If you’ve read my book, The Unknown Musician, you already know that there was a brief period in the late seventies when I was not at all involved in music. I had departed from “A Different Bag”, the band that I had formed back in 1967. A Different Bag remained together for over a decade. We were like a family, and had dedicated ourselves to make it all the way to the top. But like so many groups before and after us, the struggle became too much, and we had to call it quits. It was a very depressing time in my life. Music was all I ever knew.
Feeling a little depressed I needed to get away for a while. I got in my van and travelled up the west coast stopping at various cities to work odd jobs for food and gas. I spent a great deal of my time alone in the van out in the middle of nowhere. It was during those moments that I was able to reflect on the past, which helped to shake me out of my depressed state of mine. After a few months of my nomadic existence, I returned to Los Angeles and began working as a security guard. I would work long hours, clocking in as much overtime as the company would allow. Working security, particularly during the night hours, gave me plenty of time to think. Though an honorable profession, I refused to believe that being a security guard was my end purpose in life.
The long nights were exhausting. Night after night I found myself struggling to stay awake. There was no radio or TV at my disposal and I found myself humming random melodies that were coming to me in uncontrollable streams. Eventually, I started adding lyrics to the different melodies that had come to me, all the while wondering how they would sound on tape. With A Different Bag, I never really got into writing songs, and singing was the furthest thing from my mind. I left that up to the members who were more proficient in that area of music. I was the bandleader and drummer, and that was more than enough for me. Eventually curiosity got the best of me, and I decided I would try to get my songs on tape.
Good recording studios were and still are very expensive, and I knew I couldn’t afford to take care of my financial responsibilities and pay for studio time too. I needed a second job. Through my brother Kenny, I was able to get hired as a taxi driver in Hollywood. He actually trained me for the job. The added job had me working twenty-hour days, leaving me little to no time for anything else. With the added cost of musicians, I had to work a month just to pay for a two-hour recording session. Once I got a few songs down on tape I didn’t stop there. I formed my own record company, Posh Records, and released a single of two of my songs, “Dancin’ Is Your Love” & “Skateboard”. Although the record did get some airplay in my hometown of Milwaukee, without the necessary financial resources to promote my record, like so many others, it just faded into the sunset. Today it would be very difficult to find an original copy of that record.
In the early 80’s, as I was working security at a hospital in west Los Angeles, Natalie Cole entered and walked past me and smiled as I was stationed at the front desk. She was there for her scheduled rehab session. On her way out she stopped and greeted me. I told her I was a big fan of hers, and that my dad was a very big fan of her dad [Nat King Cole]. I also told her that I had played the drums for many years with my own band. She asked how I rated myself as a drummer. I told her that I hadn’t played in a while, but I would give myself an 8 out of 10. Unexpectedly, she invited me to come down to the Pied Piper nightclub on Wednesday night where she and others would be jamming. To my surprise she then suggested that I may be able to sit in on one of her songs. We took a quick picture together before she departed, leaving me with a natural high which lasted for the rest of the night. Not knowing what to expect, that Wednesday night I called in sick, and made my way over to the Pied Piper nightclub located on Crenshaw Blvd. Natalie greeted me, and shortly after taking to the stage, she called me up where I played the drums on “Sophisticated Lady.” It was great. I was on top of the world. Leaving the club that night I knew exactly what I had to do. I had to get back behind the drums. It was the only thing that could fill the emptiness in my life.
I managed to save enough money to buy myself a set of drums. I then began searching through the classified section of the Recycler, a Los Angeles based newspaper often used to connect musicians together. I came across a band seeking a drummer to play R&B music. I thought this would be perfect. If nothing else it would give me the opportunity to get back in shape. I called the number and spoke to Bob, the bandleader, who invited me to come to their rehearsal. A few days later I went, and after playing a few songs, I was accepted into their band. The name of the band was “Gomillione”. It was a new band that was just starting out. The band had a lot of potential. The female vocalist had an excellent voice and Bob, who played lead guitar, was also a very good vocalist. However, overall they lacked experience, and needed a lot of work. I decided to do what I could to bring them up to speed. My knowledge and experience together with circumstances not worth mentioning, I became their new leader. I contacted my brother Kenny, who had moved up to Oakland to do some work with Harvey Scales, the original song writer of Disco Lady. He agreed to come back down to L.A. and help me get Gomillione ready for gigs. After several more weeks of rehearsals, I invited a Hollywood booking agent, (Eddie Tillman), to come and check out the band. He was impressed, and a few weeks later he got us booked at Pepe Le Moco, a hostess club located in the Akasaka district of Tokyo, Japan. (More on Pepe Le Moco can be found in an earlier post). Though excited, this was not my brother and my first trip to Japan. Back in 1974 “A Different Bag” performed at Mugen, a nightclub also located in the Akasaka district of Tokyo. This was during the time when James Ingram was A Different Bag’s lead vocalist and keyboard player.
Gomllione performed six months at Pepe’s, and ended with great success. Unfortunately, this was Gomillione’s one and only job and the band disbanded at the close of the Tokyo engagement. Upon returning to Los Angeles, I immediately began putting together a new band, A Touch of Fire, which was patterned exactly after Gomillione. This led to the start of nearly a decade long series of engagements in Japan and several other Asian countries. I was finally back in the music business. Back where my heart and real purpose was. A more detailed version of this account can be found in my aforementioned book. Thanks for a long read. And as always, your comments are welcome.
