tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55781595161447659682024-03-04T22:10:09.940-08:00Solar IceRoger McGuinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13437197288170381506noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5578159516144765968.post-46783515917659500582020-11-14T05:36:00.001-08:002020-11-14T05:56:43.270-08:00Bobby Darin<p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-size: 12px;"> </span><b> <span style="font-size: large;">BOBBY DARIN</span></b></p><p class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">Our house in Laurel Canyon smelled like grass when I got home from the</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Crescendo club where I’d been backing the Chad Mitchell Trio, opening up for Lenny Bruce.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Bob and Artie were sitting cross-legged on the floor,</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">around the coffee table, rolling joints.</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Hey man. How'd it go?" Bob asked, holding his breath to</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">keep in the pot he'd just inhaled.</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Great! I got an offer for a new job."</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"What do you mean a new job? I thought you were going to</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">work with us. You've even been on the cover of TV Guide with the</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Christys." Art murmured, handing me a joint.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUgfMTXN1WJqTeNJ-KWoGxpLOKxZRrsIUYDZmh6hyphenhyphenjxl_UMhpJI4X1GpaTyXh7P_9D1xLzAk1Rajk7_ZbOA2HRz-YDKXfRh0znQKo66A_8C6yIVvZvjaJI8bGrdhUOoA46ROX0lv05gqJM/s756/RM_Christies.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="540" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUgfMTXN1WJqTeNJ-KWoGxpLOKxZRrsIUYDZmh6hyphenhyphenjxl_UMhpJI4X1GpaTyXh7P_9D1xLzAk1Rajk7_ZbOA2HRz-YDKXfRh0znQKo66A_8C6yIVvZvjaJI8bGrdhUOoA46ROX0lv05gqJM/s320/RM_Christies.jpg" /></a></div>Cover of TV Guide with the New Christy Minstrels<div> I'm on the upper left with the long neck 5-string banjo<br /><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p></div> <div><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Do you know who Bobby Darin is?"</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Yeah man! “Splish Splash”! Who doesn't know him? You mean he</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">offered you a job?" Bob sounded excited.</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"He told me he'd give twice what I was making with Chad Mitchell."</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Oh, you gotta' do it man, you gotta' do it!" Bob cheered.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I looked over at Artie who was nodding his head, "Yeah I</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">guess you'd better take it. The Christys will never pay that</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">much."</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_XrBTKjYkbOQaRkkicYV822Ugi0HRvkX6Q9n9qTUgZhQtPBBJWF6vmnfm45XC5_VbQ1pyVd8MIl2GujYcbGEn1oAR1oU-q9MTKzThVk9vpND90y_NeshGhYdZKfJx8_m1PFz7HRCCP8e/s500/Bobby.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="375" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_XrBTKjYkbOQaRkkicYV822Ugi0HRvkX6Q9n9qTUgZhQtPBBJWF6vmnfm45XC5_VbQ1pyVd8MIl2GujYcbGEn1oAR1oU-q9MTKzThVk9vpND90y_NeshGhYdZKfJx8_m1PFz7HRCCP8e/s320/Bobby.jpeg" /></a></div><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"You know this Darin thing sounds good...but I'm not sure I</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">can get up and meet him at seven in the morning."</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"He wants you there at seven? That means you have to get up</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">at six. That's crazy! Musicians don't get up at six in the</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">morning, they go to bed at six in the morning and singers can't</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">sing that early. How are you going to audition that early in the</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">morning?" Artie huffed.</p><p class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"No..No Jim, I think you'd be crazy not to do it. Bobby</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Darin's like Frank Sinatra. At least you gotta' go and find out</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">what he want's you to do. You're nineteen...this could be your</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">big break. Do you have an alarm clock?"<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Yeah Bob.....and I think you're right. I'm gonna' hit the</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">sack. See you guys tomorrow."<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"I know you won't be sorry man." Bob encouraged.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I arrived at Darin's house on Sunset Plaza Drive, promptly</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">at seven in the morning<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It occurred to me that maybe this early</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">hour was his way of testing my reliability. Bobby met me at the</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">door and showed me into the dining room.