The Musician... see you among the stars

I had arrived at Kennedy airport in New York, and many members of my family were there to greet me. They were there for curiosity. They probably wanted to see the family member that was starving. That was the spirit that I had felt when I saw everyone. To my surprise, my sister Jeannette was among the crowd. Along with, my brother Tom, my sister Marie, my brother´s kids, but not my mother. It was a real frightening experience. Mainly because the lifestyle is so different and people from NY talk and act in a different way and manner and here I am in a very laid back spirtual mind. They tried not to show it, but they were shocked at the way I looked having a beard, mustache, and long hair. They also tried very hard to show love and concern. Everyone was real friendly. My brother aggressively took me to the car and my sisters went back to Brooklyn. We arrived in Garden City, Long Island at my brothers house where dinner was readily prepared, but my mind was in another world.

When we arrived at my brother's house, my brother´s friends and my sister-in-laws family were all there. Everyone was real nice and friendly, but again, they were all shocked at my appearance. Once they got over the shock, everything became very normal except I was in a spirtual daze. It was wonderful to have a real Italian meal again. My nephews and nieces were just great. Although they were trying very hard to be cute and funny, my mind was still in another world. They tried to recall my memory by asking me questions like: do you remember when we did this or do you remember when we did that, but my mind was totally blank, and I couldn´t remember anything from the past. It was incredible that I could not remember anything at all. Nothing! My mind felt as though I put it in the washing machine and the memories were totally wiped out. I stayed in confusion for a long time not being able to remember anything from the past.

One thing though, it is always great to be in such a glamourous city as New York. I mean, even though I just spent the last three and a half years in one of the most beautiful states I have ever been to such as Colorado, I'm still always glad to be back in New York. Just this morning, I was traveling down a steep road which leads out of Shirley's home in Left Hand Canyon and drove through the most senic area which is quiet and picturesque and then I drive to the amazing picturesque city of Boulder Colorado. Then I drive away from the mountain area to the flatland s of the city of Denver, and three hours later I arrive back in New York City into a totally different culture. What a mind fuck! So now I'm with some of my family members, the few that I like, and I'm going to try to get involved into something here in this great big city. Long Island sucks basically, but going to Manhattan especially in the evening hours is real breathtaking. There is really no other place on earth like Manhattan. It actually should be a separate state or its own country. It is only when I see all the lights of the Manhattan skyline at night that I will surely be glad to be back here.

My brother had set-up an interview for me with Peerless Camera where he worked. I went on the interview taking the Long Island Railroad into the city. It was a test to see if I would be able to handle taking the train into the city everyday. The train was weird. All these people dressed in suits going to and from work everyday. It was like everyone was doing what everyone else did. Everyone was dressed the way everyone else did. Everyone looked the way everyone else did. Everyone was everyone. There was no individuality until everyone got home or to work. I had arrived at Peerless Camera and the interview went pretty good. When my brother got home that evening he told me that the interview didn´t go too well. That was OK, because I didn´t think I fit the bill anyway. What was I to do?

My sister-in-law, Ruby, worked at a college in Long Island, and I asked her that I would like to attend college. Ruby was a very thoughtful and positive woman. She told me that she would get me the information. Meanwhile, I just hung-out in Long Island. I watch late night television every night. There was a movie on every channel. The TV had, The late Show, on channel two; After Johnny Carson there was a movie on channel four; a movie on channel five, seven nine and eleven. I was able to watch movies all night and no one said anything.

One day my brother got angry with my nephew Thomas for no reason. He started to beat on him like crazy, and put him into a head lock. He then smashed the kid´s head into the wall a few times as I looked on in shock. Then he threw the kid to the floor and started to kick him, and then he told him to go upstairs to his room. I was completely caught by surprise. My brother was acting like an uncontrollable animal. My first reaction was, to jump-in and break it up, but then I quickly thought that interfering with the family relationship was not appropriate. Therefore, I didn´t interfere. I was crying inside for my nephew and myself. I could never feel the same way about my brother again. I then went to my nephew´s room and tried to talk with him. Apparently, my nephew took it very cool. I guess he was used to the beatings. I now know that I must get out of this house, and I proceeded to contact my mother to ask her if I could come back to Brooklyn. My mother said that there was no problem.

I was somewhat happy to be back in Brooklyn. Everyone was glad to see me again. My memory of past events was still in question. I had a hard time remembering events I had with friends when they asked me to recall them. I was very happy that my memory had faded. I had hoped that in the future I could clear my mind-up again if needed. Within a few days I went to visit almost everyone I knew.

