Rock & Roll I Gave You The Best Years of My Life

 

 

As a songwriter, I've always enjoyed writing in a wide variety of musical genres but the rock & roll genre has always been my favorite genre.

More often than not, rock & roll music has always been there to help me regain an optimistic outlook on things.  So, it was in the middle of having to deal with ongoing medical issues over the past 5 months that I decided that the only thing that would help me regain my sanity was to write and record a genuine lo-fi rock & roll album. Of course, as soon as I started working on the album (which would be called Rock & Roll is a State of Mind), my imagination drifted back to how big a role rock & roll music has played in my life.  Every once and awhile during the recording sessions, I would suddenly get lost in the memories of all of the countless bands that I had played in when I was growing up.

 

 

In 1965 I was an army brat living in Verdun, France.  I have a vivid memory of the first night when I arrived in France.  I was watching that old tv show Gunsmoke on television and it was disconcerting to see Matt Dillon exclaim, "Zoot Alors!"  

 

I quickly changed the channel and stumbled upon a music show (it might have been Beat Club, a show out of Germany).  Suddenly the explosive sound of The Who was blasting out of the television set as the band roared through "My Generation".  Zowie!  I was hooked!  I got even more excited when, during the song's finale, Pete Townshend (Guitar) and Keith Moon (Drums) destroyed their instruments.  

 

 

 

My First Guitar….a Framus Guitar

Shortly after this big event in my life, I managed to convince my parents that I needed an electric guitar in order to survive living in Europe.  I ended up getting a cool Framus guitar. Much to their credit, they saw the wisdom of this and soon enough I was playing in various garage bands.  

Over the course of posting on this blog over the past several years, I've chronicled some parts of my rock & roll life blog; most notably on a post called MY FIRST GIG which detailed the start of my life in rock & roll in 1966.

After my disastrous first gig, I ended up as the lead singer in a band called (what else?) US (the band name was due to the influence of band names like The Who and Them).  We had somehow managed to wrangle a series of gigs at various Canadian Air Force bases where we would play at the NCO club.  Our first gig at one of those joints was (what else?) a real disaster.  When we set up our equipment at the club we had forgotten that in Europe that had a different electrical circuit system and our amps were wired for the US electrical system.  When we turned on our amps to start the show a huge cloud of smoke filled the club!  This caused our audience, which was a crowd of drunken Canadian Air Force Sergeants, to start yelling at us as we tried to get our amps to work.  Say what?!

 

 

 

As the smoke drifted around the club, some of these servicemen began cursing in French and one or two empty beer cans flew through the air.  What happened next pretty much made me see that I was born to do this.  I quickly told the drummer to start playing a military beat and then started singing an Acapella version of The Beatles "Yellow Submarine".  As luck would have it, this delighted the inebriated Canadians to no end and the entire club stood up and sang along for the better part of 20 minutes or so as the Dad of the bass guitarist (who just happened to be an Army electrician) quickly set up two spare amps we had in the van and hooked them up to work with the European electrical current.  Along with my disastrous first gig, this gig was yet another fine introduction to the art of show business! 

 

 

 

Brian & Michael Pinkey

By the time I moved to Pennsylvania in 1967, I was doing some recording sessions with my friends Brian and Michael Pinkey.  Michael Pinkey was the first musician I'd met who actually wrote his own songs.  Michael had a big influence on my decision to get serious about songwriting.

 

 

 

The Solo Years

In 1967, I also started performing at various coffeehouses in Carlisle, PA at this time.  This was a new experience for me as I had never played a gig as a soloist and it was a real learning curve for me. 

 

 

 

By 1970, I was in Ohio attending The University of Dayton and besides showing up at campus parties and playing solo, I had joined up with a fella named Larry McCullough and overnight we suddenly became a blues combo called Leftover Blues which enabled me to celebrate my love of Howlin Wolf and other great Chess Records artists.

