Thoughts on Coronavirus/Covid19
She’s sweet until you knock at the door.
One of the few positives during Covid is old friends finding me. I recently received a few ancient recordings I was involved in. I was in several “horn” bands during High School and College. This particular band had several member changes during their short run, and I joined during their last year. I’ve not heard these recordings since we laid them down. I am playing trumpet. You can definitely hear the BS&T/Chicago influence.
This one was recorded at Isaac Hayes Hot Buttered Soul Studios in Memphis, TN in 1975:
This was recorded in 1974 at Jaggers Studio in Little Rock, AR:
Fun stuff! Reminds me of listening to the radio while painting houses to work my way thru college back in the mid '70’s!
I suppose my covid ‘silver lining’ is a lot of time with my family. I have kids in middle and high school and get to spend a lot of time with them during ‘distance learning’ from home plus wifey gets to work from home a lot these days. LOL, since I’m retired I wasn’t working anyway, so the only real difference is all the closures and of course the skewed threat of covid to disproportionately harm those who are older. For the young, the mortality numbers show its actually not much of a threat. But about 55 and up it starts becoming a real problem…over 92% of the mortality numbers come from this group.
I was working on my Master during this time. We were touring mostly in the SE U.S. and it was very difficult to keep my studies up. It came to a point where I either had to quit school or stay on the road. Some of the members were in college, and could only gig on the weekends, thus the many personnel changes. They signed with a booking agent who would book them on weekdays, and one-nighters 500 miles apart on weekends. I couldn’t keep up with everything, so I quit, and concentrated on school. They split up shortly thereafter. It was fun, and the money was really good, but I made the right choice.
As far as Covid goes, I’ve limited outings. The many doctor visits, and prescription pickups are about all I have done. I soon will be 68, and I feel no need to risk infection, especially with the mortality numbers negatively affecting my age group.
LOL, I’m less than 4 yrs behind you so I can definitely relate. That said, I did some research a few months back and generated this chart that is designed to provide a 200,000 foot view perspective. The raw counts are intimidating indeed for our crowd and up, but when viewed as percents of peers I can relax a bit more while still being diligent. Fortunately the kiddos are faring much better than the 2018 flu season stat wise. As you can see, my extrapolation is short, and probably is closer to the current numbers when cases are more correctly counted. Unfortunately economic incentives exist in the US for coding deaths as “covid involved” which results in inflated numbers. An accurate count is virtually impossible anyway since if someone had covid and pneumonia and passed, do you count it as covid? Or pneumonia? The doctor doesn’t really know. So the CDC convention is to count it as “covid related” and it gets lumped into the covid count. Likewise the same case also gets counted as “pneumonia related” and lumped into the pneumonia count. All to say one needs to understand the counting methods to better understand the numbers since a single case gets tallied under several categories. Meaning 150K covid plus 100K pneumonia does not mean 250K mortality, it may actually mean 160K mortality for example.
Really enjoyed those recordings Corky. Tight & grooving! 
I can relate to you playing trumpet, as I played cornet in my high school band back then. Mind you, not very well, but was a blast!
One of my biggest joys back then, was playing our horns at a NHL game at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto with a couple high school band members. I remember blowing our brains out between stoppages in play getting the crowd ramped up. It was neat hearing 18,000+ clapping & shouting along with you. If I remember right, Toronto was playing the “broad street bullies” Philadelphia Flyers that night in 1974.
Sure beats the empty stadium covid times we have now.
Of course the thing to remember is that those numbers are with social distancing, masks, closures, etc. The raw counts could easily be double or triple without the mitigation measures, but the peer percentages would still remain quite small. That said, older people (of which I’m one of) definitely don’t want to catch this thing.
Thanks Dave! It was a good time for large bands. We were paid very well then, unlike the past 10 years. The Musicians Union kept venues in line, and we always received our money timely through our agent.
Those are great! I really like the first one; actually reminds me more maybe of Ides of March. I’d kill to be in a big horn band now. That would make life good again.
Since Covid started, I began playing Trumpet, Drums, and Trombone again. I also had to sharpen my Sax, Harmonica, and guitar playing, as they were failing. My Bass skills are good, but my Keyboard playing, and vocals have suffered most. It was shocking when I sat down at the keys again after the 1st 3 months of nothing. I don’t think I want to be in a horn section again, but playing keys, bass, or guitar in a big band would be fun.
We were very influenced by BS&T, Chicago, Ides of March, all the soul stuff, AND Chase. Bill Chase gave a seminar at my University before a concert. They were amazing…loved this guy. I also admired Jim Fielder, Bobby Colomby, and Lew Soloff in BS&T.
Chase
Very nice music, Corky.
With this kind of music you can “hear” the enthusiasm that must have been involved when composing, arranging and playing the songs.
@Corky, Very diverse and interesting musical background you’ve had. Lots to be proud of!
I’m definitely not as musically gifted. Although, where your struggling on keys at the moment, that’s my forte. I studied classical piano in my youthful days, and accomplished my Royal Conservatory grade VIII. That gave me a solid basis for playing keyboards in general. I taught piano for several years, and played keys in amateur bands, but never went professional. I had to make a hard financial decision when I got married and raising a family in my 20’s. I worried that if I become professional, I would become a starving musician. I often wonder if I took that path.
Anyway, here I am in retirement, financially stable from a career in electronics. Plus add some health issues, doctors appointments, you know. But one thing we all have in common here is our love of music. Thank heavens, and covid be-damned.
Hi Corky,
Just listened to the one recorded at Isaac Haye’s studio. I would have bought that. Who is the bass player?
Doug
Hi Dave. Thanks for the kind words. I was self taught on Trumpet in the 7th grade. By the 8th grade I was arranging music pieces for the school band. It just came naturally. I started learning other instruments that I could get access to. I borrowed a guitar at 14, asked how to tune it, and figured out the chords, and to this day, I finger chords much differently than others. I also studied others playing piano and organ, and forced myself to emulate them. By the time I started college, I was way ahead of the “instructors” who tried to change my embouchure and piano playing. I was a rebel, and they soon found out I wasn’t giving in to their BS. So, even though I played classical music in school orchestra, and recitals, I can’t claim to be classically trained, and sometimes wish I had studied as you did. It would have made me a much better player.
I got a taste of the road life, but like you, I felt the need to live a more stable life. I retired a Civil Service employee, and a retired teacher. I am so glad I chose the life I did, because I am not struggling in retirement, yet I have been able to perform throughout my careers. Many professional musicians I know have been struggling for years, but are in trouble now. I support them whenever I can. Yeah…covid be damned!
Thanks Doug. Pretty sure it was “Meatloaf” (long before the other Meatloaf). Bill Loftus, was his name, but there were many member changes during that time, so I am not 100% sure. Bill was a great Bassist, as were the others. 45 years have passed since then…barely remember anything about the recordings. There is a live recording somewhere online, but I heard it once and haven’t been able to find it again.
I remember that Chase album! It was popular among the big band-heads in my school show band.