Harvey Fuqua … He was the whole package!
One of my favorite singers and music legends was the late great Harvey Fuqua, founder and lead singer of the legendary Moonglows. Where do I begin … I met Harvey when he was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and Museum. Early in the day I had time to sit and talk with … Read more
Happy Birthday James Brown, Rachael and Roman!
This Saturday, May 3rd is a special Birthday! It’s my Daughter Rachael’s birthday and the birthday of her first born, Roman, my first Grandchild. It’s also the Birthday of an old friend … the Godfather of Soul, James Brown! The picture above was at a show I did with James Brown, and I took the … Read more
Leiber & Stoller … “The Hit Machine!”
Before I get into my experience of spending some time with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller let me lay some music history on you. Leiber originally came from Baltimore, Maryland and Stoller was from Queens, New York but they met in Los Angeles, California in 1950. Mike Stoller was a freshman at Los Angeles City … Read more
Luncheon for Pittsburgh Music Royalty!
Let’s begin this week’s Blog by thanking an old friend and fellow drummer, Gary Dotterweich for organizing a quarterly musician luncheon! The purpose is to connect and re-connect Pittsburgh Musicians to get together, reminisce, tell stories and rekindle old friendships. Yesterday, was our luncheon held at the Rochester Inn … the photo above are musicians … Read more
“Louie, Louie” … the Rock Standard for most Musicians!
What musician that started playing in the late 50’s, early 60’s or even 70’s didn’t play the song “Louie, Louie?” It’s a Rock standard, a Rock Classic, a Rock Masterpiece! The man who wrote and originally recorded the classic was Mr. Richard Berry. Tomorrow, April 11th is his birthday. I had the honors of spending … Read more
Motown … message heard ’round the world!
“Sound of Young America!” … the battle cry of the 1960’s … the Motown Sound! Growing up as teen in the 1960’s I experienced a lot of change. I watched Rhythm n’ Blues (the so-called Devil’s Music”) grow into Soul Music, a Man on the Moon, an atomic threat to end all of mankind, a … Read more