I'll go first:

*First job (that's for Uncle Dave, who hates the "G" word): February, 1956 (11 years old) at the Officers Club-Ladd AFB, Fairbanks, Alaska. Pay: $10.00 for two hours.

*First song: "Mr. Sandman"-Les Paul style.

* Worst Gig: 1976-Sportsman Lounge-Lexington, Kentucky. A guy comes staggering out of the mens room just a few feet from where I was playing with his throat slit-caught by his "date's" husband.

* Best Gig: Imperial House-Lexington, 1978. Raised, revolving circular platform stage. Several well endowed servers with low-cut tops passing by constantly. Man, I missed a lot of notes and changes, and didn't give a damn!

Who's next?

R.

[This message has been edited by captain Russ (edited 11-26-2008).]

Hi Russ,

Here's what I can remember;

1st job: When I was 12 years old my best friend's uncle hired me to play a party. He had a nice Hammond organ and I mad $15.00. I thought I owned the whole world.

I really don't remember a first song.

Worst job: October 12, 1992 in Harrisburg PA. It was a bar mitzvah for the son of the local cantor. The wife made the job a living hell. She was on my back from the time I got there until the time I left. I never did another bar mitzvah after that. A few years later I learned that the cantor had been sent to prison for molesting little girls. I guess what goes around comes around.

Best job: I like to think I haven't worked it yet. I've had several. My first long term club job in Tallahassee Fl. was great. It was at the 12ht floor supper club of the round Holiday Inn and I was there 6 nights per week for 7 years. I built a huge following and every night was so much fun. For a single gig, the time I was flown down to Miami Beach to do a wedding at the Doral Hotel stands out. Another night was back at the Holiday Inn when Peter Nero came in and sat in with me. I was on B3 and he played piano. We had a ball. There have been many more but I don't want to bore you.

Joe

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Songman55
Joe Ayala

I'll add one more. A few years ago here in Baltimore at the Renaissance Hotel there was a broadcasters convention. Mr. King of Kingworld (which distributes Oprah, Wheel of Fortune, ect.) came in every night and put a hundred dollar bill on the piano and said, "Play whatever you want." Now that was cool.

Joe

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Songman55
Joe Ayala

[This message has been edited by Songman55 (edited 11-26-2008).]

1962.... 10 years old I was playing my accordion at a backyard family party....some one came to me and said can you play Mala Femmina, I said sure & when I was done he handed me $10.00 !!!WOW!! that's was in 1962. I said to myself maybe there's something to this music thing?... 40 years later I'm still gigging the rest is history!

..........................................

Worst gig was in 1981...I was the musical director for a big 50's Rock & Roll show series sponsored by New York radio station WCBS...these were shows aboard the Holland America Cruise lines ships HMS Vollendam. We were on our way to Bermuda & this show was with the 50's singing group Mystics who had a #1 song Hushabye 1959 for Lauire records.....there was 5 singers & 5 musicians for the shows...anyway on the second night I noticed the officers stringing up velour ropes throughout the hallways....when I asked what are these for he said " captain says we are in for some rough seas, Hurricane David" but we will cruise 200 miles around it....yea right!!!! that night we were ready to perform in the Grand Ballroom and the ship was rocking beyond belief...the piano was shifting, the singers couldn't stand straight on stage, people were vomiting in the audience....& most of the passengers were hanging off the railings outside....my drummer was so seasick we had to finish the show with a Filipino Drummer from the crews band YIKES!!!! It was horrible
.........................................

Best gig.....there are too many to select just one.....I play alot of high end affairs with super food & every kind of rich accutriments you can think of, at all the top places....but what makes a gig best for me is when the client hands me a check with a Big smile on their face, gives me a hug & says WOW....thank you so much for making my affair a night I will never forget.

That's what its all about!



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 11-26-2008).]

First paid gig didn't start out as a paid gig. After two songs, someone paid me to stop playing.

Best gigs........the ones where I didn't go straight home (when I was young and single, of course).

chas

1st gig was my next door neighbors birthday party. 25.00 dollars for the whole band. played 2 songs and the police shut us down for playing to loud.
first song i sang was "Lonely teardrops" by Jackie wilson live on the radio. i got 500 letters to get me off the air. that was in 1964.
the worst gig is me not playing now. i never thought i would miss it this bad.

First gig ... About 13 years young (circa 1952), my father got me a gig for $5 at a local 'Eagles' club ...
At 16, in my first band (R'n'R) playing at a picnic at my High School on the back of a truck as a stage ... felt like a rock star !!!

