{"id":2259,"date":"2021-07-24T16:19:16","date_gmt":"2021-07-24T16:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=2259"},"modified":"2021-07-24T16:24:02","modified_gmt":"2021-07-24T16:24:02","slug":"ftv-collected-tales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=2259","title":{"rendered":"FTV: Collected Tales"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201c\u2018That\u2019s some tale, old timer.\u2019\u00a0 Yeah, and it gets better everytime I tell it.\u201d\u00a0 Where this conversation came from doesn\u2019t pop to mind immediately, but I know that it has served me well\u00a0 for several decades.\u00a0 Not the part about \u2018getting better every time I tell it\u2019, mind you.\u00a0 I use it to remind myself of just the opposite.\u00a0 Stories I have picked up along the way don\u2019t need to be \u2018improved\u2019 to make them good stories.\u00a0 When writing down anecdotes from the music world, I have found that doing the Jack Webb thing (\u201cJust the facts, Ma\u2019am\u201d) serves the purpose just fine.\u00a0 It seems I have been in the right place at the right time to discuss music with a host of artists and the stories they impart are a lot of fun to hear.\u00a0 Scanning the index of past FTVs looking for a specific date that one article had gone to print, I kept getting side tracked when certain titles recalled some of my favorite musical tales.\u00a0 Most of the following stories have appeared in this space in some form or another over the years, but I couldn\u2019t help digging them up again.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Back when the Los Angeles based trio Trees made an appearance at the second Porcupine Mountain Music Festival, we were lucky enough to begin a long association with their leader, former Houghton native Lindsay Tomasic.\u00a0 Before Lindsay\u2019s mother, Helen (The Keweenaw Pasty Queen) moved west to live with her, Trees would make appearances in the area when Lindsay came home to visit her mom.\u00a0 Naturally, we made it a point to get Trees on stage in Ontonagon whenever we could get our schedules to match up.\u00a0 On one such trip, we were able to bring Ontonagon Area Schools students to the Ontonagon Theater of Performing Arts for an afternoon matinee.\u00a0 This particular version of Trees included ace pedal steel guitar player Dave Pearlman.\u00a0 Most of the kids had never seen a live steel guitar player on stage, so he was a highlight of that visit.\u00a0 It also turns out that Dave\u2019s many years as a first call studio player and touring musician made him a font of interesting stories.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Dave mentioned that as a younger man, he had a session at the RCA studio in downtown L.A.\u00a0<\/span>It turned out that the Rolling Stones were also recording in another studio in the same building.\u00a0 Dave said, \u201cI still smoked then, so I went outside and sat down on a bench in front of the building.\u00a0 It was kind of dark, so when two guys sat down next to me and lit up, it took me a while to realize that it was Mick (Jagger) and Keith (Richards).\u00a0 Being young and a tad brash, I handed Mick my card and said \u2018If you ever need steel guitar on a song, give me a call.\u2019\u00a0 Keith looked over and said, \u2018Yeah, thanks, but Ronnie (Wood) plays steel guitar on our records.\u2019\u00a0 I didn\u2019t think I had anything to lose at this point and I couldn\u2019t resist telling them, \u2018Yeah, I am sure Ronnie owns a steel guitar, but I PLAY steel guitar.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Though the Stones didn\u2019t call on his services, I can vouch for his skill on lap steel.\u00a0 His contributions to this version of Trees were memorable.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The other story I remember Dave Pearlman sharing involved touring with Merle Haggard.\u00a0 Everyone seems to know about Haggard going missing during one tour.\u00a0 For a period of time no one really knew where he was.\u00a0 Some wrongly assumed he had died, and a host of interesting theories were laid to rest when Merle reappeared as mysteriously as he had vanished.\u00a0 Again, I will let Dave tell the tale:\u00a0 \u201cI was playing with Merle just before he disappeared.\u00a0 He showed up to some of the gigs in pretty bad shape and not always on time.\u00a0 The last gig before he went missing was at a little club somewhere in the middle of nowhere.\u00a0 Just before showtime, Merle showed up in real bad shape.\u00a0 He staggered in, banging into tables as he made his way to the stage.\u00a0 We looked at each other thinking, \u2018Oh boy, this is not going to be good.\u2019\u00a0 Merle got up, strapped on his guitar and played a flawless show.\u00a0 One of the best on the whole tour.\u00a0 When we were done, he staggered and stumbled his way out the front door and disappeared.\u00a0 That pretty much ended the tour because he went missing for a long time.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Lindsay Tomasic has put on enough musical miles to be a well of interesting stories herself.\u00a0 When Trees was still operating out of Ann Arbor, Michigan, two of her bandmates were drummer Don Kuhli and bassist Randy Tessier.\u00a0 I \u2018met\u2019 Lindsay via email while researching Kuhli.\u00a0 Both Kuhli and Tessier had played in the fabled Marquette band Walrus before joining Trees in Ann Arbor.\u00a0 I was curious where drummer Kuhli had landed after leaving Michigan and I finally found a Detroit guitar player who mentioned working with him. This reference led me to his involvement with Lindsay and Trees.\u00a0 I discovered that Lindsay Tomasic had her own label, Datolite Records, which made me think she had a Copper Country connection (datolite being a mineral found in association with copper deposits).