Songs of Our Lifetimes

  Zed Maestro In my 50-plus years in showbiz, I've run across so many great performers that never get the recognition they deserve. Often, these cats are better than many of the famous faces that were in the right place at the right time to get launched into the National Spotlight. I'm talking about club players that become popular in their local area because they are freaking great players and entertainers. There are bunch of those in Tampa. I was one of them for a dozen years while I sided on organ for blues artists such as Otis Day and Lorelei. It's not easy for me to watch other bands. I don't hear music like most civilians (non-musicians). I hear every right and wrong note, every missed change, every perfectly executed mood change, every overplay, every note that didn't belong. every refreshing rest, and every pitch problem. That isn't fun for me, but I can't help but analyze every act I see. It's an occupational hazard. That is why it is such a tre...

 I wrote this song shortly after moving to Florida in 1989. It gets nearly as much airplay as my hit "No Excuses" (sold under 2 million copies). The persistent question is, "What does it mean?" "Whatever you think it means," I usually answer, "is what it means." Truth. I arrived in the buckle of the Baptist Belt with the area immersed in controversy over a PBS TV series. The local churhie KKK inhabitants of Duval County were threatening to pull funding from the station if it broadcast the Bill Moyer series of interviews with Joseph Campbell (having never seen it). The Power of Myth frightened these pitiful creatures. It exposed their religion for what it was: a collection of myths. Myth - a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events. Debate on the news reminded me of 1925 Dayton, Tennessee when John T. Scopes ...

The first story I heard in New Orleans was that Jerry Jeff had met Bill "Bojangles" Robinson in an Orleans Parish drunk tank. I argued that it was not likely since our jails were segregated along color lines at that time. Further research showed that Jerry Jeff was born Ronald Clyde Crosby on March 16th, 1942. Bill Robinson died November 25th, 1949. I posited that it was highly unlikely that the 7-year-old Ronnie Crosy found his way into a drunk tank, particularly since he grew up in Oneida, New York.  "I met man, Bojangles, and he'd dance for you" go the lyrics of Jerry Jeff Walker's most famous and covered song,  Mr. Bojangles.  Fortunately, Jerry Jeff heard the same story and clarified the fact that he wrote the song in tribute to the many that danced in the French Quarter "for drinks and tips" and that the drunk he met - who called himself Bojangles - was a white alcoholic. Ron Crosby changed his name to Jerry Jeff Walker in 1966 because it ...

 This dish is a truly delightful experience that is both gourmet and gourmand; at least way the Cafe' Be At cooks it. This particular dish is a combination of Seafood Creole and Gumbo -- the best of both. Gumbo comes from magumbo, the African word for okra. Get all this stuff as fresh as you can. Hit a roadside farmers' market (known in the bayou as the back of the farmers truck). These folks have usually got the freshest, most home-grown stuff, their making an honest, hard-earned living and you get to screw the IRS. Cain’t axe for a better deal than that. 2 Large Onions 3 Large Green Pepper 1 lb. of Mushrooms 3 Celery stalks 2 lb. of Okra 2 lb. of Shrimp 2 quarts of Fish stock Large bottles of red wine (Burgundy) Tomatoes (2 Tomatoes -- 1 lb. 12 oz. cans of crushed.) Garlic Oregano Basil Thyme First off: open the bottle of wine and pour yourself a glass. You are about to start cutting veggies for a while. This is much easier if you have a glass of red wine at your side. Nex...

Folk merged with Rock as Canada merged with America in the seminal band Buffalo Springfield. The name was derived from a brand of steamroller produced in Springfield, Ohio-based company Buffalo-Springfield Steamroller Company. The name proved prophetic as the group steamrolled their way to the top of the charts. Initial members included Stephan Stills (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Dewey Martin (drums, vocals), Bruce Palmer (bass), Richie Furay (guitar, vocals), and Neil Young (vocals, guitar, piano, harp). In 1966, the group signed with Atlantic Records and soon released the single “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing" - in Los Angeles. It became a local LA hit. Instant fame came later that year with the release of "For What It's Worth", a strangely abstract name for a scathing, ominous  protest song. "There's something happening here, What it is ain't exactly clear, There's a man with a gun over there, Tellin' me I got to beware. It's time to...

