Rather Attached

Bim Sala Bim

Bim Sala Bim. My group wrote this song in my living room in Port Monmouth NJ in 1973. We never made a dime off it. Still, I'm glad people are dancing to it and enjoying it. We had a great time recording it. Hudson County was a greatsix piece band. We worked 6 nights a week religiously. I'm still in touch with most of the guys and they are all thrilled to find out this song has been a hit and is still being bootlegged and played in discos all over the world. Amazing. We were with RCA for a short time and they never promoted anything we did. Somehow this record surfaced and found an audience.

John Mulrenan
732-919-0226

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Sly Stone at the Fast Lane, Asbury Park

One day, I got the news from Lance Larson, the defacto leader of our band, Lord Gunner. We were going to be opening up for Sly Stone at the Fast Lane in Asbury Park. This was great news to me as I was a huge fan of his voice and arrangements. I put him up near the Beatles for originality. I had seen Sly at the Electric Circus in Manhattan in the late 60's and he blew my ears off, both figuratively and literally. (There were actually people puking in the corners from the volume). I stood there with my hands over my ears and my arms protecting my midsection from the bass and just loved the show.
This was the late seventies and Sly had lost his band years ago. He had a young, eager bunch accompanying him. I was a little surprised at the fact that the guitar player seemed to be cueing him on the lyrics to the songs he had written. Also, when he kept running off the stage every 5 minutes to go in the dressing room for some hits on his pipe. Watching him rip the wooden music stand off the pristine Hammond B3 and flinging it off stage also was a little bit of a shock. But, what the hell, it was SLY! Sylvester Stewart, The guy that wrote "Wanna Take You Higher". Funkiest man since James Brown.
Later on in the dressing room I got a chance to tell him I thought his best song was the little known "In Time". A song I still listen to frequently. Ultimate funk, insane snare part by Alan Swartzberger, renowned New York session drummer. He got a kick out of that and said that Maceo Parker, James Brown's incredible sax man, had made the same comment. I lit a cigarette and Sly asked to borrow my lighter. I gave it to him and forgot about it till 15 minutes later when I wanted to use it again. My green Bic. He denied having it. As I am a severe nicotine addict I persisted. He still denied it and started getting uptight. He pulled out different Bics from all of his many pockets, (4 in his fringed leather vest alone), none green, all empty. "I ain't got your mother fuckin lighter man!" So, I got some matches and we wound up over my house where he slept on the couch for three nights.At one point I suggested we co write a song and cued up my little 4 track. (Here was my big chance, write with Sly, Wow!!!) I sat next to him and he proceed to play and sing a few lines of a song he said he was working on. The instant he started singing the hair stood up on the back of my neck. No wonder he got a major label deal right away! His voice that close up was one of the most soulful things I had ever heard. Simply amazing! Then he played another three lines from a different new song. Again, another great song, and then a third, a gospel tinged number that flipped me out. The vocals, lyrics, and grooves were superb. I was totally floored. The only hitch was, I couldn't get him to focus on any one thing. His mind just kept jumping around, Possibly from the $3600 worth of freebase he had consumed over three days.
The next morning his manager called very early. He said Sly had to be on a plane to Miami leaving Newark Airport at noon. Sly refused to talk to him so I assured him I would get him on the plane. He made me promise not to just drop him at the gate, but to actually wait until I saw him get onboard. I promised.
We got him on the plane and it took off. I remember thinking what a shame such a musical genius had pissed away his huge talent with drugs. Still, I had a great time hanging out with him and found him to be an intelligent, charming human being
Imagine my surprise when I got home from the airport and found my green Bic lighter on the middle of the living room floor where Sly had left it for me. Guess he wasn't too messed up after all. It was one of the best experiences of my life. Sly, wherever you are. God bless you. If you ever need a lighter. I've got some.

Playing in the Band

I've been playing in bars and clubs in New Jersey for 44 years. Here is one experience I had in 1970. I was playing in a band called Godzilla. We wanted to be "real heavy", thus the name. We were playing 5 nights a week at a club called "The Pandemonium" on Rt 35 in Ocean Twsp. just west of Asbury Park. (There's a Burger King there now). Up the road about a mile was a surf board factory where renaissance man Tinker West conducted his business. It was also where a band he managed called Steel Mill rehearsed.
By this time Bruce already had a pretty heavy rep among South Jersey musicians and I had seen him play at Neptume H.S. and the Upstage but didn't take him too seriously. He didn't seem to play out much. To me, if you weren't playing full time you weren't serious. I did notice a lot of people were talking about him though.
one night he came in with Steve Van Zandt and some other other guys in his band and watched us play. Our first set always consisted of a 40 minute free form jam, no designated key or time signature. We were just warming up. (After a few weeks more people seemed to come for the jam than to hear us play our originals).
On a break, I approached Bruce, and being the nervy young man I was at the time, suggested I come up to the factory with my amp the next night since the band was off and he and I could just jam some blues. He said OK.
When I got tho the front door the next night Bruce didn't seem too thrilled to see me saying he was feeling a bit tired. Since I had already unloaded my very heavy Fender Twin with 2 massive EV 12's in it I said something to the effect of, "Ahh, come on, we'll just jam a little while". He graciously relented and we proceeded to this huge room with a beautiful Hammond B3 organ on a little platform, drums, Marshall stack, etc. Very impressive! My band had been rehearsing in my very small living room. We cranked up the amps and traded verses for a while and discussed the relative merits of Marshall's vs. Fenders. (Bruce remarked he couldn't believe the volume my amp was capable of), I said I couldn't believe he used Fingerease on the neck of his Gibson Les Paul. After a while, without saying anything, he put down his guitar. He wandered over to this broken down, out of tune, old upright piano over by the door and started plunking away on it. I was left holding my SG thinking, "well, I guess the jam is over". By the way, the previous year I had graduated music college as a piano major and had played an half hour of memorized classical music in order to graduate. Debussy's Cathedrale Englute, Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata, and Debussy Opus 80. I thought I was pretty good on piano by that point.
Now, instead of going over to the piano Bruce was playing and listening, perhaps making some helpful suggestions about fingering or inversions, I just said, "well, I guess I'll go now, thanks for jamming," and left. Just imagine, I might have missed hearing a seminal version of Jungleland!
We later got to open up for Bruce a few times, Once at the Sunshine Inn when Bruce put together Dr. Zoom, But that another story.