A Return Visit

Staying at Kent's house, with Ginger was a little challenging. Kent had continued studying with the Witnesses and attending meetings, while I had gone backwards.

One day, when Kent's friends came by, they invited me to a meeting. Well, I had nothing to be afraid of, did I? So I accepted. An the way to that meeting, I realized that all of the things that I had studied before, from the Bible, were actually true. I also made a decision to turn around and continue in the course that Kent had already entered into. That meant big changes were needed.

The first big change that would have to be made was becoming morally responsible and that didn't include living with someone out of wedlock. When I returned home and told Ginger that we could stay together, but that we would no longer be sharing a bed together.... well stuff hit the fan. Knives were involved. No blood was shed, but needless to say it didn't end well. Ginger went her way, and I continued on.

One things the Witnesses do, all over the world, it go from door to door, talk to people and offer free home Bible studies. It wasn't long before Kent and I had made enough changes to qualify for this type of service. We had stopped taking drugs and cleaned up our act in many other ways.

When I started Going to the Kingdom Hall, I looked like this.

Later, after I made some changes and started going from door to door, I looked like this.

Me with a friend, Ray

 I remember the funny looks I would get from people I would meet at the doors who looked the way I had looked and telling them, "Yes I used to do drugs, but the Bible helped me see the need to change." They would look at me and wouldn't believe I had ever done drugs.

When I had left for New York, and the 2 girls came back for another visit, they ran into Gordon Grant, who invited them in and talked. He would eventually start a Bible study, but had difficulty making any real progress. I was invited to go along on the study, and when I showed up, looking like I did, he was flabergasted. He called another friend of ours, Daryl Burch and told him that I had become one of Jehovah's Witnesses. When I visited him, all the excuses that he had been using were things that I had taught him, when we lived together. They all melted away.

Eventually we all progressed and came to dedicate ourselves and presented ourselves for baptism. I always smile, since I forgot my swim trunks, Gordy had to go first, and then I switched into his wet trunks and got baptized, myself. The swim trunks got baptized twice. Here I am coming out of the water.

And so ends "Up In A Tree in Hollywood". I wasn't up a tree, anymore. I was on a different path, one that I have kept to  for over 45 years. It was quite a trip in Hollywood, but it's been quite a trip, since.

As a little going away present, I give to you a few favorite photos.

Me, At an early age. Probably on the way to a black sand beach.

Me and Lina Saylor my dancing partner

1963

Vietnam 1966-67

Hollywood 1968-1971

Gordon Grant 1972

Engagement Party 1972

Wedding July 28, 1973

Made up with Dad on our honeymoon trip to Northern California

With new Wife Denise and her mom, Mimi

Of course, Denise and I have had many adventures in many countries, but that is a subject for another blog. This is Up A Tree in Hollywood signing off.

Forest of Arden

On my way up to Northern California, I picked up a hitchhiker, one night. She was an exotic dancer (as we called them) and said yes when I asked if she would like to go with me. I think there was some reason why she wanted to get out of town.

We packed up a few things, all we had, and headed up north. I tried desperately to find photos of the lodge, but as I may have mentioned, it burned down some years ago and there doesn't seem to be a record that I can find. But the lodge was beautiful. Huge stone fireplace and the ceilings were held up with solid hand hewn redwood beams. Massive.

The little cabins were cute, and we were given one of the ones that was pretty close to habitable. Didn't take much to set ourselves up. They had a bedroom, living room, a kitchenette and bathroom. Most of them had old style clawfoot tubs. 

There isn't much to tell about my time there. I fixed up several of the cabins, working during the day and enjoyed quiet evenings in the redwood forest. There weren't any other residents, other than a cook and manager.

I do remember one memorable evening, when the cook invited me to take a "trip" with him to a local, black sand beach. It was about a 30 minute drive away, but on another planet. We were alone on a stretch of beach, with black volcanic sand. We made a bonfire. Now when I say bonfire, this was no small affair. There were 50 foot trees, aplenty, that had washed up on the shore. We found a few that had arranged themselves into some sort of triangle and brought some more over to add to the mass of wood. Then we started the fire and the flames would leap as high as I have ever seen any flames.

Naturally, we got naked. That's just what you would do, under the influence of psychedelics, on a black sand beach in the middle of the night. It was cold, but we would take turns running out of the warmth of the fire, and stand at the edge of the water and look up at the stars and gaze out over the water. I think that it would have been a moving experience under any circumstances. I remember uncovering the riddles of the universe.... just can't remember what they were.

