Author: Phil harmonica
Subject: Bullpucky Bio by Paulee ? -Clearing the air
Posted: September 10 2014 at 7:59pm
I know that it seems confusing and contradictory when I refer to past activities,,
well the truth is,, it is all the truth,, these statements are not conflicting, the jobs were congruent
this will bore the hell out of most.. but this is how I had a ziilion , often very different jobs in the mere 40 years I worked after being honorably discharged
OK to clear the air of the smell of possible Bullpucky by Paulee -----
Sarge, I never worked a 40 hour week in my life, nor took a vacation, (I did take one in 1990 and one more ..went to Seaside with the fam... and believe it or not. ended up playing harp outside a club in the alley along with the bands sound..and later found it was my drummers other band Inside there.. too packed to see them from the door
the guy building the custom bikes you mention was one of my guitar players,, Ed Roman,, RIP (google him)
when the Billy Gibbons clip finishes , click on the other Ed Roman video that pops up My brother 12 String & Delta Don will freak when they watch Ed machine gun a Black 57 Les Paul to death at 7:10 --a real gibson,, but repro I Hope despite the aged abalone !!!
I did assemble and adjust factory bikes Honda, Triumph mostly for several months in , I think 76 ? , that was when I built the matched bikes for Don Imus and his wife. Honda 400/4's , yellow , I also rolled over a truck trailer over weight with dozens of bikes on the NJ turnpike , returning from the docks at Baltimore to Ct
at that time I also played 5 nights a week in my own band
from the beginning this is an approximate timeline...---to explain the apparently conflicting stories which are actually just congruent
Roughly, after discharge in 68... I worked QC at Sperry.. then quit the following spring and worked on an Airport . got to fly with one of my Dads old pals after work.... then I quit & went back to VA/NC surfing/bumming/sleeping on the beach & getting rich girls to buy me dinner.. in the fall I enrolled in college and became a Postal Carrier. then dropped out and quit the P.O. left there in mid winter and became a musician.. around Jan 71 I think
one of the bars I played at hired me as a bartender,, later "manager,
at that time my rock singer and I did an Irish radio show.. and then I lured Ed Roman into the band when I saw him bring an audience to tears with a solo (V & G) performance of "I who Have Nothing"and we morphed to a Clapton & Cream style Blues Band "
We had a brief flurry of success.----. the city paper even did a full page photo shoot in 72 of me getting my long hair cut off..----- culminating in one big show (3000 screaming teen girls ) but broke up same night when one of the guitar players faked a seizure on the stage to get carried away by ambulance.. to avoid being arrested by the Narcs hiding behind the stage curtains
during that time,, 70-72 appx,, I also got hired to manage the music store I hung at.. and then while still doing that.. to manage an additional club.. both had live music,, I played at both clubs as well, and other clubs I did all this simultaneously.. I also then started booking/managing an average of 3 bands ,plus my own : Rick and the Rockets (Later "Strange Brew) while doing the above stuff
During those years I also was 1 of the 2 white guys,, the other not a musician , who hung at a large "Soul" club owned by an Actor (Dave is the man with the woman at ;50 and again 1:07 on in this clip from Death WIsh " Charles Bronson vs. Muggers)
I jammed at that club a lot, sometimes got to back up some well known soul /motown singers ...and then the actor/singer. recording artist took me into his big "REvue" show band . that is how I got to Carnegie ,playing bass in an 18 piece soul band..
New Years eve of 73 into 74, the club my own band played 5 nites a week at burned to the ground taking my 400 pound 16 10" speaker SVT , formerly used on a Santana tour.., and the Fender bass I got from a guy who played behind Presley (that guitar . with Elvis sweat stains . as well as Als and mine. soaked into the bare wood . was a Chick magnet---they used to bring their girl friends to the club to meet me,, but it was really to pet & stroke the bass LOL )
So in the fall of 74, the owner of the burnt out club hired me to manage his Real Estate business.. I continued working days in that field thru 1983, while adding in the other activities that follow but I quit playing other than occasionally.. until 78 when I joined a band that worked 3 to 4 gigs a week, til 84
..during some of that , 76 -77 I managed the big club that the RE guy owned, and also worked briefly part time as a police officer and later part time as a bodyguard and security officer
by19 80 I was working days @ real estate and as a night guard at the Nuke plant as well as playing in the band ,3 to 4 gigs a week
I kept playing with the band,, but I left the NUke job and worked as a tech advisor for an automotive company.. and simultaneously designed security system installations,,for Jerry Burns
then around 83 worked at the VA hospital 9 months or so, left there and went into Mortgage Banking,, 3 years, about that time my band broke up due to death. of my best friend , the B3 player ..
then I opened my own mortgage firm for 5 years.. then as the recession hit. I became an EMT..to keep the biz afloat. (simultaneously-- ) then closed the business 1991 worked as an EMT..double shifts..
then became a Captain in a private Fire/EMS/Security company.. blah blah..then did 10 years in Hospital Security , but I worked both the Captain of Security agency and the Hospital, both full time 48 hours or more each
eventually I got old & tired and started hanging around with similarly old & tired harmonica players..
the main thing is I always had 2 or 3 jobs and a side business and/or a band going at same time
I hope that puts to rest any doubts about the veracity or accuracy of my vocational history
Oh did I mention I also did snow plowing in 90 and 91 along with the Mortgage biz and EMT job before I went bankrupt and lost my plow truck,, house and everything and built myself backup again over the following 18 years
,
Charles Bronson vs. Muggers
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