The Vine Lodge Motel

    It was mid July, 1968 and The Family Scandal had just completed a month long gig at a club in Ventura, CA named "The Side Car." (As I look back, it seems I have a railroad motif going in this story.) A nice little club and we were glad to be working and eating. We had contacted our booking agent at the Gail McConkey agency in Hollywood. They had booked us in numerous clubs in the L.A. basin and we had another gig near Downey, CA. We planned on living in Hollywood and making the 45 minute drive to and from the club.

    Upon leaving Ventura and approaching Los Angeles on the 101 freeway, Ventura Highway, we decided that we wanted to change motels. Nobody had any ideas, so as we approached the Vine Street exit, I asked "should I just get off here?" Everybody agreed that this exit was as good as any. We turned right and within two buildings on the left side of the street, there was a place called the Vine Lodge Motel. It had a drive-in courtyard for check-in and a pool. We pulled in, U-Haul trailer and everything. After we checked in, I unloaded my stuff and entered my room through the sliding glass door that faced the courtyard.

   It had been over 2 years since I had seen or heard from Joe Schermie. The last time was in 1966, when I was playing with the Nomads in Phoenix, AZ at the King and I club. The day I left Phoenix, after a long stay at the King and I, Joe and I were talking stuff like "Some day, man! I'm telling you. Someday we're gonna be in a group together." We both agreed on that, but had nothing to base it on except our mutual respect for each others music ability. Over the next couple of years, when I was between groups, I had tried to reach him, but couldn't find him. Turns out he had done the same. So, skip forward over 2 years and just by chance, we're back in Hollywood on Vine street.

   Right next door to the Vine Lodge Motel, there was a vacated house where a new band, called Three Dog Night was rehearsing. The 3 singers had secured a record deal with Dunhill Records. Danny was wanting to go on the road using just recorded tapes behind them, but Cory and management insisted on having musicians and a real band. Cory, having come up through the club circuits, knew what it was like to actually perform in front of people, and his opinion was that tapes just weren't going to get it, although Danny had done some live shows previously as a solo artist. Management was smart, Bill Utley in particular knew that if the musicians didn't have a piece of the pie, it would never last, a very astute observation on his part. My background had mostly been 'share and share alike'. No leader fees. Of course, I wasn't the leader of the Family Scandal. We had no leader, per se, even though I kind of fronted the group by singing most of the songs. I was also the youngest "Scandaleer." We were a group; there was no leader. The 3DN singers had gotten the record deal. That's a fact, and I'm not attempting to rewrite history. A big plus in the equation: Already being signed. What every musician wants. A chance to go for it. We had a seperate agreement/contract with them which, in essence made us partners in perpetuity of all record royalties and live date revenues ... although it be in a lesser percentage than the singers. I won't go into. Business contracts should remain private.

   And so it was. The band had not recorded anything as "Three Dog Night" yet. "Redwood" and "Tricycle" were some names that had been considered. There were a couple of sessions with Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, I believe. "Lilly Sunflower Darlin" and "Time to Get Alone," if I know the story correctly. "Darlin" was a phrase that Danny used for Brian, whenever they saw each other, a mock gay thing, if you will. Ultimately, the other Beach Boys got upset about the tune, "Darlin" being a separate project with Brian singing with other guys, or something along that line. So, they ended up doing the song themselves.

   Back to the 3DN rehearsal going on next door to the Vine Lodge Motel. This was an abandoned house that was being used for a rehearsal area. Guitarist, Ron Morgan, was leaving. He went on to a successful career with The Electric Prunes. Cory, who had tried to contact me a couple of times before, asked Joe to try calling me one more time. Joe walked out of the vacated rehearsal house and went next door to use the pay phone to call me. Turns out Joe was living in the Vine Lodge Motel too, with his wife, Jan. He had a long extension cord running out the back of his second story motel room, over to the house, to "fuel" the rehearsals with electrical power. As he walked into the courtyard, going towards the pay phone, he noticed the U-Haul trailer and some longhaired musicians unloading their stuff. He struck up a conversation with them and asked, "Where are you guys from?" They told him that we were from Modesto and Stockton. Joe said, "Really? I was just going to make a phone call to a buddy of mine that lives in Modesto. Maybe you know him. Michael Allsup." They laughed and said, "Yeah, we know him." Joe asked "Why are you laughing?" They said, "Because he's right in there," pointing to my room, which was directly beside where they were standing. Joe says, "You're full of shit!! You're bullshitting me, aren't you?" They laughed and then Joe knocked on my sliding glass door and off we went into the, "how you been, man?" and all that stuff.

   Shortly thereafter, Joe was telling me about his intention to call to me and how this group he was in was really good and that they needed me. The following day, I went next door and said "hello." Cory approached me and repeated what Joe had said, adding that he would like to come down and hear me play at our club gig. He and Joe came down and Cory liked what he heard, especially that I could sing and play at the same time. Cory told me that over the last couple of years, when he was considering a change in guitarists for the Cory Wells Blues Band, he had also tried to find me. He and I had never met, but somehow, he was aware of me through musician chitchat between groups. They had worked in the San Jose, CA area, and he and I had, in fact, played the same clubs in Tucson, AZ called the Doll House at different times in about 1965 or 66.

   Leaving the Family Scandal was no easy decision, in the respect that they were like family and brothers to me. We had spent so much time with each other and I owed them so much. Sharing rooms and all that "the 60's thing" involved. I won't go into it. Tired of reading all those kind of rock n roll stories, glamorizing drug abuse. I have my stories, way more than I would like to admit, but the buck stops here. If you wanta hear that stuff, just turn on VH1. A rock and roll generational thing, I suppose. Back to the Family Scandal members.

  We were close. That's the point. Joe Torres had his girlfriend, Bunny, with him. Izzy had his wife, Elayla and children with him and Willie and I were single. The specifics of my departure from the Family Scandal is a story in itself, but I'll just make a general statement that it was a difficult time for me, and for the remaining band members. Things were said, feelings were hurt and events happened that are better just left in history. Really good friends do that. We are ALL best of friends to this day. We were, and still are family.

   When the time came for my decision, it was obvious to me, very obvious that this group, Danny, Chuck, Cory, Joe, Floyd, Jimmy and I, was the right combination of musicians and singers, with the added expertise of good management and a record company. I wasn't that experienced in the "L.A." scene, but I just knew it would happen. I felt it. We all knew it. THIS WAS IT.