Remember when?

[Deleted]

Thought I would do this. Tell me about some of your great moments of your past!

 I know I have mine, so, I am sure you all have yours.

 So don't be afraid to say.

EB

[antares]

I assume you mean music or guitar related Eddie? Hmm. I guess seeing Led Zeppelin playing at Earls Court Arena in the mid 1970s sticks in my mind. They played for 5 &1/2 hours with a 45-ish minute break in the middle. It was really something else to behold. The 8 eight hours queue ("line" but it was five abreast and stretched 3/4 of the way around the arena and grew to about 30 abreast at the solitary turnstile) to buy tickets sticks in the mind too. Also, I got my pocket picked immediately thereafter by a bunch of adghan coated twirling hippies and I lost my wallet with the tickets. We were only allowed four tickets each and because I only needed two, a great friend took the other two off me straight away and therefore I was still able to attend using those tickets. He just wanted as many tickets as he could get his hands upon! I was just waiting for my two stolen seat tickets to be filled but they weren't. As it happens, those two seats were directly behind a massive concrete pillar, so all's well that ended well. It was a true spectacle of a gig. They apologised to their fans for forsaking them for America, but on reflection who could blame them? When you look back, they were so young yet at the top of their game. They were massive. They even had their own jet airplane ...

でつ e&oe ...

[Deleted]

Jul 13, 2022 6:32:46 GMT -6 antares said:

I assume you mean music or guitar related Eddie? Hmm. I guess seeing Led Zeppelin playing at Earls Court Arena in the mid 1970s sticks in my mind. They played for 5 &1/2 hours with a 45-ish minute break in the middle. It was really something else to behold. The 8 eight hours queue ("line" but it was five abreast and stretched 3/4 of the way around the arena and grew to about 30 abreast at the solitary turnstile) to buy tickets sticks in the mind too. Also, I got my pocket picked immediately thereafter by a bunch of adghan coated twirling hippies and I lost my wallet with the tickets. We were only allowed four tickets each and because I only needed two, a great friend took the other two off me straight away and therefore I was still able to attend using those tickets. He just wanted as many tickets as he could get his hands upon! I was just waiting for my two stolen seat tickets to be filled but they weren't. As it happens, those two seats were directly behind a massive concrete pillar, so all's well that ended well. It was a true spectacle of a gig. They apologised to their fans for forsaking them for America, but on reflection who could blame them? When you look back, they were so young yet at the top of their game. They were massive. They even had their own jet airplane ...

でつ e&oe ...

That's pretty cool! But this is open to anything. But this is an awesome story. I didn't get to go to too many concerts back in the day. I was on the road doing them or playing in nightclubs. It wasn't until later on that I was able to see a few.

 I would like to read some more of what you have seen and done, as well as others. I do hope some of you will chime in. I could write a book of all the stuff I have seen and done. Likewise, I know I can't be the only one. LOL!

 So, Steve, did you get to meet or see others that left their mark on you? Did you play in bands?

EB

[dnic]

Wow Steve, that had to be amazing! 5.5 hour long concert. Wow again!

I was waiting to see how this might play out topic wise.

I'm going great moments in general. I was 15 years of age when my best bud and I hauled/ towed with a tow bar that the previous owner made to haul it to the drag strip. A 1930 Model A 5 window coupe hot rod. It was set up for a small block Chevy engine, which was missing. Pretty much everything else was there, the main thing was a very well built Muncie four speed trans. We found a 283CI SB Chevy engine at the auto shop at high school and somehow the teacher agreed to sell it to me. It of course had to be overhauled, I remember it didn't last all that long. Maybe just that I didn't do a great job on the rebuild or maybe the RPMs that small block Chevys weren't designed for. Took about 5 months to get it running and street worthy. After that my buddy Mike drove me around in my car until I got my license.

May 2nd on my 16th birthday I got my drivers license and the following Saturday I drove it to a car show at my school. Got a trophy for some category I don't remember. But what a trip. But picture this, Mercury, Matador red, full fendered, with the hood, Cragar SS mags with Pigs Revenge in gold leaf on the doors. I also ran it without the hood so you could see the engine of course with chrome headers. You know chrome headers are a 20% increase on HP. Tongue firmly in cheek.

