How it all began...

The early days,

My first taste of music production was in 1967 working for a NY rock band "The Group Image" they were Andy Warhol's house band at his legendary parties. From there I was hooked on the scene, the new freedom I felt and an understanding that music made a difference in people's lives. I wanted to be a part of that!

I worked with bands from New York to Miami and Key West in the late sixty's and came out to San Francisco in 1970.  I became a part of the Good Earth Commune (read Season of the Witch) and managed the family band "Osceola".  We played with Ike and Tina Turner, Jerry Garcia Band, The Rowan Brothers and lots of other great SF bands. 

In 1971, I produced a George McGovern benefit in Speedway Meadows and a show at the Band Shell in Golden Gate Park. These were the first rock shows there since the 1967 Summer of Love and opened the door for the Good Earth to produce many more shows in the park. In 1973 I produced the California Marijuana Initiative Concerts to Legalize Pot cultivation and usage. The bands were, Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks, Hot Tuna w Papa John, Commander Cody, The Rowen Brothers, The Sons of Champlin and more. During my first three and a half years in San Francisco, I got to me meet and work with many of my idols and icons of the Bay Area music scene. Sam Cutler being one, the former road manager of the Stones was running ‘Out of Town Tours’, the Grateful Dead's national booking agency. Sam decided to move back to England and rather than see the agency fold he offered me, along with his head agent Ken Beals a chance to keep it going. What an honor as the GD had changed my life and was one of the reasons I came to San Francisco. 

I moved to Mill Valley and opened our new agency "Joynous Musical Services", that was 1974. We lasted a couple years. I wasn't cut out to sit in an office booking bands. I wanted to be on the front lines, producing shows or managing bands and on the road with people who loved the live music experience.

Production was my first love and that's what I still love doing today. Connecting people in a visceral way, experiencing life in the moment. That's for me what Art is about. It started with music and has expanded to art, comedy, film, fashion, pretty much everything that brings people together to share a common goal, which is, making a difference in all our lives. That for me is the driving force behind all forms of art and entertainment.