In the past three months, my doctors have put me on Aleve, Viagra(he hoped the testosterone would help, I guess he didn't read the side effects that were listed, headaches being one),Exedrin Migraine, Trazodone, Oxycodone, Ibuprofen, Zonisamide, Zolpidem, Propranolol, and Zomig. Holy crap. Now, I'm completely off caffiene and I have stopped taking all that junk. The scan of my head revealed nothing. Ha. I haven't had a major headache in a while, but there is one that always lingers, it never goes away but at least it doesn't get worse. Last night, I felt one coming on, so I went and ran my ass off at basketball and it seemed to tame the tide. For now. Damn. At least there's no tumor or blockage. He's saying it's a migrane, but I still am not sure. I'm too old for them to start and I'm not sensitive to light or noise. All I know is that this sucks.
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I have been friends with the Rainmakers since they were Steve, Bob and Rich and played at the KY 102 summer olympics in 1983. I have followed their rise from a far and when I had my band, we opened for them at Mississipi Nights in St. Louis. I remember it was one of our better gigs and the crowd was very receptive. One of the guys I worked with at KSHE saw me later in the show and asked if I knew who the opening act was and he was dead serious. He really had no idea it was me behind the drum kit. I told him it was a local band called "The Traffic Jam". "Wow, they were good!" he said. I never let on. The Rainmakers get inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame this weekend. I was there and introduced Shooting star when they were inducted a couple of years ago. It was great fun. Although, according to the article in the Kansas City Star, two of the original guys won't be there. Not sure if there has been a fall out, but with them regrouping to tour Norway (where they were huge), I hope that's not the case.
here they are that glorious day in the summer of 1983, when life was great and times were mellow.
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Sorry to hear that Nick Charles is dying. Nick and Fred Hickman were the precursors to everything that has turned out to be ESPN. Nick and Fred were a great team on CNN. Their show was fast moving and full of highlights. No hip slogans, nothing. Apparently, he has inoperable cancer. His one regret? Not spending enough time with his kids. I hope and pray that I never have to say that. Nick is 64. God speed.
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I've been in a Bread mood lately so, here's a repost from about three years ago. Yeah, yeah OK. I know what you are thinkin', the boy's flipped out. All I know is in the summer of my 14th year, this sweet lovely song called "Make It With You" floated out of the AM radio and into the ears of my girlfriend (if you could call her that, but I did at the time). She loved the song, so did I, it was deemed to be "our song" and so it was. After we broke up, she gave me the album back that I bought her with my own money (see previous post). I started playing it and discovered "Been Too Long On The Road", "It Don't Matter To Me" "Why Do You Keep Me Waiting"and others. David Gates hung around in Tulsa with Leon Russell and J.J. Cale. James Griffin was a session guy in LA, Mike Botts was a well respected drummer who once worked with Wes Montgomery and Larry Knectel played keyboards on "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" so, these guys could play. They just didn't play as loud as most of the other stuff I was listening to. Apparently, it was a clash of egos that sent these guys to their demise and that's too bad. For every Deep Purple, Black Sabbath or Zeppelin record, this was a nice diversion. I was 14 when I first heard them in 70, they split up for about four years in 1973 and released "Lost Without Your Love" in 1977 and called it quits. They had a special on TV around my 16th birthday and I had to beg my father to let me watch it. James Griffin recently passed with cancer at the age of 61. He wrote "For All We Know" for The Carpenters. He once said that they never wanted to be a soft rock band but going toe to toe with Grand Funk was probably not in their best interest. Since that post...Mike Botts has passed and so has Larry Knechtel
Smart man, Smart band.
And now, the top ten:
1. He's A Good Lad -they wrote that one about me.
2. If -to me, the classic love song. Kris Eric Stevens made this song sound special every time he played it on WLS.
3. It Don't Matter To Me -right song, right time right(?) girl
4. Guitar Man -a bit of an edge (hey, it's Bread, OK?)
5. Make It With You -summer of my 14th year. nuff said
6. Everything I Own -the ultimate song of sacrifice, covered many times. Another great sounding song on WLS.
7. London Bridge-first song, first side, first LP
8. Diary-been there, done that, have the scars
9. Let Your Love Go-nice rocking tune
10.Sweet Surrender- their last great song, a fine way to say goodbye
Here's the late Larry Knechtel on the lead guitar with "Guitar Man" from that TV special in 1972. Very tasty...
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