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CHAPTER 3

In the Navy

So into the Navy I go, to Rhoda, Spain, for two years of active duty. I took my guitar along with me, and here was where I ran into a guy named Ron from Pittsburg. He found out that I could sing, and we became good friends. We were like another Simon & Garfunkel. Ron didn’t know much about music at the time, but he could write songs and had a great voice. He could harmonize like I never heard anyone do it before.

I said, “Man, this guy’s got talent.”

He’d have these songs going in his head and just kept coming up with one after another. He wrote a song about a chief that was in charge of our shop at the time (who, by the way, nobody much liked) that I later recorded in a studio. I’d sit behind him with a guitar and figure out how to play all his songs. We played for different people at times and at a place called the Coffee Club on the base where we were stationed. No money, but we were popular. Everywhere we went, people wanted us to sing. Our fame was only limited to the Navy, but we did have a lot of fun! Ron still resides in the Pittsburg area today with his wife and family. We have remained friends for a long time.

After I was discharged from the Navy, my life settled down to a nine-to-five job, which was quite a nice job at the time, working for RCA in Princeton, New Jersey. I constantly pursued the music business, talking to anyone I could, and trying to sing anywhere I could, including sitting in with bands and clubs. I searched and searched for agents and promoters. I didn’t have much luck. I also found out that the agents of the day were not anything like the agents of yesteryear. Nobody would back me or promote me. It was like beating my head against the wall. Eventually I got married as everyone does, but I still kept up with the music business. I was married for about nineteen years and wound up with two wonderful sons, Ryan and David, whom I will mention again later in this book.