I’ve written a lot about my influences, but more about my actually work. Lester Abrams and I met in the second grade and we started playing on toy 
instruments. We saw an article on Little Richard had playing on street corners, so as soon as we could get a real guitar and a drum, we did exactly the same thing. Our first band we called the Rocketeers, with the two of us and a kid we met in Tech Junior High called Earl Thomas. Next was a five-piece group we called The Upcounts with the two us, two saxes Danny Williams on tenor and his brother Greg on baritone, and Louie Walker on guitar. Louie played upright bass, but in this setup the two guitars was the best for us. These were our first paid gigs, on teen clubs and private parties.
I put my own band together a little later, with Rick Redemski and a piano named Scott Campbell on drums. This was Judge Jones and the Jury (too bad I didn't’t stick with that name – it would’ve been a super name for a 12-piece band!) but still the nickname ‘Judge’ stuck all through you life since.
I was introduced into the musicians’ union at 15 when the twist was all the rage, and Eddie Haddad brought me into his own orchestra to front the tunes from that day. I also had to scuffle to try and comp on the ballroom material. I was very lucky and got all of the ballroom band leaders, Skippy Anderson, Dick Wickman, and others used me on those dates.
My first club job was covering lead singers in Omaha when they would go on their vacations. In those days, the bands would play six nights a week and stay on for some of those jobs for years. Among the groups I worked with were Andy & the Live Wires, and T.D. & the Candy Sticks.
When Herbie Rich brought me into Vince and the Premiers, and it was if I’d hit into the big time. This band played at a place was packed every single night, and what a band it was! Vince Emmanuel on drums, Herbie doubling on tenor and organ, Harold ‘Stems’ Hunter on alto, LaMar McDaniels on guitar, and me on bass. We played together about a year and a half.
After this, it was another trio with Jerry Rabuck on drums and Jerry Wingate on guitar, which we called The Bygones. It was during this gig among several local deejays gave us some interest, and gave us the last spot with the Rolling Stones before they came on. This was the Stones’ first tour. Herbie had left Omaha when his family moved to Denver, but when our success with The Bygones doing so well, Herbie came back to Omaha and to join our group. Those were some amazing times I must say. This was when Herbie got a call from Uncle Sam – he’d been enlisted into the military.
After finishing high school, I had The Bygones with Billy Organ on drums and Eddie Leeper on guitar (as Rabuck and Wingate were not interesting going on the road). We did enough to do my own group until I was brought into the Hollywood Argyles, with an eight-piece rhythm and blues band with an outstanding tenor player, Bobby Rey.
After leaving the Argyles it was another tenor player, Bobby Keys and I played with Stu Perry, a great drummer from many concert gigs, and Ken Harvey a fine guitar player in Denver. When Bobby introduced me into the music guys in Tulsa and where I stayed and played there for nearly a year until some other players brought me into meet Leon Russell, and this was when I moved into California.
Back a forth a couple of times, I was fortunate to play with The Exceptions in Chicago – Billy Herman of drums, Jim Vincent on guitar, and Jimmy Nyholt on keys. What a band! We did an album as The Aorta, and did many festivals and played at the East Fillmore in New York.
Since then, there were so many projects I can’t begin to list all of them. It has been a fantastic ride.
