Well, glad for that Chas. :) Few months ago I got together with an old friend I'd played with in Cookin' Mama back then. It was his band, started when a blues band we'd had (where we'd met) broke up and he went off and started a 3-piece band, ala "Cream". Tommy was a heck of a guitar player, with boundless energy and a great guy. Hasn't changed a bit although he's become a heck of an organist over the years, backed up Greg Allman, done well by his music.
We talked over a lot of old times and memories. In '71, CM travelled cross country to play and visit the Way fellowships during the summer, with the ROA the middle stop. Went to Kansas with Donnie Fugit and Dove and all of the gang there. Indianapolis with John Lynn, Good Seed had just started up. After the ROA went to New York and played several times there, and did a concert with PDSTRO at Alley Pond Park, a night we both still remembered vividly. Great summer, and good times. We were pretty busy in the SF Bay Area and the club and concert venues here and that trip was the first look at the rest of the country for most of us. We'd all played a lot over the years growing up, that trip was a real education at what the rest of the country looked like.
We talked about our music. I had discovered some old tapes, a KSAN radio show we'd done, some Avalon "Family Dog" concert stuff and some different things taped off the boards of other bands, one with Steve Abella from Alameda who I'd played with off and on for a few years. Turns out Tommy had a lot of our old stuff too, a studio 4-track we'd made at Mills College in Oakland, and part of a tape he thought was from our one stab at the Fillmore, which went well.
In the middle of that summer tour after the ROA, we got together with VPW to talk about music and the general plans of the Way. Ted F was involved of course at that time and there'd been a gathering of the "tribes' so to speak at New Knoxville's School gym that summer to talk about what everyone was doing. Our intention at the time was to continue on a career path with CM, and we were definitely interested in what we were doing with "the Word" in our musc. We were finding that audiences didn't much care what you sang about if they liked the musc. We had a lot of emphasis on the music, arrangements, etc.
VPW was difficult on the lyric content - felt they were too "vague". To some extent that wasn't intentional but we weren't trying to spell every little thing out, thinking it was fine to leave some room for the listener to fill in and enjoy. He wanted to change the lyrics around, make them "better". We thought his advice was good for new stuff, worth trying out and seeing what we could do. No one wanted to change existing lyrics, they were done deals, and the songs needed to stay as they were. We weren't hammering people with bible messages in every song, some did some didnt and some of it wasn't "Word" based either. Plus, as far as "outreach" went, quite a few people were responding to the songs as they were, it wasn't exactly like we'd just rolled off the bus. We were young but were working regularly. The "Way" gigs weren't anything like they later became when we'd do something then, they were basically public concerts where everyone would come in. So we had some ideas ourselves.
So that was that. He wasn't happy with where it ended up and we went on our way, heading to New York. Great summer. I've thought back on the couple times we played with PD, between our music and arrangement and PD's vocal sound, we made some noise.
Things occured very naturally then in California. CM, being musicians, had our own "fellowship", amongst ourselves. One night we got together at a local house, two floors where we knew the people, my wife to be lived upstairs with a couple friends. We had our "fellowship", about 10 or so of us. Next week, did it again and a load of people showed up. We messed around, played, did whatever. Within a few weeks 100's - literally - were showing up, wandering around, driving by, hanging around in the backyard. It wasn't engineered, other little groups were gathering out on the street while we'd be doing whatever it was we did inside. Lots of people "took PFAL" as a result of that, and hopefully got something good from that exposure, but there certainly wasn't anyone beating on people to do this or that. No one would have come at that time if we'd been like that. Lots of people got involved and made it their own.
It's pointless to try and re-do the past. That was then, this is now. Times change and so do we as people. But the lessons learned over a lifetime, all that we do, make us who we are. There's no denying what I've tried, done, failures, successes. Likewise with who I am as a "Christian" and a musician. Some things I'd do differently, some never again! So like everyone, I persist!
As does The Way Nash. I'd have to assume that what they're producing reflects their collective goals and intentions, and their "heart". Will those songs be remembered fondly in 20, 30 years? The performances treasured? Any light shed be drawn upon?
Went to Kansas with Donnie Fugit and Dove and all of the gang there
Ha Socks There was something about that band that I always liked, Maybe it was the name or something......... hey you forgot Sky High! , they may have been later on though..
Reading your post reminded me how passion for music, and passion for Jesus, are pretty much always a winning combination. Mix in a little youthful exuberance, and "anything's possible," unfettered, joie de vivre, and voila! Something happens, and people take note.
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Suda
Agree, Chas, a real crying shame.
