WEBVTT - Ralph Johnson of Earth, Wind & Fire 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:03.680 The Quest Love Show is a production of iHeart Radio. 0:00:21.600 --> 0:00:24.640 Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to the Quest Love Show. I'm 0:00:24.680 --> 0:00:27.600 your host Quest Love. You know in past episodes, I've 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:31.440 been talking about a lot of metaphysical woulu talk. 0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:32.839 Pretty sure that. 0:00:33.800 --> 0:00:36.440 Unless you're very like Spain, a brand new to this show, 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:40.000 you know that I've been working on this Earth Would 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:44.320 and Fire documentary for the last almost two years. By 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:48.760 this taping, it would have been on HBO earlier in June, 0:00:49.040 --> 0:00:53.880 and it's entitled Earth Woulden Fire to be Celestial versus 0:00:54.000 --> 0:00:55.200 That's the Weight of the World. 0:00:55.760 --> 0:00:58.200 Why such a long title, because you know me well. 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:03.600 One of the most important subjects and voices in that 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:07.720 particular documentary about Earth Wooden Fire is with us today. 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:11.680 He's the Grammy Award winning inductee into the Rock and 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:14.200 Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:19.560 and pretty much from the early seventies he was the drummer, percussionist, 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:23.960 one of its vocalists songwriters. In addition, he's produced for 0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:29.040 other acts included Temptations, Howard Hewitt, Blue Magic, so many more. 0:01:29.600 --> 0:01:32.960 And he has done us the honor of making us 0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:36.480 a stop on his promotur for his brand new book 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:40.360 entitled Life and Harmony with Earth Wood and Fire. And 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:44.200 I had the privilege of putting the forward to this book. 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:47.360 I suggest you all get it. A lot of tippets 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:49.800 in there. What can I say? Man, I am talking 0:01:49.840 --> 0:01:52.160 to one and only my first drummer on the show. 0:01:52.880 --> 0:01:55.240 Get no, no, you got that? Wait? 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:58.440 Since since the Quest Love Show, since this iteration of 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:02.720 my podcast, I've had what like at least six bass players, 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:05.000 A lot of bass players, not one drummer. 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:08.120 See how I manifested. I thank you, I thank you. 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:08.920 I'm honored. 0:02:09.240 --> 0:02:12.040 So I'm gonna ask you, what was your first musical 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:15.600 memory in life? Your first memory of music? 0:02:16.160 --> 0:02:19.480 Well, there's a couple. There's a couple, but the very 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:24.440 first one is my father brought home an album entitled 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:29.360 Benny Goodman Live at the Brussels World's Fair nineteen fifty eight. Okay, 0:02:29.880 --> 0:02:32.840 And on that I began to listen to this tune 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:37.320 called Sing Sing Sing Sing Yeah. And the drummer at 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:40.880 that time with Benny Goodman was Roy Burns. Okay. Roy 0:02:40.919 --> 0:02:42.600 would later on and I wouldn't meet him and tell 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:44.640 him this story. I would meet Roy much later on 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:48.160 at the Nam show because he started the Aquarius drum 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:51.560 Head Company. Was him? That was him. I did not 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:55.800 know this, yes, and so that was my first memory. Okay, 0:02:56.120 --> 0:03:00.400 going back to like vinyl. But then my first live 0:03:01.160 --> 0:03:02.480 event was myself. 0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:05.840 My buddy Arthur Copper, who I went to elementary school 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:08.800 and we always played in bands, went to a James 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:11.040 Brown concert and I can tell you the date was 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:16.120 January first, nineteen sixty six, at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:20.320 You saw Prime James three drum sets on stage. I 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:20.960 was messed up. 0:03:20.960 --> 0:03:23.320 What was that like for you? I was blown away? 