</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Have a seat. Help yourself to coffee and sweet rolls. I'll</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">be back in a minute." The authority that he exuded made me feel</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">like a child even though he was only a few years my senior. My</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">eyes explored the multi-leveled house and I caught a glimpse of</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Sandra Dee, his wife, as she walked through the living room in a</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">red sweat shirt and white shorts.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Okay Jim, this is what I want you to do. I'm going to add a</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">folk segment to my show. I'll do fifteen minutes with the band</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">and then I'll bring you out. Then just the two of us will do a</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">few folk songs. You'll sing harmony and play your 12-string.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">You even get your own spotlight."</p><p class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Great." I managed before gulping. I was waiting for him to</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">make me audition.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"We start rehearsals at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas next</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">week. Charlie Mafia will take care of all the arrangements. Write</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">your phone number on that pad over there."<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">There was no audition. The show last night must have made</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">the right impression and I walked out of his house feeling like I</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">had just been adopted by a rich godfather.</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaMnYLnYOcIcviRviRPkSMwKBN5PbfH2rDUj-5izXgdaIJPe5OZo9LNt2fLSJrONjpjV3IPWbzAdwP6NYLYDLTXl22V4gVyg_7YZY6hWyORmHLXpUthiMPhVVtyYqM22dgb_pIUoMKB_JU/s1490/Bobby_Darin_Flamingo.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1006" data-original-width="1490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaMnYLnYOcIcviRviRPkSMwKBN5PbfH2rDUj-5izXgdaIJPe5OZo9LNt2fLSJrONjpjV3IPWbzAdwP6NYLYDLTXl22V4gVyg_7YZY6hWyORmHLXpUthiMPhVVtyYqM22dgb_pIUoMKB_JU/s320/Bobby_Darin_Flamingo.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">A week later Bobby's band and I were on a plane to Vegas.</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Bobby was nervous about flying, so he and Sandra drove.</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Returning to Las Vegas with a headliner was like a</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">victorious homecoming. The main showroom was bigger than the Riviera</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">lounge I'd played with the Chad Mitchell Trio and I had a great</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">spot in Bobby Darin's show at the Flamingo, the</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">original Las Vegas Hotel.</p><p class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Bobby carried just a rhythm section with him on the road and</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">would hire a fourteen-piece horn section in each town. Rehearsals</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">would last all day but I was only required to be there for thirty</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">minutes to work on our folk segment. I had to be on time and in</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">tune. Bobby was a perfectionist and didn't tolerate sloppy</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">habits.</p><p class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Bobby's drummer, Ronnie Zito, was the band clown. He kept</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">us all entertained by asking the hotel operator to page funny</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">names such as, "Daryl B. Moretocum," "Felix Sydded," and "Amanda</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Reconwith."<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Opening night I watched the beginning of the show from the</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">wings. Stage fright reared its ugly head again and my palms were</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">sweating. I decided to check the tuning of my 12-string. Suddenly</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">it sounded way out. It had sounded fine just minutes before in</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">the dressing room but now my nerves were distorting my sense of</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">pitch. Frantically I tried to get it in tune before my entrance.</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The stage went black and I walked to my microphone in the dark.