"True Story" (the whole story) - Ken Aparicio (bassist of California bands 60s and 70s : Shane, The Morgan Blackwood Group)
W dniu dzisiejszym otrzymałem od Kena całość jego fascynującej muzycznej historii. Materiał
zawiera pewne korekty poprzednich dwóch części :
"... It has taken much longer than I had hoped, but I am sending you the final product. As I reviewed the earlier work, I realized that it needed some cleaning up. So there are some revisions in Part I and in Part II.
I am sending the entire product and hope your fans in Europe enjoy it.
Ken ..."
Tak więc ta publikacja jest ostateczną wersją - "My Music History - Ken Aparicio" .
"...
At our high school, the #1 band was the New Invaders, a rhythm & blues
band. Larry Field, who was in my same grade, was the leader. A popular
kid, Larry was most known for being the only kid with an operating turn
table in the glove box of his 1964 Chevy Impala. Eventually Larry
convinced our lead singer, Lydia Pence, to join his band and, after
graduation, they went to the East Bay Area town of Oakland and formed
the musical group Cold Blood
Also in our class was Jim Boro who had recently transferred from a high
school in South San Francisco. A boisterous kid, Jim played saxophone in
the high school band. I did not know him personally, but that would
change two years later.
In our senior class was another kid who had transferred in from San
Francisco. Best recognized for his long hair and far off stare, Bob Weir
was very quiet and kept to himself. He was also taking music lessons
from Jerry Garcia as he was interested in banjo and eventually was added
to the Warlocks and eventually they formed the Grateful Dead.
Two years younger that all of us Lyndsey who was the younger brother of
Greg Buckingham, a Gold Medal winner at the ’64 Summer Olympics in
Japan. Lyndsey was also a great swimmer but as equally excited about
learning guitar. He would eventually forge a musical relationship with a
new freshman at our school whose parents had moved from Arizona.
Stevie Nicks was popular and, as time would tell, a pretty decent singer.
After graduation her and Lyndsey Buckingham would join Mick Fleetwood
and John McVie to collaborate and create some pretty fabulous music as
the newest rendition of Fleetwood Mac.
That takes us back to Jim Boro and the eventual creation of Shane. I had
gone away to college in Arizona to study Architecture. After one year, I
was homesick and more interested in playing music. I still don’t know how
Jim had met Freddy O’Quinn, since Freddy was from Oroville, California, a
small Central Valley town about 150 miles north of the San Francisco Bay
Area. Jim and Freddy were living in San Carlos, a town 5 miles from my
home town of Menlo Park, and they were starting a band. I also don’t
know how Jim found me, but I got a call from him one day inviting me to
come jam with him and Freddy and a drummer who to this day I can’t
remember. We rehearsed for a few months and then Jim met a new
drummer who was looking for musicians to form a night club act. This
drummer had contacts in Southern California around LA and off we went
for a summer tour of night clubs. One club gig, in Lynwood, lasted a
couple of months and gave us our greatest technical skills boost as we
played 5 nights a week from 9:00 to 1:30am with a half hour break and a
second set from 2:00 to 5:00am. 7 1/2 hours of playing an instrument, 5
days a week made each of us pretty good musicians and we, in the
process, created a musical personality.
Our stint with the night club drummer came to an end. After a couple of
weeks Freddy, Jim and I found a new drummer named Sheldon Miller and
officially started Shane. We worked clubs as well, mainly playing copy
songs with a heavy lean towards James Brown, Motown and Rhythm &
Blues. We found a manager named Bunny and she booked us at clubs
around Compton, Watts & West Hollywood. They were clubs with a
majority of black clientele and often times Jim & I were the only white guys
in the club. We eventually became known as Black & White Shane. It
was at this time that Jim wrote “Woman Don’t You Go”. With the help of
our manager, Bunny, the song (with Road Runner on the B side) was
recorded. This would have been the summer of 1967.
The relationship with Bunny along with the dwindling revenue we were
getting from playing clubs brought us to a crossroads. It was Freddy who
suggested we move 600 mile North to his home town of Oroville in
Northern California. Freddy knew of booking agent named Harry Arnold,
who managed groups from Redding, Chico and all parts of Northern
California & Southern Oregon. Harry told Freddy he could get us good
paying concert gigs and with that, we packed are gear and off we went to
Oroville and the Chico Music Scene.
By this time the San Francisco music scene was in full swing. Bill Graham
was bringing in the biggest names in music to the Fillmore Auditorium.
