I CALL it that for a Reason. because the music...and his storytelling and singing style was so....Majestic- the stories so Big they feel like they could've come from one of Homer's books of proud, seafaring peoples.
The First Time: Was at my first 'Big' concert, at a popular travel hub and NY Metro area destination of Jersey City, NJ- where in the train-hub of Journal Square were TWO HUGE, 20's or 30's-era Classic-Age theatres, practically facing each other. We had come, myself and a couple of cousins- decked out in our thrown-together regalia. Myself, at all of 13 or 14, having snuck out with their help- were going to see John Mayall, Procol Harum and another band. Laughing and joking in the cold winter air, we were feeling good after an early taste of a toothpick-like joint that we'd shared in a boiler room earlier. There were an anticipatory gaggle of hippies waiting to get in.......in the hundreds, I'd say. While FACING US< across the street, was like Radio City and Christmas- I line 4 deep and around the BLOCK were waiting to get in to see The Four Tops- AND The Temptations!! No one had even HEARD of John Mayall, though I was quite keen to see Peter green whom I'd heard was- for this moment- in Mayall's great band, with it's roster of famous or Soon-to-BE Famous musicians woodshedding and getting their chops together. But I was going to be disappointed....then happily impressed- when I found that Green was GONE, but a young upstart by the name of Mick Taylor was playing in Peter's stead.
The MC's were starting to be names in their OWN rite. Allison Steele, 'The Night Bird' from the big NY rock station of the Time...i forget...WPLJ or WNEW....I think the latter..? And, a FAVE of Mine, Vin Scelsa (SP?), the voice of one of the FIRST UNDERGROUND COLLEGE STATIONS (if not THE 1st in the Area on the still fairly New FM wavelengths) of the Great WFMU, out of Upsala College in good ole' East Oramge, NJ. (Still in BIZ- STILL PROUDLY FREEFORM, and Now IN Jersey City, coincidentally) But THAT's another Story.
They were Great, but it was my intro to PROCOL that affected me so profoundly, so completely, and I became a Lifelong Devotee from that day ON. Matthew Fisher AND David Knight....if I'm not getting names wrong, though at that age, I didn't really know ALL the names of ALL of the players....I was just Starting to take an interest as to who was playing WHAT. I didn't know Gary Brooker from a hole in the wall, but I surely would, and SOON! But....what an Amazing and 'formative' Night....and SHOW. I KNEW This music....and the coming years of it....were pretty much MADE for Me, and lots of kids LIKE Me!
Maybe a year of so later....my Second chance to see them came. Salty Dog had just come out I believe...and those songs were hauntingly playing in my head almost non-stop, and I WANTED them to! It is STILL likely my favourite Procol LP......and one of those Classics of ALL TIME, in MY Book. So there we were.....at our favourite musical haunt, that being Convention Hall in Asbury Park. It was almost like the Central Park Summerstage, for the sheer Number and Variety of shows they'd have there in the early days, say '67 - '75 or so? Anyway, we had recently Moved from Asbury to Up North in Bergen County, so we liked going there in the summer, aswe felt at home there, knowing every nook and cranny of the area, including the Golden Days of theit beautiful boardwalk, The Stone Pony, and the Truly GREAT, Classic Amusement areas like the Casino, Conv. Hall and of course, the one I can't remember the name of, but I WILL.
Well, my brother Louis and I.....complete with our gym bags full of various percussion 'tools' of Customized, hopped-up and decorated tamborines, Precious COWBELLS that we hunted down in junk shops, the older, the funkier they SOUNDED somehow...wood blocks, and all manner of parade sticks and mallets for our impromptu music jams on the boards with the locals (like US).