</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Bobby was taking off his jacket and tie, as I tentatively moved</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">to center stage and started playing, "It Makes A Long Time Man</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Feel Bad," Miraculously the guitar was in tune. The song's</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">opening lick was fast and intricate. I had to summon all of my</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">concentration to get it right. Bobby walked over to his</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">microphone. Two small spotlights, side by side, illuminated our</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">faces and were the only lights visible on the stage. We sang the</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">song together and the audience exploded into applause.</p><p class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Sandra Dee and Peter Fonda were in the audience.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They had</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">just finished filming "Tammy and the Doctor." After the show they</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">came backstage and I met Henry Fonda's son, Peter.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I realized</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">that Bobby attracted a more diverse audience than had my previous</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">employers, from little old ladies, to movie stars. Peter and I got to talking</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">and we discovered that we had a friend in common. Stormy McDonald.</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">He had been my friend at the Latin School of Chicago and Peter's</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">best friend in collage. We kept in touch after that meeting.</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzOoLN58eN9-R9FVsSHYiWRfLEGH85uji5uuhoEAjdLcqxrqhMHGxyFza2I8Jr9q-k6pGu_61AtchqpxKvjTIxDhizDqTUcrzynrNDzyXTZq90oazrei6SFId2FB_rCAZcJvgHR9dvKFQ3/s391/Tammy.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="254" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzOoLN58eN9-R9FVsSHYiWRfLEGH85uji5uuhoEAjdLcqxrqhMHGxyFza2I8Jr9q-k6pGu_61AtchqpxKvjTIxDhizDqTUcrzynrNDzyXTZq90oazrei6SFId2FB_rCAZcJvgHR9dvKFQ3/s320/Tammy.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Bobby Darin was the master and I became his apprentice. He</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">didn't mind that I followed him everywhere. I wanted to learn</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">everything I could from him about performing, acting, songwriting</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">and just living. When I asked him what it took to make it in show</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">business he advised, "The most important thing is to get up in</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">front of audiences as much as you can. It doesn't matter how good</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">you are in front of your mirror at home, you have to test under fire."<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">One night in the casino while he was playing roulette, he</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">turned to me and said "I get waves "What do you mean?" I asked.</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"You have to have 360 degree peripheral vision and get</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">waves, you know, like knowing where the ball is going to land</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">next." He put his chips on the six. The ball landed on twenty</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">two. He shrugged "It doesn't always work. Let's go over to the</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">lounge. There's a trio I want to check out."<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">We walked into the lounge and stood at the bar. The placard</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">on the side of the stage read "The Newton Brothers."</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"That lead singer's great but he needs to get rid of those</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">two brothers. I think I'll go back stage and have a talk with him</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">after the show." Bobby leaned over to the bartender and asked,</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"What's that lead singer's name?"</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Wayne...Wayne Newton."</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKkXJcTyWOzWdzyb9GXXzUjnx61ek9xGUbfdNvqMVvMybIXrzS8Mf5FHiU3SdMRyXNENxeGWB32PTncbYnq2RrI1YhW28gCh2v7ylpGz0D7zPvYWojNpmKOsXGsY3EBAK9ivtuAsIDA_YF/s1200/Wayne.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="979" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKkXJcTyWOzWdzyb9GXXzUjnx61ek9xGUbfdNvqMVvMybIXrzS8Mf5FHiU3SdMRyXNENxeGWB32PTncbYnq2RrI1YhW28gCh2v7ylpGz0D7zPvYWojNpmKOsXGsY3EBAK9ivtuAsIDA_YF/s320/Wayne.