[Deleted]

Jul 13, 2022 10:51:44 GMT -6 dnic said:

Wow Steve, that had to be amazing! 5.5 hour long concert. Wow again!

I was waiting to see how this might play out topic wise.

I'm going great moments in general. I was 15 years of age when my best bud and I hauled/ towed with a tow bar that the previous owner made to haul it to the drag strip. A 1930 Model A 5 window coupe hot rod. It was set up for a small block Chevy engine, which was missing. Pretty much everything else was there, the main thing was a very well built Muncie four speed trans. We found a 283CI SB Chevy engine at the auto shop at high school and somehow the teacher agreed to sell it to me. It of course had to be overhauled, I remember it didn't last all that long. Maybe just that I didn't do a great job on the rebuild or maybe the RPMs that small block Chevys weren't designed for. Took about 5 months to get it running and street worthy. After that my buddy Mike drove me around in my car until I got my license.

May 2nd on my 16th birthday I got my drivers license and the following Saturday I drove it to a car show at my school. Got a trophy for some category I don't remember. But what a trip. But picture this, Mercury, Matador red, full fendered, with the hood, Cragar SS mags with Pigs Revenge in gold leaf on the doors. I also ran it without the hood so you could see the engine of course with chrome headers. You know chrome headers are a 20% increase on HP. Tongue firmly in cheek.

What a cool thing with your friend and the teacher. Fun stuff!

   You reminded me of a story that my best friend and did. We were walking home from school and found a 1940 Ford Coupe out in a field. It, too, was all there but no engine, We went to my friend's house and told his dad about the car, His dad was into hot rods and drag cars. Well, anyway, when we came home the next day there sat that 40 Ford, It turned out to be all original right down to the Trans that was in it. My friend's dad got the car for $75.00. This was back in the 70's. My friend and I wound up putting a V8 flat head in it. We had a blast getting that car running. I don't remember where he got the Flat head. But we did put two carbs on it with offenhouser headers and heads on it. It would burn rubber forever! LOL!  

 Thanks, Dane, for your awesome story! Boy, both you and Steve has brought back some great memories. I hope some more stories are posted. This is a lot of fun!

EB

[antares]

I see your tantalising Ford tales and I raise you this;

My maternal grandpa gave all (then) three of us grandchildren a 1960 crown (five shillings or what we used to call a "dollar" because back then there were four bucks to the pound) to "remember him by", and then he promptly died of bronchitis following the London smogs sometime in 1962. Not to be outdone, my grandma rummaged around and found three half crowns in an old tea caddy. Since I was the oldest, I was given an 1868, my sister had an 1887 and my cousin received an 1895. All victorian and all solid silver.

In 1968, the centenary of the coin, my mother read in a newspaper (The Daily Sketch, long since defunct) that a Kensington (West London) housewife had just sold an 1868 halfcrown for £2,200 Sterling. This was the value of half a house price back then. It turned out that including mine, only five were known of, and it is recorded that The Royal Mint didn't officially strike any for some thirty years because there were so many in circulation. I think one of them is known to be buried under a cornerstone of a London building, but I cannot remember anything about the fifth one. Upon being advised by a local coin dealer, we sent it to The Royal Mint at Tower Hill in London for verification and they confirmed that it was the correct 92.5% fineness. I still have that letter here somewhere. Mine was in much better condition than the Kensington housewife's example.

Next up, word inevitably got out and my Pa was invited to appear on TV (at my tender years I was considered too young) and a limousine from Thames Television at Teddington picked up the whole family and took us to the London Weekend Television Studios in London for a day out. Dad was filmed with the Kensington woman and a collector (who owned one and knew what it was all along) on The Eamonn Andrews current affairs evening programme called "Today". I may have the wrong studios name since LWT was obviously not the week day "Today" programme, but that's all I can remember and they were associated so may have used the studios for weekday filming. It took about six months before they broadcast it. My Dad said "put it in the bank vault and in ten years it'll be worth £20,000. He was so wrong there! As soon as I was allowed, I rescued it from the bank's vault and tried to tout it around the Kensington (coincidence) coin dealers, but none were interested except one guy who offered me £5. I wasn't that stupid so I put it back into my wallet. I had it in a coin-sized vinyl "envelope" with "National Provincial Bank" (also defunct) printed upon it, and this was stored in my leather wallet inside a pop-studded compartment.