 

 

 

Ray, John & Chuck

1972 to 1973 was spent performing in coffeehouses with a popular folk rock outfit called Chuck, Ray, John & Jim.  Besides performing some of the popular folk rock material of the day, we also were known for playing our own material which, at the time, was considered an unusual thing to do.  During this point of my college career, I was an Anthropology major and at one point I was offered the chance to go on an anthropological dig in the Bahamas and I turned down that offer while saying to my professor, "Gosh, I can't go on that dig, I got some gigs to play!"  Turning my back on a potential career in academia pretty much made me see the writing on the wall:  making music had claimed my soul once and for all.

 

 

 

Billy "The Mountain" Cairns

In 1974, I met my all-time favorite rock & roll drummer, the one and only Billy "The Mountain" Cairns.  I was at a party at one of the off-campus houses and went upstairs to use the bathroom.  When I came out of the bathroom, Billy leaped out of the shadows, grabbed me by the shoulders and (what else?) threw me down the stairs!  Apparently, Billy had seen me playing around at various places on the college campus and wanted to do some gigs with me.  After throwing me down the stairs, Billy shouted, "Hey!  I could play with you!"  As I lay in a heap at the bottom of the stars, the only response I could think of was, "You're Hired!" and thus a great friendship was born!

 

 

 

Freelance Vandals 1974 Lineup

In 1974, Billy and I formed the first lineup of the Freelance Vandals. The band also included Paul Polanski who brought a definite free jazz influence into the material we were doing.  Our repertoire was an oddball collection of some Van Morrison and Bruce Springsteen songs, Louisiana Cajun music, original songs, some Broadway show tunes (say what?!) and jazz material by Sun Ra and Rahsaan Roland Kirk.  Talk about being eclectic!

 

 

During my last year at the University of Dayton,  I also started participating in the school's theater program.  In retrospect, I can see how getting involved in various theatrical productions ended up having a big impact on my rock & roll life later on.  I learned a lot about using my physicality while performing along with learning how to achieve a presence onstage; all of which I was to use to great effect during my years with the Freelance Vandals.

 

 

The day after I graduated from college, my buddy Ray and I got in his car and drove to Maryland where we were part of a rock band called Mama's Boys (which included future members of the 3rd lineup of Freelance Vandals).  To this day, I still can't figure out why this band managed to only play one gig in that entire year!

 

 

 

In 1976, I returned to Dayton and played in a 2nd lineup of Freelance Vandals.  This lineup included Joe "Lipper" Lipinski on bass, Billy Cairns on (what else?) drums, Bob Silk (lead guitar), George Hallett (keyboards) and myself.  The drum chair was taken over by Jeff Keating when Billy returned to the Long Island area of New York to pursue his rock & roll dreams in a punk rock combo called The Magnets.

 

 

 

Johnny Pierre & Chris Kerwin

The 1976 Freelance Vandals lineup played one gig that still pops up in my memory box every now and then.  One of my college buddies, a wild Irishman by the name of Chris Kerwin, was living outside of town on a farm and he staged a party that was sponsored by a fictitious organization called The Sexual Congress Club.  

The band set up and played in the living room of the farmhouse.  During our last number, which was a bizarre cover version of (what else?) "Sing This All Together" (from the Rolling Stones Santanic Majesties Request album), the large crowd began jumping up and down to the music.  We could all feel the floorboards starting to give away.  Attempting to avoid a total collapse of the floor we abruptly ended the song which brought forth a chorus of boos and flying beer cans.  Sweet mystery of life at last I've found you!

By 1977, I was trying to find a way to get a break in the music business.  I ended up moving to Long Island to be part of the 3rd lineup of Freelance Vandals.  This lineup immediately proved to be a popular band in Long  Island.