First vocal - PS I Love You by Johnny Mercer and Gordon Jenkins http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/psiloveyou/psiloveyou.htm

Worst gig ... a wedding where no one from one side spoke with the other side ... no dancing, laughing, NOTHING !!!

Best gig ... A lot of them, but one of the best was at "The Manor" in New Jersey ... 8 hours - all the food we could eat, including lobster !!! ....... http://www.themanorrestaurant.com/dining_buffet.htm

We are VERY fortunate to be in this business ...
t.



[This message has been edited by tony mads usa (edited 11-26-2008).]

First gig: don't know. Probably singing at some church with my dad's band.
At age 4, I sang 1 song on an album we recorded, and sang 1 verse and harmony on the chorus of another. Age 5 I was full-time drummer with the family band.

Worst gig: Hmmm. Maybe the time I was playing in a bar with a country band and some drunk knocked over one of our lighting rigs which almost fell on top of me; glanced off my shoulder. Or, maybe the time a couple years ago when I was playing sax outside in 100+ degree weather, no breeze, and literally passed out for about 15 seconds. Oops.

Then, there was what could have been the worst gig and turned out to be a great one. I was working with a booking agent at the time who booked me for a few shows through Texas. One was at this big church somewhere, I forget the town. Anyway, I arrive in town and call the pastor to get directions and figure out where we're staying, and he says "you're who? And you're here why?"
Well, they managed to fit me in to do a few songs during their evening worship service, and I ended up making nearly 2 grand that night; which wasn't bad at all for being unexpected.

Greatest gigs? My 2 short performances on the Ryman Auditorium stage have to rank right up there at the top.
Last month I was part of a band playing a private Halloween party at Naomi Judd's residence. Wynonna Judd and 2 of the Supremes, (one original) came up and sang a few songs with us.

[This message has been edited by FAEbGBD (edited 11-26-2008).]

Tony..... I love the West Orange Manor played there many times thru the years...super nice place!

http://www.themanorrestaurant.com/




[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 11-28-2008).]

1st gig-non paying-1977, My high school band played at a dance marathon...no money

1st gig-paying-1977, Played w/same band above outside for a summer picnic for our guitar players Dad's American Legion in Monroeville, PA. Pretty sure we each made $25.

1st song-Can't get enough of your love-Bad Company

Worst gig-1999, my drummer fed me a strong lead to a lounge in Dayton, OH. This club was known for mostly 70's rock but in talking to the owner, they assured me they really wanted to bring in some new kinds of music for their patrons. (I WAS UP FRIKKIN' FRONT ABOUT THE KIND OF STUFF WE PLAYED!!!) They booked us for the full weekend (Fri/Sat)

By the 4th or 5th song I realized we were in trouble...Apparently all those people that "wanted" something different stayed home or something. On the 2nd set, realizing this was not going well at all, I approached the owner and offered knock $100 off that night's wages and we'd stop now. They could find someone else for Saturday night. She looked at me kinda funny and said, "F*ck those clowns-I think you're great and I work tomorrow night so I want you back anyway..."

Ugh...

Its worth mentioning that whole weekend was just weird. My sax player's dad passed away early on Friday and while he insisted on playing the gig, his mind-understandably-was elsewhere...My bass player (who I would wind up firing)lectured me that I couldn't add a female singer or a guitar player...we had to stay a quartet and not under any circumstances become a 5 piece. His rationale? "I have no right to reduce his pay..."

Best gig-One that comes to mind is when another band I was in performed at the Three Rivers Arts Festival at Point State Park in Pittsburgh. The estimates from the people running the event put the crowd that night around 30 thousand. We had one of those "Live Aid" size PA's and the weather was perfect. My family was in the front row and they seemed to take me & my music a little more seriously after that, lol...

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Bill in Dayton

[This message has been edited by Bill in Dayton (edited 11-27-2008).]

I may have told this before. A sad and crazy story.
A Wedding, about 275 people, Country Club.

The sad part.
Played for the preheat, cocktail party – Got the band set up to introduce the wedding party. As I introduced the first couple the wedding part gathered around the father of the bride, he was on the floor. A few minutes past and they took him to the hospital. We were playing quiet listening music when the report came, the brides Father past away at the hospital. So very sad.

The crazy part.
My friend Joe was on drums, really a nutty guy, his humor never stopped, he found humor in most everything we did.
My Son-in-law was on bass, he was bad, he was great on guitar and 50’s lead singer, but his bass playing was really not good.

