a coupla my favorites

so, here are a couple of the people who live in my county...or who used to.  An entirely new blog could be written about the eccentrics who live there....guys who wear long gowns and ride skateboards through town,long bearded and yelling "Mahalo" like some Waikiki Messiah(good band name,I think).  In ols school Mill Valley,before the the bad money element rolled in, we were taught to be respectful of the eccentrics,of the men who told you we were being taken over by aliens,sticking out their tongues and teaching people how to taste the metallic mind contaminent in the air...respectuful of the artists who spelled out a giant grilled cheese sandwich with slices of velveeta.  Respectful of the retarde man who wansered downtown telling everyone to have a nice day.  We even knew his name...George Grant.

           In one of my last blogs I wrote about the musicians who live in our area....One that I forgot about was Elvin Bishop.  Now frankly I am not the biggest Elvin Bishop fan,and know he was a blues player who had one cross over hit,"fooled around and fell in love",which was the ballad of my senior prom...really,the one slow dance the band knew....played it twice.  Well Elvin Bishop is a local guitar player.  One night I was at a high school music project,and Elvin Bishop sat in....with freshmen....and they all just acted like he was anybody.  Some guy said "Hey man, wow these kids don't even know he's fucking Elvin Bishop"   >  I wanted to yell"Fooled around and Fell,Elvin...take me back to the prom..".

Oh,and we had this other musical icon named Chuck Day.

Chuck Day played the local bar scene in Fairfax...And we have a pretty good bar scene.  We have five bars in two blocks.   And everybody here plays music.  You know how in l.a. all your waiters are actors....here your auto repairman fronts the local blues band.   Your waitress sings for big brother and the holding company...seriously.

Well Chuck Day died,and  the whole music scene went from bar to bar,ala new orleans,musicians singing,and bands playing.  I popped in to 19 Broadway to hear a band,and I saw a guy I once worked with,,,

"Hey Man?"

"Hey Joe"

"Chuck was the best"

"(trying not to imply I am there for the band)  Oh,for sure,Man"

"I loved Chuck,Man.   Quite a history"

"yeah...history"

So,I tried to find out the history.  Ok,remember that Johnny Rivers song "Secret Agent Man" .  Chuck Day created that riff.  Even if you haven't ever heard the song,you've heard the riff.

Chuck Day played guitar on "California Dreaming" and was the second guitarist with the Mama's and The Papas.

Chuck Day fathered Cass Eliotts baby.

Chuck Day lived in Fairfax...wait,what?  Let's go back...

what?

ChuckDay was Mama's baby daddy?

That is pretty frickin cool.

For me,that is the pop cultural element....not even the "who did who" but the fact that who got done in a time and a place of vitality and incredible exploration.  And in someways our county is probably jammed packed with that kind of info.

I was sittin next to a guy in my local brewpub.  He was talking about the reunion of the summer of love,how he did some acid there and it was ok.  I said "Do alot of acid in the 60"s?".  "Oh, i was probably responsible for a million hits".

Ok...a million hits.

I've done acid three times...and sometimes my little finget turns into a snake...Not really...

   a million hits.

Well,turns out he made it and sold it.  Now I have already told you that in Marin County you can't seem freaked out by any of this.

"Yeah,I made and sold acid"

"(HOLY SHIT!!!!!!) Oh,wow.  Really?"

"yeah..I served my time"

"(WHAT THE F....)Really?(I hear someone calling me over here)

"  Yeah,I was in jail""  Yeah,man.  Stick it to the man"  .  Nope. didn't say that.