At school, everyone knew about the coin, and one day while I was playing football at school, some maggot with the initials J.C. relieved me of it. I couldn't prove it and I never saw it again. It is identifiable by the tiny nick of silver missing from one face- no more than the tiniest dot that The Royal Mint used to verify the 92.5% fineness. My Dad was gutted. I was gutted too because I was all for selling whilst there was interest in it, but he over ruled me. At the time of the TV appearance, Dad received promotion at work and they gave him a new company car. The rest of my family made no secret that they believed Dad had sold the coin and bought himself a new car.

This of course may be taken as being far from my "finest hour" because of how it all turned out, but at the time my next door neighbour worked as what we would now know as paparazzo, and he photographed me holding the coin which was subsequently published in a national newspaper, I guess it was The Daily Express. I felt very famous indeed. I still have prints of those photographs too. I also had more hair!

でつ e&oe ...

[dnic]

Eddie, that's so cool that they were willing to sell. I can't even count how many Model As I've seen in fields or behind barns and every time I stop and inquire I get the same answer. That's my sons or brothers or someones and they are going to restore it sometime. Then years later I happen to be in the same area and these cars are still sitting where they were with more weeds growing though them and even worse shape.

Steve, that is heart breaking. But the coin you had in your possession after your dad got the car still had the nick out of it where the mint verified it, right? So your dad didn't sell it. But what a scum that took it from you. Really too bad you weren't allowed to sell when you wanted to. I too had hair once.

[Deleted]

Now see I knew there was more...

 Steve, that is awful How someone would do that. But I have been bullied so many times in my life by low lives. I don't know why some have to be like that. But I vet he got his at some point in his life.

Me too Dane. I even had a guy once tell ,e to get off his property with a shot gun in his hands.

EB

[Deleted]

OK... My problem is I have so many stories. It's hard to pick out one.

 I was 15 years old. By this time I had been playing guitar for a few years. I started learning at the age of 9. My Mom seen an ad in the paper for try-outs for a working rock band. My Mom made an appointment for me to go try out without telling me until the day of the try-out.

 I was a little upset because I had no time to warm up for it. I took my guitar I had at the time. I was told I would not have to take an amp. I was glad because I didn't have one at the time.

 So I arrived on time. Plugged in the amp they had, and they wanted me to play 3 songs. Two of them I had no charts to go off of. I had to know how to play by ear. Wow! I had never done that before. It was by luck that I knew the songs, and they played them in the key that I knew them in. The third one was on a chart. They wanted to see if I could read music. I could read music and playing from a chart was easy.

 I thought it sounded awesome! Until that day, I had never played in a band. After the session was over, I was told they would call me to let me know If I got the gig or not. So I went home and waited for a phone call. 3 days later, I got the call from their agent. She told I had gotten the job. WOW!!! I was so excited! I had to sign a contract, and it had to signed by my parents as well.

 It came out in the paper that I had gotten the job as a guitar payer in the band. It said that I had beaten out over 250 people that had tried out. Another WOW! I learned later on the reason I got the job, I was the only one that could read and play that last song from the chart.

 But what I didn't know, my job was going to be a lot of hard work for the next few months. I had to cram in a lot of songs and learn them all by heart. We were not allowed to have any sheet music on stage. To this day, I don't know how I did it, but I did! I was with that band for almost 4 years. That was in 1969, by 1971 I bought my first real guitar. My 71 Gibson LP custom.

 Since that time I have now been on 6 TV shows, 2 radio shows, and so many concerts I can't even count. Was making excellent money when I was 15. More than my dad was making back then.

 I got to meet a lot of big name people of the day. Some that I got to know well. Like the Beach boys. I even got to drive one the vets that one of them owned in 1970.

  It was a lot of fun back then, and would do it all over again.

During that time I met a lady who was a big time agent. She saw me at an addition. She called me over to her table and handed me a contract. Likewise, she told me to sign it, and she would make me famous. She knew it would be up to my Mom and Dad. But she did tell me I would have to leave the band I was in. Hum...

This lady was well known at the time for handling some of the top people of the day. Her husband owned one of the big Casinos in Vegas. But Dad and Mom told me no. They wanted me to finish school. Although I would have had schooling provided by the agent's company. I will always wonder what would have happened if I could have gone on with this woman as my agent. Guess I'll never know.

