| Like most bands, this starting lineup would change and over the next few months that The Men journeyed over that geography all bands seem to discover anew. There were the endless hours of rehearsals, the squabbling, and the scuffling to pay the rent while attempting such a dream. The band began playing at various places with good reviews not surprisingly as it was a powerful sound generated by good players. The band had almost become a house band for the Troub, which was very advantageous. Many music business types and fellow artist would visit the Troub. One foggy evening the entire cast of a production of "The Music Man" had come to see us. These were pros and we put on an especially hot performance, which often happens when the players know that there are other musicians are in the house. What we didn't know is that Bob Dylan was there also. It was at the height of the ill fitting "folk guru" phase of his career. Dylan was on his way from the heartland to Hawaii to play a gig and had come by the Troub to see this upstart band. Well, well. It seems that Dylan was a rock and roll player at heart and after the performance he came up to meet us. A led to B and we invited him to join us for a little Jam. I lent him my electric guitar, grabbed a bass and we started boogying. The Music Man Cast had earlier got sight of Dylan and wanted to meet him but when he started playing, playing some really good R&R licks and Ted started bashing his drums it turned into a dance fest. We played and danced for a good two hours until we had to stop because we were making too much noise for the neighborhood at two AM. I believe The Men played some part in Dylan's transition to electric music. Dylan saw this iconoclastic gang of 13, these nobody musicians thumbing our noses at tradition, performing open heart rock and roll and maybe thought, "Yeah". I know we struck a chord in his heart, he seemed so at ease while blasting out "La Bamba" and all those 50's R&R songs and none of the dancers or other musicians were paying as much attention to "BOB DYLAN" as to the good guitar player on stage. He left the club that foggy night with that Gioconda kind of grin. Doug Weston had given us the name "The Men", just as bad as the Inner Tubes but more pretentious, and the place to rehearse, the Troubadour, no money but tons of support. As far as I know Doug coined the phrase and first published the name, "Folk Rock", as a definition of what The Men were doing. Doug took the title of manager however impresario would have fit his style a bit better, way better actually as the minutia and detail of band management could get swept away by the grand gestures and posture of the impresario. I feel fortunate to have been under the tutelage of an impresario. There are so few of them left after all. Once Weston said to me. "Alexander, You know why I like you"? I shook my head no. "Because you don't give a shit". Hmm, I wonder if he would like me now. Like so many entrepreneurs Doug Weston knew how to assemble a concept, to do all the dancing and make all the deals, however like a master aircraft assembler, he knew nothing about flying the plane. That, and other things, started to become apparent as the spring turned into the summer of 1964 and the flood tide of doubt and misgiving rolled in eventually severing the relationship between Doug and the band. My own disillusionment came after Michael Whalen left The Men. Barry McGuire, the lead singer on "Green, Green" had just left the New Christie Minstrels. The Christies management hired Mike Whalen away from The Men in an agent's heartbeat (very fast and silent to the point of non-existence). They offered Mike great money, and the lead singers spot in a hit band. It seemed a good decision for him at the time. It was difficult for The Men to lose our lead singer and difficult for Terry and me personally as we had been fairly close friends with Mike for several years before and would miss the closeness of that good friendship, however we were once again the recipient of great fortune. We replaced Mike with Russ Giguere, a singer/guitarist/lighting designer. Terry and I had to practically pry Russ Giguere out of his position at the Pasadena Icehouse as lighting director. He was, and is a massive talent and we were bound and determined to get the boy on stage with us. I had played with him in many jams and hoots and felt that he was an incredible talent. Doug Weston had decided to boost the band's morale by giving a pep talk one afternoon. In his talk he blasted Mike for being such a fool to have left The Men because The Men had a destiny in music and history. He then began his exegesis on how all the numerological aspects of the men showed very plainly that the Kennedy assassination, the address of the Troubadour, the fact that there were thirteen members to begin with, the birthdays and ages of the band, and the date all combined to confirm future greatness and spiritual legitimacy to The Men. Uh oh. Being young and trusting, not yet knowing how looneyness can seem to make sense on such a winters day in a warm club on Santa Monica Blvd. I/we continued hand in hand with Doug's California dreamin. The second manifestation of Doug's odd vision, the one that closed the book on Doug Weston as manager was at the first and only recording session with The Men. Here it was, our first session. I had done a few before then for other people's demos and my own high school band, however this was the big time, a full on Hollywood recording studio, well, a Van Nuys studio if the truth be known, but even better, one where movie sound scores were often made. Pretty heady stuff. The band had all assembled and tuned instruments in the large room of the studio, large enough for perhaps a semi full of stuff to yet be unloaded. Doug appeared from the "booth", the separate and acoustically isolated control room that housed the then huge tape recorders, the massive sound mixing board, management people, producers, white-coated recording engineers, and various hangers on. He silently walked among us for a few moments, eyes gleaming with purpose. "Look down", he commanded. "At the floor". Of course we did. "See the circles?" he asked. We saw it. The Pentathingie. Previous Page Home Next Page |
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