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May 29, 2016 - Update on my last post. I never did make the gig with the fabled Sons of Champlin - half the band never showed up either including my putitive nephew and son of a Son, Westley Preston who's late father and my next ex-wife Kalina Preston are very dear to me as is former Son and father to a lovely daughter I have met once (see below), the late and fondly remembered by all Mic Gilette of Tower of Power and every other band he cared to play with.
That being said, I'm leaving for TX tomorrow where I can work or not depending on how much I want to as a hack doing sessions in a couple of studios down there that just grind that kind of raw meat up on a daily basis and, quite frankly, I'm teempted to go somewhere in Mexico first, just to wash La Crosse, WI out of my system forever. More shall be revealed later but, as they say in this great petri dish of life - Adios, ameobas! and So long, Seekers! Hasta bannanas!
May 23, 2016 - I'm so proud to announce that after 37 years, I have been invited to join the oldest living legacy of the hippie era circa. 1965 called the Sons of Champlin. I was invited to join 10 years ago and finally decided WTF, might as well. Come see us somewhere and, if you get in, anyone Paly Class of 1970 gets ya in, anytime. Dougie HIP (hard in the paint) sez so, so, just Do it. Dougie sez "just DO it.
April 20, 2014 - The pic of me in the midst of Fender Heaven exists as part of my friend Dave Rogers' ability for me to amass a collection of vintage amps and guitars courtesy of Frank Ford in Palo Alto and Dave Rogers in La Crosse, WI which Dave normally sells to guys like Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Billy Gibbons whenever they're in the Midwest and can visit Dave's to merely see what he has put away for their own enjoyment.
The Cat here is my beautiful Jaguar S-Type named Ash after my late, great kitty who used to awaken me and my spousal unit at precisely 6AM regardless of Time Changes by knocking non-breakable s**t off our night stands. The cat "Ash" used to belong to Steve Ledford, now deceased since 1999 at age 49 of AIDS. I'll miss both of them forever.
My bastard baby step-brother, Steve Cottrell, a bro' of whom I am justly proud, he is such a Bro'braham Lincoln, is one of LA Crosse's most prominent citizens which is a hoot when you consider that I used to change his diapers when he was a baby... Really! Just Google Obama Authenticom for the YouTube tube to see why.
Stan Cottrell, Steve's father and my Dad (deceased in 2012) used to be Sacramento Joe Simitian's Campaign Manager.
Update 11-24-2015 : I've included here a copy of a photo I took that appeared in the Datebook section of the San Francisco Chronicle on April 1, 2005 of arguably the Best Band That Should Have Made It (only YOU weren't listening and THEY smoked up all the profits), the old Whores known as The Sons of Champlin. That's Mic Gilette from Tower of Power on the left for those of you who actually care about such things (and that means you Leo Herrera, who actually made a success out of leading a Tribute Band to a guy who is still making great music today - Carlos Santana). That photo and similar work I did for Luce, Noe Venable, Terry Evans, Daniel Castro, and even one of my personal Faves, that great musician who goes by the name of Leon Russell, got me a membership in ASCAP just on the basis of all the pics I took that ended up on album covers. I won't do rock & roll gigs anymore even though it opened many doors for me where, just as a routine thing, I was offered more p***y than Frank Sinatra even though I wore a wedding ring at the time. My free advice about the Music Biz is simply this: Don't take any Free Advice, and don't take acid on the first day of the school year like Paul Currier and I did. WE wound up getting busted by Mr. Bob Shreve who did what a few twisted Psychologists do to underage boys and ended up in the hoozegow. Don't try that one at home either - prisons aren't nice.