The announcement was made, the Father had past away – My crazy drummer turned to the bass player and says, “I told you that your bass laying was going to kill somebody one day.” Aaaaaaaaaaaah,

John C.

1st job: not really a job. I was 14 and on Put-in-Bay, OH. MY uncle asked the bar owner if I could play the B3 that was on stage. I played about 1/2 hr. - what a thrill; I was hooked from then on.

Best job: New Year's Eve 1973-79. Had my trio back then and we were pretty much the house band at a small catering hall. Lots of friends and relatives.

Worst job: I think I told this once before - we were booked for a wedding on the edge Mexicantown. Turns out it was a real Mexican wedding. The bride and groom loved us, so did the younger crowd, but the elders sat with big frowns on their faces. That's where I first heard the phrase, "play somethng you know." Now what does that really mean?

First song: Probably Spanish Eyes or Everything's Coming Up Roses. Spanish Eyes was my mother's favorite song. Roses was a great starting song for me and a drummer back in the late 60's.

My very first job was a wedding, we were so excited the job was at a German restaurant. I was nervous. At the end of the night as we were walking out the owner of the restaurant leaned over and said, “This is the worst band I have ever heard”.
We did get better, grin.

John C.

My first paying job was in high school. There were five guys in band who lived on the same street, thus the Oak Street Five was born.
I played trumpet and we had a drummer, sax, bass and trombone. We only played twice for money and made a couple of bucks apiece.
We only played songs we had music for and read everything. We played stuff like In the Mood, Stardust, Rock Around The Clock and
Wonderland By Night.
My next paying job was in college. I met a guy who was looking for a bass guitar player for a job coming up in about a month. I told him I would take it. I called Mom and she sent me the money to buy a bass guitar and amp at the hock shop. I learned to play it well enough in that month to get by, and played with the same group most of college.
It wasn't long before I realized how little I knew about playing bass and gradually got better!
My best job may have been traveling to Dallas to play at a huge wedding reception. One of the customers in my night club offered me a thousand dollars plus expenses.
When I got there, there was a fifteen-piece show band set up. He only wanted me to play during their two breaks. I played a total of one hour and enjoyed all the wonderful food, then went to the motel and watched the Cowboys win the Super Bowl the next day. That was a lot of money at the time.
Worst job was probably a few years ago when I agreed to help out a friend as a duo. He had booked a little club over in Shreveport.
We set up ON the dance floor. I packed up 20 minutes later after the second fight broke out. He actually stayed around and collected our pay, but I didn't take any of it. I was just glad to get out without losing any equipment or limbs.
DonM

The job that brings the nicest memories was when we played at Terrace in the Park a restaurant, it stood alone three stories high the bottom was like a cone and the top, where the restaurant was, was shaped like a dome. It was in Queens in New York the area where the Worlds Fair was held.

Bass, drums, keyboard (Portable B3) trumpet my wife in vocals and myself on guitar. The view was breathtaking, we were surrounded by windows with views of the buildings and highways of Queens and Manhattan. The restaurant was laced with class. I felt good standing in the middle of the stage --–and felt even better when I glanced over at my wife who was singing, she was wearing a beautiful long light colored lavender gown that sparkled. And I felt just like the motto of the restaurant, which was “The top of the world”.

John C.

John ....


Great room, (it was the Former Port Authority Pavilion at the 1964 New York Worlds Fair in flushing meadows I remember in teh 70's & 80's playing Wedding cocktail hours outside up on the roof overlooking the NYC skyline. And the reception room was all glass enclosed with a 360 view simply outstanding & classy.


http://www.terraceonthepark.com/

First gig was a wedding in 1959, age 17, playing piano in a polka band, for $10! In a hot, sweaty hall, with no AC, but all the food and drinks you wanted, and lots of babes. As I recall, it was a blast!

Here's an interesting "didn't go so well gig". Years back I played in a band.. We had a good sound going.., and a good reputation in the area and had no problems getting gigs.

We did however have a problem with a member that ended up being one of those "group intervention" things Our drummer who was as nice a guy you could ever meet..., did have a problem with (how shall I say) indulging in the smoking of fine herbs We wanted to help him kick the habbit.., and he agreed to show up at the next gig (not stoned off his a$$). Well it was at this moment that we realized the guy COULD NOT HOLD A BEAT without being stoned as he played this way FOR YEARS... Man was that gig messed up! Us and the audience were all kickin it on 2 and 4, but our drummer (who was sober) was kickin it on 1 and 3. I swear at times he was playing a completely different song. We ended up having to finish the night with another member on the drums (ended up being me).., and we changed the set a bit to keep the show going....