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:25.680 I said, first off, why would you need three drum sets? 0:03:25.840 --> 0:03:29.399 You know? But madam, it's just such a powerful presentation, 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:33.640 you know, And so of course that I maintained my 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:36.400 interest in James Brown from that point forward. You know, 0:03:36.400 --> 0:03:38.360 I never missed a concert. But those are my early 0:03:38.440 --> 0:03:39.200 music memories. 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:43.960 So your second generation musician, Your parents were well, my mother. 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:47.080 Was a vocalist, not professionally. My father was a lyricist, 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:50.440 not professionally. So I suppose that's where I got my 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:53.960 songwriting talent from. What was it about the drums that 0:03:54.040 --> 0:03:56.680 called you? Like? Why did you choose the drums? Or 0:03:56.680 --> 0:03:59.440 do you play other instruments. No, no, no, no, I 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:02.320 don't play any other instruments. You know what, I don't 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:05.240 know if any of us can say what it is 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:08.600 about that particular instrument that pulls you in. It's just 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:11.960 they noticed, my parents noticed that I would sit in 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:15.600 front of the TV when various variety shows would come on, 0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:18.280 like say maybe Ed Sullivan, and I would just sit 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:20.159 there and just get into this kind of thing. And 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:22.120 so they finally got me some sticks, and I kept 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:26.560 until that Christmas when we got that snare drum under 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:28.760 the Christmas tree and I started a whole thing. But 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:31.320 I don't know what it was, or answer your question, 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:33.800 I don't know what it was. It was just one 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:38.120 of those things. Another musical memory the first time my 0:04:38.240 --> 0:04:42.640 father took me downtown to the Southern California Music Company 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:47.000 and I walked in. First off, there was all these 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:53.440 brass instruments, and back then manufacturers were using lacquer, and 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:55.640 you could smell the lacker and when you walked into 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:56.640 a music store. 0:04:56.880 --> 0:04:59.400 That lacker was all over the place. And I remember 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:00.960 the stink. Remember that smell. 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:04.120 So that's a that's a that's oh Man prime memory. 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:08.320 Yes, absolutely were you born in southern California. 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:10.720 Born and raised twenty eighth and Hobart. I'll go back 0:05:10.720 --> 0:05:12.960 to the regional fatburger. You wouldn't know about that. We'll 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:14.080 talk about that later, Okay. 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:16.320 Tell me all right, so tell me about life in 0:05:16.720 --> 0:05:18.760 south central back then. 0:05:18.839 --> 0:05:22.560 Let's define what you're calling south central, because some people 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:26.040 would say, well, east of Main Street and then south 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:29.720 of say Century would be south central. Okay. I came 0:05:29.800 --> 0:05:32.200 up on the west side. I came up on like 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:35.440 ninetieth and eighth Avenue, and that's why I wound up 0:05:35.720 --> 0:05:38.640 going to high school in Inglewood. I graduated from Mount 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:41.279 Berner Junior High School, which is now called Johnny Cochran 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:45.719 Junior High School in sixty six, okay, and we moved 0:05:45.760 --> 0:05:48.760 to Inglewood ninetieth and eighth Avenue and the Forum was 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:53.200 just being built. Okay. I remember seeing those concrete forums 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:55.800 that go up the side of the building. They were 0:05:55.880 --> 0:05:58.200 laying out on the ground. I was like, man, what 0:05:58.360 --> 0:06:00.719 are they going to build here? Looked it was a form. 0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:03.000 And then one of my greatest moments ever was to 0:06:03.000 --> 0:06:05.080 get my parents into the forum. And we were selling 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:07.600 it out five nights in the roll so wow. But 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:10.800 grew up in LA and yes, was a fan of 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:11.479 fat burgers. 