One of the firsts was Joey´s mother and Richie wheelchair. I had learned that Richie wheelchair´s father had died and he had a new girlfriend named Barbara. She was an old friend in the neighborhood. Barbara was a very funny lady with a very aggressive personality. She would never hide feelings or thoughts, and she would always bring everything and anything out in the open. Her sense of humor was superb. Joey´s mother who lived upstairs was doing great as usual, and I found out that Joey was working for Wells Fargo as a security electrician. I was looking forward into seeing Joey and his family again.

I almost every night would visit my cousin Joey who lived across the street. Joey had got involved with my brother-in-law Sal, my sister Rosetta´s husband, in the drapery business. The drapery business is a part of the interior decorating business. In actuality, he was called an installation man. An installation man hangs and designs the drapery treatment of a home. We had both worked for my brother-in-law Sal when we were around sixteen years old. How my cousin Joey had entered into it full-time when he graduated High School. Joey asked me if I wanted to go out and work with him. He said that he would pay me $20.00 a day for coming and help him install the draperies. He said that I could help him and receive some money while I figured-out what to do with my new life. I told him yes. There were so many Joey´s, that we (all the guy´s in the neighborhood ) gave him the nickname, Joey Drapes. I then started to work with my cousin everyday. At night, we would hang-out on his porch in his backyard and play backgammon. We would also occasionally smoke a joint and play guitars in his basement.

I wanted to visit the Village in Manhattan to see the remains of one of the most happening music scene´s that ever existed. I entered the N train on 86th Street and took it to Canal Street. I switched to the F train and took it to West 4th Street and Sixth Avenue station. I exited the station on the West 8th Street side, and proceeded to the corner of 9th Street and 6th Avenue, where Trude Heller's was. I could not believe what I seen. Trude Heller's was boarded-up and a sign stated that this would be a new pizza parlor. I looked at the greatest club that ever existed, and now it would become a pizza parlor. I stood there for fifteen minutes thinking of all the stars that walked through its door. I could see through the walls at the best sounding room in New York City. I started to cry. The tears are slowly dripping down my face. The Van-Dells; Benny Gordon and the Soul Brothers; Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels; Jimi Hendrex; Rocky and his friends; Monte Rock the III; Martha Raye; The Jimmy Castor Bunch; Baby Huey and the Babysitters; Diana Ross and Barry Gordy; The Trude Heller dancers, and all the happy smiling people who had enjoyed every musical night. I had slowly walked away with my head slightly down and I proceeded to West 8th Street. I walked west, up Eighth Street, and The Eighth Wonder was a shoe store. Still in constant shock, I then proceed south through McDougal Street toward West 3rd Street. I past the eastern end of Washington Square Park, and it still looked the same. Nothing has changed in the park except for the mind set of the people. I arrived at West 3rd Street and it looked like a ghost town. All the old clubs were boarded-up and their signs removed. The Cinderella club was non-existent. I proceeded south on McDougal Street toward the next cross street, Bleeker Street. I looked at the old Cafe Wha, which looked as though nothing was ever there.. This was the greatest folk place that ever existed. Joan Baez; Bob Dylan; The Kingston Trio, and all the unknown folk performers who never made it. The Cafe Wha always had about 50 people hanging-out in front. I remembered all the little clubs which was now, little outlet stores. I walked east up Bleeker Street and noticed that there were a few clubs that were still open and hanging on to the past. Thank God something has remained.

I entered the F train for the long sad ride home. I would not switch back to the N train, but I will just take the F all the way to the Avenue X stop and walk from there. I would be only 5 blocks. I sat in the seat and glared through the window at the little lights going by through the underground. I was thinking of how could a great error as the one I had just relived become destroyed. How could millions and millions of people with truth, love, and happiness in their hearts have become destroyed? What destroyed them? Drugs, but drugs have been around for years. Marijuana didn´t destroy them. It´s harmless and has been around for years. Cocaine and especially acid (psychedelics), but Cocaine has been around for years also. In order for so many people to adopt all these drugs it must be instituted into the movement and distributed. It must be imported on a large major scale. President Kennedy would have never let that stuff come into the country or get into the populace. They killed Kennedy. Who are they? Why was the new Federal Reserve Note without any backing, released after his death? Why was Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King and all the other great's, killed? There is something to all of this and I must find out who and why before my life gets deeper in jeopardy or ends. I want to know who was responsible for ending this musical career I was in the mist of building. God, please show me the path of knowledge.

