A real 1958 Fender Stratocaster and a fake Cello (Part 1)

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photo-21Pictured here are two very special musical instruments. One is a 1958 Fender Stratocaster the other a beautiful Ceramic Cello. Their stories began when I was a trumpet player going to High School in Transcona when Elvis hit! Forget about the trumpet now I gotta be a Guitar God! Hey trumpet players don’t get the chicks Man!. I knew very little about guitars and had no idea what kind I wanted until I saw Buddy Holly on the Ed Sullivan show. Wow! His guitar looked so cool and I knew I had to have one just like it. The only question was, how do I pull all this off. I knew for certain my folks weren’t going to help finance their son becoming a guitar man like the evil Elvis.

photo-11My father had originally purchased my Olds Trumpet from the same place I took music lessons from called Winnipeg Piano. I figured I might as well go there first to see if they knew what kind of a Guitar Buddy played. They informed me it was called a Fender Stratocaster and I told them I had to have it. When it finally arrived I was so excited I could hardly breathe for two reasons, the Guitar’s beauty and it’s sticker price of $473.00. Thats a hell of a lot of money in those days for a teenager to come up with so I used my Trumpet as the down payment and they put me on a $14.00 a month payment plan. I pumped gas on the weekends plus did a few odd jobs to come up with the payment each month.                                             I spent many a long hour in the basement of my parents house along with my friend Pete Proskurnik just learning how to play this beauty. Peter was and still is a great sax player and to this day I still give him the credit for turning me on to music in general.         Before too long I knew a few chords and was invited to sing with Shayne and the Devines. I think they asked me to join them because I had an amp that Shayne could also plug his Guitar into but I didn’t really care, all I knew was I was in a group man! It was soon apparent that I wasn’t really cut out to be a singer so I started recruiting Pete and a bunch of his musician friends to join us and we became the Rebel Raiders. I was the lead guitar of the Raiders and thought I looked very cool on stage what with my black Strat and my cheap sunglasses. As fate would have it one day at a music review which featured a bunch of local groups I noticed a kid in a band who not only could play better than me but could also sing all those great Chuck Berry tunes. This was a no brainer I moved over to rhythm guitar and by doing so stumbled onto something that would serve me well for my whole career. What I had unknowingly figured out was if you hire people better and/or smarter than you, you become the smartest person in the room.                               When Perry Waksvic joined the band as our new lead Guitar player we became the Phantoms which at one time was one of the best bands in Winnipeg but unfortunately we had a reputation as being the best party band too. Right Termite (-: The only way to fix it was by becoming the Jury and in no time my ’58 Strat was soon making hit records and opening for a lot of big groups which included the likes of music legends Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash. What a thrill that was and over the years my Stratocaster has provided me with more than my fair share of thrilling moments, but in 1967 when my Daughter Candis was born I put her down never to play her again. My Radio career had only just begun at that time but it soon picked up steam as we started climbing the ladder rather quickly which necessitated moving from one city to another bigger one quite often. I continued to drag my Strat along for purely sentimental reasons I guess.                                                       A couple of days ago I thought about her again as one tends to do now and then about former lovers, but by doing so I realized I hadn’t even looked at her for at least 15 years let alone play her. There’s an old rule somewhere that says if you haven’t used something for 6 months it’s time to move on. My 1958 Fender Stratocaster is way beyond that schedule so it’s time to find her a new home. I’m pretty sure she has at least a couple of more hits in her but I’m no longer interested in getting them out. Randy Bachman (BTO) recently told me when he was opening for Neil Young a few months ago, Neil had mentioned to him that he thought I had one of the early great Guitars in Winnipeg. I’m sure Neil is right so If you’re a stud with a slow hand who also has some cash and you promise to treat her right you may have a shot at owning my sweet Lady. You better hurry though ’cause I’ve got a feeling Randy is lusting after her. She gave me a hell of a ride in my early years and jump started what turned out to be a very exciting life for me. Hey maybe you deserve one too! (to be continued)

 

Cami Only Dances For Money!

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Here I am with the corporate guys from the James Crystal Radio Group, Matt, J2, and Rick. As you can see we are having our usual Friday working lunch at Bonefish Mac’s in Pompano Beach. We are hard at work on the “Jimmy Fund” and we of course only use the Bloody Marys and Sheperds Pie as fuel so as to become more creative.  A couple more Marys and I think we may be on to something!

When I told Joe Amaturo I went to the Manitoba Institute of Technology after High School he suggested the name was too long and I should just go with MIT.

Speaking of High School my Daughter Cami is raising money for a Dance Marathon at Wellington High where she is going to dance for kids unable to dance for themselves because of illness. She asked me if I could help her so I sent her link to some of my friends and she was instantly over her goal and had to reset it. Upon doing so she sent me a text that read … Thank you Daddy! Sometimes having a famous Father comes in handy. Cami, I’m not sure how famous I am but what I am sure of is I have some very nice friends and I thank them very much on your behalf. Click here for details!

Hey seeing as I haven’t played my ’58 black Fender “Strat” since leaving The Jury in 1967 I’m thinking of selling it. I know Eric Clapton would scoop it up in a second but he doesn’t know about it. Any thoughts?

My good friend Gar Vidler (Russell) called me from Mexico where he is living for the winter to tell me he wasn’t buying my Hunny Bunny story from an earlier Blog. Knowing me as he has for over 40 years he claims there wasn’t near enough geo anger nor philosophy attached to it to be very true.

Buzz Barnett claims that beauties with brains deserve a lot more respect so he was prepared to show it at the very first opportunity and he did.  Good for you Buzzy!

