Today is a day I've been dreading for a long time. Sitting here
watching the Cincinnati Bengals and the Houston Oilers playoff game
out of the corner of my eye, I realize that I cannot procrastinate
the starting of this book any longer. My goal has been to write
this book for at least the last fifteen years, but I wanted someone
else to do the dirty work. That is just not going to happen. I'm
stuck with this mess and it's up to me and me alone. I lived in the
rock-and-roll world for more than twenty years as the drummer for
some of the most famous people in the business. I've also had the
pleasure of sitting in, backing up, and knowing some of the
all-time greats. However, I've seen these people from a little
different angle than anyone else ... from center stage, looking at
you, the audience. I used to joke and say, "I've seen the back of
some of the most famous heads in the world." That's a fact. My
musical career started as the drummer with a young singer from
Dallas, Texas by the name of Trini Lopez. We were together for
almost eight years. That collaboration took me to Los Angeles,
California. My recordings with Trini include eight albums, starting
with Trini Lopez "LIVE" at PJ'S. It was in L.A. that I hooked up
with an Italian kid from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His name was John
Ramistella, better known as Johnny Rivers. During my time with
Johnny, I had the incredible opportunity of spending time in Viet
Nam in 1966 with Ann-Margret. We are still friends today. Eat your
heart out After the stint with Johnny came perhaps the ultimate
musical challenge. I became the drummer with the legendary kid from
Hibbing, Minnesota, the spokesman for the world of folk music, Bob
Dylan and the group that started out as The Hawks and later became
known as The Band. At a recent speaking engagement for a Bob Dylan
convention in Manchester, England, I was introduced as the drummer
on the greatest rock-and-roll tour in history. In 1966, after Bob
suffered a broken neck in a motorcycle accident, change was in the
air. I had always dreamed of being an actor, so I went for it.
Naturally, I entered the motion picture industry at the lowest rung
on the ladder, an extra. As I was settling into my new career, it
happened. Ken Fritz and Ken Kragen, the Smothers Brothers'
managers, called. To quote Michael Corleone, "Just when I thought I
was out, they pull me back in." They wanted me to play drums for a
new group they had just signed to a management deal, called The
First Edition. This was the beginning of a ten-year relationship
with Kenny Rogers. It took me until age thirty-five to realize that
in the world of show business, there are two words and two worlds.
There is the "show" and there is the "business." I was so enamored
with wanting to do the "show," I had no concept, knowledge, or
interest in the "business." The truth be known, I did not want to
know anything about the business. "Don't tell me about accounting,
just send me my share." That cost me a lot of money over the years.
That fact really sank in when, at the breakup of The First Edition,
I walked away with nothing ... not even the drums that were given
to me by the Rogers Drum Company. By the way, that problem has been
remedied. I now have a music publishing company, and "business"
comes first. Looking back over these years, there is no question-I
would not change a thing. I've been around the world. My family has
never been across the ocean. I've met presidents, movie stars, and
all the great rockers from Hendrix to the Beatles, and dined with
royalty. Oh, by the way, Princess Grace was beautiful I used to
spend between 250 and 300 days a year on an airplane. Today, as an
actor, the only time I get on an airplane is to go to a location
for a film, a personal appearance, or to go to one of the many
celebrity golf tournaments for charity that I participate in each
year.
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