Born in Atlanta, Georgia, on February 28th, 1940, Joseph Allen Souter was destined to be one of the most influential songwriters of the 60's & 70's winning two Grammy Awards, launching the careers of numerous stars, and selling millions of records along the way. Under the stage name of Joe South he scored his first hit with a novelty song titled "The Purple People Eater Meets The Witch Doctor" in 1959. He got serious after that writing two songs recorded by Gene Vincent, a pop song "I Might Have Known" and the bluesy "Gone Gone Gone". Bill Lowery  saw potential in South, hiring him as a staff guitarist and songwriter at the National Recording Company in Atlanta where Joe worked alongside future legends Ray Stevens and Jerry Reed. Joe South became a sought-after sideman. He played guitar on Tommy Roe's "Sheila", Bob Dylan's "Blonde on Blonde" album, and the classic "Chain of Fools" that  launched Aretha F...

 Unlike most American teenagers, I wasn't into the Beatles. Their songs didn't reach me. They couldn't be heard on their infamous Ed Sullivan Show appearances. Girls were screaming and crying and tearing at their hair. I didn't get it. I dug the long hair because I was bugging my father, a retired Army Sergeant Major, to stop with the buzz cut hair and let me go Native. They weren't playing Country so my pleas fell on muted ears. The main reason I didn't fall on my knees to worship The Beatles was that they didn't have a keyboard player. Keyboard-less bands didn't interest me. I was more into bands like Paul Revere and the Raiders, ? and the Mysterians, and The Doors. In fact, I became a Doors fanatic; buying each album the day it was released and studying every note that organist Ray Manzarek played. Morrison's range fit my voice perfectly and his lyrics incited me during my time of rage and revolt against the establishment. I was celebrating my 1...

 Lou Reed came to the world on March 2nd, 1942. America had recently engage in World War II - another "war to end all wars" (it failed to accomplish that mission). Of course, Lou wasn't consciously aware of the global insanity until the post-war era. From 1947 to 1952 America suffered devastating changes caused by the emergence of Madison Avenue. Sell, sell, sell. Paul Mall and Lucky Strike had created a generation of cigarette addicts by providing free butts to all soldiers. With bullets flying overhead, you became a Marlboro Man, quickly. The Country entered a boom time where manufacturing jobs became plentiful and lucrative as production rose to meet the demands for refrigerators, radios, dishwashers, and cars... lots of cars. Detroit and Flint, strategically located on a Great Lake with easy access to materials and worldwide shipping, began to crank out automobiles at an astonishing rate. Citizens that seldom traveled more than five miles from home were now free to t...

 From my  Road Tales series of books - Rocky Rhodes: The day I jammed with the greatest blues guitarist of all time. ----- We got to the club at 1030am. Mother’s was just laying out brunch to several hundred. Our band dove into the buffet like it was our grandmother’s kitchen. I warmed up the Hammond and sang to Laura, “I woke up this morning and I got myself a beer.” She joined me for the second line. It was just the two of us warming up. We both instinctively wrapped back to the first verse, “Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel. Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel. Yeah, we’re goin’ to the Road House gonna have ourselves a real… good time.” By the end of the verse there were five other musicians playing with us. The jam began at 10:42am and wouldn’t end until 5 the next morning. Early on, a sax cat shared a few Codeine tablets with me. All pain went away in short order and my fingers began to float. Soon, I was playing shit I didn’t ev...

An amazing number of great musicians come out of Ohio. Many famous artists - from Dean Martin to Marilyn Manson, Chrissie Hynde, Tracy Chapman, Ronald Isley, Roy Rogers, David Grohl, my father's old friend's Cowboy Copus, Grandpa Jones, Dave Dudley and hundreds more that you've probably never heard of but are just as good as the famous. Ohio is a breeding ground for great talent in music and engineers. One of the cats that most don't recognize by name is Tom Scholz. Who? Only afficionado's of the band Boston are likely to know his name. Boston had major hits with More Than A Feeling, Foreplay / Long Time , and the beautiful power ballad Amanda . Tom is self-described tinkerer. He loves pull things apart and improve upon their design. He started with mini-bikes and motorcycles as a kid. While growing up in Toledo, Tom was constantly building go-karts, model airplanes... anything mechanical. Scholz then propelled himself through Massachusetts Institute of Technol...

 Virtually every rock musician of my generation started out in a cover band. We'd spend weeks or months in a garage or basement rehearsing the hits of the day:  Proud Mary, Midnight Hour, Mustang Sally, Johnny B. Goode, Evil Ways,  to name a painful few. Most of these groups broke up before they ever "played out" at a paying gig. I was in a couple of groups that broke up trying to decide on a damn band name. One of the most successful cover bands of the 60's got it's start on Long Island, New York where Mark Stein (vocals/organ), Tim Bogert (bass/vocals), Vince Martell (lead guitar/vocals), and Carmine Appice (drums/vocals) formed a group called  The Pigeons.  They patterned themselves after the  Young Rascals  focusing on strong vocal harmonies and featuring a Hammond B3 organ. Phillip Basile promised to book them into his clubs if they came up with a better name. Vanilla Fudge covered many of the most popular songs of the ...

