Don’t Believe A Word I Say with Bob Segarini

In today’s Mailbag: Wackers! Stockton/Lodi! Research Turtles! Your Stories!

Quick Comments:

Just one quick comment this week, mainly because it’s 4 in the morning and I am done like dinner.

This needs to be said.

Grant Smith and Kelly Anderson put together one of the best nights of entertainment I have experienced in many a moon. It was the total package. A great prime rib dinner that would have cost you 100 bucks at the Old Mill or Harbour 60, reasonably priced drinks, a fantastic venue in the form of the Estonian on Broadview, perfect sightlines, great sound, and the tightest, hottest R&B band I’ve seen in decades.

Watch Grant Smith, George Olliver, and Jay Douglas dance, and you will see why a lot of people laughed at Mick Jagger when he danced. Want to hear a perfect rendition of Me and Mrs. Jones live? You could have Saturday night. Can you imagine being part of an audience that…well…here, I sent this email out to the CCR list earlier today…

“Saw the lovely Not and Mrs. Not last night, (CFRB radio personality Bob Reid and the lovely Gina), at one of the best shows I’ve seen since…well, I don’t know when. Not the Blues Brothers reenactment at Downchild’s 40th Anniversary show at Massey Hall, but the Soul Brothers review at the Estonian on Broadview.

George Olliver and Grant Smith have not lost one ounce of their showmanship, vocal ability, or dance moves since I saw them separately in the Mandala and The Power, decades ago. What a show!

A full band, (with horn section and Hammond B3, Leslie spinning), that didn’t phone in their parts, a prime rib dinner to die for, great hospitality, and an audience that applauded, (sometimes leaping to their feet in the process), instead of holding up cell phones and yelling ‘woot!”.Pie and I even danced several times.

Rita Chiarelli, Jay Douglas, Ms. D. Salvatore, and, again, a band I would kill to sing “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” with, made for an amazing night out in a great venue.
Great night, GREAT music, and Great vibe. David Farrell, whiz kid interviewer Lisa McDonald, and ARC Records’ Bill Gilliland, and Pie and I bounced through the night with big smiles on our faces …and Mr. and Mrs. Not are good dancers, Grant Smith knows how to throw a party, and Kelly Anderson, (Grant’s better 2/3′s, is a treasure.
Wow.”

That’s all I have to say…

Here’s this week’s Mailbag…

Last Monday’s Comments…

Kenny Blue Ray: Yeah Man, Carla, CeCi and Cherie, Three Fine Foxes…they were hip even in 1966-68. I remember when Cherie arrived from somewhere to Lodi High.
I was a Minotaur Cat, saw some cool people there, (never Gigged there, but it was very hip for Stockton at the Time… I used to go down to LA to hang on the Strip when they had curfews, and ventured into The Haight Ashbury scene in 66, 67, my Sister lived in both places…Was in Lodi to see my Mom & Sister and my Bro, Jack Linn, (Used him on Bass at my Gig in Folsom, last night.
The people in Lodi still drive 5 miles an hour and wait a week to take off from a green light. Prehistoric! I called Gary Wagner, Maybe We’ll do a few Valley Gigs sometime, he’s Soulful.
Kenny Blue Ray
Blues Guitarist since 1963

Carla Lockhart: No wonder Lee Michaels always looked so familiar to me!!! Hey, by the way, Cherie and I are going to write a book.

Cherie Porter: Hi, everyone, it’s Cherie Porter. Great to hear from people who were at the Minotaur in the budding years of Bay Area Rock. I arrived in Lodi from Vallejo where I was hanging out with Sly Stone and a host of bands that grew up to be The Bands of the Bay Area. The Minotaur was host to some of them. I remember Country Joe there and, (of course), The Family Tree.

Mark Vukovich: Any word yet on the T shirts, buttons etc, etc? The season of giving is almost upon us…Peace Out. Vuke in Lodi

…Oh yeah and just for the record…to Mr. Blue Ray…dude don’t cap on our town here…not everybody can be so cool that they get to live wherever they want…sometimes, circumstances are such that you find yourself in place that you just have to make better by your vibe…so, thinkin’ and acting in a positive manner can make any GDamn place better…Ya Dig? We had a good time even in the freakin’ jungle, and I was happy to come home.

SEG SAYS: If you missed the link last Friday, here it is again. There’ll be more items up before the end of the month…just in time for Christmas…hehehehehe…

www.cafepress.com/gottahavebob

Kenny Blue Ray: Sorry Vuke,
(No more cappn’ on Lodi,)
It’s an ok place, I was just there, & rent is way better than this Bay Area. I can go on about this place, we must have givin 400K to landlords, here.
I saw Country Joe & The Fish @ The Minotaur, they were late and came in on a VW Bus. Didn’t they have poetry reading before music there?