I had located Tommy Napoli. He was living in a high-rise apartment building just up the block from Richie wheelchair. Tommy was living with his wife Patty. I had learned from Tommy that he was hooked on Heroin. He got into the Methadone program for a couple of years. He told me that this program was to keep junkies of Methadone. Tommy went on to tell me that after drinking the Methadone he would get more high than Heroin. Finally, Tommy wanted to quit, and when he went to the clinic he only wanted to drink a third of the bottle of Methadone, rather than the whole bottle. However, they forced him into drinking the whole bottle each time he went to the clinic. They told him that if he didn´t drink the whole bottle of Methadone that he would not get any. Then Tommy, one day, persisted not to drink the whole bottle. Tommy told the doctor that he would only drink a third of the bottle and that he would never again drink a whole bottle. The doctor threatened to give him none, and Tommy told the doctor to go fuck himself, that he wasn´t going to drink anymore. Tommy then turned around to head out the door and the doctor replied, You´ll be back... they always come back! Tommy got very pissed-off at that remark and told the doctor that he was never coming back. He told the doctor to go fuck himself, and walked out.

Tommy then went home to his girlfriend Patty and he went into cold turkey for a week. Patty assisted him, and kept him at bay throughout the whole ordeal. In two weeks, Tommy had beaten the drug on his own with the help of his girlfriend Patty. They then, eventually, got married. Tommy and Patty were now happily living in this high-rise. Tommy had bought a guitar and desperately wanted to learn how to play it. He had learned a number of chords on the guitar and he asked me to teach him a few things. I had never thought that Tommy would learn the guitar, because he was a fantastic drummer. I had never played with a more talented drummer. However, since Tommy was already playing a few chords and his wife Patty was so polite and helpful, that I didn´t mind jamming with him.

Within a few weeks, Tommy and I were playing some songs together, and Tommy was holding his own. I was playing the leads while Tommy was strumming. We would sit in his back outdoor porch of his building which was on the ninth floor and which was overlooking Coney Island and the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. It was quite pleasant to play and get stoned with Tommy again. His wife Patty, made us coffee and served cake and she really enjoyed the music very much. In fact we all enjoyed hanging out on the porch and jamming. Tommy and I did a few songs by, The Eagles. Tommy sang the songs and he was very good at singing. I was surprised that he sounded so good.

Upon leaving, I had met a cousin of Tommy´s who was living in the same building. He was heavily involved in dealing Cocaine. I had met him in the neighborhood years before, but I had never known that he was Tommy´s cousin. He was with a bunch of girls in front of Tommy´s building. When he saw me he invited me up to his apartment with the girls. I followed him and the girls to the apartment and he quickly shoved some Cocaine into my nose, as well as the girls, and we all sniffed it. I got really high very suddenly. The girls got very high and horny and before I knew it he asked me to leave because he wanted to be alone with the girls. I left his apartment and went home. I was sitting at home still high and my mind was rushing. I immediately felt very uncomfortable, because the drug was controlling me. Then suddenly the drug started to wear off, but the wear-off effect would last for hours. I swore I would never let anyone do that to me again, and that I would never use that drug again.

At about the same time, I was jamming with Joey Drapes. He now enjoyed playing bass guitar and I would learn and then teach him some of the Chicago songs. We continued to jam over and over and I would jump around between Jamming with Tommy and Jamming with Joey.

One of my neighbors whom I rarely seen was Anthony. I had heard that he was a singer. I saw him one day on the block getting out of his car and I walked over to him and said hello. I asked him if he was a singer and he replied that he did sing in a couple of bands. I told him that I was jamming with Joey Drapes and I wanted to know if he was interested in forming a local part-time band. Anthony replied that he would be very interested.

I know that I didn´t want to be in the music business anymore, but I decided, since Joey Drapes and I had learned about fifteen songs together, we might as well maybe start a band. I had asked Tommy if he wanted to engage with us in starting a part-time band. Tommy said yes. I scheduled a rehearsal at Joey Drape´s house. It was great playing with Tommy on drums again. Not only is he a fun guy to be with, but he plays a mean set of drums. He is outstanding. After a couple of weeks of rehearsal I had Anthony come and sing. He enjoyed the group very much that he went out and got us a gig at a local club. The club owner loved us, as well as the people. They had booked us for eight weekends. After the eight weekends, we played at other various clubs, but only occasionally. This was never a serious band.

After awhile, the band had to depart, because Joey and his wife had decided to buy an established drapery business located just one block from our house on Ave. U. Joey asked me to do the installation work for him and his business and I excepted. A van was included with the purchase of the business, and it was my job to take care of the van. I told Joey that I didn´t really want to be in the business, but that I wanted to do some thing else, but I didn´t know what.