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Later that week, Jackie Cooper caught our show at the Flamingo. </p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">He liked what he saw and wanted to use me as a banjo</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">playing character in a new television series that he was</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">producing called "Petticoat Junction." The script struck me as</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">being way too square, so I turned down the part. Bobby couldn't</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">believe that I had actually turned Jackie Cooper down. He said</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">that it was a good break if I wanted to get into acting but I</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">just couldn't see myself being a Hollywood hillbilly. </p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Bobby said now you'll probably never work in the movies.</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjuAng8boxeg87rdM5vHC_uBzZanV2qpBGSSPLTg0KtQMkBMTuY9ZkXlsGVU58r69QU2_2QUv3G4JbhaYGu8tyzGGXp8po7NWxzEhTGxziDD1TZLQwCo_fQwhTvM876fQKWIVWz4baIEtt/s313/Pettycoat_Junction.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="233" data-original-width="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjuAng8boxeg87rdM5vHC_uBzZanV2qpBGSSPLTg0KtQMkBMTuY9ZkXlsGVU58r69QU2_2QUv3G4JbhaYGu8tyzGGXp8po7NWxzEhTGxziDD1TZLQwCo_fQwhTvM876fQKWIVWz4baIEtt/s0/Pettycoat_Junction.jpeg" /></a></div><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">A friend in Hollywood named Baxter Taylor had loaned me a</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">fine sounding 12-string guitar. It was a Gibson Hummingbird</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">6-string that he had converted to a 12-string. With the six extra</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">strings, there was over 256 pounds of pressure on the frail neck.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">One night, after I had concluded my part of the show, I leaned</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">the guitar up against the piano.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The piano was on casters to</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">make it easier to move around the stage.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>During the next segment</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">of the show, Bobby put his hand on the piano and moved it back</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">just far enough to send the guitar crashing to the hard-wood</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">floor.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The tuning head snapped off, completely destroying the</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">guitar. The next day Bobby bought me a new Gibson 12-string.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx_1qggW7Q5Spf7fwPZ-KtHwV5uI0pXo4IlnaLouRzvsFa5AZvDYpJg82wKf5Cqw7TSohwO_Wcc8nyTIUYKe8-aC581WG0Uv2ZdYL3pyM1Wcdnj82CNw2b4o4sJonLQFCt7-MsSFr_ItzZ/s453/McGuinn_Gibson_12.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="453" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx_1qggW7Q5Spf7fwPZ-KtHwV5uI0pXo4IlnaLouRzvsFa5AZvDYpJg82wKf5Cqw7TSohwO_Wcc8nyTIUYKe8-aC581WG0Uv2ZdYL3pyM1Wcdnj82CNw2b4o4sJonLQFCt7-MsSFr_ItzZ/s320/McGuinn_Gibson_12.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-converted-space"><b>Gibson acoustic 12-string that Bobby Darin gave me</b></span></div><div><b><br /></b><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">After Bobby’s show I would walk up the strip to the Sahara to watch<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Insult comedian Don Rickles.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">One night I was the honored recipient of Don's jabs.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">said, "There's a kid back there who works for Bobby Darin. He's</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">been in the business about two weeks and he goes around saying</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">'I'm a star, I'm a star'." I didn't know how he knew about me but</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">his acknowledgment really made me feel like part of the show</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">business community.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Don used to make fun of everyone including Frank Sinatra.</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">He would make jokes about Frank being the boss. "Did Frank tell</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">you, you could leave the casino so soon?" One night, I used</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Frank's name flippantly on stage during Bobby's show. After the</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">show as I walked past Bobby's dressing room, he shouted, "Hey</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Skinny McGuinny (His nickname for me) get in here, I want to talk to you!"</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"What did I do?"<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>"You don't talk about Frank Sinatra in this town and get</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">away with it! What were you trying to do out there?"</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"I thought it would be funny." I said sheepishly.