Curly
Moe's Bluesman
My name is Curly, and I'll be your host of The Well for the next week or so. The Holiday Well, so to speak.
I'm going to start by trying to answer some things up front, such as my background, my playing history, and my work.
To begin with, I'm a native Californian, born in San Diego and grew up out in the desert.
As far as playing, I began playing clarinet in third grade. At that time, we had band in elementary school. My older brothers had a trumpet and a clarinet, and I chose a clarinet. When I was about 12, there was a huge Folk Music boom. My brother had a bunch of Kingston Trio albums, and there was a show on TV called "Hootenanny" that had a lot of the best Folk artists. One artist that made a big impression on me was Josh White. He played a small Martin, and was just a fine player. I got a cheap Silvertone acoustic for Christmas and started taking lessons. I took lessons from a black jazz player named Creon Thomas, who could play anything, and could write charts and lead sheets very quickly. We went through the Mel Bay method, but to be honest, I was a crappy student and had a hard time relating to some of the material. Nevertheless, I kept playing.
As some have said, in those days if you had an instrument you were probably in a band. I met a guy who could play "Walk Right In", which was a big hit, and we started playing stuff together. Ed had a great ear, could play lead, and I loved chords, so I played rhythm. We learned a bunch of Surf tunes from The Ventures, Dick Dale, etc ... "Wipe Out", "Pipeline", and on and on. We started in 8th grade, and played all the way through high school. Our Surf band was called The Risqués. In high school, our band was Your Mother. By then we had moved on from Surf music to a mix of Oldies and Top 40 stuff, but when The Beatles hit, and the British Invasion, that was IT.
We played a lot of Beatles, some Stones, and a lot of stuff from The Who, The Kinks, The Yardbirds, and so on. I saw The Yardbirds on what was probably their first tour of the States. Jeff Beck had recently replaced Eric Clapton, and they JAMMED. That led to our band covering "For Your Love", "Mister, You're a Better Man Than I", and "Heart Full of Soul". I think we were probably the first band around to use fuzz tone, and I would have to say we blew some minds.
As far as gear, my first electric was a Silvertone with a Bigsby and mini humbuckers. I had a small Silvertone amp, and that combo could sound NASTY on stuff like "All Day and All of the Night". I upgraded to a double cut Martin electric and a Jordan 2x12 solid state amp. My friend Ed was playing a Rickenbacker 330 and a Fender Vibroverb, and my friend John had a Framus bass, kind of like Bill Wyman's.
After high school, I headed off to college. I came home on holiday, and Ed was playing bass for a guy named Bill Bolin, who was playing everything from the first Bluesbreakers album, and just NAILING it, tone wise, playing wise, and singing it at the same time. That was my introduction to the Blues. I got the Beano album, started woodshedding, playing hours a day learning one album after another by Clapton, Peter Green, Michael Bloomfield, and others. I was so much into the Blues, so serious, and playing so much that I'd say it affected me emotionally because it was just so DEEP. To this day, The Blues is very much a part of my playing.
Anyway, that's a start. I'll try to add more later, and try to dig up a few old photos.
For those who don't know, there is a lot of stuff on my site, including pics of my gear, some clips, and my famous chili recipe.
I'm going to start by trying to answer some things up front, such as my background, my playing history, and my work.
To begin with, I'm a native Californian, born in San Diego and grew up out in the desert.
As far as playing, I began playing clarinet in third grade. At that time, we had band in elementary school. My older brothers had a trumpet and a clarinet, and I chose a clarinet. When I was about 12, there was a huge Folk Music boom. My brother had a bunch of Kingston Trio albums, and there was a show on TV called "Hootenanny" that had a lot of the best Folk artists. One artist that made a big impression on me was Josh White. He played a small Martin, and was just a fine player. I got a cheap Silvertone acoustic for Christmas and started taking lessons. I took lessons from a black jazz player named Creon Thomas, who could play anything, and could write charts and lead sheets very quickly. We went through the Mel Bay method, but to be honest, I was a crappy student and had a hard time relating to some of the material. Nevertheless, I kept playing.
As some have said, in those days if you had an instrument you were probably in a band. I met a guy who could play "Walk Right In", which was a big hit, and we started playing stuff together. Ed had a great ear, could play lead, and I loved chords, so I played rhythm. We learned a bunch of Surf tunes from The Ventures, Dick Dale, etc ... "Wipe Out", "Pipeline", and on and on. We started in 8th grade, and played all the way through high school. Our Surf band was called The Risqués. In high school, our band was Your Mother. By then we had moved on from Surf music to a mix of Oldies and Top 40 stuff, but when The Beatles hit, and the British Invasion, that was IT.
We played a lot of Beatles, some Stones, and a lot of stuff from The Who, The Kinks, The Yardbirds, and so on. I saw The Yardbirds on what was probably their first tour of the States. Jeff Beck had recently replaced Eric Clapton, and they JAMMED. That led to our band covering "For Your Love", "Mister, You're a Better Man Than I", and "Heart Full of Soul". I think we were probably the first band around to use fuzz tone, and I would have to say we blew some minds.
As far as gear, my first electric was a Silvertone with a Bigsby and mini humbuckers. I had a small Silvertone amp, and that combo could sound NASTY on stuff like "All Day and All of the Night". I upgraded to a double cut Martin electric and a Jordan 2x12 solid state amp. My friend Ed was playing a Rickenbacker 330 and a Fender Vibroverb, and my friend John had a Framus bass, kind of like Bill Wyman's.
After high school, I headed off to college. I came home on holiday, and Ed was playing bass for a guy named Bill Bolin, who was playing everything from the first Bluesbreakers album, and just NAILING it, tone wise, playing wise, and singing it at the same time. That was my introduction to the Blues. I got the Beano album, started woodshedding, playing hours a day learning one album after another by Clapton, Peter Green, Michael Bloomfield, and others. I was so much into the Blues, so serious, and playing so much that I'd say it affected me emotionally because it was just so DEEP. To this day, The Blues is very much a part of my playing.
Anyway, that's a start. I'll try to add more later, and try to dig up a few old photos.
For those who don't know, there is a lot of stuff on my site, including pics of my gear, some clips, and my famous chili recipe.
Actually, I swear it wasn't my fault, but people still remind me about it.