Anyhow, we hid our stash, and waited for the evening's LOAD-IN of all of the band equiptment, and as Usual, walked to the back, looking like we worked for the Hall, and waiting for the 'OK, grab that stand' or that amp or case, and make our way into the back of the venue. We'd do trip after trip, tryiong tomake ourselves Useful and make sure everyone SEES us.....and usually, we got in that way...sometimes getting to watch from backstage and even see some of outr 'idols' in the process! That's how i get into my 2nd Procol show. I was a diehard FAN by Now, and though I knew their Names, I couldn't necessarily place the Name with Face. Now, Convention Hall sits RIGHT on the boardwalk, the back of it on Poles, as the sea and waves are crashing beneath it at high tide, though protected by a long jetty across the back of the bldg, trying to keep the waves at bat. Now, the C.Hall has a LARGE OUTDOOR COVERED WALKWAY going around much of the building, where a lot of the large (at that time) retired community would sit on big lounge chairs during most times of year, watching the Waves. And I was doing the Same, albeit down on the sand, and I happened to look up when I saw a figure gazing thoughtfully out over the Atlantic...all by himself and hours before showtime, as it was still quite early, maybe approaching dinnertime. I KNEW he was in the Band, but not his name- but I struck up a conversation anyway, although I was like a teenaged girl and a bit starstruck, I must admit. Still I Tried to seem semi-intelligent, and not a jerk, yet I was still green enough to just ask him 'which one are You'? I think he grinned a little when he replied simply, after a few seconds.....'Brooker'. Then I instantly Knew who he was, what instrument he played, and How DAMNED LUCKY was I to have MET, SPOKEN to him, and now even had a Stroy to tell my brother when we hooked up afterwards!!! I was pretty excited, I'll admit. I don't remember THAT much about the show, and I think I saw them there another time, and al3ays though Gary LIKED being there due to the oceanfront VIEW, and that was the reason they would return. I love to know how many times. And if it was More than 2 or 3. But likely That. I also met Chris Copping at one of the shows, and after they came on, his absolutely To-DIE-for (esp. at age 15 0r 16) Gorgeous GF sat right near me, and I must say, I was fairly intimidated by her beauty and Worldly 'Rocker GF' presence.
The 3rd time, and then I'll END it here...was another quite memorable One. I had wrangled myself into a 'Staff' guy at a wonderful, post-Woodstock festival near Montreal that I hitched to with two girls from NJ called 'Strawberry Fields'. Well, the Line-Up was just Stellar, with the newly arrived Alice Cooper, replete with silver lame stripey clothes on ALL bandmates and a strange guy painted all in silver who just sat- Stock-Still- on the side of the stage for the Whole Show, as Alice pulled out all of the STOPS. The Canadian bands were there in force like Chicken Shack, and I ge=ot to hang w/some folks I would later like a LOT, although again, I didn't know ALL of 'WHO was WHO', but I* watched them all jamming in the tents backstage, and I started working in the Kitchen cuz I I KNEW MY guys, Procol Harum, would get hungry Eventually, and I would get to meet them again!! The song 'Whiskey train' was getting airplay, and I thought it was the funkiest thing AROUND, so of Course I had my cowbell and tambs CLOSE-AT-HAND, cuz I was NOT gonna miss THIS chance, to jam with them as they played it, and it was one of the MOST FUN MUSICAL THINGS I had ever DONE at that time!! Not ONLY did I get to FEED them all, but I got to see Robin T. for the First Time, and it was just Before he was going to leave the band (during the production of Broken Barricades, perhaps? A super-fan will probably correct me if I'm wrong) which saddened me to NO END, to see that there was possibly discord among my Favourite of Favourites Band. Tough Times. Those are the best ones, anyway.....except for the Time I met Mr. Reid at the Fillmore East, still in the early days, comparitively.
I cna't wait to read everyone ELSE's acounts, I know most are 100's of time more fabuloso than mine paltry encounters- but when you are a naiive fan in floppy bellbottoms and Love Rock, it was a pretty Big Deal. And their music....their Feeling...something magic about them...about HIM.....became a part of me, and I believe affected me profoundly in those qiuite formative years. I was Blessed to grow up in such a Time, myselfd and my Friends ALWAYS SAY, and give Thanks too. (I praise God). The AIR was Different then.....and there WAS a quite palpable magic swirling around at times....and I don't mean from the joints they were furiously rolling and Throwing off the Stage into the waiting hands of freaks at Strawberry Fields, either!
The funniest thing was that my brother had hitched there Alone, from NJ....and when I saw him in the crowd, we Found each other and I snuck him in backstage with ME! GOD, those were funky times. Cheers, fellow Palers!