In the summer of 70, after graduation, I returned home. I had become a serious beer drinker by then and during the summers, my drinking started leading me into drug use. I remember gazing at that that Hendrick album, “Are You Experienced?” 

That fall, I made the mistake of going to a large state university instead of a smaller college. I went from being a “somebody” at high school to a “nobody” at a huge university. I became isolated and fell in with a crazy group of kids who loved listening to music and getting high.

Today's Reality Note:  Some of  the kids from the “Crazy Group” became very successful, yet many have died an alcohol or drug related death.

Coffee house was the thing then, so I started playing my original songs on guitar and piano at the school’s coffee venue and others around town. During that time I signed on with this hispanic, high energy, new york booking agent who wore these crazy disco outfits and kept me busy with small gigs. I enjoyed my first formal recording session at that time. I loved it all yet, I was not receiving any real education except about things that I shouldn’t have. I remember producing this live audio / light show program called “The Seven Chosen Children” Like the Door’s tune “People Are Strange” I was certainly getting that way! I had to leave the university for after two years my education was going nowhere.

Today's Reality Note:  My “Agent”  today has become a professional photographer 

In 73 I got better with time at home. No longer in the crazy crowd. I explained to my folks at that time that I wanted to try and play music on the road. My father wanted me to attend business school but offered to send me off for a music education. That may have been the thing to do as I look back on it, however, as a budding alcoholic, I knew better. 

I found an acoustic guitarist in town who wanted to do what I did and we formed a duo that summer and began writing songs together. I was playing a Rhodes and getting into synthesizers. I picked up an early Moog model called a Sonic Six. I moved into the garage apartment behind our home and we set up there for writing and rehearsal. Later we went to his family vacation home in Hilton Head Island alone to complete writing and developing two full sets of original music. It was a wonderful time, free of responsibility, simply able to focus on songwriting with an interested, talented co-writer. My folks were wonderful to help me to do that!

We returned home and purchased a Dokoder multitrack, reel to reel. We recorded a few songs and sent them off to the National Entertainment Conference to see if we could get accepted to their Southeast audition. We got in and were very well received!  The audition was held in the Savannah Civic Center, a guy named Jimmy Buffet was also auditioning. We were all successful and received weeks of block bookings at larger schools in the south. The money was good, but with the drinking, long distance driving, setting up and tearing down for one night stands it was difficult. I found out there was nothing easy about music on the road. We concluded our lackluster tour, returned home and broke up.

I decided at that time, to take my father up on business school. I thought I could work in the family business to make a living to finance and follow my passion of writing and producing. So in the fall of 74 I packed up my guitar and my addiction and went off to business school…