As time went on, the relationship between Ginger (my hitchhiker friend) and myself got kind of complicated. And eventually, she tired of the Forest of Arden and wanted to return to Hollywood. I couldn't blame her. I am a city person myself, and while the natural beauty that surrounded me was fantastic, I did need to resume some sort of real life. We returned to Hollywood and left the forest behind.

Did the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi ever visit? I do not know. Did they ever finish the renovation? I do not know. When we returned, Kent Morrill let me stay in the house, again and even let me stay in the basement apartment that he used. I think Lance may have been out of town at the time.

But I was back in Hollywood.

A Special Visit

You may remember that I met the secretary when I did some work at Lizard Records on Sunset Strip. She would have me do odd jobs. Her family had purchased a resort in Northern California, just south of Crescent City. It had a large, all wood lodge and little cabins spread out around a winding road that ran through the property. All of the cabins had been uninhabited for some time and needed much work to bring them on line. She approached me with an offer to go up there and work on them.

At the time, I was staying with Lance Wakely and Kent Morrill, in a little house in the Hollywood Hills. I was living on the couch, but nobody seemed to mind much. One Saturday morning, I was awakened by a knock at the door. When I answered it, I found two nicely dressed gentlemen there. I invited them in. I was always happy to talk to people and we talked for about an hour. They left me some things to read and left.

Later, when Kent came upstairs, he asked who had visited. I didn't remember but told him it had something to do with the Kingdom, or some such thing. I hadn't really been paying attention.

Anyway, the next week, they called again. They politely asked if I had had a chance to read any of the literature they left and I politely replied that I hadn't. So then they offered me a free home Bible study. Which, of course, I agreed to. If the universe wants me to study the Bible, who was I to argue? They left me with this little blue book.

That week, they came by, and since Kent, who had studied theology in college, didn't want anything to do with these JW's, he made us sit on the floor in Lance's room (he was away at the time). We did so and they asked questions and showed me answers in the Bible. It went well, I guess.

The next time they were to visit, Kent insisted we all sit together and he had invited Andy DiMartino (his manager and long time Catholic, as was Kent) to come, as well. Before they arrived we had "lubricated" ourselves quite well and I was in quite a mellow mood. Well, these two little guys sat and answered questions and accusations thrown at them, each time using the Bible. They remained pretty calm, even though Kent and Andy got pretty agitated. When they left, Kent and Andy congratulated each other on having such a good time. Later, Kent bought a Bible and sat in with us on the study. After a while, we even attended some of the meetings at the Kingdom Hall, as it was called.

Things progressed, until I got offered that job in Northern California. The secretary offered me a used car (I think it was an old GTO convertible, but my memory could be fooling me) and let me know that the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was planning on visiting California and if we could fix up the place in time, he would old a retreat there. Time was of the essence.

So I headed up the coast to help out, leaving Kent in the hands of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Hollywood Hills

Returning to Hollywood, I stayed with friends. I was able to spend some time with Fred Tackett and Pattie, who were renting a large house in the Hollywood Hills off of Beachwood Drive. It had 3 levels and I was able to stay in the basement.... again. But then, I don't think I paid any rent, so I couldn't complain. They were still working at promoting the band, Mephistopheles, and had released an album in 1969 "In Frustration I Hear Singing".

Also in residence was Gordon Grant, a spectacular keyboardist. He would get up in the morning and play an hour of classical music, an hour of blues, an hour of rock and roll and an hour of jazz. He could play anything, anytime. I have never met anyone so versatile.

Me and Bobbie Burch

Other residents were Daryl and Bobbie Burch. He was the drummer and most of the residents in the house were from Oklahoma. After I stayed with them for a while, people would ask me where do you come from in Oklahoma? It is a very pervasive accent.

While I was there, Patty gave birth. This was a home birth and I will remember it for a long time. We were all crowded into the birth room, animals and all. The dogs were growling, as they knew something momentous was happening.

I think Lance Wakely was at the foot of the bed, where Patty was giving birth and took photos of the delivery.

I was my job to bury the afterbirth. I couldn't do it, so Lance took the job. He put it in the trash, and as he told me later, his dog found it and ate it. Ah well.... this was Hollywood in the late 60's.