I loved photography so I decided to enroll at a special school dedicated to photography. I chose the Germain School of Photography which was located in downtown Manhattan. The classes were three times a week at night starting at 6:00pm. I would work for Joey and go to school at night. The hours were perfect. I had started the classes and the teacher was a mutherfucker. The teacher had laid out all these rules and regulations and he didn´t tolerate much. After a few classes, I had learned that usually only a small fraction of the students ever pass in his class. This was because he was very strict. If you were late for a class he would throw you out. If you did not complete your home work or work in class, he would throw you out. I knew that this was going to be a challenge and I wasn´t afraid of this guy.

Working with Joey was going real well and I had no problem installing any of the complicated drapery treatments. I held my own. Actually, I was very good at installing draperies. Every job I installed was a beautiful sight to see.

The photography class was a different story. This teacher started picking on right from the start. He started to treat me like shit after awhile, and it got worst and worst. I had known that I was a very talented photographer, but everything I did in his class he replied wasn´t good. The teacher who was German reminded me of a Gestapo type. He had separated us into groups of four on a 4x5 camera. We all would alternate in a shooting, and when I did my work the teacher would always say some negative. This kept going on and on and I was getting very annoyed. I tried desperately to not make his attitude affect me.

I met a cute little blond who worked as a secretary at the school. Her name was Katherine, but everyone referred to her as Kitty. She was an Irish girl with green eyes and nice breasts. I started to date her and we both liked one another very much. She gave me the inside information on the teacher, but there was nothing else that she could do.

Joey Drapes had a client in Manhattan named Mrs. Trainer. We went to her lush apartment located on the Upper East Side. We had to do all of her windows and refurbish most of her furniture. Mrs. Trainer was married to this rich agent. He booked actors in commercial spots on TV. Mrs. Trainer told us that all her husband did, was sit in front of the TV to count his money. This meant that, every time an actor´s commercial was aired, he received a residual. Mrs. Trainer was a bowl of laughs. She often made us coffee and we had to sit and talk with her for about an half-hour, every time we visited.

I had entered Mrs. Trainer´s daughter´s room to take measurements of the window, and wondered what her daughter looked like. I looked around the room and noticed this little photo siting on the dresser. The girl in the photo was very sexy and beautiful. I asked Mrs. Trainer if this was her daughter, and she replied, Yes. I told her that her daughter was foxy. Mrs. Trainer agreed that her daughter was very sexy and beautiful, but said, that her daughter was going out with a weird looking musician guy who paints his toe nails, wears false eyelashes, and lots of makeup. I said, What! She said, Yea, I don´t even know if it is a boy or a girl... I´m still trying to find out. My cousin Joey who was installing a window treatment was listening and started to crack-up laughing. I was in complete shock and told Mrs. Trainer that it was a waste of a beautiful girl. Mrs. Trainer agreed again and said that she had told her to get rid of him, but that she loved him or it, as she put it. Joey was still laughing.

On the way home I was telling Joey, Did you see that picture of Mrs. Trainer´s daughter. He replied that the girl was hot! I told him that I could not believe a girl like that would go out with a guy who looks and dresses like a girl. Drapes replied that it is a crazy world. It sure is!

Kitty was looking for an apartment and I wanted to move out of my house, and we decided to get an apartment together. We found a nice apartment in this building on Avenue S in Brooklyn. We moved in and turned our bedroom partially into a darkroom. Kitty had a wonderful personality and I was very happy I had her as a girlfriend. Everyone around us including all my friends and family was quit pleased that I was finally settling down. I was constantly getting complements from everyone including my mother about the path that I was on.

I was about to leave work with Joey and head into Manhattan for my photography glass when Joey asked me if I could drop off two pillows for Mrs. Trainer. I told Joey that I probably would not get to her apartment until 10:00pm. Joey said no problem. I told Joey that I didn´t want to wake anyone up for two little pillows. I asked Joey to call Mrs. Trainer and tell her that I would be stopping by late at night. Joey then called her and she said for me to give it to anyone who answered the door, and that it would be all right.