 I was shocked by the news of Keith Emerson's suicide, but not surprised. I knew that he had been suffering degenerative nerve damage for some time. The pain that he was enduring was unimaginable. Only those that suffer nerve diseases know his agony.  Unstoppable by any means; an irreversible condition. Playing keyboards was Keith's life. He felt that he had nothing left. Despair and depression became overwhelming and he decided to exit the stage on his own terms. I understand, Keith. The Emerson that I will always remember is the genius who gave us a library of great music. One of my favorites - it's impossible to choose a single favorite - is the magnificent odyssey of Pirates. A true masterpiece, as he proved to us all in attendance in Montreal, 1977.  Brilliantly orchestrated with Emerson's keyboard work at center, Pirates reminds of a great Aaron Copeland composition or a Leonard Bernstein musical. The instrumentation is impeccable, no note out of place o...

 Too long have I suffered Naysayers Energy Bandits Miscreants that can only feel good about themselves By reveling in the misfortune of others Better still, if they can cause the misery Or, further the misery Mystery of life Why are those people here? Why have I tolerated Aided, Attempted to fix These jokers Only the joke is on them Life is playing the joke They are playing along. I am done with them all There is no profit in negativity Positivism garners rewards Not of money I never talk of riches In terms of money I speak only of the Spirit The Spirit soars When nurtured by positive Thinking Actions Deeds Intentions Negative people Be gone from my World It is My World And you are not welcome in it. My word is final In My World.

 I don't talk to other writers about writing. I have, in the past, but eventually concluded that I had no desire to do the things that those writers liked to do. Like, writing exercises. "Write 800 words describing the texture of an orange," was one challenge. "Write 5 pages a day," was another. I can see how the thousands of similar exercises are helpful for many writers. Not me. I can't force myself to write. When words flow, they flow unimpeded until they end, hour after hour, and then nothing for a while. I write the way I write. I subconsciously analyze everything I read, which continually inlluence my writing. I avoid reading while working on a novel. I hermit away in a quiet place and let it flow.  Although, I frequently jot down ideas. I haven't found anything to like about "Writer's Circle" nights at t he local pub or coffee house. Please, don't interpret this as condemnation of these energetic folks. I'm just not a f...

 I was 14 when our band leader handed me a 45 back in '68 that would to become the Biker's Anthem: Born To Be Wild . I see it now as a pivotal moment in my life. Goldy McJohn's beastial keyboard performance on  Born To Be Wild completely changed my perception of my instrument. I listened repeatedly while pondering what I was hearing, trying to process the sounds grinding out of his Hammond and Leslie. Typically, I would play along with a new song once or twice while figuring it out and another couple to master the part. That wasn't hanppening on this song. I marveled at the raw emotion he was able to emit via a single E-minor chord. So much sonic complexity in a single chord that I probably listened 15 times before touching my organ. The first step was to find the drawbar settings. Nine individual sources from the tone generators that give the Hammond organ its unique sounds. Next, what inversions and hand pairings are being employed. Two manuals. Two seperate set...

 "I love her more every day."  I've heard folks say that all my life.  I never expected it to feel anything like us.  Every single day, our communication gets clearer, telepathy grows stronger, and our love reaches depths that we never imagined possible.  Three of the best months of my life... and I've had a fantastic life. 

 Growing up in New Orleans gave me a taste of a wide range of cuisine. There isn't a place on the planet that isn't represented. Dominant influences are French, Spanish, Italian and Caribbean. Dad was the chef of our house. Never followed recipes. He'd just start throwing ingredients together and soon we'd have a scrumptious dinner. We lived just outside the French Quarter. We'd walk down to the French Market to pick out the freshest, in-season vegetables that we could find. Dad would add that to his catch of the day and presto -- dinner. Sunshine Blackwater was the Sergeant Major of the Corp of Engineers back when the Army used actual soldiers, mostly WWII vets like dad. He'd set a net every morning on whichever part of the levee they were working that day and harvest the catch at EOD. We ate a lot of red snapper. Dad hated catfish. Used them for bait the next day. Dad hated bottom feeders - swimming and walking types. Every meal had to feature potatoes. Ha...