leaders for the Lester Lanin Gigs:
Joel Zelnick,Teddy Diamant, there were lots more.
3) Song writing with Zimet and Colin Walcott on percussion (tabla).
Here is a Really Bad Sub-leader:Tony Lee Geller
Boy did he take out his rage at me on a gig in upper Westchester.
To be fair, we were playing in a tent that was typsy, with a full brass band, some of the side men were a bit deaf, so this leader had about enough stress on this job.
Contractors for this office: Merry Heyman & Eddie Camus. Always interesting.
John Bursen is a great drummer who also contracted for this office.Through him I met Jeff Ausfahl another top NYC guitarist.
And the best leader of them all Charles McCarty! This man called a hell of a job! All the side men loved to work with him att the helm.
I was fortunate that he picked me to do the QE2 cross the Pacific from Hawaii to Australia.
The bands took turns playing sets. When the good bands played no one danced! But when the NYC Society Band started bang away with the typical 2 beat feel the dance floor filled up (so much for the Great Society). This moved Johnny to try to find an empty room on his 5 minutes off (his brake), where he could smoke a joint. As soon as he lit up he was surrounded by secret service agents. Nothing happened, of course, but he did have to finish the gig sober.