Unfortunately I say this from experience … You can get over true love.

Speaking of love, this is the month of love. Lets celebrate it all year long year or at least until Victoria’s secret runs out of special outfits.

It has been told to me that if you even wonder for a second whether or not you are crazy you’re probably not. Crazy people don’t waste their time on silly questions like that they are too busy hurting people.

Radio has two customers their listeners and clients. Unfortunately the two have very little in common.

If Women can’t give up chasing new shoes surely they understand why Men have difficulty giving up chasing new Women.

Our Government can no longer afford not to be at War. A 100 years ago a temporary tax called income tax was installed to help finance the first World War and was to be withdrawn after the Great War was over.

The two things I think that made America great was the creation of “the middle class and  lots of competition.” Now the Government seems to be trying to destroy those things by allowing consolidation and only taking care of the rich and the poor. It wont be long now until we’ll resemble Mexico. Now there’s a fun place to live without money!

The reason folks from Canada can live almost as good as most Americans is because even though Canada does not produce that much they don’t have a big enough population to consume their natural resources so they sell them to other countries.

Speaking of the rich folks someone needs to explain to them profit is a privilege not a right.

The only Radio shows I think are any good are the ones that produce great promos.

Why is it that the bigger things get the more evil they become.

The hardest task in Radio is getting permission from management to win.

I was taught a long time ago that it’s all about supply and demand. If that’s true then why isn’t good wine a buck a bottle.

The best thing about winning is when it starts to happen again you’ll recognize the signs and stop tinkering with it.

There are only a handful of people in the world who can actually make a stock rise but unfortunately none of them are in Radio.

The thing I can’t understand is how do the Radio people who got us into this mess still have the power to fire the people who had nothing to do with the destruction.

The more unique something is the more you can sell it for.

How come it’s so easy for other people to see that someone adores when it’s not obvious to you at all.

Dion told me 54 years ago he gave up his seat on the plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper to their death because he knew he would never be able to explain to his parents why he spent the extra money which was equivalent to the rent money they paid each month($35) when he already had a paid for seat on the bus.

Has anyone ever heard a thank you out of New Orleans for for sending 10 Super Bowls there which of course produces millions of dollars for the city not to mention the Feds sending them 360 million to rebuild the Superdome so they could have the big game played there.

Speaking of the Super Bowl how come they don’t show the honey shots of all the cheerleaders like they do at the regular games.

It is said that if you can forgive your enemies you become great or you can just remain mediocre like me and check your list everyday.

 

 

 

 

FATE

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I wonder how much fate has to do with anything. On Saturday I was involved in a train accident that killed the driver of a Range Rover who must have been trying to beat the the train to the intersection. He lost in a tie. I use Tri Rail to get to the office because it’s usually on time. 4 hours after our accident I was sitting with a guy on the bus they were using to transport us to the train stop just beyond where the accident occurred. He told me a couple of stops back they had thrown some drunk Cuban guy off the train for causing some kind of ruckus. This delayed the train getting to my stop in Hollywood by about ten minutes. Usually when Tri Rail is running late they pick up speed to make up some time and I’m sure we must have been doing about 80 MPH when we struck the SUV. Had there been no drunk on the train that day probably none of this would have happened. Oh yeah, and there was a full moon too. Strange strange day!

Sometimes when one chapter of your life ends you look back on it regretfully for too long and miss the beginning of an even better one.

Have you noticed that the telling of the time seems to have disappeared from the radio.

When blood is not involved love is very conditional.

Sex is only one of the forms affection comes in but I must admit it’s a big one.

Speaking of sex, Bobby Cole saw a study that claimed Men who help out around the home receive less sex than those who don’t.

There are only two ways to get out of a funk … A good laugh or a long sleep.

Last week while riding Tri Rail we hit a Range Rover. This week we are hunting for Hummers.

Most people in America would really prefer a Benevolent Dictator because they have no idea who the hell to vote for and that’s why they don’t vote.

Champions deserve special privileges!

The most memorable things ever said to me were said by Women. My the top 5 are…          (1) But I love you!                                                                                                                            (2) I want to do something with you you’ve never done with any other woman.                (3) What do I have to do to get you to talk dirty to me?                                                             (4) The real reason Reid dislikes me is because I can f**k you and he can’t!                       (5) How’s your morning going so far?

No matter how much you may have accomplished on your own you still owe thanks to someone.

We know what others should do it’s what we should do that’s the mystery.

If you got to do it all over again what part of your life would you leave out.

You deserve everything that happens to you if you marry for any other reason than love.

Rock ‘N Roll was simply the result of the fusion of R&B to Country Music.

One of the casualties of the British Invasion years ago was Top 40 Radio.

Bob Gaudio of the 4 Seasons once told me the Mob owned most of his early songs but seeing as he was only 15 and owned 3 cars without even having a drivers license he didn’t care. Now he cares!

The reason I like great air talent is because I can’t do it myself. Hell if I could do it how special could it be and how would you make a buck from doing it.

No Man is immune to a beautiful Woman!

I know why I am what I am I’m just not qualified to fix it.

Jerry Lewis was once asked by a shrink if he had any other skills he could use to make a living because he was sure he could fix but he told Jerry he might not be funny anymore. Jerry got up and left never to return and to this day is still f**ked up!

My Daughter Cami is going to be in a Dance Marathon in March dancing for kids who are unable to dance because of an illness. I am very proud of her helping them out and would appreciate you helping my Daughter out by clicking on this link.