\u00a0 One email led to another and Trees were soon booked to play at the second PMMF.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Whenever we would get to see Trees perform in the area, I would tell Lindsay, \u201cHey, next time I visit Elizabeth and Todd (the WOAS West Coast bureau was still located in L.A. in those days), we should do lunch.\u201d\u00a0 Of course, everytime I went to L.A. to visit, she was out of town.\u00a0 Finally, one trip found us both in town at the same time so Elizabeth, Lindsay, and I met for lunch at The Newsroom.\u00a0 We had a great time over guacamole, chips, and lunch as we talked about the U.P. and a host of other topics.\u00a0 I mentioned reading an interesting article on the plane ride west about Richie Sambora from Bon Jovi.\u00a0 Sambora was going on about a unique acoustic guitar technique developed by former Wing\u2019s guitarist Lawrence Juber.\u00a0 \u2018Oh, I know Lawrence.\u00a0 He is a great player,\u201d was Lindsay\u2019s response.\u00a0 I have always enjoyed relating stories I have read or heard about famous musicians, but it is even more fun when they are first hand accounts.\u00a0 I don\u2019t play the \u2018I am three degrees away from knowing Paul McCartney because I know Lindsay who knows Lawrence who used to play with Wings\u2019 game, but I do like the stories that come one or two steps from the source.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Original Measured Chaos drummer Bill Gordon is one of those musicians who likes to talk about drums and drumming (in other words, my kind of man).\u00a0 The first time we booked the band to play at the Ontonagon Theater, we had a lot of time to talk.\u00a0 On that trip, he didn\u2019t mention that he had played in a 1960s Detroit band called Frijid Pink.\u00a0 The Pink were well known for their psychedelic hit version of <\/span>The House of the Rising Sun<\/span><\/i> but I didn\u2019t learn about Bill\u2019s participation in that band until after they made their first visit to Ontonagon.\u00a0 Storing this bit of information in my mental file cabinet, I was ready to get the skinny on Bill\u2019s time with Frijid Pink when we were able to get the band back for a second concert a couple of years later.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the downturn in the auto industry had forced Bill to relocate down south when his day job disappeared, and I was not able to ask him about Frijid Pink in person.\u00a0 We have stayed in touch off and on, so I guess the answer will have to be found out via the internet, but that is another story for another day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Bill told an interesting story about The Beatles\u2019 drummer, Ringo Starr:\u00a0 \u201cRingo decided that he wanted to show everyone in England how well he was doing by playing a drum set made in America.\u00a0 Most English drummers used Premier drums, but Ringo settled on getting a set manufactured by the Wm. F. Ludwig Company in Chicago.\u00a0 To make the point really obvious, he glued a Ludwig company logo near the top of his front bass drum head so everyone would know he could afford drums made in America.\u00a0 Watch any clip of The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show and you will see Ringo flailing away on a Ludwig drum set with a black oyster shell finish.\u00a0 This particular model became so identified with Ringo, people began calling it \u2018The Ringo model\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Old Bill Ludwig was no doubt honored that Ringo would choose his drums over the other major brands of the day (Rogers, Gretsch,\u00a0 and Slingerland), but he got it into his head that Ringo would come calling for an endorsement deal someday.\u00a0 Ludwig should have been happy to have such a problem, but Wm. F. ducked out of many chances to meet The Beatles face to face for fear that Ringo might ask for something in return for all of his free promotion of Ludwig drums.\u00a0 Ringo never asked for a cent and to this day, he still plays Ludwig drums.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t take long for all drum manufacturers to begin putting their logos front and center on their kits.\u201d\u00a0 If one thinks about what Michael Jordan wearing Nike shoes did for their business, you will get the picture of what Ringo could have done for Ludwig.\u00a0 I never did understand Wm. F\u2019s reluctance but that was the way it was back then.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When I was in seventh grade, my dad came home from work one day and said, \u201cI ran into the owner of Boerner\u2019s music store and asked him if he has any drum sets in stock.\u00a0 He said he has one right now, so let\u2019s go look at it.\u201d\u00a0 We had visited two other music stores in town but never found what we were looking for.\u00a0 My dad played harmonica so I didn\u2019t know exactly what he meant when he said a drum set looked \u2018cheap\u2019 to him.\u00a0 Mom and dad were going to front me the money to buy a set, so I didn\u2019t question their judgement.\u00a0 Our past experience (at other stores) told me not to get too excited.\u00a0 When we got to the Boerner\u2019s, there sat one of Ludwig\u2019s \u2018Ringo sets\u2019 in silver sparkle.\u00a0 The owner said, \u201cI suppose you would rather have it be the same color as Ringo\u2019s\u201d and I admitted I was more partial to \u2018sparkle blue or red\u2019.\u00a0 Dad pointed out that the silver set would look like any color with the right spotlights shining on it and that was good enough for me.\u00a0 When I told Bill Gordon that I played a 1966 vintage Ludwig \u2018Ringo set\u2019, the first thing he asked me was, \u201cWhat finish?