The Gig . . .

. . . from hell . . .

. . . although there have probably been many others worse, or at least as bad, than this. . . it certainly seemed beyond belief at the time.

The bear of it all was that we didn't even play.  The whole thing seemed like some long, drawn-out, absurd awards ceremony-type of thing with lots of gratuitous thank-yous, gushing and fawning. Meantime we were simply anxious.  Anxious about when we would play.  Anxious about setting-up. Anxious about how long we would take to set-up and anxious about how long they expected us to take to set-up.

And then. . . just like that . . . it was over!  They didn't even ask us to set-up, to play, to get ready to set-up or get ready to play.  What a downer!!  And we were in the back-end of the huge venue, not really sure how far we were from where we had parked and where we had left our gear in anticipation of playing.

The other guys seemed to have gotten their gear packed back into their vehicles and I was the last but not quite sure where my stuff actually was.  We did locate it and there was confusion as to where the best exit was located from which I should leave.

Then an employee emphatically told me that I had to have everything removed within a short time period to make way for the following event, which seemed unreasonably short.  And without explanation I found myself outside, with my vehicle, ready for loading but somehow the vehicle slipping from within my control.  It actually drifted downhill, into traffic on the road and a semi merged mysteriously between my car and me. I watched helplessly as the car sped, driver-less, ahead, downhill quickly beyond my reach (as if I could physically have stopped it alone anyway) until it crashed into a wall at the end of the road where only left and right were the only options had there been an actual driver.

Soon I found myself with Pam, pouring out my heart in explanation and saying, "If it had not been a dream I may have been able to DO SOMETHING!"  But I said this to her in my dream. . .

. . . and then I awoke.

What do you think?

Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html  or at
http://www.ohomusic.com 


OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak.  Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com 


My latest solo offering, Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, featuring original, instrumental piano music is now available at - Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak

(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)

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More Confidence. . .

Granted, I did and DO love playing music.  Make no mistake.  And the band REFLECTION (my very first, actual, money-making (dare I say, "Semi-Professional") band) did, as does any living, growing thing, EVOLVE.  First our guitarist Keith moved to another band, an earthshaking experience for the drummer Bruce and myself at the time.  We were just getting musically comfortable with ourselves as a unit and finding a fair amount of work.  I don't now for the life of me remember how he did it, but our drummer Bruce and I connected with Eddie (saxophones and flute),  Rick (trumpet) and Rick H. (guitar).  Since one out of two Ricks and Eddie were music students at the local university, our approach to music became a bit more academic with the use of arrangements, charts, some jazz inflections and the addition of some newer, current songs;  even one or two by Chicago- one of my favorites.  I was doubling as an occasional substitute in Keith's new band and working on arrangements and trying to secure gigs with REFLECTION at the same time.  (It's good to be in demand!)

Keith's new band was a kind of an ever-changing, depending upon the availability of individual players at any time, musical ensemble whose nucleus consisted of the drummer (who was the 'leader') John, Keith on guitar, Randy on trumpet and an intense young alto saxophonist named Ted. The band was loose, but flexible, and frequently delivered quite musical and crowd-pleasing renditions of rocking (or alternately, swinging) cover tunes to very appreciative (and sometimes, dispositionally well-lubricated) audiences. While the weakest link was quite possibly the leader, Randy and Ted were attractive and charismatic front-men doubling on vocals as well as their chosen axes. In short, a good time was (mostly) had by the band and most every gig.

Ted and I played occasional gigs outside of that band and although we were not extremely close friends, I came to view him as a hip, congenial mentor and friend. Driving to one gig in particular, I recall, Ted and I were discussing various musicians we had experienced and he referred to Randy as a 'bitch' trumpet player.  I was taken aback in that I hadn't heard that terminology before. Further into the conversation he also said I was a 'bitch' keyboardist. Almost hurt at first, I soon 'connected the dots' based upon his classifying Randy, whom I know he appreciated and admired, with myself and came to the conclusion that being a 'bitch' player was, indeed, a good thing!   And as a result of my good friend Ted, my confidence increased substantially that very day. (Ted even had me sit in with his top-notch top-40 band awhile later for which we played Satin Doll which was a thrill, I must say, and did not inflict any damage upon that developing confidence either.)