0:06:11.560 --> 0:06:16.080 Yes, so again my you know, I was worn in 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:19.960 the seventies, so of course, you know when we hear 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:23.159 of South central Los Angeles and all of sudden you 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:26.360 hear the civil unrest, year of gang activity. 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:29.320 And whatnot, Like was it like that? 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:32.919 I mean, you know, you were a young teen in 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:35.920 the sixties and the Wats riots. 0:06:36.760 --> 0:06:39.560 That's what changed everythinkly, I distinctly remember the Watch riots. 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:42.440 Tell me about it. I mean, where we were, the 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:46.520 rioting was not heavity. It was just sporadic, you know, 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:49.440 breakouts here and there. It was very heavy going on 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:52.400 in South central And the thing that blew my mind 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:55.640 was one evening, summer evening, We're just sitting out on 0:06:55.640 --> 0:06:59.320 the front porch and an army tank came rolling down. 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:02.320 Army tanks were not something you saw on the street. 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:04.680 You saw them in movies. 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:06.560 And it blew my mind. Sat man, it's a real 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:09.640 army tank going down the street. And then at that time, 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:12.920 my older brother, who retired from LAPD as a lieutenant, 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:15.600 was in the police academy at that time, getting ready 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:17.560 to go into the police force. But it was a 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:20.640 crazy time man and then you know, hey, still today, 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:23.559 we're trying to do the best we can out here. 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:27.280 How did that personally affect you in the neighborhood after 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:28.760 nineteen sixty five. 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:32.960 Actually, it didn't really affect me. I mean, you know, 0:07:33.040 --> 0:07:36.440 we were aware that there was some trouble out on 0:07:36.480 --> 0:07:40.040 the south end of the city. It didn't really affect me. 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:42.400 You know, you had your head on a swivel of 0:07:42.440 --> 0:07:46.320 course everywhere you went. But did you go out much 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:49.000 or were you more of a homebody or well, you 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:53.120 know what, Actually, I've always been mostly a homebody. Okay, 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:55.320 I'm quite happy just when. 0:07:55.280 --> 0:07:56.920 Like when I come off the road, I'm quite happy 0:07:57.000 --> 0:07:59.440 just being at home, I see, you know, and just 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:03.320 hanging out. Okay, So I know about the master's children, 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:07.200 but like, how did you interact with bands back then? 0:08:07.520 --> 0:08:11.400 How important were bands back then in the neighborhood. 0:08:11.480 --> 0:08:14.080 Well, yeah, bands in the neighborhood. That's a you know, 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:17.480 that's another movie. Bands in the neighborhood. 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:21.240 Yeah, that was very important coming up because that's how 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:23.440 you got to, you know, learn about the other cats 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:26.480 in the neighborhood who were playing maybe your same instrument, 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:30.120 if not, you know, And that was the network that 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:33.920 you developed early on that you would probably keep for 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:36.959 the rest of your life, you know, And so you 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:40.480 would bounce around from band to band, and I certainly 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:44.480 did until I wound up with the Master's children at 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:48.240 Maverick's Flat, which was a big club in the sixties 0:08:48.360 --> 0:08:51.760 on crenchat Boulevard and Baldwin Hills area. So back then, 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:55.440 was it fairly typical that one out of three people 0:08:55.640 --> 0:08:58.400 knew how to play a musical instrument. 0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:00.720 That's an interesting stat one out of I don't know. 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:05.760 Well, I definitely know that the idea of a musician. 