PS:  I ain’t that cool, don’t worry…

Mark Ross: I remember the Minotaur well. I played there, (keyboards), with The Mal-T’s, which later morphed into Wildwood. I was there for the Country Joe & The Fish gig and, of course, the Family Tree. Bob, you guys definitely set the bar high for musicians coming up in the area.
I was there the night they were raided & got pulled in for curfew- I was 16 at the time. At the time, Dennis Parker’s wife was a teacher of mine at Stagg- my recollection is that she wasn’t very amused by what was going on at the Minotaur.
I’m living in LA now, mainly composing for TV. I left Stockton in 1972, so it’s great now to see these posts about the old days in Stockton, and to hear that people are getting together again to play- I’d like to get in on some of that.
Does anyone remember the Betty Hackett Dance Studio? We played there as well- I think they had the first light shows in Stockton- good memories…

SEG SAYS: Ah, the Minotaur. Sawdust on the floor, candles in Chianti bottles on the tables, great graffiti on the walls, and Dylan, Gale Garnett, Peter Paul and Mary on the jukebox, and a local Beat scene Jack Kerouac would have been proud of. The one and onlt haven of rock music in Stockton, now a McDonalds. The Minotaur is where the Family Tree and others cut their teeth, and drew so many people that folk and poetry gave way to psych and rock. Great times. Betty Hackett’s became Music World, and thanks to Gary Wagner, became the first spot with light shows and Fillmore style music, smaller scale, to be sure, but a vital part of the growing rock scene in Stockton. I took tap and ballroom there from the time I was 2 until I was 13. Years later, I was on a makeshift stage playing rock and roll…groovy.

Mark Vukovich: More More More! Great story telling and the good news is there more to come. Thanks Bob for rescuing me from the daily blab…like radio…newspapers have gone away, prolly never to be seen again. Vuke is still in Lodi, and that’s all right Ma…I’m only dreamin’…..

Frank Gutch Jr.: You are going to piece together a book out of these mindless ramblings, right? All I can think is, if Canada had known, they would have stopped you at the border. Nah. They’re Canada. As for the pee running down your leg, I hear it still does, but for very different reasons. Ha! Now get to work on the next chapter, Nimrod! The Circus is coming! The Circus is coming!

Denise: Oh no!! Not another week to find out what happened again:) oh @#$%^&^*
We had quite an experience with a broken tire rod, traveling with the family down east on the Trans Canada Highway. Like you we thought this should be no problem. Left home, (Oshawa), looking forward to a 15 hour drive and that is a long trip for me. You were saying you had to travel 54 hours to get to Montreal wow!. Oh ya, btw, you know your are from Canada when you refer to distance in hours not miles. Anyways we just got off some winding bridge heading towards Woodstock and going up the hill and we hear pop to the left my ex grabs hold of the wheel for dear life as it pulls to the left then a hard pull right to get us off the highway on to the shoulder without upsetting the van, he got out to survey the damage and me asking fearfully how bad is it? I think he may have wet himself and his legs were so wobbly, it was bad. Broken Tire Rod and a really deep scrape in the highway marked from one side to the other. We all four of us ended up getting into a truck passing on the other side of the highway…took us to a nice hotel that was fully booked for the evening. Nothing was available anywhere in the near vicinity as they were having some monster truck or demolitions going on, so he pulls up this winding hill to get us to this motel with 50 feet of trailer and then could not get back down so easy. Another technical difficulty lol well we got back home finally after the ex called his brother to bring out the flatbed tow truck. Never get a Safari Van, this happened to me twice another time with 8 of us going to Wonderland on the 401.Stranded right in the middle of the collectors and the express lanes. When you really experience fear watching the cars go by you at 150 miles an hour and the speed limit is what 100. Another only in Canada thing, maybe if I keep talking you will finish your story Bob lol

Jim Chisholm: Chis likes this…It reminds me of many stories I have had on the road too. I’ll just say that I just bought a 1974 Ford Taurus hatchback. I got some help from my ex-wife’s boyfriend who is real car savvy. We got a deal as well on 4 almost new all season tires. Here’s hoping the next few years will provide lots of gigs and Taurus stories…and safe traveling.

