David Latane wrote:
>>It wasn't ALL good, Jon: you must've missed Vanilla
>>Fudge:-).
>>
>>
>Our public TV station has been rerunning excerpts of
>old Ed Sullivans. One of the revelations was that in
>the sixties you could get your 15-minutes of fame in a
>psychedelic band even though A) you couldn't play your
>instruments, B) you couldn't sing, C) you couldn't
>dance, D) you were pudgy, E) and, well, unphotogenic.
>
>
I could also have said "You must've missed Ken Wolman," because I took a
shot at my 15 minutes back in early 1968 as a solo guitar/singer act at
a place in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, called Pips. Emmons Avenue, I
think it was. I've heard a lot of famous people got their start in
Pips. Also, a lot of idiots who thought they could be stars went
through there. I had a pretty strong voice and could play the guitar
well enough to accompany myself. Yeah, but. They auditioned me, said I
was okay, and come back to do the next Friday/Saturday night, two sets
per night.
Know what happens to someone who doesn't rehearse and just sings "what
he feels"? He sucks. I did unrehearsed material, I changed my sets in
midstream. I had a hard time dealing with the crosstalk out front,
though because I was not a comic, I didn't get heckled. I was lucky. I
also didn't get called back.
Pudgy? About a year before I'd gone to the Village Theater on 2nd
Avenue & 12th Street to see a bunch of bands (including The Doors) and
solo acts (Richie Havens, Janis Ian) at a radio station showcase. One
group was called Canned Heat. They did a song called "Comin' Up The
Country" or something like that. The lead singer was a guy named Bob
Hite. He was a trifle porcine. From the balcony where I was, some guy
yelled "Shut the fuck up, you fat slob." Morrison, of course, was from
another world. John Densmore, the Doors' drummer, wrote a book years
later where he revealed that at that concert, Morrison was coming off a
3-day acid trip topped by drinking a quart of alcohol. I'm amazed he
lived to be 27. Even as whacked as he was, Morrison was an amazing
performer and the band was as tight as any I'd ever heard. Though
nothing could top the band known as The Band.
If I wanted to catalogue all my missed opportunities...nah.
Ken
--
Kenneth Wolman http://kenwolman.com http://kenwolman.blogspot.com
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"Poetry is tribal not material....this is where you can remember the good
times along with the worst; where you are not allowed to forget the worst,
else you cannot be healed."--C. D. Wright
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