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:11.320 I was told Nixon's budget cut in seventy three suddenly 0:09:11.360 --> 0:09:14.240 all those things were taken out of schools. So in 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:18.280 your schooling, was it required that you learned how to 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:19.160 play an instrument? 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:22.480 It was not required, Okay, you could learn to play 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:26.600 if you wish to learn to play. And so in 0:09:26.600 --> 0:09:30.079 my elementary school, in the fourth grade, I was already 0:09:30.240 --> 0:09:35.000 in an orchestra playing drums. Okay. Now today, try and 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:39.920 find an orchestra in an elementary school. You can't. Where 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:43.000 is it? You won't find it. So I was introduced 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:46.520 very early on, and I took lessons very early on. 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:48.120 As a matter of fact, I took my first drum 0:09:48.200 --> 0:09:52.079 lesson in April of nineteen fifty nine. I believe that's 0:09:52.120 --> 0:09:52.439 the date. 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:55.600 Yes, those same books like Syncopation for the Modern Drummer 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:56.479 and Stick. 0:09:56.800 --> 0:09:58.520 You know, I wasn't turned one of those books yet. 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:02.040 I would discover those books with a much better teacher 0:10:02.240 --> 0:10:05.280 later on when I got to Grant's Music Center in 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:08.120 La No. It started a snare drum method book by 0:10:08.160 --> 0:10:11.600 a drummer brother named Haskell Harr. You can still find 0:10:11.600 --> 0:10:15.280 his books. But anyway, that's how I started. And then 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:17.920 you know, I just started playing around the neighborhood doing 0:10:17.920 --> 0:10:20.560 all that. And then finally I found this place called 0:10:20.559 --> 0:10:24.000 Grant's Music Center, and this is where all the cats 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:28.680 were coming to study and network and get gigs and 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:31.880 stuff like that. Henry Grant owned it, and that's where 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:34.600 I wound up with probably the greatest teacher ever for me, 0:10:35.000 --> 0:10:40.679 Clarence Johnston, who also taught Raymond Pounds, Ah Stevie's got Yeah, 0:10:40.760 --> 0:10:45.080 there you go, Raymond Pounds and Clayton Cameron. Oh really, 0:10:45.520 --> 0:10:48.720 we were the three that Clarence had that went out 0:10:48.760 --> 0:10:51.920 there and did something. It was because I saw Raymond 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:56.439 playing with the Grants big band and swinging and he's 0:10:56.440 --> 0:10:57.680 sitting swinging, going. 0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:05.400 Higgy, get any bitch bach. I was like, whoa wait 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:08.360 a minute. And I went to him and asked, I said, man, 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:09.280 where are you getting this stuff? Man? 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:11.640 It's Grants music? I said, okay, fine, and I went 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:15.199 and signed up. And I spent man three or four 0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:19.640 years with Clarence Johnston. That's how you got your jazz shop. Oh, absolutely, 0:11:20.000 --> 0:11:24.600 because you gotta look Jim Chapin's Advanced Techniques for the 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:26.880 Modern Drummer. Yes, you know you got to play in 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:30.520 that book. Very familiar, Yes, very familiar with it, you know. Okay, 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:34.160 so I'm a credit head liner. Note head Were. 0:11:33.960 --> 0:11:38.679 There any other notable musicians that will wind up being 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:41.720 your peers years later that you ran into when you 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:45.360 guys were young teenagers in the sixties. No, besides Raymond 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:47.360 Towns and you know what. Not off the top of 0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:49.840 my head. Okay, of course that may. I mean, we 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:51.880 may come back around to that. I mean, okay, So 0:11:52.520 --> 0:11:57.560 in starting a band, what's required, Like, how. 0:11:57.360 --> 0:12:00.320 Do you know which song sad? Like? 0:12:00.600 --> 0:12:04.040 I don't know if there's a fake book for James 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:09.440 Brown or you get together with the guys for the 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:11.760 first time. You just kind of sit around and you jam. 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:13.400 You're just playing anything. 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:15.760 It might be a funk jam, it could be a 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:17.080 straight ahead jazz jam. 