What could go wrong with The Wackers happy shiny road trip to Montreal? The possibilities are endless…Yikes!!! That’s a 1994 Ford Taurus. This keyboard fumbling is catching. LOL

Mike Dugo: Hey Bob,

How could you leave The Us out of your bands with recordings list in your November 13 ‘Don’t Believe A Word I Say’ column?  ‘How Can I Tell Her’ and ‘Just Me’ are two of my all-time favorite songs from the era.

How about an entire article on that group in order to right the slight?

Mike Dugo

60sgaragebands.com

SEG SAYS: I promise to address your concerns in a future column. I have no idea why Us slipped my mind. It was my first experience with Sylvester Stewart, and engineer John Haeny, both of whom I’d met hanging out at Coast Recorders, and ending up playing tambourine on a Beau Brummels session they were doing.

WSG: Hello Bob Segarini (!!!)  I’ve just recently discovered your blog and I’ve been loving it.  It’s great to see that you write stories as well as you write and perform music. As you invite email-feedback and as I especially enjoy reading about your Wackers memories, I thought I’d send you mine …

The first time I saw the Wackers, I was sixteen and it was a Saturday evening in Montreal.  I’d grown up there and on this night, there were about a half dozen of us who had congregated at Somerled Billiard Academy (the pool hall), looking for that thing that would keep us busy during the hours ahead.  Going to a bar wasn’t really an option … unless it was to one of the brasseries where they didn’t ask for I.D.  But they didn’t have music and that’s what we really wanted. Before long, we were talking about going to the Loyola campus, where there was a band called the Wackers who, we heard, were playing a concert in the auditorium there.  There wasn’t all that much enthusiasm, mostly ‘cause we hadn’t heard anything about the Wackers (up to then) … but I got to talking with a guy who was a few years older than me and I asked him if he knew anything about them?  I had to trust the look in his eye when he said, “ya, they’re really fuckin good”, so … I gathered up the rest of us, persuading those that weren’t sure, and off we went, hash-pipe floating between us, for the walk to Loyola near Sherbrooke St West and Broadway. When we got there, there was a band already playing, but the room was only about a quarter full, so we found a stretch of seats together in the center section, in the seventh or eighth row … and settled in.  After a few minutes, the others with me were leaning over to ask me if ‘this band was the Wackers?’  “Naw… they can’t be the Wackers.”  I didn’t know for sure but I knew it was unlikely – they were just a bit ordinary.  Finally, they finished their set and we were sort of relieved to hear that indeed, the Wackers would be on the stage ‘in just a bit’. Minutes passed … and then … BOOM!  You guys were on stage, startlingly dazzled up and ROCKING the FUCKING HOUSE!  The look was theatrical, but with real style and terrific attitude … and while I’m sure we all squirmed for a moment or two … the SOUND coming out of the speakers … and the absolute professionalism of the show that you and Randy and Kootch and Ernie were putting on was … just – fucking – amazing!  To this day, I think of that show as one of the best rock shows that I’ve ever seen.  (And I’m so not even kidding.)

You did a couple Beatle songs early in the set; ‘Please Please Me’ and then ‘You Can’t Do That’ – as well as ‘She Loves You’ a bit later – but it was those first two that had told my ears already, that you had The Beatles down cold (absolutely white-hot-fucking-cold!) and I also knew that I’d just found my new favorite Montreal rock band.  Truly, I had never been so instantly hooked!  I had never heard ANY band do the Beatles anywhere near as good as I what I was hearing right then.  It was incredible!  *While I rave how well The Wackers did The Beatles, I could hear that your own songs were also VERY good in substance and performance.  I hadn’t yet gotten to know them, but I knew that I liked them, a lot.