The youth of this era and every aspiring musician new and got to hear all
the groups performing at the Fillmore. Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead,
Buffalo Springfield, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Janice Joplin, Moby
Grape, Lee Michaels, to name a few, were constantly part of the music
and we had seen them all perform. Then came a steady stream of British
groups like Jimmy Hendrix, Cream, Procol Harem, Eric Burton & The
Animals, the original Fleetwood Mac, Fog Hat, Savoy Brown to only name
a few. Every weekend for upcoming bands was like a music lesson. You’d
want to get there early, get right in front of the stage and right in front of
the instrument you would want to study. For me, I focused on Jack Bruce,
Noel Redding and John McVie. But all of the bass players who performed
at the Fillmore had something to offer and it was a learning experience of a
lifetime. Most importantly, any band who wanted to make a mark of their
own new exactly where the musical bar was and how good they would
need to be in order to be successful.
A musical meteor had hit the San Francisco Bay Area and the shock
waves rippled throughout California like a large rock dropped into a pond.
Chico, located 164 miles Northeast and home of Chico State University,
was certainly close enough to this musical phenomenon that by the time
Freddy, Jim, Sheldon & I arrived with our high power rhythm and blues
sound, Shane became an immediate part of that music scene. There were
at least 8 bands performing in various clubs and small concert halls. All of
them good and all striving for some level of fame. Within each of those
bands there was always a standout. Guys and gals that were the driving
force in that band. Some went on to fairly successful music careers. Pat
Mastelotto became the drummer for Mr. Mister and eventually King
Crimson. Michael Kenney has been on keyboards since 1988 and on tour
with Iron Maiden. Many, even to this day, continue to perform with
various, lesser known but musically good bands.
The majority of our gigs were relegated to Legion Halls, Armories, colleges
and outdoor concerts. We would travel over to Eureka, up to Oregon and
Idaho and down to Sacramento. Shane became a fairly popular band,
specializing in Rock/Funk music and we always played to big crowds.
Other bands, like Trakstod Station (eventually becoming Masters of the
Universe, were making headway as well.
As is the case in many bands, members leave or get asked to leave. For
Shane, at some point we lost Sheldon Miller (who still plays in Seattle) and
had to find a new drummer…again. At that time arguably the best
drummer in Chico was Steve Parsons, who was with another band.
Although he was willing to join up with Shane, he requested and was
granted the addition of his friend, Phil Duncan. Adding a second guitarist
was not novel. Most of the great bands had two and sometimes three
guitarists. Phil was a perfect addition as it gave Jim the freedom to go into
extended lead solos while Phil maintained the important rhythm of the
song. In addition, Phil was one of the funniest guys I’ve ever met and kept
us all feeling pretty good. As this story will tell, Phil eventually left Shane
and went on to do some of his own recording and is currently in Los
Angeles and still playing. Some of the later live recordings of Shane
include both Steve and Phil.
It would be remiss to not mention one of the biggest improvements to the
sound of Shane. Freddy had always played a Farfisa portable keyboard.
Although these electronic keyboards were serviceable and a big part of the
mid 60’s sound, it was the Hammond B-3 that most musicians wanted.
But the additional cost and size made it a luxury item for traveling bands.
At some point, just as Shane added Steve Parsons and Phil Duncan,
Freddy traded in his Farfisa keyboard for a Hammond B-3 with a Leslie
Speaker and the Shane sound evolved to what you would hear on our
version of James Brown’s “There was a Time”.
Shane guitarist, Jim Boro, liked having another guitar in the group as he
would occasionally play saxophone. In his quest to improve the band, he
introduced us to a young guy from the Menlo Park/Woodside area by the
name of Bruce Bonnell (aka Morgan Blackwood). He and his high school
friend, Nick Lehr, had traveled up to Chico from the Bay Area and found a
place to stay. In a recent conversation with Morgan, who at the time of
Shane went with his given name of Bruce Bonnell, mentioned Nick
brought up the idea because of the College in Chico and all the girls in
Chico. Made perfect sense at the time.
Morgan was an excellent guitarist, singer and songwriter. His mastery of
the slide guitar and British-style guitar work was a unique addition to the
group. For several months the band performed with that line-up. Three
guitars, drums, bass and Freddy on Hammond B-3. It was a big sound
loaded with rhythm, harmony and beat.
Egos in the world of music are legendary. Before too long the struggle for
lead guitar time in every song we did, evolved into a split in the band.