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:19.840 It could be anything. And you see how that feels. 0:12:20.480 --> 0:12:23.000 And what you're looking for and what you're testing for 0:12:24.120 --> 0:12:26.920 is the chemistry amongst the musicians. 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:30.360 How does this bass player feel? You're thinking this to yourself, 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:34.720 but it feels pretty good. What is a guitar player? Okay? 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:38.320 What is he? Okay? The keyboard is what is he doing? 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:41.520 And you're checking all this out because as a drummer, 0:12:42.000 --> 0:12:44.560 you're hearing it all. You're sitting back there going okay. 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:49.559 So you're looking for chemistry because that, in the end 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:52.880 is going to be the bottom line, the chemistry amongst 0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:55.920 the players. That to me is what makes it's a 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:59.760 given that all these guys can play, right. But see, 0:12:59.800 --> 0:13:04.480 all all great musicians can't play together. Oh yeah, I 0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:06.280 hate one great musicians are together. 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:10.319 Okay, it's like all star gaming right right now, All great. 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:11.480 Musicians cannot play together. 0:13:11.640 --> 0:13:13.520 Yeah, because you got to get that ego stuff out 0:13:13.559 --> 0:13:16.319 the way right, you know, gotch So what you're looking 0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:22.640 for is great musicianship, great attitude, great chemistry, because at 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:23.800 the end of the day, it's going to be the 0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:26.320 chemistry that carries the band through if you can. 0:13:26.200 --> 0:13:27.480 Get through the rest of that stuff. 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:32.280 In the mid sixties, when you're a teenager, is jazz 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:36.720 the most likely destination you want to wind up with? 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:38.880 Like I know that for a lot of the sixty 0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:41.920 musicians I talk to, they kind of look down on 0:13:42.080 --> 0:13:46.120 pop music, like Motown's just toy music or bubblegum music or. 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:49.160 The Beatles or whatever. Well, because I came up listening 0:13:49.160 --> 0:13:50.840 to R and B and most of the R and 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:53.280 B stations, although there was a twenty LA had the 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:56.920 first ever twenty four hour jazz station KBCA one oh 0:13:56.960 --> 0:14:01.360 five point one, okay, he said, and his best. But 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:03.480 I grew up listening to a lot of R and B. 0:14:04.120 --> 0:14:07.000 So it wasn't that I was growing up. I never 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:09.719 had a thought of saying, well, professionally, I want to 0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:11.839 be a jazz musician. I knew I was going to 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:13.560 be with an R and B. 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:16.400 Type of situation because that's what I was listening to mostly. 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:19.480 But I had a deep appreciation for the jazz side 0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:25.760 of things. So before your destiny was determined, who did 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:29.400 you imagine at fifteen or sixteen, man, if I could 0:14:29.440 --> 0:14:32.720 play with blah blah blah, like who who are you 0:14:32.840 --> 0:14:37.240 aiming for? As a young drummer teenager, I thought that 0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:41.520 as a young drummer, being able to play with like 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:44.400 Freddie Hubbard would have been interesting. 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:49.840 Oh surviving Freddy, I thought. If you're familiar with. 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:55.920 Man, I thought that before he had his strokes, I 0:14:55.960 --> 0:14:58.840 would have loved to have played with Keith Jarrett. Wow, 0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:03.920 because the trio configuration is my favorite configuration. I just 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:08.160 give me drums, bass and piano and we'll create the stuff. Gotcha, 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:10.880 there's enough there to create some stuff. Okay, you know 0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:14.640 it's all about your imagination. So yeah, those two for sure. 0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:18.400 One big band. Jiro Wilson's a big band, all right, 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:21.080 So you definitely want it. Because Zero was local and 0:15:21.160 --> 0:15:22.840 I could go see him. 