When I think about it, it was probably a landmark night in its way for me, because … it was just one of those rare moments when time stopped for an hour or two.  The concert burned into my memory thoroughly and completely ‘cause I was just blown away and loving it … and I’ll truly never forget it. I have good memories of the many shows that I saw The Wackers do – never in a bar, unfortunately (that had to have been a blast) – but almost every high-school concert The Wackers played, as well as the theatre concerts … and one Sunday afternoon concert (that stands out, being the only time I saw you play during daylight hours) in Girouard Park – you opened with a KILLER performance of ‘Teenage Love’ and then you greeted the crowd, saying ‘hello’, introducing the band as ‘April Wine’ … which got a good laugh.  (You were always funny, as well.) As I’m writing this, I’m listening to ‘A and R Online’ Volume 25 and 26 (which I’ve just discovered, tonight), what would’ve been ‘Wack and Roll’, headphones plugged into the laptop (the Missus is sleeping) and … loving it.  (It’s true that I was a little bit heart-broken when I read in the Montreal Gazette one morning, all-of-a-sudden-out-of-the-blue, that The Wackers were disbanding and that ‘Wack and Roll’ would not make it to the record stores …  But it must’ve been a sad day for you, too.)  I never doubted that in a slightest-bit-of-a-different-time, The Wackers would’ve been among THE very BIGGEST and most successful rock-bands in the world. If I were to list music artists that I’ve loved above the rest – and I’ve loved dozens, if not, more – there are probably only a handful (thinking about it) that I’ve had near-obsessions with:  The Beatles, Elvis Costello, and The Wackers.  Your records (which I now have on CD, as well as the Roxy CD and of course, the Segarini CDs) only tell about one tenth of the story.  So … when you speak of The Wackers and about how good they were, I can attest that you are actually being modest.  Quite modest.  The Wackers were SO good – thrilling and exciting with great songs (most of them, original), especially the live performances … and theatrical in a very cool, entertaining and unique way … most could just never know.  It’s remarkable really; with all the things I’ve probably forgotten in my (now) 54 years … what I’m listening to RIGHT NOW, Volume 25 and 26 (and thrilled to be able to) is so familiar, these years later. I hope this all doesn’t sound over the top  – it might but I can’t really care about that at this moment; it feels somehow, like I owe it to you to tell you a bit of this (I could probably go on some, still).  I’ve thought about writing this to you for a week or so now … and I knew I would, but tonight, hearing for the first time in so many years, The Wackers as they were (Volume 25 & 26), was just the inspiration I needed to sit at the laptop and fire away.  **It’s Saturday now (the next day), and having just had the chance to reread what I wrote before sending, I didn’t have to change a thing.**  I always watch for what you’re doing and I always wish you well.  I’m very glad that you’re still in the business and especially glad that you’re now putting your memories down for posterity’s sake (at least) and for the great entertainment value that it is for me and for however many others there are who look forward to each blog entry.  I hope this finds you feeling good and feeling happy.  You’ll always be way up there, among the true ‘rock-legends’, in my mind.

SEG SAYS: Wow. As you can see, I have the poster for that gig at Loyola framed and hanging on the wall. Your email brings back a lot of great memories about Montreal and the shows we played there. The other picture is of the front page of the Montreal Star when we shot some pictures for  the cover for the Wack and Roll album. We bussed 100’s of high school kids up to the top of Mont Royale for the shhot. You can see some of them behind us in the picture above.

Johnny Palazzotto: OK Bob you got another reader, great story.

SEG SAYS: Thanks, Johnny, and nice to meet you.

Last Friday’s Comments…

Pete Kashur: She Loves You at Carnegie…Throwing up on Denise Richards…you missed the ’spilling wine on Mrs. Sullivan’…That one won’t be in anyone else’s book…

SEG SAYS: It was a full glass of champagne that I spilled on Ed’s wife in first class on a flight back to L.A from New York. That’s why we were never on his television show…

=Ae=: “600 pages of meandering recollections, anecdotes, and pithy reportage in less than a year.”

You’re not pithy – you’re really pretty good

SEG SAYS: I am too pithy, Andy…pith off.

Keith (Keef) Fraser: A book of war stories would be interesting but not unique. Something along the line of Forrest Gump with the stories as back drop might be a better approach

Hey what’s green and smells like Miss Piggy?
Kermit’s finger!
I’ll just show myself out now…

SEG SAYS: Keith is here for two weeks…try the veal.

Jaimie Vernon: So, let me get this straight: you threw up on Denise Richards at the back of Carnegie Hall?

SEG SAYS: Yeah, Jaimie…I threw up on Denise in the back of Carnegie Hall. She’s like a Tilt O Whirl or the Mat Hatter’s Teacup Ride at Disneyland. I shouldn’t have had that last Carnegie Hall corn dog…

Robert McGirr: you were on the roof…damn …that’s cool…an older Malaysian man I work with came to work the next day, (he lives close by)…and told me the whole story…it was like the Beatles he said…lol

SEG SAYS: Blue Rodeo were in top form for that rooftop performance. It was an honor, (and a blast), to be there.

