Newbie - This is a true story….

[unitof]

First of all, I had never heard of Taxi until last week, but this is a great place.

Yes, I am a newbie. And this is my story…

Ever wonder why no one came along and topped the Beatles?

Well, you're about to read a possible answer.

You see, if I hadn't taken up the accordion and won all those competitions, my brother probably wouldn't have been interested in letting me to sit in with his band. He was an incredible guitarist, and we just happened to have a next door neighbor who could sing like Bon Jovi.

So the prerequisite years learning keyboards in a band, playing the coffeehouses, figuring out songs etc. But this also created an opportunity, because our school stage band needed a pianist, and even though I couldn't technically play the piano, I was in. So two years of playing the standards, and then one day, starting to write for stage band. The teacher was impressed, enough to ask me to write the theme song for an upcoming musical.

All this, in hindsight, served as a kind of preparation. Because on that fateful day, I met 'the genius'. We had rubbed shoulders through a mutual friend previously, but barely. But on this day, as we were by happenstance at the same store, I mentioned that I had written for stage band (which I now realize would have impressed him, as he played trumpet in his stage band). And he related that he had just acquired a Tascam 244.

I'm dating myself, but this was probably the first home studio, albeit a 4 track cassette. All in all, a great little machine. So he invited me to come over and listen to some songs he'd written and recorded.

Well, imagine siting down with a John Lennon and listening to some 'songs' he recorded. I mean, my jaw hit the floor (and honestly, how many people get to experience such a thing?) This 17 year old was writing classics, complete songs, lyrics, a good voice, and all on a studio. There is no doubt in my mind at that time, he was probably the greatest creative force on earth. No question at all. I mean, I had some serious writing chops myself, on piano and guitar, in all styles, so writer to writer we know these things.

Thus began a 5 or 6 year collaboration, and I can now say in hindsight, an arch. From Tascam 244 to 24 track. How close were we to the Beatles? Well I'm a lefty, and he's a righty. It helps, I think, although at the time I was playing right handed guitar. Record companies who heard our material? "The Beatles could sue you for those songs!" Once night, when we launched into a particular song live, the entire dance hall erupted, just like the Ed Sullivan show. The screams started at the back, and snowballed forward.

I mean, hanging around a genius who is operating on some other level, it's intimidating. I actually never talked too much, but the pressure was on to produce. Believe me, we had deadlines, etc etc. Why? Because we wanted to be bigger than the Beatles!

That song the crowd went crazy for? It might be the greatest pop song ever written. And written in real time. I sat down with a book (yes book) of his lyrics, chose one, and banged out a tune, without a break. Bass, melody etc (and yes, I stole some of the bass notes from Day Tripper). A week later, he took a listen and completed it, no breaks. The time it takes you to hear the song, that's how long it took to write it.

You know, when you're in your late teens and early 20's, you have that energy that shows up in your material, a real originality.

Believe it or not, I'm not trying to impress anybody. It's just my strange but true story…