 

 

 

The band's first publicity photo which was taken by college friend of mine

 

 

 John C. Engelhardt / Long Shot Photography

The 1977 lineup of the Freelance Vandals consisted of Garry Pritchett (Bass / Vocals), Jack Finch (Keyboards), "Diamond" Ray Finch (Lead Guitar / Vocals), Billy Cairns (Drums / Vocals) and myself (Lead Vocals / Rhythm Guitar).  The 1977 Freelance Vandals lineup was steeped in a meat & potatoes style of rock & roll a la the Rolling Stones and The Faces.  

 

 

 

Our first official publicity photo taken by 

 

 

renowned photographer Paul O. Colliton

Looking back, I remember that it was a very hard year for the band.  After migrating to Long Island from Dayton, Ohio, we had begun to make some inroads across the Long Island club scene.  Slowly but surely, the band had developed a growing reputation for our original material and lively performance style.

 

 

1978 had been a frustrated time for the group as we tried to get signed with a major record label.  The band had entered into a production contract with music producer Dennis Ganim whose main claim to fame was the minor hit “Green Eyed Lady” by a band called Sugarloaf.  “Sugarloaf...What the?!”

 

 

 

In order for Dennis Ganim to shop the band around to various record labels, he quickly decided to book us to play a gig @ Trude Heller’s in NYC.  Trude Heller's was a club in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City which was located at 6th Avenue and West 9th Street and operated from the early 1960s to the early 1980s. It had been described as the only truly “in” spot in Greenwich Village. Some of the acts that got their starts there were Duane and Gregg Allman of the Allman Brothers, Cyndi Lauper, and the Manhattan Transfer.

After doing our our Trude Heller audition, Ganim arranged to have us signed to Pyramid Records; a subsidiary of RCA records and we immediately started going over original songs for the album.

 

 

 

Before we started recording our album for the Pyramid label, Ganim made us do a bunch of corny promotional stunts such as posing for an article that appeared in the Hollywood Press.  The picture above was taken at Hurrahs; one of the popular NYC clubs at the time.

 

 

 

The day after we finished recording our album, Ganim suddenly broke the contract with RCA/Pyramid and signed us to a German label.  After a month or so, the German label cancelled the Freelance Vandals due to the fact that they discovered that Ganim was trying to sign the band to yet another label. 

Over the next couple of weeks, we went label shopping on our own in NYC and soon found out that, due to Ganim’s label switch, we were now known as a  "A band that breaks contracts".   Overnight, we became persona non grata to every major record label.  This was a real eye opener.  That night as I was lying in bed I kept hearing voices whispering “Welcome to the Music Business!”  

 

 

 

Front Cover of the Double Dog Pak

In 1979, the band persevered by starting their own record label called Dog Records and releasing a double 45 set called the DOUBLE DOG PAK!  

 

 

The rear cover of the Double Dog Pak

 

 

 

It should be noted that the photographer who took the Dog Pak pictures

was none other than the infamous Mick Rock

 

 

 

As 1978 wound down, we licked our wounds and put aside our exile from the music business for the time being.  In December, when we were having a band meeting at the notorious Vandal House,  we suddenly realized that we had one more gig at the Music Box in Bellmore on New Year's Eve. 

We didn't realize it at the time but the New Year’s Eve gig was going to be filled with anger, sadness and regret. The frustration we were experiencing due to our foray into the music business, had left a feeling of depression floating all around us.  

 

 

Over the years I've always thought about that last show in 1978.  Little did I know at the time, that the band would regroup and go out and keep playing; only this time the band ended up playing harder and louder.  By 1979, we were on fire.  The band transformed itself into band that would take no prisoners while on stage.  

 

All of that all started when we played that New Year's Eve gig at The Music Box in 1978.

In 1979, the band got really committed to delivering powerful shows as our reputation in the tri-state area grew.  We opened shows for such artists as Dr. John, John Hiatt, Beaver Brown and NRBQ.

As time went on, there were some changers in the band members and our music changed also.  By the 80's, we had started incorporating some jump blues mixed with pure pop material.

