especially when you're nearing the end. My wife was looking through some old wallets when she came across two photos of me that were taken in 1958 with one of the first Polaroid cameras. I was a skinny kid, just 135-pounds, 6-feet-tall and in serving aboard the USS Newport News (CA-148), a 760-foot long heavy cruiser and seeing the world. Just thought I would share the photos with the good folks on this forum. My wife said I looked a lot like the actor James Dean.


Sure would like to see some photos of other forum members when they were this age and hear about what they were doing in life.

Cheers,

Gary Lcool:

Kool pics Gary....

I'll play Throwback .... here's my first "real" band in 1969 (we were all 8th graders)
I'm the little guy on the left! Just barely 13 in this shot.

That looks like Chris... Don't tell he will look like you again... in 30 years.

Don't tell HIM that! (for the rest of you ... Chris is my son)

Time flys

... and we're back to the dots ..............

That went south real fast...

I had to take the pic down...Too far South

Hi Gary,
How old were you at that stage. Fascinating finding old photos. My mum has all my childhood pics.
My own collection starts from wedding pics on, age 20.
Mainly took photos of the hubby and kids, prefer taking to being in them.

No place for porn here..

Awe , cute. You guys really did start early.

I was 18 years old when those photos were taken, Rikki. On the top photo, I was sitting atop the flying bridge of the ship, perched just above a an 8-inch turret and in the background, was the top of the ships crane, which was used to lift motor whaleboats and the captain's gig aboard, plus a half dozen cars that we carried with us all the time. The ship had a crew of 1,400 sailors and officers.

Back then, I was playing a solid-body, electric guitar with a small band formed on the ship. We performed at nite clubs throughout the Mediterranean Sea area, North Atlantic and some South American and Caribbean ports, which was a lot of fun. We didn't make a lot of money, but we sure had fun back then.

The attached photo was taken about 8 years after I got married and was performing for friends at a private party in a small, log home just north of Spokane, Washington. Same guitar I used while in the US Navy - it cost me $50 in a pawn shop. Things were sure a lot different back then.

Gary

Gary, no kidding, I think there is a strong resemblance to Jimmy Dean ...

"porn"... you have to be kidding

Ok Fran repost the picture again and let the members decide what it is?

Saw the picture, and while it might not be rated G or PG, I don't think it was porn ...

Of course NO ONE knows when they are nearing the end ... We are all headed there from the day we are born ... There are very ill people who live for years and very healthy people who die at a young age ...
Of course as we get older we think the end is right around the corner, but that corner may still be miles away ...
Wishing all many years ahead ...

Gary - are you a southpaw? (or is the pic reversed)

The most offensive thing in that picture was the hairstyles! LOL

Tony How did you determine that..

I also didn't know Gary is a left handed Guitar player?

I stated my OPINION
As a Supreme Court Justice said "I can't define it but I know it when I see it" ...
In Italy I saw the statue of David - that was not porn ... I saw other statues that I thought were porn ...
It's in the eye of the beholder ...

The negative was "flopped" in that picture of Gary. Remember negatives? Before digital photography there was a thing called film, and when exposed to light, it produced an image, but the image was reversed. When "developed" the image was natural, but if the negative was upside down when printed, everything was reversed.
I had my own darkroom for years. For developing film.
I didn't explain that very well, kids, but trust me.
We've certainly come a long way.

That photo was scanned from a slide by my daughter and she placed the slide in the scanner upside down. I'm a right player. I didn't notice it when I posted the photo, or I would have flipped it in the PC prior to posting.

Gary

im on the far left. 1966, i was 19. this was my second band . before i was always in competition with the guy sitting in black, so we decided to join forces. it was a decent band for its time.
you can google the name,

Great photo, Wrinkles - loved the outfits, very professional.

All the best,

Gary

Gary - a great walk down memory lane! Looks like you were experiencing a world of learning in the Navy and having musical fun along the way! The military has a way of educating us all on stuff we never really intended to learn - but it is all good in the end! You look like you were a great sailor! So many young kids grew up fast in those days courtesy of the military!

