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Music Pages:
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"Music has been my #1 hobby most of
my life, whether it was learning, performing, recording or just
collecting recordings and reading about music and musicians."
"That's a 1970 Les Paul Studio bass that I played for
a couple of years after my 1969 Fender Jazz bass was stolen. Boy was
that thing heavy compared to the Fender!"
"I have always loved music. I have memories of
hearing certain songs on the AM radio with my parents when I was a
toddler, small enough to stand in the front seat of the car. At age
8 my father taught me how to make the chords A, B, C, D, E, F and G
on the guitar."
"Almost everyone that's had a hobby they were
passionate about, should admit to having thoughts of turning the
hobby into a vocation."
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It's funny how we attach memories to certain
songs...
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I remember hearing Johnny Cash sing
"Ring of Fire" on the juke box in a hamburger cafe before all the
fast food places came into existence, like McDonald's, Burger King
and Wendy's. I was barely tall enough to reach the push buttons on
that old "Rock-ola" juke box, and not near tall enough to make a
selection. I couldn't handle the hamburger without assistance, but I
remember dipping those big french fries in the ketchup! This was
1963 when I was three. Of
course I remember hearing the Beatles on the radio, but this stands
out in my mind as my first exposure to them. My parents went to the
drive-in theatre to see either "A Hard Days Night" which would have
been in 1964, or "Help" which would have been 1965. On this occasion
for whatever reason, I got to go with them instead of staying with
my grandmother. I remember my
father buying gas at the Union 76 service station back when an
attendant would not only pump the gas for you, but clean the
windshield, check the air in the tires, the oil and a few other
things. I remember that big orange ball with the Union 76 logo and
they used placards and signs with the slogan about "put a tiger in
your tank". Buck Owens had a song out back then about "I've
Got a
Tiger by the Tail". If I have any of these facts wrong, just
remember that this is coming from the memory of a child (I want to
say 1965 when I was five years old). The more I think about it, I
think the service station was originally an Exxon, that later became
a Union 76. Anytime I hear
Herman's Hermits "I'm Into Something Good" or "Mrs. Brown You've Got
A Lovely Daughter", I think of riding in a navy blue 1965 Mustang
convertible with my aunt (my mom's baby sister) while she was
baby-sitting me. One of my
all-time favorite songs is "Blue Money" by Van Morrison, in fact
I really love almost all of Van Morrison's music. I still remember the
first time I heard that song. I must have been eight years old and
was riding in the car with my parents. It was a sunny day and I
remember it as a very happy time. Fast forward
to 1976, the year that Elvis died. Although it's thirty years later,
when I hear Elvin Bishop's "Fooled Around and Fell in Love", I
remember Sherry and Vic's wedding reception where some of my
musician friends and I (age 16) performed that song. The dance floor
was filled to capacity. |
Music has been my № 1 hobby and for a
period of time, the way I earned a living (talk about a roller
coaster ride)...
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That's me at an outdoor concert
in 1986. The bus in the background was customized for ZZ Top and
belonged to them before the transportation company that we used
back then. That's a 1969 Fender Jazz bass that I played from
1984 up until the time it was stolen from my home while I was
away on a trip in 1992. A guy that was
in my Army unit in Colorado had pawned the guitar and his time
was running out, so he sold the pawn ticket to me. He didn't
play at all, his brother had given it to him (because he didn't
play either). He was from California and I can't remember his
name now. The pawn broker had loaned quite a bit on it and you
could just see the disappointment on his face when I gave him
the cash and ticket to claim the guitar. |
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Army at my permanent duty station in Colorado Springs, I was
able to play a little music. That old Fender Jazz bass served me
well. Four other soldiers and I put together a band and
alternated between a local club on Airport Boulevard and the NCO
club on post for a very short time. We called the band "BC
Driver" because one of the guys in the band was the Battery
Commander's driver. When we played downtown, we played
rock-n-roll and when we played on post we played mostly country
music. |
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Those Army buddies that I played music with
were all very talented, more talented than me. One of the guys was
constantly writing songs and we performed a few of them. I really
expected him to make it big in music, if not as a singer/songwriter
at least as a songwriter. The thing back then was, we didn't have
time or a place to practice. We either lived in the barracks or
apartment complexes and our schedules always conflicted. We played
songs for the first time on stage, which wasn't a good thing.
Anyone that heard us back then would probably
say, "they sounded like #@!%$", and they would be right. Playing
music was our way of letting off steam and we all drank like
soldiers. But there was a lot of talent there. It's unfortunate that
I haven't stayed in contact with those guys.