</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"It was stupid! What made you think you could say that</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">anyway?"</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"I saw Don Rickles do it at the Sahara and it worked for<span class="Apple-converted-space"> him."</span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"He is the only person who can do it. You keep your mouth</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">shut about Frank. Do you hear?"</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Okay. I won't do it again."</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">After changing clothes I went into the lounge to watch</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Lionel Hampton and his band. When they finished their set, Danny</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Barahanos, Lionel's conga player, and my friend from the Miriam</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Makeba tour, came over to my table.</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Hi Jim. Lionel wants to talk to you. Join him at his table</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">with his wife"</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Wow everybody wants to talk to me tonight." I mumbled to</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">myself as I walked over to Lionel's table.</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Hi Jim, have a seat. What are you drinking?"</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"I'll have a coke."</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"You know I've been watching you and I like what I'm</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">hearin’” "Thanks."</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Danny's been telling' me you two've been jammin' at the</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">clubs across town and you're doin' some mighty fine pickin'. How</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">would you like to do a record for me?"<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Lionel hold on, some people aren't quite ready for the big</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">time yet." Mrs. Hampton interjected</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Well maybe not just yet but I keepin' my eye on you. We got</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">to go. Talk to you later Jim."</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Thanks Mr. Hampton."</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbWcrAgF5IN-opyzlQXvhEcbcPQsg4yK88edJBXPlyHqqNyDiAz0eEWp16M4bQwq8HmjdlfUo4WnGb5EcWqek3jX9CBC1z0B8c4xiraqCymvrHyJjxgl0Ysq__xFQE5FtkT2zOqql-5q2P/s1024/Lionel.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="795" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbWcrAgF5IN-opyzlQXvhEcbcPQsg4yK88edJBXPlyHqqNyDiAz0eEWp16M4bQwq8HmjdlfUo4WnGb5EcWqek3jX9CBC1z0B8c4xiraqCymvrHyJjxgl0Ysq__xFQE5FtkT2zOqql-5q2P/s320/Lionel.jpeg" /></a></div> Lionel Hampton<br /><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Bobby was having problems with his health. He'd had</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Rheumatic fever as a child and had heart trouble as a result.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">His voice was starting to give out from the heavy schedule and</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">his doctor told him to get out of the performing end of the</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">business for a while. He planned on moving his family to an</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">elegant apartment on East 57th street in New York. There he could</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">concentrated on his publishing company, TM Music. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Hey McGuinny, come here I wand to talk to you. I'm not</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">going to be performing for a while. I'm going to<span class="Apple-converted-space"> devote</span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">attention to my publishing company. Why don't you move to New</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">York and try your hand at songwriting in the Brill Building? I'll</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">give you thirty-five dollars a week. With that and money you can</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">pick up from sessions and playing in the Village, you can buy a</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">lot of cheeseburgers."</p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhiEb1B7m2l5E8V-c6LC-T3WefN38fBmpoQheYQbir_cV5yW9fbsYCI8YiORYLiNfyvK5FaSLikvhrVlU4mupY94ZASypXtdMWPV-exdYWMcR_EaHckFviBU3RxekfhZDMYJjnhQNaC78I/s800/BrillBuildingNY.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="533" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhiEb1B7m2l5E8V-c6LC-T3WefN38fBmpoQheYQbir_cV5yW9fbsYCI8YiORYLiNfyvK5FaSLikvhrVlU4mupY94ZASypXtdMWPV-exdYWMcR_EaHckFviBU3RxekfhZDMYJjnhQNaC78I/s320/BrillBuildingNY.