Originally Posted by
VibroCount
I had an early, fascinating meeting with Crosby. I was a high school lead guitarist with a so-so garage band. Very few gigs, lots of practicing in the drummer's garage. No bass player. The rhythm guitarist was incapable of tuning his guitar, even to the organist's Vox Continental. Because we had no bassist, and the organist was new to our band, when I wasn't playing lead licks for intros and bridges, I tended to play the bass lines on my six string, just to keep the groove going.
During the Watts riots of July 1965, my family took a two-week vacation down the Pacific coast to see Big Sur, San Simeon, visit friends in Santa Barbara, and spend a week at Disneyland. In Santa Barbara, the daughter (my age) knew Crosby and she and some friends would hang out at his home there and sing folk songs with him. The Byrds had recently released Eight Miles High and the album with it, and I was just learning much of the album (the band I was in played many off their first album, and a few from the second).
So in his home studio, he was showing me changes on a few of the third album songs and some stuff he had written for the fourth album.
His criticism of my playing was I was too jazzy without a solid foundation in jazz, and my bass lines were better than many pro rock bassists. My timing on bass was spot on. I needed to be a bassist where I could contribute more to better bands.
My head was spinning.
We got to Disneyland early, and it was a summer before they built New Orleans Square and that's where they set of the stage for the teen rock bands and performers to play every night... herding the teens into Frontierland each evening. I hung around there much of the first day, seeing who was playing, trying to meet musicians as I was being the wannabe pest. Playing that night were Gary Lewis and the Playboys, and opening for them was Hub Kapp & the Wheels (their first night on the Disneyland stage) -- (aside here: opening acts played Saturday through Friday, headliners played Wednesday through Tuesday) and while the guitarist with the Playboys was kind to chat with me, the Wheels were outright friendly.
The opening act was from Phoenix, and all were talent or crew on the Wallace and Ladmo kids' TV show, and they formed a fake band and made records and were on the Steve Allen Show and elsewhere, singing Bony Maronie and other oldies with Pat McMahon as a parody of Elvis with a black plastic wig. The rest wore tight suits with motorist-style snap down caps and wrap around sunglasses. They all assumed silly rock names: Rip Chord and the like. We spoke for a good hour as they already were set up for the show.
I spoke of the joy I had two days before, meeting with Crosby. One member took notice of the "bass player" remarks. A couple of them spoke to each other, leaving me out of the conversation. One handed me a Jazz Bass. "Blues progression in A. Lots of rock walking bass." They played "Lucille" and I walked every walk I knew until the drummer was grinning at me.
"What are you doing each night this week?"
"Listening to you and Gary Lewis and whoever replaces him."
"Nope. Try on this suit. Do you have dark prescription glasses?"
"No."
"Doesn't matter, Tab Collar."
The suit fit a touch loose. I was 118 pounds, skinny as a rail.
So, for Saturday through Friday I played bass with Hub Kapp & the Wheels at Disneyland, opening for Gary Lewis, and by Wednesday, for Barbara Lewis, who currently had the hit "Baby, I'm Yours" on the charts. (Aside: she was and still is, the nicest top of the charts performer I have ever met.)
So... David Crosby gave me the belief I could be a pro bass player, two days later, I was one, sort of. I got home and soon after, bought a bass and chose to steal the singer and organist and become a band leader of a new band. Thank you, David.