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:26.320 So jazz was your That was a good destination point 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:29.480 for you. Well, it was a good destination point, but 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:32.280 it's not needless to say it's not where, not where 0:15:32.280 --> 0:15:36.240 I wound up and not necessarily where I was trying 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:38.120 to aim. 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:40.080 But also sort of I mean, you know, but I 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:43.160 made sure I studied it. You guys had chops, you know, 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:46.240 I studied it. Clarence made sure that Raymond and I 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:48.720 and Clayton could play some straight ahead stuff. 0:15:48.840 --> 0:15:49.120 Got you? 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:05.560 Okay, So tell me about the legendary Mavericks Flats. I'm sorry, 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:10.320 I say this always over Mavericks Flats. That's the rural 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:15.880 juror at Mavericks Flats. Actually it's Mavericks Flat. Mavericks Flat, 0:16:16.080 --> 0:16:16.840 Mavericks Flat. 0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:20.400 Okay. One. Where was it located? On forty two twenty 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:25.520 five Crenshaw Boulevard, just south of Stoker on Crenshaw, Okay, 0:16:25.880 --> 0:16:28.520 on the west side of the street. Now, what period 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:34.040 is your Mavericks Flat? That's sixty eight, sixty nine seventy. 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:37.120 That's what I'm playing every weekend at the club. 0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:40.640 Okay, So can you just give me a typical run through? 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:43.760 All right, let's say it's March of nineteen seventy. 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:47.000 Uh is one? 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:50.160 Is Mavericks Flat like the spot I want to go 0:16:50.240 --> 0:16:52.160 to if you're if you hit La, you want to 0:16:52.240 --> 0:16:55.000 hit Mavericks Flat. Yes, okay, it was one of It 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:57.240 was probably the hottest black club. 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:01.360 Going. And there were other clubs. There were other clubs 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:04.320 on Crenshaw, but they just didn't have the attraction. 0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:09.280 Who would play there. Oh Man Parliament. Funkadelic would come 0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:12.760 through there. So if you're an established black act, you 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:16.920 could come through this. How large is the oh? It 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:21.159 would only hold about although John would make sure that 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:26.440 Bad Boy was packed legally about two hundred people maybe okay, 0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:29.119 maybe not that I'm maybe over because there was an 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:33.480 upstairs on the downstairs, but all the entertainment took place downstairs. Now, 0:17:33.640 --> 0:17:36.359 DJ culture wasn't a thing yet, right, so all music 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:38.800 had to be provided either a jukebox. 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:41.840 And a band. There was a juke box booth. He 0:17:41.880 --> 0:17:44.600 had his turntables, and he would play music throughout the club. 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:48.120 Okay, yes, so even if bands weren't on stage, there 0:17:48.160 --> 0:17:52.639 was always always so absolutely yes, yes, okay, And I 0:17:52.680 --> 0:17:56.080 would assume that you would have to be good in 0:17:56.200 --> 0:17:59.359 order to get there. I'm only asking you this once 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:02.760 because I believe weave in our interviews is I forgot 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:07.720 who it was, but somebody mentioned that when the original 0:18:08.000 --> 0:18:11.800 pre classic Look, when I say Earth went in fire, 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:14.400 I mean you guys. So the band that was Earth 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:18.160 went in fire before you guys, right, the Warner Brothers band. Yeah, 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:20.240 the Warner Brothers band. I heard that they were met 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:24.080 with indifference because they were a little too free jazz 0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:25.120 and not enough. 