Morgan quit. But before long he convinced Steve Parsons and myself to
create The Morgan Blackwood Group. It was a difficult decision. Leaving
friends is never easy. For me, the opportunity to play originals was too
good to pass on. Also, the opportunity to expand my technical skills on
bass within the framework of a power trio was a challenge I wanted. With
a full slate of original songs, the three of us moved 3 hours north of Chico
to Ashland, Oregon, home of the famous Ashland Shakespeare Theatre
and home of our booking agent.
In Ashland, our booking agent and manager, Harry Arnold, had purchased
a movie theatre. To hone our concert sound, Harry let us set up behind
the movie screen. Hidden from the view of the movie patrons, our
equipment stood ready to go. When the last show let out, we’d show up
and begin rehearsing. And by this time, Morgan’s old friend, Nick Lehr had
moved up to Ashland as well with the hopes of joining the group as a
keyboard player. Although his proficiency was not up to par, he initially
made a big impact by convincing us to upgrade our instruments. Both
Morgan and I traded in our Gibsons for Fender guitars. I went from an
EB3 to a Precision and Morgan to a Stratocaster. For amps, I went to a 18
inch Cerwin Vega with a 12 inch driver and a BGW amp and Morgan got
two stacks of Orange Amps. The evolution of our sound was astounding.
Right next door to the theatre was the historic Mark Anthony hotel. It had
at one time been a premier hotel, but those days had long passed and it
was by the time we arrived a bit of a dive. Perfect, however, for three
starving musicians. We rented three rooms there and for two months,
every night, starting at around 11:00 when the movies let out, we would
crank it up and rehearse until daybreak. That gave birth to one song, Rock
& Roll Vampires. Although we were still relegated to the same, unexciting
venues, our goal was to be able to perform concerts.
From behind that movie screen the CD “MGB Live 1974”, a rehearsal tape
that was copied onto a cassette tape that was eventually made digital 15
years ago, was recorded. At the end of those two months and shortly
after memorializing our rehearsals onto a reel to reel recording, Steve
Parsons got home sick and left the group, returning to Chico. It was a big
loss at the time, but certainly not the first time we lost a drummer. From
another Chico band who had moved out from New Jersey, we contacted
Dave Peck and he agreed to move up to Ashland and fulfill the last of our
gigs in the area. It is Dave who is shown on the CD cover of MGB Live
1974. The music was completed, but the photo session took place after
the recording.
During the course of that year, there was a lot of moving around. To be
honest, it is actually a little hard to remember the complete chronology.
After all, it was 45 years ago from this writing. Initially, we moved back
down to Chico. It is fair to say we stumbled quite a bit. Dave Peck quit
and we searched for his replacement. Charlie Stout, an acquaintance from
our previous years in Chico, approached us and asked to audition. He
lived out in the farmlands and had space to set up and space to play loud.
And loud Charlie was. He could bang the drums with authority, although
he had a tendency to wonder away from the beat. With enough rehearsing
we were able to get him to an acceptable level with our songs.
As winter ’74 turned into Spring ’74, we decided to head down to the Bay
Area to try and get established there. As Morgan had grown up in the hills
of Woodside, he knew people up in La Honda which is a small town
overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Not far from a home we rented, Neil Young
had purchased quite a bit of land and the town was abuzz with Neil Young
sightings. For us, no big deal. We were on a mission. We continued to
rehearse and after a few weeks we landed a month’s worth of weekend
gigs at a Stanford University hangout in Palo Alto. The place, called Good
Earth, specialized in organic food and had a small stage and performance
hall on the second floor. Three bands would alternate through the evening.
Sometimes we would start and sometimes we were the “headliner”. On
one of those weekends the warm up band for the night was a new group
called the Dooby Brothers. They were pretty tight and as everyone knows,
went on to pretty good success.
For the Morgan Blackwood Group, things did not do as well, so back up to
Chico we went. By the Summer of ’74 Morgan decided to let Charlie go.
In his place we found a new drummer, Sarky Zakoyan, a crazy kid of
Armenian descent. I do remember that Harry Arnold continued to book us
and arranged for us to work the summer up at the Feather River Canyon
above Oroville. There was a lodge with cabins and we became their house
band. We were paid a meager amount of money but were given free room
and board. We were temporarily happy to not struggle for a while, but by
the end of the summer, we had run our course. The continued changing of
drummers had taken its toll and, as Fall ’74 approached we decided to call
it quits.
I made the decision to go back to college and spent two years getting a
formal, classical music education. Actually taught music at a Chico high
school for one semester. I did not know where Morgan had gone until he
contacted me in 1976. He had moved to Redding, a town halfway
between Chico and Ashland, Oregon. While in Redding, Morgan
connected with Jon Flak, a gifted singer, and his drummer, Charlie Lyons.
