Friday, May 22, 2009

BE HAPPY!

No one loved to laugh more than Michael. Be it Red Foxx, Rodney Dangerfield, Oscar Levant. Johnathan Winter, Lenny Bruce, they were all a joy to him. In the written form Bruce Jay Friedman, Patrick Dennis, Mark Twain, Evelyn Waugh, Kingsly Amos, Thurber,
Terry Southern and many more. What stuff really makes you laugh out loud? Be it stand up, a TV show, or a book? Humor was so much a part of Michael.

Monday, May 11, 2009

OVER THESE WALLS I SHALL FLY

It is with profound sorrow that my friend David R. Shorey AKA Gashouse Dave passed away on Friday May 8Th, 2009. He had level four cancer which finally took it's toll.
David played bass on several of the latter albums with my brother. He was also a exceptional guitarist and fronted the, "Gashouse Dave and the Hardtails." I suggest that you Google him, check youtube.com and enjoy the great talent he had.
David was incredibly gifted not only in music but he had written and published an impressive array of books. Gashouse could draw and paint and was one of the best Literature Teachers I have ever known. His sense of humor was only second to Michael's.
I had the pleasure of his company two years ago when we went down to Clarksdale, Mississippi for The Paul Butterfield Reunion. We spent a week together and soaked up the rural south, the home of Robert Johnson, the Big Muddy, and the cotton fields at night. We read to each other our favorite southern writers and David played at all the jukes and clubs we could find.
My brother David, was incredibly kind, sweet natured, generous, and lived through his heart. Once I went with him to a barrio in LA where he taught disadvantaged children how to play music. The children loved David, climbed all over him and played with the utmost passion. I will never forget the joy he brought them.
As he loved my brother so did I love him. May peace and peace and peace surround him always. My deepest sympathy and condolences to Olga for her loss.

Allen B.