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:27.440 Yeah, and I think part of it was the look 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:33.919 they had. Okay, so it wasn't you that night or no, no, no, okay, 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:37.280 So what I'm going it's what I was hearing that 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:40.000 I think was Bob Caballo, one of our managers at 0:18:40.000 --> 0:18:43.359 the time, Till Maurice like the idea, but you got 0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:46.600 to get some younger cats, got you, okay, you know, 0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:48.960 got to go with a whole nother look because these 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:51.719 cats were in fezes and beers and it just it 0:18:51.760 --> 0:18:54.800 was just it's if you compare the two looks, you'll 0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:55.800 see what I was saying. 0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:59.240 Okay, when you're playing there, how many songs do you 0:18:59.320 --> 0:18:59.800 have to learn? 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:02.560 Like? What's I want to know what the division of 0:19:02.640 --> 0:19:03.919 labor was in terms. 0:19:03.680 --> 0:19:06.320 Of like whose job was it to buy all the 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:08.720 forty fives to learn the songs? Did you all just 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:12.440 have to on your own? No, the forty fives were 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:14.960 usually there because they were part of the playlist on 0:19:15.000 --> 0:19:18.200 the weekend, So somewhere in the DJ booth we could 0:19:18.200 --> 0:19:20.080 find the forty fives and do we had to do? 0:19:20.280 --> 0:19:22.879 And it's basically required for you to know whatever it 0:19:22.920 --> 0:19:23.359 was hidden. 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:26.920 How it goes. Put on the record, listen to your part. Okay, 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:30.280 doom jot goom job goom goom chat all right, I 0:19:30.280 --> 0:19:34.080 got that. You know, learn your part, base player, sit there, 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:38.280 hear the notes. Okay, you just you learn. You know, 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:40.679 that's how you did it. Put on the record and 0:19:40.720 --> 0:19:43.159 just learn your stuff, got you? Yeah, you just you 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:45.000 learn your parts. You listen, you learn the part because 0:19:45.040 --> 0:19:47.040 there was no sheet music. Nobody was giving you sheet 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:50.879 music with a forty five right, gotcha, So you just listen. 0:19:51.760 --> 0:19:57.639 What was your idea of quote unquote making it? Like, 0:19:57.760 --> 0:20:02.160 did you feel as though, ad say, musician, you could 0:20:02.320 --> 0:20:06.040 make a living just by playing in a band, playing 0:20:06.080 --> 0:20:09.440 in playing drums or I felt that was possible if 0:20:09.440 --> 0:20:14.639 you were with the right situation. And so if I 0:20:14.640 --> 0:20:17.560 could have a car and live in an apartment, then 0:20:17.600 --> 0:20:21.760 I felt like I was making it. Okay, that's that's 0:20:21.760 --> 0:20:24.280 where you begin to think you're making it. Oh dude, 0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:25.440 I told him now. 0:20:26.440 --> 0:20:29.880 In your car, Well that this is where I learned 0:20:29.880 --> 0:20:32.399 that I'm insatiable, because I got the crib in the 0:20:32.440 --> 0:20:34.160 car and I was like, well, wait, I want this, 0:20:34.240 --> 0:20:36.760 and then I got then I want And that's part 0:20:36.800 --> 0:20:40.480 two to that whole thing. After you get the basics 0:20:40.480 --> 0:20:42.399 in place, you go okay, yeah, what else? 0:20:42.520 --> 0:20:44.160 I like that Picasso? Right? 0:20:44.720 --> 0:20:49.560 You know exactly You're You're spot on by saying, how 0:20:49.560 --> 0:20:50.840 did you meet Maurice White? 0:20:51.640 --> 0:20:54.119 I met him at the first time we had our 0:20:54.160 --> 0:20:58.240 first rehearsal. You never met. My dad was aware of him. 0:20:58.320 --> 0:21:01.919 I'd seen him play on TV with Ramsey, but I 0:21:01.960 --> 0:21:04.720 had not met him. So it wasn't until our first 0:21:05.920 --> 0:21:10.120 rehearsal that I met him. Who recommended you to Maurice 0:21:10.200 --> 0:21:13.080 to well? This is this was part of the audition thing. 0:21:13.520 --> 0:21:17.119 My audition was with Michael Beal, the original guitar player, 0:21:17.119 --> 0:21:20.360 and Verdein White, the bass player, and we just sat 0:21:20.359 --> 0:21:24.080 around and jammed for about forty five minutes. And then 0:21:24.119 --> 0:21:28.000 after that was over, Verdin called Maurice and he said, 0:21:29.080 --> 0:21:31.600 rees said what did you think? And virgin said, yeah, 0:21:31.600 --> 0:21:33.800 he's the cat and we just went off from there. 0:21:34.280 --> 0:21:36.760 Do you know what number you were as far as 0:21:36.840 --> 0:21:40.560 the order of I know Vertein was asking how many 0:21:40.640 --> 0:21:43.359 drummers auditioned? Well, no, no, no, I just met in terms 0:21:43.359 --> 0:21:46.000 of like what's the pecking order of I know Verdein 0:21:46.160 --> 0:21:48.560 was first who came in sech like were you. 0:21:49.000 --> 0:21:50.720 I was like the first one to come in to 0:21:50.800 --> 0:21:55.320 the new band, okay, and then Philip and Larry, you know, 0:21:55.480 --> 0:21:57.600 then Al and Johnny and Andrew. 0:21:57.800 --> 0:22:01.159 So one by one each member came to yep. Okay, 0:22:01.240 --> 0:22:02.320 Philip came in after me. 0:22:03.160 --> 0:22:03.480