1970 This
year would include the release of our first "hits" album
called "Golden Biscuits". An idea by Dunhill Records
president Jay Lasker. Biscuit was a term used in the
recording industry for the acetates (records) that were
created by the master stampers ... a term used in reference
to the way a hand held cookie cutter works. The stampers
(molds, if you will) had been created from the mother disc
which was created from the original chemically treated and
hardened negative of the original mother master disc from
the mastering studio. The mastering lab master was the first
transfer from a stereo 2 trk tape that we had mixed our
multitrack master tape down to. We then transferred it to a
cutting lathe which became the first generation record. That
record was only good for a few plays before it got scratchy.
In reality, you would only play it once or twice to test it
for skips or any other oddities and then it was carefully
viewed under a microscope (literally) and preserved to be
put in a chemical bath which would harden and form a
negative from it and all the record grooves it contained.
Just quasi-impressive studio jargon. Probably bullshit
anyway. Actually, the mastering lab part of the projects was
such a cool thing to be attending and experiencing. Before
digital music was around ... hearing a piece of music
straight from that first generation disc at the mastering
lab was incredible. The fidelity and clarity were just
unbelievable. This
year also brought about our biggest hit song ever: Joy to
the World (Jeremiah was a Bullfrog). My recollection of how
it came about is slightly different than the other guys in
the band, but, why not? It HAS been a lot of years and
having a less than perfect memory of things that long ago is
not terribly uncommon. Now let me tell another
truth. From
this point on you, unfortunately, may find that my memory of
the next few years is not near as sharp as it should be. Due
in great part to the introduction of cocaine into my life.
It had become the socially popular drug in the Los Angeles
crowd. Across most of America, in reality. It was
everywhere. Judges, lawyers, accountants, agents, artists,
fans, and people in all walks of life had fallen in love
with this so called "new" recreational drug of choice. Its
desired effect was a euphoric feeling similar to an
amphetamine type reaction only immediate, short termed ...
and slightly different. There was, however, a very sneaky
downside to it that wasn't apparent at first. To me or most
people that I knew. Ultimately you become very paranoid and
defensive. Depressed ... and not even knowing what you were
feeling down about. Just way, way down. There used to be a
joke about cocaine paranoia that went something like "THEY
KNOW MAN!" (who knows, and what do they know?) "I DON'T KNOW
MAN, BUT, I'M TELLING YOU ... THEY KNOW!!". I've heard
stories of Joe Schermie sitting at his house in Laurel
Canyon with a gun in his hand just sitting in a chair
waiting for the door to open by ... whomever. I can't verify
the story, but, I do know what cocaine can do to you after a
few days up without any sleep. I know it personally. Joe has
had a lot of stories made up about him over the years and I
don't mean to add another one to it. Still, Joseph was
pretty darn dynamic to say the least. A pied piper to some
degree. To my shame, I was usually the first one at his door
to see if he had any. Not the only one, mind you, but
usually the first one. Cocaine was a very social drug that
was found at almost every party you would attend. Definitely
at every club and usually at most recording studios. If not
being done blatantly in the open it would be done like
"holding court" in the bathroom. 2, 3 or 4 people at a time
standing in a bathroom while one dished out the "coke" in a
custom made silver coke spoon (another paraphernalia item
that was shown with pride and put on exhibition. Not unlike
a hash pipe that may have actually been bought in the
Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco). Do you understand
the mind set? Maybe you even remember it. This was a drug
that stripped you of your pride, but at the same time,
boosted your sense of apparent creativity and importance. In
reality, you usually took 3 and 4 times as long to do
anything musically ... and usually not as good of a
performance. Just "wired" and loving the adrenylin of it
all. Days at a time was not unusual. 5 days straight was
probably the worst I ever got, and that ain't good folks!
Ask Sly Stone or Ike Turner about it. Ask any rock person of
that era about it. The nights I spent at Ike and Tina's
studio (Bolic Sound in Inglewood, CA.) are too numerous to
recount. A bowl of cocaine sitting right on the recording
console with all the hanger-on-ers (including me) spread all
around the room ... for days. Ike was so intense he even had
a Thompson machine gun laying on the floor under the console
on ocassion. I recall one night out there when Ike stood up
on a chair like a raving lunatic and proclaimed "I'M A
BETTER MAN THAN JESUS CHRIST EVER WAS! ....ANYBODY DISAGREE
WITH THAT?" Total insanity. Totally coked out. Total
humiliation due to the position this drug would get you into
to. One night Ike locked the doors of the studio and
wouldn't let Chuck (Negron) or Chaka Khan out until they
recorded something for him. Intimidation, drugs, guns, and
an entourage of so called friends that were willing to break
your legs if you crossed Ike in any manner. Still, the lure
of music, a studio, and free cocaine mixed together was too
much bait. It was very prominent in my life at that
time.
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