It was while we were living there that Jean Dixon predicted a massive earthquake would befall California. I have since searched and can't find a record of that, but I know it happened. Now the people at the house weren't particularly superstitious, but coincidentally, many of them decided to take a trip, just before it was scheduled to take place. I think Fred and Patty visited relatives in Oklahoma and I know Lance took the opportunity to have a picnic someplace in the Sierras. I don't remember where Gordon was, but he was not at the house.

That left Daryl, Bobbie and me in the house. I remember the night before Daryl lamenting, "Baby I don't want to die" and shortly, after calling his parents, they took a place back home. That left me alone in the house to wait out my fate.

The next morning Jehovah's Witnesses showed up at my door. I remember talking to the two girls from the 2nd story window and hoping that somehow I could open their minds to see all that I could see. They left some literature for me, at Gordon Grant's entry door. I wasn't there when they called back, because I was in New York. But that is another story.

In looking over the blog, I think I have mixed up some of the timeline. Big surprise. Anyway, this is the point where I went to New York and was a road manager for a whopping 1 gig, and returned to San Diego and then back to Hollywood. Mea culpa.

You Can't Go Home

Things between my host and myself had gotten a little too serious, a little too soon and after that one gig with Larry, I thought it would be best if I retreated back to the West Coast. I decided to land back in San Diego, once more.

I was able to rent a little house next to my Mom and step father. I was collecting unemployment for the time being. This picture was taken during that visit. My mom was a nurse at a local hospital and had seen so many drug related cases, that she could not see how I could smoke dope and take LSD.

We would talk for hours, but she was unable to convince me that I was in any danger.

During that period I had lots of time on my hands. I picked up a copy of the "Red Letter" Bible, where all of Jesus' words were highlighted in red. I read them all.

After that, I couldn't see how any country could wage war, or how church goers could commit the crimes that they did. So I set off to find some answers. We had always gone to the First Presbyterian Church in downtown San Diego, so I headed there.

I went into the office and told them that I would like to speak to someone about the Bible. I think they were a little put off, having a hippy come into the church. Well, they hemmed and hawed and then said for me to wait in the church, until the youth pastor arrived.

When he arrived some time later, we talked. I expressed my concerns that I had gone off to war, without giving much thought to heeding Jesus' words. It turns out that he was a Navy pilot, on active duty. He never did answer how a Christian could conscientiously go to war, but he did invite me to a youth activities night. OK, so I went.

It was held in a very nice house with a pool, in a very nice part of the city. He had given me a ride. The evening went like this. We spent about 15 minutes discussing how we could give a witness about our relationship with God. It turns out that living a good life, being happy and friendly seemed to be the approved method.

After that, we had cake and sodas and swam. When it was over, and he was driving me back home, he asked if I had learned anything. Well, it seems that I had learned that this brand of Christianity wasn't much different from people living good lives and enjoying themselves. So in my mind I kind of crossed out Christianity as having any valid answers about life.

After a few months, I decided to return to Hollywood, where I would begin new adventures. I hitchiked up the coast and decided to spring a visit on my father, who was building homes in Carmel by the Sea. I got off the highway and made a call from a local burger joint. He drove up shortly, with his new wife Margaret, a red haired school teacher. We talked over sodas. He asked me what I had been doing after being discharged from the Air Force and I told him in detail, not leaving anything out. I guess I want to "blow his mind". Well, I did. We ended rather abruptly, with no invitation to stay overnight, so I just jumped back on the freeway and hitched my ride back to Hollywood.

Years later, when I got back into a good relation with my father, he told me that after he calmed down, he went back to find me, realizing that what I did with my life was my decision. But it was too late, as I had already gone, and left no forwarding address.

Such is life....

A Concert To Remember

Singer Bowl 1964

My one and only gig as Larry Coryell's road manager came during a concert held at the Singer Bowl in Flushing Meadows, site of the 1964 World's Fair. It was one of Led Zeppelin's US Tours and Larry Coryell was going to be their opening act.

The crowd was seated on blankets and the venue was packed full, as Led Zeppelin was a hot number and everyone had come to see Jimmy Paige, one of the great electric guitarists of all time.

We set up the equipment. The air was heavy with smoke. You weren't going to a Zeppelin concert straight. The crowd was buzzing with excitement as Larry and the group took the stage for the opening act.

Now you have to remember that the crowd coming to hear Led Zeppelin was totally different from the crowd that would have come to hear Larry Coryell. Jimmy Paige was pure rock and Larry was pure jazz and never the twain shall meet, as they say.