Jon & Charlie had just gotten off tour with their band, Masters of the
Universe and were on hiatus. Working with Morgan, Jon realized that the
two of them had an amazing ability to blend their voices and create good
music.
One day Morgan showed up at my home in Chico. He brought his guitar
and played for me the songs he had composed over the previous years
along with new renditions of songs we had performed together. He
explained that he had found a recording studio in Chico and that he had
paid for two weeks of recording time. With Jon Flak, Charlie Lyons and
Nick Lehr (who had improved vastly on keyboards) we transformed my
garage into a rehearsal studio and prepared to record the new material.
He also had Roni Lee an old friend from Ashland, work on background
vocals for the recording. Also an excellent guitarist, Roni still performs and
records in Southern California.
Within a couple of weeks we were ready and two weeks in the studio
produced Songs From The Heart.
EPILOGUE
It is hard to say how far those songs and that band would have evolved
had we been able to go on tour. We got very close to realizing the dream
of so many young musicians. As fate would have it, a good friend of mine
who I had met in college had gone to high school with Robert Ring, who
had become a Vice President at the William Morris Agency in New York.
Robert was also the manager for Lou Reed. On the urging of my college
friend I sent Robert a demo tape of Songs From the Heart.
He liked what he heard and arranged to fly into Chico and drive up to
Ashland with our mutual friend. He flew all the way from New York with
the promise of a record contract if he liked what he saw and heard live.
We booked the stage at the Ashland movie theatre and played an entire
set of our best songs for him. Afterwords Robert sat down with us he
liked what he heard and felt we had genuine promise. He also told us that
he felt we needed to work a little longer on these songs and our concert
sound that would help us create a great album. He had already decided
which songs would be the A/B side for the first single. We were thrilled.
His offer was to go on tour with Lou Reed and be ready to record within 6
months.
To all of us, it was great news. To Jon Flak, however, it was short of what
he was hoping to hear. As mentioned earlier, Jon and his band, Masters of
the Universe, had just been on a 6 month tour of the United States as the
warm up band for recording artists Kansas. They had been told the same
thing. Get notoriety playing with a great group like Kansas, work up an
album and go into the studio. They had recorded an album, but without a
commitment to promote from the record label, the album did not sell. I
can only speculate that Jon had reached his breaking point.
Nonetheless, within a week, as the band waited for Robert to tell us our
next move, Jon called a meeting and announced that he was through with
music and had joined the Marines! Like that it was over. Initially stunned,
all we could do was laugh. To get that incredibly close!
Jon still plays music in Redding and so does Charlie Lyons. Morgan lives
close to Santa Barbara and he still composes and plays regularly around
the area where he lives. Although we continue to communicate, there is
no current plan to get together as a group. On the other hand, Morgan
and I have discussed getting together to see what might be still there. I
am, however, in Duluth and he is in California. Only time will tell.
In closing, to all aspiring musicians and artists, I would say follow your
dreams and never give up. The journey will leave you with a lifetime of
memories.
... ".
Big thanks Ken
Shane :
1/ Singiel - "Woman (Don't You Go)" / "Road Runner" (1968, Top Catt Records, TC-154/155)
The Morgan Blackwood Group :
1/ "MBG Live" 1974 (CD - Private Press)
- "Who's Who"
- "Half Forgotten Dreams"
- "Dianna"
- "Queen Mab"
- "Venutian Love Song"
- "Rock and Roll Vampire"
- "Over The Rainbow"
- "Chorus Line 1"
- "Black Cat"
- "Who's Who"
- "Half Forgotten Dreams"
- "Dianna"
- "Queen Mab"
- "Venutian Love Song"
- "Rock and Roll Vampire"
- "Over The Rainbow"
- "Chorus Line 1"
- "Black Cat"
2/ "Songs From The Heart" 1976 (CD - Private Press)
- "Drifting Down A River"
- "Living In A Dream"
- "Keep On Dancing"
- "Swept Away"
- "Strawberry Lady"
- "Music Of Love"
- "Follow The Sun"
- "Not Easy To Remember"
- "Gypsy Man"
- "Champagne Farewell"
- "Drifting Down A River"
- "Living In A Dream"
- "Keep On Dancing"
- "Swept Away"
- "Strawberry Lady"
- "Music Of Love"
- "Follow The Sun"
- "Not Easy To Remember"
- "Gypsy Man"
- "Champagne Farewell"