 But, I have a lot more stories about my life I can tell. Like I got into drag racing, and dirt track car racing, I owned a few businesses in my life. Built over 200 cars. Became an ordained minister. And so many other things. Oh, In high school I could run a 4-min mile.  I have also had a lot of bad things happen in my life. It's not all been good.

 I have been ganged up on twice, been bullied a lot, almost lost my life a few times, be in a real bad car wreck, had knives pulled on me and one gun pulled on me. We used to live in a place in CA where drive by shooting were going on ever other day. Had other  death threats, had our house broken into, car broken into. So many things in my life.

Music has always played a big part in my life. I am sad that I can no longer play in bands anymore. I had my fun in music. Got to play with a lot of musicians over my life. I guess I can leave out making guitars. I cannot tell how fulfilling that has been. Met a lot of cool people over the years in making and working on guitars.

 I will always be thankful for Guitar Attack and the people I got to meet here. You all mean a great deal to me. Guitar Attack was here when I needed you the most. There were people on here that were there for me at a time I need to see that people cared. Those of you that were around then know the story.

Like I said, there is a lot more I could say even How I came to know Jesus. How He save my life. I know some say they don't believe. But to me, He is real. But that is for another time.

EB

 

[dnic]

Eddie, you certainly have done a lot of different things in life. Pretty cool how that band thing worked out.

[dnic]

The closest thing to a perfect guitar solo I ever did kind of stands outs in my memory. I didn't start playing guitar until I was 23 years old. I'd been working 40+ hours a week from the age 16. Work and church and kid obligations didn't leave a lot of time to practice guitar and I was pretty happy to be a hummer and a strummer for many years. I didn't start playing in bands until I was in my 40s and seemed to have a little more time to myself. Still, carving out a 2 hour slot for rehearsal was tuff so actually practicing was even harder. Plus I'm lazy about that stuff. Songs that have more changes and riffs are easier to remember for me plus if I like them a lot it helps.

It's probably been about 5 or more years since we played together. Our main gig was at a Christian coffee house where I ran sound for 20 years. Or the county fair or other out door events. Never was comfortable with playing bars so we never did those gigs. The song was "WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS" We were a three piece at the time so you know what that means for the guitarist. Really hoping the bass player doesn't forget where he's at and we can somehow keep it all together and come out on top after the solo. Have I mentioned yet I'm really not that good of a guitar player. The other problem I have is clamming up when other known guitar players show up to watch. Anyway to wrap this up, the song as a whole the solos, the whole thing went very well. The other guitarists were all cheering me on and saying stuff like I nailed the solo. So I felt really good about that whole experience. Gotta love that box 1 Am pentatonic. I know I sound pathetically insecure but I like playing guitar and do it more as a take it or leave it mind set. Still don't practice.

[Deleted]

Jul 15, 2022 9:48:59 GMT -6 dnic said:

The closest thing to a perfect guitar solo I ever did kind of stands outs in my memory. I didn't start playing guitar until I was 23 years old. I'd been working 40+ hours a week from the age 16. Work and church and kid obligations didn't leave a lot of time to practice guitar and I was pretty happy to be a hummer and a strummer for many years. I didn't start playing in bands until I was in my 40s and seemed to have a little more time to myself. Still, carving out a 2 hour slot for rehearsal was tuff so actually practicing was even harder. Plus I'm lazy about that stuff. Songs that have more changes and riffs are easier to remember for me plus if I like them a lot it helps.

It's probably been about 5 or more years since we played together. Our main gig was at a Christian coffee house where I ran sound for 20 years. Or the county fair or other out door events. Never was comfortable with playing bars so we never did those gigs. The song was "WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS" We were a three piece at the time so you know what that means for the guitarist. Really hoping the bass player doesn't forget where he's at and we can somehow keep it all together and come out on top after the solo. Have I mentioned yet I'm really not that good of a guitar player. The other problem I have is clamming up when other known guitar players show up to watch. Anyway to wrap this up, the song as a whole the solos, the whole thing went very well. The other guitarists were all cheering me on and saying stuff like I nailed the solo. So I felt really good about that whole experience. Gotta love that box 1 Am pentatonic. I know I sound pathetically insecure but I like playing guitar and do it more as a take it or leave it mind set. Still don't practice.