 

 

 

This 4th lineup of the Freelance Vandals had more of a pop influence as the band reflected some of the current new wave music styles that were popular at the time.  

The addition of Mike Adams on bass whose playing emulated the style John Entwistle of the Who gave the band more punch and Chuck Ciany's vocals and saxophone work opened up the band's sound quite a bit.  I remember thinking, "This is a long way from the old garage days!"  This lineup appears on some of the tracks on YER MONEY OR YER EARS.

 

 

 

This final and 5th lineup of the Freelance Vandals, which came together in 1983, was a different kind of animal altogether.  Our newest band members, saxophonist Tommy Yamasaki, brought some cool jazz influence into the group and Al Speed provided a unique approach when playing his keyboards. 

 

 

The 1983 lineup of the Freelance Vandals appears on the band's 1984 live album, YER MONEY OR YER EARS.  Shortly after the release of the live album, the band announced that it was disbanding.  Over the next several years, the band would perform at some reunion shows from time to time.

By the end of my tenure with the Freelance Vandals, I had to quit playing live due to having polyps on my vocal chords; the only way I would get my singing voice back was to stop playing live for awhile.  During this time of my life, many changes took place; I got married after which I became a Dad with the arrival of Molly, my beautiful daughter.  

 

 

 

Even though I couldn't play any gigs, I kept on concentrating on my songwriting. Economy and deliberation is what's called for when it comes to writing songs.  As to be expected, It wasn't long before I found myself missing the energy of playing live music.

 

 

 

By the mid-80's, I started playing gigs with a new band called The Mighty Young Fish.  The Fish were a rowdy combo that had a definite Robert Johnson Meets The Rolling Stones type of vibe.  The band included Jeff “Shadow Groove” Goldstein on bass (who I currently play with in the Biscuit Kings), Peter Conway on lead guitar and tomfoolery, Billy Cairns on (what else?) drums, Mark Mancini on keyboards and myself on lead vocals and rhythm guitar.

 

 

In the 90's, I was also part of a rock & roll combo called The Helpless Bovines which included Tommy Martin (Lead Guitar/vocals) and three members of the Freelance Vandals; Mike Adams on bass, Billy Cairns on (what else?) drums and myself.  The most memorable thing that The Helpless Bovines played was a rock opera called Mr. Quasimodo which was all about the Hunchback of Notre Dame; the idea for this rock opera was based on a Freelance Vandals song that was called (what else?) Mr. Quasimodo.  We only performed the entire rock opera twice.  I can recall after one of those shows, I heard an audience member say, "What's next...Brigadoon?" 

 

 

 

Around 1995, I also started playing with the first lineup of the Biscuit Kings, an Americana Blues combo, which was put together by myself and my favorite bass player, Jeff “Shadow Groove” Goldstein.  Over time we put together a great combo that's active to this very day. 

Members of the Biscuit Kings: Dave Filloramo (Lead Guitar), Mark Mancini (Keyboards), Michael “The Commodore” Leuci (Drums), Jeff Goldstein (Bass) and myself aka Johnny Pierre (Lead Vocal, Rhythm Guitar).

 

 

 

In 2007, the Freelance Vandals played their last show with our immortal drummer Billy Cairn.  Billy passed away due to cancer in 2008.  I still wish he was around to throw me down the stairs one more time.

 

 

 

Shortly after playing my last Vandals gig with Billy, I decided to start my own record label, Mind Smoke Records.  The impetus behind this move was to not only achieve some visibility as a songwriter but to also keep the musical legacy of the Freelance Vandals alive by releasing some of the band's archive recordings.

 

 

 

2023

To this very day, when it comes to music, 

I'm still a prisoner of my imagination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Available Now on the following platforms

MIND SMOKE RECORDS

APPLE MUSIC

BANDCAMP

 

 

 

BACK TO ALL POSTS

 

1 comment