this weekend

friday all will say goodbye to manuel gonzales, or "big manny," our friend departed. here are details:
viewing - noon to 2 pm, funeral & burial, 2-3 pm, home of peace memorial park mortuary, 4334 whittier blvd, whittier ca; potluck reception for family & friends, vfw hall post 1944, 4-8 pm,  16157 e. gale, city of industry, ca.
i made this so i will remember always his face & person the way i remember him. there's a beautiful pic of him & james on this blog if you go back to april 2016, but i -- perhaps selfishly -- just put the ones here where i'm posed with him.
saturday will be the following: Come See Whiteboy James - Sat. Aug. 13th
WHERE: Shenanigans Irish Pub & Grille
423 Shoreline Village Drive
Long Beach, CA 90802
USA 8 PM-11:55 PM
COST: Free
CONTACT:
562-437-3734

the following saturday, we'll play here in town at sue's tavern, & after that, james will have me replaced with an electric bass & i'll just play with his band wherever i have the energy (& when he wants me, of course). the kids will be back in class

& i again will be a public school teacher.

happy bd to ruben, grandma mary, billy mize, & a goodbye

we just got back from ruben's bd in the desert. i've known ruben & family for 17 yrs!! ruben is 55 going on 30. he's a life-long working musician who teaches guitar & puts out LPs. he is light-hearted, a super guy, lightning on the guitar, always gracious & fun to be around. :) i used to follow his band, the blazers, & was entangled w/their old bassist. i had to get sober because of that, so it was all for a reason! plus i made some life-long friends in him & his ex (they're still friends), mi "comadre," donna, who's the most resourceful woman i've ever met... :) the blazers were on rounder, now little dog. the new LP comes out in august; ruben said there was info on www.littledogrecords.com , but i can't seem to find it!! the site's worth checking out, if you like roots-americana alt-country, etc.
anyways, here's 2 pix from the party. we rolled in yesterday & their lovely daughter, my bd buddy, asked me to help her play the beatles' birthday song at her dad's party... we went thru it twice, then had to hit the road. of course, i couldn't hear the keyboard when i played (monitor pointed away). no se importa: the surprise bd song had R teared up w/happiness. :) we also played volver volver, tiburon, another cumbia, a few blues tunes, & johnny b. goode. then the music got real mellow, so we headed back to the barn. this a.m., R & B had a long discussion about the physics behind guitars (B is a biker, but also a "mad scientist"). then we all stuffed ourselves on mexican food & B, the boys, & i drove home in the love wagon.
R heads today to the chris gaffney benefit at the doll hut, where his high school buddy & blazers mate manuel (whom everyone now calls "big manny") will play along w/many others. chris gaffney recently passed away after a brief illness; you can donate at www.helpgaff.com. meanwhile, candye kane is swathed in love, recuperating after her major cancer surgery; bakersfield this afternoon celebrates billy mize's bd at trout's(www.myspace.com/troutsblackboard), & my family lovingly remembers dear departed grandma mary, mary elizabeth ollivares forquera, who would have been 97. she is gone, but never will be forgotten by us all.
a nice weekend. so good to have friends & family. so good to have music. both mean love & life, in my book.

"me, i don't care what people say / talk is cheap, anyway / if you got nothin good to say / well, it's best you don't say a thing" :)

- the blazers & me -
things've been down, w/death of friends, post-surgery complications, painful realizations i've had to make re music/friends... i was surfing & came across - yeegad! -a T-shirt i designed 15+ yrs ago for the blazers! it came up along w/the most rockin' tune, too (lyrics excerpted above), & took me instantly to a better place. a worshipful moment! music again saves a life...
back to the T-shirt: actually, manuel gave me the frame, then i took it to dr derek lamar, who then had the art dept downtown, & we put the design together... & there it is still online today, along w/that cheerful blazers song from way back in the palomino days.
i was intoxicated on music & substances 24/7 back then, & so enamored of the blazers' down-home roots-rock&roll innocence, grit, & heart, i could scarcely touch earth. flyweight ruben & sumo-ish manuel, buddies since childhood w/ea other & w/los lobos, led this east-LA band, their repertoire influenced as much by vicente fernandez as chuck berry. i was crazy (really, tho i didn't know it) over their then-bassist, a 6.5' ladies' man w/penchant for dark humor & drink, & became the blazers' "#1 fan" (there've been many since, & such a determined creature features heavily in any band's success, i think!): wrote their monthly newsletter; designed show flyers; press kit; copied & mailed out promo tapes; wrote 50-60 letters to record co's (one actually got bill bentley's attn & they were signed to rounder!); drove down 2x or more per mo to watch their shows (& hang w/"boyfriend," of course). all this from bksfld, & them in e-los! i couldn't dance, but my skirts & enthusiasm were so high, i don't think most cared. the blazers filled me w/good cheer, w/life, w/soul when i could only find it elsewhere in bad habits.
manuel & ruben don't play together much now, tho both still have many options, ruben working w/pete anderson still. they are well-loved & respected individually, but i think most who know them pine for the day they'll reunite. i'm so lucky to still know them both, good men, brimming w/musical spirit & humanity & humor. i hope eventually they'll reconcile musically, as i always hope i will, too, when i have to part ways w/a friend...
eventually, love & communication & music can bring rebonding; if not, probably there was nothing to a relationship to begin with. (some people never come back because they were never meant to be there in the 1st place...) i parted ways w/the blazers having to get sober. it was painful, but from it, a new & better life came. like they say, "pain is the touchstone of growth." old-timer mudd, may he rest in peace, used to say, "i'm gonna grow, or i'm gonna go..." positive action, tho too often prompted by pain, is what is needed to keep evolving, to honor this beautiful life.
i'm there. it's time. like manuel wrote, "talk is cheap, anyway." "if you're feelin sad & blue, don't sit around & cry, no one's feelin sorry for you, you're just a-wastin your time." wise words, pleasantly put!!
blazers links follow: discography: http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/artist/Blazers/a/Blazers.htm ; manuel's page: http://www.myspace.com/thebigmanband ; the blazers' page w/music! http://www.myspace.com/theblazers