I have known a few people like you over the years. But I was not one not to practice. When my Mom was alive, she would tell ya, how hard I would practice at learning to play. I would do it so much my fingers would bleed. I would not stop even after they would start bleeding. My Mom would make me stop so that she could put some stuff on my fingers to help them heal up.

 I would practice even at night unplugged. I did that well into my 30s. I don't think I am all that good still today. But I know I can hold my own with most guitar players out there.

 I used to do a lot of "splitting heads" contest with other musicians, not all of them guitar players. I didn't win them all, but I did win my share of them. It was a lot of fun and I learned so much.

 To day, I play on my UT videos. I don't play to impress others. I play for fun, and most of the time it's for showing how a guitar sounds more than what I know about playing.

 I know a guy that never practiced. But he could pick up any instrument and play it like he had been playing it all his life. Not fair! I don't like them kinds of people. But he will tell you, what you hear him do is all he can do. He can't read music and really all I do is play what I hear... To him, it no big deal, and he would get bored with it because he felt like he could not learn anything new as far as it came to the instrument he was playing. I heard him play so many instruments cold. To me, he is amazing. But never did anything with his talent. What a waste. Here I would try so hard to do what came natural to him.

 Dane, I found that if someone wants it badly enough, they will find the time to put the effort into it. But I also know how life can and does get in the way of doing things. Been there done that too. I find myself wishing I had built guitars years ago and doing them in my later years.

 I wish I had opened up a "Kustom" car shop, with it was going well back in the 80's. I may have been on TV with my own show. LOL! I was great at building cars! I miss doing that a lot!

 Even in guitar making, I was at one point going to try and make it into something bigger. But as my health is failing me over time and getting worse, that is not going ever happen. I was just given some more bad news about my brain. ( Not good)

 All I know is now is I tell you all... If you have a dream, you need to go for it while you are young and able to. I can also say if you are waiting to retire at a late age, you need to do it while you can enjoy retirement. Otherwise, you may end up like me and spending a lot of time at the doctors and hospitals. Enjoy your life to all you can.  It's not always about how much money you can make or want or even need.

 It's I see that I could have cone so many other things. I wish now I could do some things all over again.

 But now I have to look at things in another way. I can only try and pass on things I know, while I can still remember. My speech has gotten really bad. So, I don't know if I'll be doing too many more Videos. But I do have two more that I would like to do. I'll see if and when my speech clears up a little. I know I will try and do one on the Fender twin tone master amp. I hope to do that soon.

 That may be the last one I do. Not sure. But I'll see how things go. I am on another drug. This one I was told I cannot stop. I am having brain seizures on top of everything else. At least I can still type and remember words at this point. But again, there is no cure for it. So it's only time before I can't do anything at all.

 So be kind and help each other while you can. Dane, you are doing well in what you do. Be encouraged. I think you are awesome at what you do and as a person!

EB

[dnic]

Thank you for the kind words Eddie. I continue to pray for health all the time Eddie.

I have developed this mantra over the years. It was first applied to band settings. If you're not having fun you're doing it wrong. I now apply this to most of my life adventures.

[GuitarAttack Forum]

I always loved playing music, but some of the musicians I played with were not the most reliable people to hang out with. There was always that simmering dread before a gig because I just knew that certain folks in the band camp would (a) be late, (b) not be prepared, and (c) probably stop off for a drink or two on the way.

That is one of my real lessons from my band days: It is one thing to be a good musician, but it is something else to be a good bandmate. I know a lot of folks who play pro in Nashville, and the story is all the same when considering a bandmate: can I ride 12 hours one-way in a van to play a gig with this person. One told me that they always started the interview process for a new musician at a restaurant to get a feel for how the person handled themselves. Everybody in the area can play; its those other things that can make the difference.

I wish I had've been kinder to some of my music colleagues during our band "relationship", and maybe should have overlooked some of their personal challenges, but it just seemed to be the right thing to do at the time. And yes, there were times when I wasn't a great person to have in the band.

My advice to the "young'uns" it to work on being a good bandmate and don't let anyone have to pick up your slack.

My two cents,
John

[antares]

Two cents worth in excess of fifty bucks John because it comes from the school of hard knocks.

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