Rae and Glenn, circa 1985
|
Background - Music
Phase 1 An undergraduate with essentially no money, I’d taken a job at Penny’s during the height of the holiday season. In those days I played a bit of acoustic guitar but was at best a mediocre player. One afternoon while lunching with one of my superiors - Alan, the topic of music came up. Through some means it came out that Alan wanted to form a band and he asked me to play guitar. Though not a great player and certainly lacking any lead skills, I still thought it would be a blast. So I joined my first band. From that band I made two life-long friends: Alan and Shelby. We were a sonic disaster, but we had a great time and I soon discovered that drunk college students only notice music when the steady 4/4 beat stops. So, armed with a catalog strong on 4/4 we got jobs. (I have a recording of us playing live to confirm just how bad we were. Wow!) I’ve lost touch with the other members, but without doubt Lori was the major talent of the band. I’m sure she is still a tremendous vocalist, wherever she might be. The selection of tunes played were never very interesting to me but other things kept me engaged. Still, my old nemesis Boredom soon started picking at me and, as it turned out Shelby. He and I started working on some music that was more interesting to us, and eventually our band dissolved. As it fell apart a new band was formed with me, Alan, Shelby, one of Shelby’s friends Doug, my classmate Paul, and another guy who played keyboards. Eventually Rae joined the band as the second keyboardist. I was still soundly mediocre, but based on the talent of the other members we managed to get jobs. It was a blast. Ahh but the pressures of our early 20’s. So much fear, ego, competitiveness and mixed goals. We fell part, though the friendships stood the test of time. I still count Doug and Paul as life friends, along with Shelby and Alan. Alan was our “wedding singer” when Rae and I married. I have recordings of that band doing some interesting cover tunes. We were pretty good. We were all devastated when we learned that Alan had passed away. I would never have worked in music without his encouragement. Love and light Alan… Phase 2 Rae and I decided that we needed to be in a different venue if we were to have any chance of success, and I felt that we should essentially stop doing cover tunes and only perform our own music. We moved to Denver and Doug joined us. Try as we may, we were never quite able to pull that initial effort off. Doug moved on and joined another band. But Rae and I kept at it and were eventually joined by Mark, Kirk, and in an unshakable supporting roll, Linda. Now in our mid-20’s but still with the associated baggage, we managed to record one album which was released on a small label. I thought it was pretty good at the time, and as I listen back to it I still feel it is good. But the album stalled, I was me, and Mark and Kirk wisely left to pursue a more sanguine path. Rae and I continued on and recorded a second album. I feel like it still holds up quite well and we managed to get some interest from a couple of labels in Los Angeles. Among other tunes it had the original version of Rae’s lovely song, “Somewhere Along the Way” and another of my favorites from her, “Between Us.” Which brought us to Phase 3. Phase 3 In 1986 Rae and I walked out of Warner Brother's in Los Angeles. Through a series of happy events we had been given the opportunity to present our music to the Head of A&R (artist relations) at Warner's and A&M. We were really hopeful for a professional recording contract. Instead the Head told us that he thought we should be selling our music out of the back of yoga magazines. It was some of the best advice I ever got, and I completely ignored it. In fact, I was irritated by it. Oh, young Glenn. You make me sad. As Rae and I sat in a pub she said, “That’s it. I’m done with music.” And so it was. Within a few years I pursued my passion to teach and Rae pursued her passions. We soon landed in Boston, both in graduate school. I never looked back. I stored my guitars away and didn’t play for another 30 years. After moving into academic middle management I needed an outlet for relaxation. It was only natural that I would start playing the video game Midnight Majong Madness, right? I got pretty good and though not necessarily something to brag about, I was internationally ranked. Still, as it took me 3 or 4 hours to play a game, Rae started referring to herself as a “Midnight Majong Madness Widow.” One day she said to me a favorite phrase: “You are not yet boring but are in danger of becoming so." After a long, dramatic pause she continued, " You have got to get a hobby.” And so I pulled my guitar from under the bed and began playing again. But so many starts and stops. Family illnesses were always at hand as was work-related "stuff." Six months before she feel ill, Rae and I began playing music together again. Mostly jazz standards, though we also arranged several classical pieces for guitar and piano. I never got around to recording those... Ah, the "human experience..." |