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Back from the show in Lexington, SC with Felix Cavaliere (of the Rascals). Talk about a GOOD TIME! 🙂
Wally Steinhauser and all the folks at Wingard’s Nursery treated us like kings! BEAUTIFUL setting, absolutely gorgeous weather, great production gear and techs to run it … and the FOOD! After the show they insisted on treating us to a late night dinner at their lakefront homestead, featuring Spanish Paella! VERY hard to resist! (and the show wasn’t bad, either 🙂
We had gotten quite a lot of feedback from the email sent out post-John Hall in Clearwater, FL and pre-Felix in SC. I’ve copy/pasted a few of the responses below, so you can get to see and share in what I see.
The thing is, by using the “Comment” function on this blog, YOU can add YOUR 2 cents, too! It’s easy … all you do is register with a username and password so you can post, and you’re in!
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Dear Lance,
I just had to, no felt compelled to respond to this email. First let me say that it is good to see John Hall back. He is one great musician since I can remember. I am in my mid fifties and always loved music. I grew up in Worcester, MA and as a kid enjoyed the big bands that would travel from NYC to play at our Italian festivals. The sound they created still echoes in my mind just like the sound you guys created and still do. But the thing that I find interesting is after researching rock bands (this country) over the last 40 years I find a lot of them – particularly guitarists – came from or started out in NYC, Long Island or the tri-state area and many of them are Italian. Was this the Mecca for musicians back in the sixties? I was wondering if you as a professional generally agree with this assessment. Thanks for listening. Keep the music going. Long time fan.
Vince
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It’s an interesting theory, Vince; the tri-state area as Mecca for musicians. We certainly had our share — everyone from Billy Joel (The Hassles) to Leslie West (Wilkinson Tricyle), etc. But I think it would be unfair to claim that Long Island was the center of the known pop/rock universe. SO much came out of California (San Francisco as well as LA).
But a lot of stars-to-be DID come to the coasts from other places. So in that sense, I guess you could call it “Mecca”.
And let’s not leave out Memphis, Detroit, Philadelphia … music in the 60’s was (and still is) everywhere.
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Lance: Thanks for the info, and as for me, well…KEEP THE NEWS COMING!
Felix defined the early Rock parameters for the B3, just as Booker T. defined them for Soul right here in Memphis. I, too, played (alternately) lead guitar and bass (and lots of Rascals and Vanilla Fudge and Traffic covers) in a couple of groups in HS and college and was privileged to have a B3 and a great keyboardist behind it as stage company. There’s no greater sound and, as they said in Memphis studios (Stax, Phillips and Ardent, to name 3), “Ain’t nothin’ a B3 can’t fix!” To share the stage with Felix must be a real rush, and I hope you and the lads enjoy it. Wish I could be there.
Michael Houseal
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You’re right, Michael. Sharing the stage with Felix IS an incredible rush! Beyond enjoyable. I know Larry had a Cheshire grin on his face while Felix helped us out on Still the One, just before we ended the show with Good Lovin’. Doesn’t get much better than having your hero join you where you live.
AND — I will get the pleasure of playing bass/singing in Felix’s Rascals once again – in Akron, Ohio on Friday, Dec 2nd – subbing for my buddy, Mark Prentice. It’s not on his online calendar yet, so I don’t know the name of the venue, but how many Casinos can there be in Akron? See some of y’all there, I hope.
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I remember my last day of high school taking my mom’s white Dodge Charger convertible (with the red leather seats) driving thru the park and listening to the Rascals’ “It’s a Beautiful Morning”. Boy, wish I could be in SC. Ted just applied for a job in Beaufort, SC…..
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Always nice to hear from Marli. She’s an old friend from Ithaca, NY. Ted is her husband. I can see her driving that Charger, top down, radio blasting 🙂
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