More music thoughts:

Hi, all:

Well, I have to say the music memories inspired me to think back on grade school and high school. .  I did something I had never done before; I joined the Tenafly High School Class of '57 group.  Great pictures of many of the young ladies I remember.  Elaine Perry (Provenzano). Alice Falkiewicz (Peterson)., and one that really inspired me, Delores Linhart (Hughes) in 1954. (fair warning; there are a number of HS classmates mentioned here.

But the thing that surprised me the most was how little I know about some people. One of my high school classmates, Gil Markle, had a career in music which was fascinating. Business is never easy, and to move from being a professor to a record company owner is probably no more weird than moving from surfboards and furniture to computer manufacturing, Internet Hosting and running a chunk of IBM.  Whatever... I read a number of Gil's essays - http://gilmarkle.com   - Diary of a Studio Owner

I guess Gil liked to write, too. But then, I knew that.

But what always interests me is the "six degrees of separation."  Before I found Marilyn Miller (Somers), or she found me, I dated Beverly Wright from Cresskill, NJ.  Of course, her younger brother, Gary Wright, is famous for "Dream Weaver."  He lives a mile or so from my son Will in California.  I have his book.  Here's a picture of them from 1948.  Beverly does not look much different from when I knew her.  Gary talks about camping up near Hank's Cabin... between Cresskill and Alpine, NJ.

Gary was in my sister Patti's class, along with Jimmy Carroll. As they started, they both sang with Willy Nelson in a group they called "the Dukes."  As Ricky Nelson's cousin, Willy had it made, but they were good vocalists, too.  Their biggest hit was a single called "No Dough."

Jimmy was friendly with my sister and asked me to sing with them, I'm guessing in 1960.  He said, "Where do you think we got the name "the Dukes"?  I said "Come On..."  He said, "You got it."

The key point is Gil and Gary knew each other, because Gil's brother Bill was also in the Dukes.   Music careers are interesting and often interwoven.  

 We all did interesting things, but even a couple of years of age separation can be too much. Another guy mentioned in one of Gary Wright's bands was Bill Elmiger from Tenafly, NJ, who went on to be an excellent furniture designer and did some great work for me in the 1980's.  See what I mean?  Sadly, Bill died a couple of years ago, but in the year before that, I drove down to see him in North Carolina.  Another good guy.

So where did this all start?  Tenafly High School SO Night, Jazz Concert, probably 1956:  Me, Judy Beach (Onerati), Yogi Hebrank, John Romero, Linda Madison (Cavanna), Joe Jerkovich.  The backup band was "the Kingsmen"; Leigh Travis, Ray Capozzi, Russ Cook, etc.  A little better choice of songs and we probably would have made a career out of it.  

Anyway, that is my rumination for today.  None of this stuff is in my books.