So Larry and his company started into their set. If you have never heard Larry Coryell- you owe it to yourself to listen to a few of his tracks. He was a great guitarist and he played up and down the jazz scales, playing around the melodies and coming back to them in a jazz refrain, like you have never heard before. In short... he was a genius.

So Larry finished his set and there was not a sound in the stadium. It was almost complete silence. Later on, I figured that the people who were listening had no idea what jazz was about. But they did know that something magical had just happened... just not what. Eventually everyone came out of their fog and gave Larry a sound round of applause. But nothing would beat the welcome that Jimmy Paige received.

That was a concert to remember. Just wish I could.

A Carpenter in NYC

While I was staying in NY, my host needed a little privacy screen installed in her apartment. There was a small living room and right off of it was her child's room. I can't remember where I got the 2x4's or the plywood. There are only small neighborhood hardware stores, but apparently I got the supplies and cobbled together a very basic "L" shaped screen. It was a mess and nothing to get excited about.

But my host was very appreciative and thought that I as a genius. Apparently New Yorkers are not very handy around the house. Anyway, she told a friend of hers about my work and he came over and offered me a job, working upstate for a few weeks. Since I wasn't working for Larry for several more weeks, I accepted.

His job was in upstate NY and they got paid for the hour or so travel time. He was working on the house of the foreign ambassador from Nigeria. He had a big house and we were converting the unfinished basement and turning it into a finished entertainment center. I was in charge of furring out the walls and installing very expensive wood paneling.

One night, on a work night, by hosts introduced me to "Speed" or Meth Amphetamine. It was the first and last time I ever tried that. I stayed up all night jabbering away at about a hundred miles an hour. The next morning, without any sleep and crashing, massively, I went in to work. I spent all day trying to fit a piece of paneling around a door frame. The ambassador's wife came in frequently and when she saw how little progress I had made, told me that I was fired and not to come back the next day. I couldn't blame her. I would have done the same thing.

Just before we left, the ambassador came home and when I told him what happened an apologized, he told me not to worry and to come back the next day. He said he had something special in mind for us.

The next day, he called us into his study and laid out his plan. He asked us if we would like to make large amounts of money. Well, we didn't think too long about that and replied "yes". So he proceeded to explain that he would send us to his country and set us up in a business. Mining, timber harvesting clothing manufacturing and energy production were mentioned. He would provide housing for us and of course, servants, as it wouldn't be proper without them.

Naturally, we let him know that we didn't know anything about such endeavors. We were just simple carpenters, and probably not much good at even that.

"Don't worry boys, all you need to do is run the business," he told us. "You can hire professional to set up the businesses. All you need to do is sit back and take care of the profits."

He discussed lots of details and then sent us back to work. Presumably this would all take place as soon as the work was completed on is house. As it turned out. I would leave NY before any of this came to fruition. I never found out if my friend ever went.

I do remember this. At the time there was a Nigerian Civil war taking place and a conflict with Biafra. Also, foreign ownership of businesses was usually more stable in African countries where leadership can change at a moments notice.

So, if I had stayed and gone ahead with the plan, would we have ended up as millionaires, or would our bodies have been found in the bush somewhere and our deaths blamed on Biafran rebels. Who knows.... but probably better that I never found out.

Roadie in New York

When Larry Coryell returned to New York, he was in the process of launching his own production company. I got invited to come and be his road manager, since it was established that I could cope with unusual situations.

I had never been to NYC, but Lance Wakely set me up with a friend of his in the lower Manhattan (near Houston Street), who would provide a place to stay while I worked there. So I set off for the Big Apple for the first time.

Westside Bus Terminal Today

When I arrived, I made it from the airport to the Westside Bus Terminal  and from there took a taxi to Lance's friend's house. The address was on 1st Avenue and it was a hyphenated address. Something like "111-4". I wasn't familiar with types of addresses and I am glad the taxi driver was, because it was a long, long trip- taking me on several expressways and down the Westside Parkway, finally ending up at my destination. As a side note, when I left NY sometime later, I planned on calling a taxi. I was told that the Westside Bus Terminal was only a few minutes away, by bus: right on 8th Avenue. I thought, "Welcome to NYC, rube." I actually would have like to have found the cabbie and shook his hand for giving me the ultimate NYC experience.

