Birthplace

Merrick, NY (Lawn-Guyland)

First Band(S)

STRATOSPHERE, ELECTRIC LADY (“Power Trios” that did stuff like Cream, Hendrix and Zeppelin - not well, but with a lot of hope) and (where do these names come from) METAMORPHOSIS (we did a Battle of the Bands and rented a Vox-type organ for $50 so I could play it on “Light My Fire”… we won, and the prize was $50! Karma…)

First Concert

Chuck Berry and Fats Domino - Madison Square Garden, NY

Best Concerts

Elton John (with John Lennon) - Madison Square Garden, NY 

Queen “Jazz” Tour - Nassau Coliseum, NY

The Police - My Father’s Place, NY

Rockpile - The Ritz, NY

Cream Reunion Concert - Madison Square Garden, NY

Top Ten Desert Island Albums

1. In Concert - Peter, Paul and Mary

2. Disraeli Gears (or Wheels Of Fire) - Cream

3. Ray Charles at Newport - Ray Charles

4. A Hard Day's Night (or With The Beatles) - The Beatles

5. Live At Leeds (Deluxe Edition) - The Who

6. Marshall Crenshaw - Marshall Crenshaw

7. Led Zeppelin II - Led Zeppelin

8. Time Peace: Greatest Hits - The Rascals

9. The Sorcerer's Apprentice - Leonard Bernstein / N.Y. Philharmonic

10. Hemispheres (or Moving Pictures) - Rush

Runners Up (!):

The Concert For Bangladesh - George Harrison and Friends

Tumbleweed Connection (or 11/17/70) - Elton John

Live 1980/86 - Joe Jackson

West Side Story - Original Broadway Cast

Highway 61 Revisited (or Blonde On Blonde) - Bob Dylan

Abbey Road - The Beatles

Yessongs - Yes

The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert” - Bob Dylan

Six and Twelve-String Guitar - Leo Kottke

The Sun Sessions - Elvis Presley

The Complete Buddy Holly - Buddy Holly

The Legend and the Legacy - Les Paul

Favorite or Most Influential Song/Single

Oh, God - pick one…? I can’t, but a few are: “Like A Rolling Stone” (Dylan); “A Hard Day’s Night” (Beatles); “A Slow Song” (Joe Jackson); “One” (U2;, “So Far Away” (Carole King); “Tempted” (Squeeze)

Favorite Hooters Gig and/or Tour Stop

SwedenRock Festival (30,000 people and they knew ALL the words… wow).

Tour Stop: Colos Saal, Aschaffenburg, Germany (sleep-deprived on the road, I call it “A-schlafen-burg”; John calls it “A-shopping-burg”!)

Favorite Road Food

Bratwurst at 3 AM on the tour bus; “The Fish Restaurant” in Norway.

My back pages

Pastimes: Old Movies (“It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”, “American Graffiti”, “Murder By Death”, and “Some Like It Hot” are among the favorites), standup comedians (George Carlin, Bob Newhart, Lewis Black, Tom Lehrer, Rodney Dangerfield, Woody Allen), reading (mysteries, Perry Mason, Stephen King, American political history). Finding a laundromat on the road is NOT a hobby, side interest, or obsession… it’s a prophylactic survival move! I’m CDO - that’s OCD, but with the letters in the proper alphabetical order, as they SHOULD BE!!!

LIVE Gear

Hamer USA Guitars (RIP!): Les Paul Junior (2), Sunburst (2), Special, T-51 (Tele); Shishkov Guitars: Ultimate (Explorer); Epiphone Guitars: 1966 Coronet; Guild Guitars: F-50 Jumbo Acoustic; Kentucky and Flatiron Mandolins; Kallenbach Mandola and A-type Mandolin; D'Addario Strings; Hohner Melodicas and Harmonicas; THD Amplifiers: Flexi 50 Top, 2x12 cabinets (2), Hot Plate Power Attenuators; Kemper Modeling Amplifier; Dunlop/CAE/MXR: Volume Pedal, Buffer, Wah, Talk Box, Guitar Picks, Slides; Shubb Capos; Keeley Electronics: Java Boost; Voodoo Lab: Analog Chorus, Sparkle Drive; Boss Pedals: Harmonist, DD-20 Delay