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I thought for a minute. It was a big drop in pay but it was a chance </p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">to get back to New York. The scene in the Village and the prospect </p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">of working in Tin Pan Alley were irresistible. "Will you pay for my </p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">plane ticket to New York?" He laughed and said, "Sure." </p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I walked away feeling that I still had a<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>godfather and I was going </p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">home to the Village. </p><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZnhslaA9Ew_pzUFiajhs0dpbdifnFMKVkxm6YxvAPtva3izlqFupdGrpu8fDO1k0hsINoUqnIeiRrHIQ7P_vO5DVXPaRR_CmIncnnMm0Sv-k7JmTA8360DocMlTKdOcsyCPL9Hi0IvMPp/s400/greenwichvillage.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZnhslaA9Ew_pzUFiajhs0dpbdifnFMKVkxm6YxvAPtva3izlqFupdGrpu8fDO1k0hsINoUqnIeiRrHIQ7P_vO5DVXPaRR_CmIncnnMm0Sv-k7JmTA8360DocMlTKdOcsyCPL9Hi0IvMPp/s320/greenwichvillage.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Greenwich Village</b></p></div>Roger McGuinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13437197288170381506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5578159516144765968.post-80106159862143803992007-08-09T09:46:00.000-07:002008-03-12T07:39:21.547-07:00Solar Ice<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQDOn3XCCqdr_K3k_ORJgWfdPhyphenhyphenL3LU6EZQ9YzI-3VK6iGLzns_-PODjN3en5XQevbLPJopt-HtBbq0vsS9bUxraz64ikV-LY19CXJea1mKIbCeLy9erAY2w-sihztODeySc9cI1oKB5y/s1600-h/solar_panel.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQDOn3XCCqdr_K3k_ORJgWfdPhyphenhyphenL3LU6EZQ9YzI-3VK6iGLzns_-PODjN3en5XQevbLPJopt-HtBbq0vsS9bUxraz64ikV-LY19CXJea1mKIbCeLy9erAY2w-sihztODeySc9cI1oKB5y/s320/solar_panel.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5096743492800739826" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicUCCcom9fOYHGFJmW-ctiICwaEjjtMVbn4qZAYp7f-ezGV21EzNiQhJ-ozLvce5Bhoq2m2HOuoSUPi1XFlgjAfmJeVyGg2xMMhQ59_arZkyHOOXitwrSlzzUaGk04TVbEnMZhvGj4T7Ni/s1600-h/Inverter.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicUCCcom9fOYHGFJmW-ctiICwaEjjtMVbn4qZAYp7f-ezGV21EzNiQhJ-ozLvce5Bhoq2m2HOuoSUPi1XFlgjAfmJeVyGg2xMMhQ59_arZkyHOOXitwrSlzzUaGk04TVbEnMZhvGj4T7Ni/s320/Inverter.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5096743677484333586" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3fCsMqEv06LHJ8n9l16AdcTZF72krFXN6R9nFTl2XHLqBv7KSEP4KsHp4wBoh0hTDICWz11jocVWZBXPBk-SfJxUNe-APk11E-ICENVfp1Eyd4ZPSBlOH3a_7q3kY3Acm40mY-4Dukk6Z/s1600-h/Blue_Top.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3fCsMqEv06LHJ8n9l16AdcTZF72krFXN6R9nFTl2XHLqBv7KSEP4KsHp4wBoh0hTDICWz11jocVWZBXPBk-SfJxUNe-APk11E-ICENVfp1Eyd4ZPSBlOH3a_7q3kY3Acm40mY-4Dukk6Z/s320/Blue_Top.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5096743595879954946" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_kDrWZD6iqjT4xAV7oh2jcdNkpD2tZOCG4nOT4BbeT0_v1uH9YZ4C8GG0LbMDCpCkxwN1qKoBHadaTMMu-h_jditlvHM1yywIHdaAsm7uNAibWQg8OfbP5zu5cPfVju0IITnTARADOted/s1600-h/Ice_Maker.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_kDrWZD6iqjT4xAV7oh2jcdNkpD2tZOCG4nOT4BbeT0_v1uH9YZ4C8GG0LbMDCpCkxwN1qKoBHadaTMMu-h_jditlvHM1yywIHdaAsm7uNAibWQg8OfbP5zu5cPfVju0IITnTARADOted/s320/Ice_Maker.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5096743827808188962" /></a><br /><a href="http://tinyurl.com/22wgjs"><b><br />Solar Ice in Florida's 90 Degree Heat! Click here for video!</b></a><br /><br />My wife Camilla and I live in Orlando Florida where we have frequent, sometimes devastating hurricanes. When we get one, the electrical power always goes out, at least for hours, but more often for days or even weeks. For ecological reasons, we I don't like the idea of owning a gasoline powered generator, or having to deal with gasoline cans and mixing in messy oil or even owning a relatively cleaner burning propane generator. Aside from the impact on the environment, you have to keep the dangerous fuels on hand, store them in a cool well ventilated, safe place and replenish them when they run out. That could prove difficult or impossible under certain circumstances. On top of that you have to be sure that the carbon monoxide exhaust form your gas generator, running for hours on end, isn't sucked into your home by some means and ends up killing you and your family.<br /><br />In an ideal situation, we would love to be totally off the grid, using only photovoltaic solar power to run all of our appliances, but with the price of photovoltaic panels, storage batteries, switching devices and inverters at the current time, that would be prohibitively expensive, even taking advantage of government subsidies. During a recent brain storming session on how best to survive a long power outage, we came up with a more cost effective and Earth-friendly alternative.<br /><br />We will still use a propane grill for occasional cooking but need some way to store food in a cool environment away from the 90-degree-plus heat of Central Florida. We have a large cooler that will keep ice frozen for up to seven days (according to the manufacturer) but after 7-days we would need to either buy or make more ice. The solution is a <a href="http://tinyurl.com/22wgjs">solar powered ice machine</a>. With our four 15 Watt solar panels connected to four deep cycle batteries for a total of 280 Amp Hours of power and two 750 Watt inverters, we have enough electricity to run our <a href="http://tinyurl.com/22wgjs">3.5 amp ice maker</a> and generate enough ice from solar energy, to keep food cold indefinitely. Cool eh?Roger McGuinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13437197288170381506noreply@blogger.com0