One day, out of the blue, I got an email from
David. He played keyboards, harmonica and trumpet in BC Driver. He
was teaching music at a college and some of his students found my
web pages and told him about it. He is still performing as a back-up
musician for big name groups at some casinos not far from his home.
A whirl-wind few months and I was out of the
Army and back in Alabama. Don, Barbara, Randy, Dwayne and I were
traveling in style on ZZ Top's old bus. Note: Randy was
playing drums with me back in '76 at that wedding reception. |
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Randy (drummer) |
Too cool! |
Ready to ride |
On the road |
I love so many different kinds of music that
it's difficult for me to name a single "favorite" anything. But I'll
give it a try here: Greg's Favorites
- Band - The Beatles
- Pop Song - "I Saw the Light" - Todd Rundgren
(1972 or so)
- Country Song - "Borrowed Angel" - Mel Street
(around 1970)
- R&B Song - "Can I Change My Mind" - Tyrone
Davis - 1968 - Bernard Reed on Bass (those bass lines were funky
before that was even a music term), I think it was Mighty Joe
Young on guitar, a great horn section backing and it was
recorded in Chicago (not Muscle Shoals)
- Album - Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
(1970 or so)
- Live Album - Frampton Comes Alive - Peter
Frampton (1975 or 6?)
- Vocal Harmony - The Lady She's Right - Leon
Everette (Baughman) and Ray Gosden (Verne's brother) Awesome
harmony
- Live Performance - "You Don't Love Me" Allman
Brothers Band
- Country Instrumental - "Last Date" Floyd
Cramer
- Rock Instrumental - "Jessica" Allman Brothers
- Disco Song - (I can't believe there is one
that I like, but) "Rockin' Chair" Gwen McCrae (1975) Wonderful
tempo, bouncing bass and her voice is so soulful and sexy.
Disclaimer: Favorites are subject to change,
depending on what day of the week it is. I feel guilty for not
mentioning the music of Credence Clearwater Revival (CCR) They
turned out so many great songs from 1968-1972 and I loved them all,
the Grass Roots, Badfinger, and there are many more.
There are only four songs that I actually like
the "cover versions" better than the originals; Twist and
Shout, The Beatles, How Sweet It Is,
James Taylor, Baby I Need Your Loving, Johnny Rivers and Ohh, Baby,
Baby, Linda Ronstadt. |
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Cars |
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Porsche Boxster:
My wife's "everyday - driver" car. See pictures and read the
whole story! |
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Cars: 1971 Porsche
911-T, Targa - Read about and see pictures of the restoration project! |
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S-Type Jag:
This Jaguar was my every day driver for five
years. |
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BMW 328i:
Pam's car before the Boxster.
This is a great story. |
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1964 Chevy Truck:
This truck was a one-owner for almost 40 years. |
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Ford Ranger:
This is an XLT Super-Cab 4x4. Everyone needs a
truck. |
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Travel |
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Travel: Charleston,
South Carolina - June 2006 Pictures and stories of some of our trips! |
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St. Simons Island:
Christ Episcopal Church. |
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Atlantic City:
The Boardwalk in Atlantic City is a wonderful place. We visited
there in 1993. Check out the pictures! |
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Jekyll Island:
Summer 2006 - We stayed at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel. |
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Two tickets to...
Opryland, 1993, just four years before they closed their
doors forever. |
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Guns |
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Gun Collecting:
A 1962 Colt Python, 1992 Colt Mustang and a 1968
Baby Browning. Pictures and stories about guns! |
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Blogging |
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Adventure:
On the high seas. Harbor Pilot boat pulling
along side our ship on approach to the Georgia coast. |
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The Army:
Greg, standing on the deck of the American Eagle,
a super-cargo ship crossing the Atlantic in March 1985. |
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REFORGER: The Diary of a
Soldier. |
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A BAT Missile:
Pictures and stories about anti-aircraft missiles! |
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Hammelburg,
Germany:
REFORGER was the code name, which stood for
"Return of Forces to Germany". |
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River Street
Savannah, GA:
I took this picture from ship deck while
entering the harbor. |
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The Cold War:
January and February 1985 was a very tense time in the Cold War, and
it was about to get colder! |
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Music |
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Music:
Greg on stage New Years Eve 1994, Guntersville,
Alabama. The same stage where Ricky Nelson gave his last performance! |
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Knives |
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Knife Collecting: If you're thinking of starting a
knife collection, consider this tip. |
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