What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html 


OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak

My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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The Real McCoy. . .

. . . or (in this case) Putman. . .


(from http://www.curlyputman.com/bio.html)

". . .Beginning with the unforgettable "Green Green Grass of Home", Curly Putman has written or co-written an endless stream of smashes, including the million air-play, "My Elusive Dreams", "D-I-V-O-R-C-E", "Blood Red And Going Down", "It Don't Feel Like Sinnin' To Me, "It's A Cheatin' Situation" and "He Stopped Loving Her Today", just to name the #1's.

Curly wasn't born and raised with "great future staring him in the face," like the TV Waltons. Curly was the son of a sawmill man, reared on a mountain that bore that family name. About six or eight families lived on Putman Mountain, mostly descendants of a one-armed Methodist preacher named Jesse Putman, who first brought the holy writ to the mountain. . .

. . . After his discharge (from the service), Curly started picking with a band in Hunstville, AL, and there during one of his gigs, he met his future wife, Bernice. Soon, they started going together and were married in 1956. Thus began a long odyssey of discouragement and frustration remarkably echoed in Curly's "My Elusive Dreams: (You Followed Me To Texas/You Followed Me To Utah/We Didn't Find It There So We Moved On). The places were changed, but the pain was the same. "We moved to Chicago, but I didn't like it there too well, so I moved back to Alabama, working in the sawmill with my dad and going to trade school in Decatur, tried to learn piano tuning…anything to stick to music in some way. "We were barely getting by, so we moved to Huntsville and I went to work for the Thom Mcan Shoe Co. Eventually, Curly had a couple of songs recorded by Marion Worth and Charlie Walker, so he jumped at the chance to sell shoes in Nashville. After a short time in Nashville, however, he was transferred to Memphis. "I was so discouraged about having to leave Nashville," Curly recalls, "that I quit Thom Mcan in Memphis and went back to Huntsville and took a job in a record shop owned by a local radio personality. At night I played steel in a local band.

In the fall of 1963 Curly's luck took an abrupt change for the better. While visiting Nashville, during the annual DJ convention, he ran into Tree Publishing company executive Buddy Killen, whom he had known slightly in earlier days. Buddy casually mentioned that Tree might have a song plugging job open after the first of the year. "I came to talk to Buddy and Jack Stapp (the owner of Tree) and started working for them in January of 1964

"I guess I learned as much about writing by plugging songs for Tree as anything else I've ever done," says Curly. Yet month after month was passing and nothing was happening save a few small, inconsequential records. Was the elusive dream about to become undone altogether?

Then, one day about a year later, a bit of sheer magic struck. "One Sunday afternoon, I came up to Tree's office. No one was around. I just started fooling around and suddenly it fell in place. The surprise ending about dreaming made the song. I guess I worked on it for about two hours. I felt like I really had something, because it touched me very deeply. But, I didn't know how commercial it was because it was such a down-home song." The down-home song was "Green Green Grass of Home.

"I played the song for bunches of people over five or six months before it was ever cut, first Johnny Darrell," said curly. Then things began to happen. Porter Wagoner covered the Darrell record and had a top five country hit. Then, Jerry Lee Lewis had a chart record on the song. Tom Jones heard Jerry Lee's cut and was so impressed that he recorded it. His record became a top five pop smash in the united stated and number one almost everywhere else. The Tom Jones record sold between ten and twelve million copies throughout the world. Since then, over four hundred other artists have recorded the song in most of the world's major languages.

Since "Green Green Grass of Home," Curly's songs have been recorded by multitudes, including Charlie Rich, Tammy Wynette, dean martin, Wayne Newton, George Jones, Charley Pride, Conway Twitty, Dolly Parton, Bobbie Gentry, Glen Campbell, Nancy Sinatra, Roger Miller, T.G. Sheppard, The Kendalls, Andy Williams, Jim Nabors, Issac Hayes and Millie Jackson, Johnny Duncan, Bobby Vinton, John Conlee, Roy Clark, Elvis Presley, George Jones and almost every other country artist of consequence. And still, he continues to write, patiently and well, unable to fill the melancholy hole in his heart that refuses to ever let him rest satisfied and content to rejoice in a job well done. . ."