Michele Haertley: You’ve brought me to tears…twice…reading tonight and the first time I heard you sing Goodbye. You’re one of a kind. I hope you get the money to do that dvd book subscription thing..sounds really cool Bob. The Swags great, I’ll be shopping in the future…funemployed as it is at the moment..like I said, I should’ve got into oil. btw, the kids … Read More dropped off more wild boar today, but found out it was baby ones they fed on corn ..not sure it’s gonna be the same. Really do wish I could share it with you. I almost wrote you earlier about an email I’d found from Lonestar as I was clearing out my email box today…back before your last birthday I’d emailed them to see if I could legally sort of bootleg some Lonestar Beer in to you, the closest I could get to you was a distributor was Brooklyn, NY. : ( Was gonna ship you a bbq fiest of Brisket packed in dry ice. See if I could hire someone down there to make the fixins’ and set it up for you and friends. : ) I have big ideas that rarely see the light of day, but I tried. Can’t drink a Lonestar without toasting you. Now I’ll not be able to eat wild boar without feeling guilty. lol. You’ve written some songs that really touched my heart. Hoping to hear more and more and more..
PS. Anyone that doesn’t buy the Dudes song, Wimmin Are Strange off www.bullseyesongs.com is nuts, in my opinion. I’ve never heard such beauty in vocals. I’ll shut up for this week. Bless you Bob.

SEG SAYS: I can’t take credit for Wimmen Are Strange, Michele. That was written and sung by April Wine’s Brian Greenway. Thanks for all the very kind words.

Research Turtles…

Jim Chisholm: Chis likes THIS one too. That’s some great reportage on the Research Turtles. By the time I clicked on the video I was already hooked on “Let’s Get Carried Away.” I’m looking forward to the next post and the next and the next.

Mark John Vukovich: Read it and get inspired. Research Turtles Rock..!

Anna Furda: Thanks for turning me on to the Research Turtles. Consider me converted.

Frank Gutch Jr.: What? No Pie? You Rat B*****d! I only wish I could write like you, Seg. Reading the Research Turtles segment was like reading the album. Still great, but no music. Hell, if I could write like you, I WOULD write a book! But I’ll settle for those little interactive gimmicky things you talked about. You are reinforcing my faith in music, if not the business.

SEG SAYS: I will address the story of Pie soon…really.

Ship Bright: I’m guessing you lied about playing at Carnegie Hall…

Research Turtles…when one of the Dad’s sent me the CD [Thank you Rick] I had the same reaction, but before I let loose with my enthusiasm I had two major critics [one jaded because she knows everything and one more open minded because testosterone hasn't destroyed all his brain cells yet]…my 13 year old son and 17-going on F*%king 23-daughter…the 13 year old was pumped and the 17n year old actually cracked a smile and when caught in mid-smile immediately returned to the world weary and wise 17 year old that she is and said, “yea, they’re good”, which is about all Michelangelo would warrant. ["But honey Michelangelo painted the ceiling on his back!:, "oh yea, well that means he got to chill out and rest while doing it..." FML] …However what did take place was a thoughtful discussion of what you called retro and how good music is relative throughout the ages and generations and that alone with a 17 year old is a good day on a good subject,

Johnny Palazzotto: Hey Bob, You are as great a writer as the Research Turtles are a Rock n Roll band.  You hit the bullseye, word after word.  One of the guys will be calling you, they all want to thank you and chat.  Thanks, Take care,

Johnny Palazzotto, Pal Productions Co.

Rick Norman: Mr. Segarini–  I am the father of ½ of the Research Turtles. I just wanted to thank you sincerely for your gracious review of the boys’ music. I know it was not only a review but also an attempt to help them and for that I, and the boys, will be eternally grateful. Jud and Joe both walked around all night with a big grin. Especially for Jud, your review validated what he has been trying to do for many years. Like I told Frank Gutch—and I really mean it—the greatest thing you can do for a person is to help his kids. And for that I will always remember your kindness. If I can ever reciprocate, do not hesitate to call.

SEG SAYS: Spread the word. The Shelled Ones deserve our support. Damn! I love this album…and I am obviously not alone.

Thanks to all of you who wrote and shared your stories with us. That’s why we’re here. See you all on Wednesday…

That’s enough for now. Email me at segarini@fyimusic.ca with your comments, complaints, and thoughts, and remember…don’t believe a word I say.

Bob “The Iceman” Segarini was in the bands The Family Tree, Roxy, The Wackers, The Dudes, The Segarini Band, and Cats And Dogs, and nominated for a Juno for production in 1978. He also hosted “Late Great Movies” on CITY TV, was a producer of Much Music, and an on-air personality on CHUM FM, Q107, SIRIUS Sat/Rad’s Iceberg 95, (now 85), and now provides content for radiothatdoesntsuck.com with RadioZombie, The Iceage, and PsychShack. Along with the love of his life, Jade (Pie) Dunlop, (who hosts and writes “I’ve Heard That Song Before” on RTDS), continues to write, make music, and record.