I had one other typical experience while staying there. Houston Street, just a few blocks away, hosts a Sunday street market, as there were blue laws in effect and stores were closed on Sunday. I loved going there and one visit stuck out in my mind. While standing at a stall, looking over the merchandise, I looked down at the ground and lo and behold- there was a fat roll of cash, which I promptly picked up. Naturally I asked the fellow next to me if it was his and fortunately it was and he thanked me profusely. A few weeks later, I got to thinking that maybe it wasn't his and that he had just taken advantage of the situation. But what are the chances of that happening in New York?

Larry's offices were located in a building. Can't remember where, but it was on the floor just below to top floor. I seem to remember that, because there was an astrologer who occupied the top floor and Larry would have him cast the fortune of the company, from time to time, using the signing of the incorporation papers as the "birth date". I don't know how much he took that seriously, but it was a thing.

At first, there wasn't much for me to do, since he had just come back from a European tour and his first gig in the US wasn't for several more weeks. So I was pretty much on my own to explore the big city.

Meeting Larry Coryell

Larry & Julie Coryell

While visiting Fred and Patty at their house in Laurel Canyon one day. I was introduced to Larry Coryell, a jazz guitarist who was dating one of the house's residents, Julie. Later, Larry would marry Julie and enjoy a long and happy marriage.

While visiting Julie, one evening, he needed to go out on the town. Seeing as he was not in any condition to drive,  I volunteered, not that I was in any better condition. It is just that I always had complete confidence in being able to drive no matter what.

Thelonius Monk

We were able to navigate the Hollywood Hills to his friend's house. It turns out that driving under the influence of LSD is kind of like operating a remote controlled toy car, from about 1,000 miles away and looking at the landscape through a small screen the size of a cell phone (and not the big ones). Anyway, I got him there.

Then he wanted to go down to Hollywood, where a friend of his was playing a small club off of Hollywood Blvd. I got him there. When we walked inside and sat down at the front, who was playing other than Thelonius Monk. I guess Larry had brought his guitar with him, because he was invited up to the small stage and they jammed the night away.

I got Larry safely back home after that, and later he invited me to join him in New York, to be his road manager. But that is for another time.

Lizard Records

Gabriel Mekler (1942-1977)

You know how we are only 5 degrees away from everyone else? While working as a carpenter- I built a stage in a little club a few doors down from the Whiskey A Go Go. As I was working, one day, someone from one of the offices above the club came by and asked if I could build them a soundproof room for a small recording studio. I told them I could start work when I was finished. I didn't know it at the time, but I had just met Gabriel Mekler, who was starting his own label (Lizard Records) upstairs. He was quite the producer, having worked with Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night and Janis Joplin. Later, when I was installing the soundproof studio, I remembered seeing gold records on the wall from those artists.

Other than meeting Gabriel, and installing his studio, the most significant event that occurred was meeting the secretary. She was dating Steven Stills, at the time and her family had just purchased a resort in the Giant Redwoods in northern California.

I would end up doing small jobs at her house in Laurel Canyon and eventually end up working at that resort. But more of that later....

A Carpenter in Hollywood

One of the jobs I did was enclose an outdoor patio for Andy DiMartino. Among other things to his credit was his work on the Cascades album that led to the gold recording of "Rhythm of the Rain" in 1962. While this was over 7 years later, Andy could still make a living off of a gold recording. He would tell you that he could get advances for demos from major studios, based on his success and even if nothing turned out, he could make a living from just that.

While working at Andy's house, I met Kent Morrill. He was a singer/songwriter from Seattle, who had come to Hollywood to make a name for himself. He had been the lead singer of The Fabulous Wailers, or The Boys from Tacoma as they were know in the Northwest. Kent and his group were big time entertainment in Seattle. They hosted "House Parties" that were big hits in Tacoma. One of their biggest fans was a young Jimmy Hendrix a local Seattle artist. They recorded, and released, "Louie, Louie" in 1960. But it was the cover released by the Kingsman in 1963 that topped the charts and has since become the Northwest's anthem. A lot of "what ifs".

Kent Morrill in 2011

Anyway, Kent was a prolific writer and before his death in 2011 he had amassed thousands of songs. He was a Roy Orbison tribute performer in Las Vegas for about 10 years and he was invited to Wink, Texas (Roy's home town) to act as the official Roy Orbison representative. He looked and sounded so much like Roy Orbison, anyway. He had a high, pure voice and loved performing.

I would later live with Kent and his roommate Lance Wakely for a while. But that is for another time.