\u00a0 You didn\u2019t get that oyster shell finish, did you?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The next story happened some three years after I started playing a drum kit.\u00a0 As a sophomore in high school, I had a close encounter with Rick Derringer of The McCoys.\u00a0 They were the headliners at a dance\/concert held at NMU\u2019s Hedgecock Fieldhouse during the annual Greek Week Festival.\u00a0 A local band, The French Church, opened for them.\u00a0 I was at my usual band watching station stage side when band leader Gordon MacDonald came over to talk to me.\u00a0 Gordon had been a trombone player in our high school band when I was a freshman and his younger brother, Warren (who wasn\u2019t in the high school band but played the drums for the Church), was in my class.\u00a0 Gordon said, \u201cWe have to get our stuff off the stage fast so hang around until our set is done.\u201d\u00a0 As soon as they started breaking down their equipment, they dropped it stage side and I carted it to an area backstage where they could pack it up in a more leisurely fashion.\u00a0 Once we got the Church\u2019s stuff in their van, I went back to hanging around behind the stage waiting for the McCoys to go on.\u00a0 I was minding my own business when a voice from behind me asked rather harshly, \u201cWhat are you doing back here?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I turned around and found myself chest to chin with Rick Derringer (my chest, his chin).\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t quite fully grown but I was still a head taller than he was.\u00a0 I looked down and said, \u201cI was humping equipment for The French Church.\u201d\u00a0 Derringer softened his approach and replied, \u201cOh, okay.\u00a0 Make sure there aren\u2019t so many people back here.\u00a0 We don\u2019t want anything broken or stolen.\u201d\u00a0 Now, the baby faced fifteen year old me wasn\u2019t about to be confused with \u2018security\u2019, but I said, \u201cOkay,\u201d before I went back to hanging around.\u00a0 I felt almost like a real roadie!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The McCoys were in a period of transition from their <\/span>Hang On Sloopy<\/span><\/i> pop phase (and yes, they played the official rock song of their home state of Ohio to close the show) and the period where they band backed Johnny Winter (billed as Johnny Winter And).\u00a0 At the Greek Week Festival, they played some real out there Frank Zappa stuff and were generally a tight, hard rocking band.\u00a0 During their intermission, Derringer was explaining how they were getting burned out being on the road so much.\u00a0 Someone mentioned the keyboard player seemed \u2018out of it\u2019 (plus he smelled like he hadn\u2019t been taking care of himself in the hygiene department).\u00a0 Derringer diplomatically said, \u201cWell, some of us have been over using \u2018substances\u2019 and when we get back home, some of us will continue with the band and some of us won\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0 I filed this bit of information under, \u201cSo if you want to be a rock and roll star, you have to hit the road, stay focused, and keep clean.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A few summers later, Chuck the pot washer at the Huron Mountain Club was spinning a live album on the stereo in the \u2018employees fun house\u2019 (recreation building).\u00a0 I liked what I heard, so I asked him what we were listening to.\u00a0 He handed me the double album cover and there was Johnny Winter And featuring The McCoys\u2019 Rick Derringer on guitar, Rick\u2019s brother Randy on drums, and Randy Jo Hobbs on bass.\u00a0 Derringer has enjoyed a long career as a solo artist, a writer of both hit songs and books, a producer, a talk show band leader, and a first call session musician.\u00a0 It turns out that he is a very nice guy, but my first memory when I hear his music is me looking down at him as I measured how to respond to his kind of angry question all those years ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I drive my wife nuts these days when I manage to forget what she asks me to do in less time than it takes to say \u2018Jack Robinson\u2019.\u00a0 With that said, I find it ironic that bits and pieces about bands, musicians, and music I have collected along the way remain in my \u2018upstairs file cabinet\u2019.\u00a0 Apparently some memories have no \u2018sell by date\u2019 attached.\u00a0 Speaking of which, the \u201cIt gets better every time I tell it\u201d line came from a Garfield cartoon involving a volcano.\u00a0 Now if I can remember that, why can\u2019t I remember what I was supposed to dig out of the basement freezer?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Top Piece Video:\u00a0 Ringo swings on The Ed Sullivan Show <\/em>with his prominently displayed Ludwig drum logo .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201c\u2018That\u2019s some tale, old timer.\u2019\u00a0 Yeah, and it gets better everytime I tell it.\u201d\u00a0 Where this conversation came from doesn\u2019t pop to mind immediately, but I know that it has served me well\u00a0 for several decades.\u00a0 Not the part about \u2018getting better every time I tell it\u2019, mind you.\u00a0 I use it to remind myself […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11,8,12,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bands-musicians","category-education","category-from-the-vaults","category-humor","category-woas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2259"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2262,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2259\/revisions\/2262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}