What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
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This is my last . . .

a.   waltz
b.   visit
c.   cigarette
d.   gig this week

[The answer is d.]

Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano
at Elk Run Wine Down Fridays
Friday, May 3, 2013 @ 6:00PM
Elk Run Vineyards
15113 Liberty Road  Mt. Airy, MD 21771
Phone: 410-775-2513 • Fax: 410-875-2009 •
TOLL FREE: 800-414-2513
elk_run@msn.com

But this is still a GREAT song. . .

What do you think?
Tell me at  
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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If you can't stand the heat . . .

. . . don't come to the northeastern U.S. today . . .

. . . and Oho's gig on the patio at Bread & Circuses in Towson was hot too.  Lisa's vocals were scorching, Jay's guitar was searing and Dave's drums were sizzling.  Air temperature had to be around 90F. 

The music was good and, for two hours last night, all was right with the world. . .

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newest release:
AMBIENCE & WINE

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On and on it goes. . .

. . . and when it may return nobody knows.

Our gig at this blue-collar hotspot was quite a gravy job. We played four hours, with three twenty-minute breaks, every Friday and Saturday night, beer was free and we were paid $120 ($30 per man). That may sound laughable now (it does to me), but being a twenty-something still in college in 1977, this was one hell of a deal. And to make matters even better, the owner installed a Hammond B3 organ (with Leslie tone cabinet) in the club, or maybe it belonged to the Thursday musician but it was never clarified and was available for our (read: MY) use. Any keyboardist knows well the value of this perk, particularly in pre-digital-sample-lightweight-inexpensive-keyboard times. And yet in spite of all these wonderful things available to us during this period, we (can you believe it?) received an offer of a higher-paying gig (I believe it was $40 per man) at a club with a more convenient location to us all, and in a neighborhood where the probability of chairs being broken over patrons' heads was only slightly less. The owner of this bar actually hired us to 'discourage' the patronage of an 'undesirable' younger element that had begun frequenting the establishment and the owner thought he had found in our band/music, just the thing to accomplish this. Years after these events, other members of the group enjoy fondly recalling the job for which we were hired to 'drive customers away.' Poetic justice indeed!

We did take the job. Ten more dollars and much less mileage were certainly well worth it. Needless to say, it was back to playing my cheesy, or should I say sub-par instrument of economic necessity. If memory serves however, this arrangement did not last very long and we ended up with a long-running, relatively prestigious gig at the local American Legion hall for comparable pay and the only stringent requirement being to play God Bless America sometime during the last set of the evening. Being truly devoted veterans and family members thereof, everyone always stood respectfully as we played it in these pre-nine-eleven days. But the place seemed like home. It was cleaner than just about ANY other place we played, the staff was friendly and the clientele attentive and appreciative.




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Ah, back when we were. . .

. . . all young and relatively carefree, and more frequently than was wise, a gig would turn into a party. . . for the band. Jay remarked more than thirty years later that the band consisted entirely of alcoholics, with the exception of me. In truth I had my moments, but never drank beyond reason during a paying gig, at least that's MY story. One such gig ended badly and practically in fisticuffs. A four-hour was broken-down into time increments as follows. We performed for about one hour, took a twenty-minute break, performed forty minutes repeating the last scheme for the remaining two hours. During this particular job we somehow, and I'm not sure if it began with the first break or later, we simply extended the breaks so that they exceeded, or practically exceeded the actual performance time. At the end, the gentleman with whom we contracted (our contracting was exclusively verbal) did not let our lapse of professionalism go unnoticed. In fact, he wanted to withhold our payment in its entirety. A first, and fortunately for us and future paying customers, a last. We somehow escaped the situation unharmed and if I'm not mistaken, still compensated. Another engagement involved continuous bickering between Greg (sax/vocals) and Jeff (drums) and numerous threats to resign from the organization, all due to excessive imbibing.

NIGHT TRAIN (written by Jimmy Forrest/performed by Ful Treatment circa 1976)



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