Musician

I was working at this club in downtown L.A. from four to eight at night, just Eddie Rubin, the drummer, and I.

One of the first groups we signed was the Fifth Dimension.

I learned some chords and I started watching anybody I could, once I really got into it.

I got to see all these incredible blues players, like Jimmy Reed.

Guys like Otis Blackwell and Bobby Darin, and all the guys who were writing songs for Elvis at the time, just hanging around, writing songs, talking about music.

After that initial success, every chance we got we'd hire that remote recording truck and just record stuff at the Whisky because it was so inexpensive.

What I really remember is that people camped out everywhere, and the fact everybody expected it might turn into a big nightmare with all sorts of hassles because back in those days everybody was smoking pot and taking acid.

When I came back to California in the early '60s I was hanging out with Jimmy Bowen, Phil Spector, and I wanted to be a record producer and work with other artists.

One of the first groups we signed was the Fifth Dimension.

I've got a Fender Concert amp from the '60s, the one Joe Osborn used. He played his bass through it.

Even Woodstock turned out to be a disaster. Everybody was stuck in the mud and people got sick.

The first amp I had back in the '50s was a small Fender.

In 1965, Gibson made the red one I use now, and a black one, which was the first black 335 they ever made.

One thing will lead to another and somebody will come up with a riff or a line or something we build from.

The web site and the Internet are a whole new ball game.

I got to see all these incredible blues players, like Jimmy Reed.

I accepted an offer to do a concert for the reopening of the Mall of Memphis.

I think after 1970 or so, after I sold Soul City, I took off for awhile and didn't do too many gigs.

The first amp I had back in the '50s was a small Fender.

But I always loved songs with great lyrics.