Suda
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socks
Well, glad for that Chas. :) Few months ago I got together with an old friend I'd played with in Cookin' Mama back then. It was his band, started when a blues band we'd had (where we'd met) broke up and he went off and started a 3-piece band, ala "Cream". Tommy was a heck of a guitar player, with boundless energy and a great guy. Hasn't changed a bit although he's become a heck of an organist over the years, backed up Greg Allman, done well by his music.
We talked over a lot of old times and memories. In '71, CM travelled cross country to play and visit the Way fellowships during the summer, with the ROA the middle stop. Went to Kansas with Donnie Fugit and Dove and all of the gang there. Indianapolis with John Lynn, Good Seed had just started up. After the ROA went to New York and played several times there, and did a concert with PDSTRO at Alley Pond Park, a night we both still remembered vividly. Great summer, and good times. We were pretty busy in the SF Bay Area and the club and concert venues here and that trip was the first look at the rest of the country for most of us. We'd all played a lot over the years growing up, that trip was a real education at what the rest of the country looked like.
We talked about our music. I had discovered some old tapes, a KSAN radio show we'd done, some Avalon "Family Dog" concert stuff and some different things taped off the boards of other bands, one with Steve Abella from Alameda who I'd played with off and on for a few years. Turns out Tommy had a lot of our old stuff too, a studio 4-track we'd made at Mills College in Oakland, and part of a tape he thought was from our one stab at the Fillmore, which went well.
In the middle of that summer tour after the ROA, we got together with VPW to talk about music and the general plans of the Way. Ted F was involved of course at that time and there'd been a gathering of the "tribes' so to speak at New Knoxville's School gym that summer to talk about what everyone was doing. Our intention at the time was to continue on a career path with CM, and we were definitely interested in what we were doing with "the Word" in our musc. We were finding that audiences didn't much care what you sang about if they liked the musc. We had a lot of emphasis on the music, arrangements, etc.
VPW was difficult on the lyric content - felt they were too "vague". To some extent that wasn't intentional but we weren't trying to spell every little thing out, thinking it was fine to leave some room for the listener to fill in and enjoy. He wanted to change the lyrics around, make them "better". We thought his advice was good for new stuff, worth trying out and seeing what we could do. No one wanted to change existing lyrics, they were done deals, and the songs needed to stay as they were. We weren't hammering people with bible messages in every song, some did some didnt and some of it wasn't "Word" based either. Plus, as far as "outreach" went, quite a few people were responding to the songs as they were, it wasn't exactly like we'd just rolled off the bus. We were young but were working regularly. The "Way" gigs weren't anything like they later became when we'd do something then, they were basically public concerts where everyone would come in. So we had some ideas ourselves.
So that was that. He wasn't happy with where it ended up and we went on our way, heading to New York. Great summer. I've thought back on the couple times we played with PD, between our music and arrangement and PD's vocal sound, we made some noise.
Things occured very naturally then in California. CM, being musicians, had our own "fellowship", amongst ourselves. One night we got together at a local house, two floors where we knew the people, my wife to be lived upstairs with a couple friends. We had our "fellowship", about 10 or so of us. Next week, did it again and a load of people showed up. We messed around, played, did whatever. Within a few weeks 100's - literally - were showing up, wandering around, driving by, hanging around in the backyard. It wasn't engineered, other little groups were gathering out on the street while we'd be doing whatever it was we did inside. Lots of people "took PFAL" as a result of that, and hopefully got something good from that exposure, but there certainly wasn't anyone beating on people to do this or that. No one would have come at that time if we'd been like that. Lots of people got involved and made it their own.
It's pointless to try and re-do the past. That was then, this is now. Times change and so do we as people. But the lessons learned over a lifetime, all that we do, make us who we are. There's no denying what I've tried, done, failures, successes. Likewise with who I am as a "Christian" and a musician. Some things I'd do differently, some never again! So like everyone, I persist!
As does The Way Nash. I'd have to assume that what they're producing reflects their collective goals and intentions, and their "heart". Will those songs be remembered fondly in 20, 30 years? The performances treasured? Any light shed be drawn upon?
Just exactly what ARE they doing?
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TheHighWay
Wow, Socks... thanks for sharing... there is so much to be understood from these beginnings!!
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Priscilla
Wow, Socks! What memories you brought back to me.
what was the name of that bar in San Anselmo? The Lion's Den??
Ted and I were there a number of times when CM played there.
Loved it!! You all really rocked!
Glad you saw Tommy again, some memories are so sweet from those early days.
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WhiteDove
Ha Socks There was something about that band that I always liked, Maybe it was the name or something......... hey you forgot Sky High! , they may have been later on though..
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ex10
socks
Reading your post reminded me how passion for music, and passion for Jesus, are pretty much always a winning combination. Mix in a little youthful exuberance, and "anything's possible," unfettered, joie de vivre, and voila! Something happens, and people take note.
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