In 1990 and after much soul searching trying to figure out if the Mara thing was all it was cracked up to be, I received a call from Danny Morgan. Danny was (and still is) a singer songwriter originally from Cincinnati Ohio who has carved out a great musical life for himself in and around the Gulf Coast of Florida. This was an opportunity to play music full time and make it a profession instead of a sideline. It also meant playing 5 or 6 nights a week, every week exposed to a different side of the music industry.
I was working at Santo’s Auto Service at the time as their parts manager. I scheduled a couple of days vacation, worked a full day on Wednesday, had dinner at home, hopped into my 78 Volkswagen Rabbit and drove 11-1/2 hours straight through to Sanibel Island, Florida (a very beautiful barrier island just off Ft. Meyers Beach).
I arrived in Sanibel about 1:30 in the afternoon. I picked a spot in a public lot and took a quick nap, trying to contact “Morgan” (as he is known by his close friends and employees) every so often. I managed to reach him around 5:00 and he gave me directions to his home. After showing me where I would stay for the next 18 hours, we hopped into the van and headed to the South Seas Plantation on Captiva Island.
After watching Danny’s show in this very quaint but very expensive night club, I sacked out in his van while he played the rest of his show. When the show was over, Morgan, guitarist Danny Frazier (of the Frazer River band), drummer Kenny Cox and I headed back to Moran’s home to sleep the rest of the night.
The next morning I auditioned for Danny and his band, landing the job easily. Danny and I headed off to a local restaurant where I signed a one year contract to play with Danny’s band, then hopped back in the VW Rabbit for the long drive home arriving back in Cincinnati early Friday afternoon.
Upon arriving home, I grabbed a nap because I was due to play a show in Clifton with Mara that night. Things were very strange with the band, and while I didn’t tell anyone where I was going or what I was doing over the past few days (not an uncommon occurrence ever), something didn’t seem right. Apparently, word had leaked out to the rest of the Mara guys that I had indeed auditioned with Danny’s band. That night I told the guys that I would be leaving to play full time with Danny when he came to Cincinnati in about 2 months. My last show with Mara at the time was held at “Nightlights” in the Eastgate area.
My time with Danny would be an incredible learning experience not only from the business side of music, but personally as a musician and the level of proficiency I would eventually attain. Moving from a part time prog-rocker to a jack of all trades musician wasn't really that difficult considering the background of my pre-teen days playing all kinds of popular music and standards. I learned Danny’s set list of jazz standards, reggae, island, 60's / 70's pop, and Jimmy Buffet songs - NINE SETS of them. And I wouldn't just be playing keys and singing, I'd also have to play left hand bass on the keys. This was the most difficult part, as my left hand has always been weaker than my right.
Over the next 15 months of playing 5+ nights a week in some of the most beautiful parts of Florida (Sanibel Island, Captiva Island, Naples and Key West just to name a few), my musical performance abilities really came out to shine. I could totally separate my left hand bass and right hand chords and leads, playing different parts in different time signatures and feel without even thinking about it. The sense of accomplishment was incredible and a testament to the God given talent I was blessed with at birth.
But while my musical abilities blossomed, 18 months on the road began to shake me as a human being. The recording opportunities I thought might be there really weren’t there, and any exposure or opportunities I might receive to move on to the “next level” were discouraged to the point where it became a similar experience to Mara’s “is this all there is” feeling.
We were due back to Cincinnati in the spring of 1991, and I decided at that time to stay in Cincinnati when Danny was scheduled to head back to Florida. This of course put Danny in a terrible bind, as he had become to depend on my proficient playing abilities. As a result, I sequenced Danny’s entire 9 set song list – nearly 150 songs – into a Roland MV-30 sequencer / band in a box. It became “Jimmy in a box”, and Danny still uses many of those sequences to this very day.
Next up – Rock & Roll Part II
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