Here's a pic of me and my "jazz" group in my "Pre-Military" days. We were playing John Klemmer, Ace Cannon, Boots Randolph, and Eddie Harris tunes. A couple years later, Uncle Sam took good care of that hairdo - ha ha - shaved me bald in about 45 seconds! Ah I remember it well! Don't want to go back to that (Basic Training) experience though!

PS - Yep - TIME FLIES.
PSPS - Nice pics Dave, Fran, "Guitar Gary", and Wrinkles!

Hi Randy

Hmmm, now let’s see , which one are you?

Kidding.

Nice photo.

They certainly are.

Back to the 80's. Promo for Lois Lane and SuperBand.
Goofy guy, top right, me.
https://app.box.com/s/x4geniesxsmljdtwjis9gyht4edi33hn

Haha , great seeing all these photo’s.

WOW you guys all looked like children at the time. Gary’s right time flies!

Hernan DeSoto's quest to find the "fountain of youth" was not a resounding success. (To my regret!) Every now and then I see a commercial proclaiming to restore just about everything... LOL! They never reveal the price!

Gary, you guys looked so young and full of life. Thanks for being the rock we can always "count on" here at the General Arranger Forum. If you discover a way to slow the hands of time, please share it with us.

All the best, ----Dave

Here's a song I wrote about "gettin' old".
Recorded live on the job with Korg PA4X. Country Ballad 2.
What We Have Tonight

Very enjoyable Don
.. Love to hear same song on your Genos

Great job and song Don! Willie Nelson should be envious!

good one, Don, and Willie would be proud of ya. The only song I performed that related to gettin' old was Remember When a song that Alan Jackson brought to the forefront in 2003. The ladies in my audiences all loved it, and it often produced tears.

Gary

Here is another song that fits this post. Love Arthur, he used to date one of my aunts. Listen to the words even if you don't like the music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrHcICZRqSs

chas

Beautiful song, Chas. I kinda remember Art Prysock from way back when. I wonder if he was any relation to Red Prysock, who was an incredible sax player back when I was young. Got to see him at the Stork Club in Baltimore when I first got married.

All the best,

Gary

Red is his brother.

chas

Don:

Thanks for sharing that original song with us. It sure has a Willie and Waylon vibe to it... and I mean that in the most complimentary way. Really good one for me to add to my Mason Music File.

Chas:

Holy Cow that was such a nice surprise. Mr. Prysock has a vocal delivery most of us would "die for!" Then, the lady vocalist came into the picture and was equally impressive. Fantastic music and I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it.

All the best to both of you... ----Dave

Very nice and appropriate song Chas. Both the vocals and music were a great listen! Songs like this along with their lyrics have a long life of their own. Here's one of my favorite "Life" recordings:

I purchased the Shirley Horn DVD (or was it VHS tape?) featuring this song over 20 years ago and I still am very moved every time I hear her sing this (or any of her other amazing songs).

Yeah Randy, I posted this tune (Here's to life) over at the bar a few weeks ago. Shirley is my 'homie' from Washington, DC. We came up around the same time. She was always reluctant to perform outside the DC area, which might account for her not getting the acclaim she deserved. I saw her last when she opened for Miles in Philadelphia. Turned out to be Miles last public appearance. Glad to see someone else appreciates her for the great artist she was.

BTW, no video but this link has better audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTv3TONfTTQ

This is the one I posted at the bar.

chas

Thanks Chas! Yeah, Shirley was born to communicate with music for sure. Wish I had known when I was in college (no internet then) what was going on in DC. I cannot imagine how lucky the musicians who performed with her (and the audiences who got to take it all in) were. Thankfully there is some wonderful video of her performances and those wonderful interviews. What an amazing philosopher and an amazing artist she was - an inspiration for all to say the least!

Chas...That IS a nice song....nice singing style....nice voice...good piano backing...and yes, the words.

I've been listening to Tony Bennett lately and really appreciating this kind of "emotional" music more. I'm wondering what Rikki thinks of this song?

Gary, what a sincere delivery of such a touching song...