My photography class was going terrible. The teacher was breaking my balls so much that I wasn´t going to put up with it anymore. I´ll quit. I don´t give a shit anymore. I learned what I wanted, and now I could do anything I want with photography. I don´t need the diploma. That was my attitude when I walked into the class. If the teacher displayed any negativity toward me then we were going to have it out. I walked into the class and sat down as the German Gestapo mutherfucker reassigned everyone. He changes all the people into groups of four. This person will work in this group and that person will work in that group. Everyone was mentioned except me. I asked myself what the fuck is going on? Then the teacher said, Charles will be working with a camera on his own. I looked on in shock. Some of the students had suddenly protested. The teacher said, Enough of that! I make the rules and the decisions. I believe that Charles had progressed to a level where he can accomplish more on his own. The teacher had dismissed us and we all took our places at our cameras. The teacher liked me after all, and from now on he would treat me as a special student. I then had to ask the teacher who was now open with me, why he treated me so badly. The teacher told me that he had seen something special in my spirit and work, and that he wanted to make sure that I could handle the task. The teacher said that I was very good and that he was going to teach me all the tricks he knew. I felt as though I was on top of the world. I could wait to get home to tell my cousin Joey and Kitty. I was so excited about the photography class that I started to drive into the entrance of the Brooklyn Bridge to head home, and I remembered that I had to deliver the pillows to Mrs. Trainer. Oh Shit, I replied. I forgot all about it. I was traveling across the bridge and I looked at my watch which read 11:00pm. I thought that I will just tell my cousin what had happened with the teacher and I forgot about the time. Then I thought that my cousin would be upset and that Mrs. Trainer was expecting me. Fuck! I´ll go back to Mrs. Trainer´s apartment and ring the doorbell once, and if no one answers then I could at least say I tried.

I arrived at Mrs. Trainer´s apartment at 11:30pm. I rang the apartment number bell and someone answered. I told them that I was the decorator dropping off the pillows. They told me to come up. I arrived to the floor and rang the doorbell. I waited for about a minute and still no one has answered. I was thinking how I was waking them up and how they had to get dressed to receive these fucking pillows. The door finally opened and a guy looked at me and I told him that I was sorry that I was dropping these pillows off so late. The guy said no problem as I gave him the pillows. The guy closed the door and I turned to walk to the elevator, but my legs were frozen. I started thinking of this guys face. Then the door to Mrs. Trainer´s apartment opened again and I turned and said, Jimmy! The guy said at almost the same time, Chuck! Holly shit it was Jim Gregory. What the fuck are you doing here? He replied very excited at almost the same time, What the fuck are you doing here. Jim stepped out into the hallway and closed the door as I told him that I was into the drapery business and Mrs. Trainer was one of our clients. Then it dawned on me that this was the guy Mrs. Trainer was talking about who her daughter was in love with, and who painted his toenails and wore makeup. I conveyed that to Jim and he laughed and told me that he was playing with a Kiss type group. He asked me how long I´ve been back. I told him and then Jim said that he couldn´t talk and had to go back into the apartment and he told me to hold on for a moment. Jim went back into the apartment and quickly returned to hand me a note. Jim said, Here, call Gregg Diamond. He´s doing a special project and he needs a guitar player. He´s forming a group which I will eventually be a part of... call him... I´ll speak to you later. Then Jim returned to the apartment and closed the door behind me. I was in complete shock holding this note in my hand. As I was going down the elevator to the main floor I looked at the note and it was Gregg´s phone number. I walked to and entered the van.

I entered the East River Drive and headed for the Brooklyn Bridge thinking. Man, I said to myself. Running into Jim Gregory. Is this a sign that I´m supposed to enter the music business again. Gregg needs a guitar player. I can´t believe this. What am I going to do now? I was crossing the Brooklyn Bridge and I had completely forgot about the teacher at the photography school. I had completely forgot about everything, but now I´m faced with a decision. I was now traveling on the BQE and I was thinking of Kitty. How I had a nice relationship. How I swore that I would never return to the music business. I thought about my cousin Joey who brought me back into the drapery business and now I was making good money again. I thought about the possible future of marrying Kitty and making a good living in the drapery business. I had thought that I might someday move back to Colorado and maybe start my own business out there. As I entered the Belt Parkway around 60th Street the beautiful fully lit Verrazano Narrows Bridge began to come into view. I thought about the song that I wrote and the bands I played with and how that was all in the past. I remembered how I was starving in Boulder with no skills to earn a living. What a scary feeling that was. I was still holding the note with Gregg´s number on it. I looked at Gregg´s phone number and I thought how crazy and wild Gregg was. I then thought for a moment about how great Jim Gregory was on bass. As I passed under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge I crushed the note into a little ball and I remembered that I was not going to get involved in the music business again, and I threw the phone number out the van window.

I went home and told Kitty about the good news of the teacher in the photography class. I didn´t mention anything about meeting Jim Gregory to anyone including Joey Drapes. I knew that I always had Jim Gregory´s number, and if I ever changed my mind I could call him. I knew that I was determined to stick to the program to make a decent life for myself.

A month and a half later I had finished Photography school. Out of 30 students who enrolled only six of us remained in the end. I received an A+ and two awards. I had learned everything about photography including all the hidden tricks concerning developing and printing. My work was superb. I was so honored to have had, a tough teacher, and receiving an above excellent grade. It was a real accomplishment although I wouldn´t want to go through it again.

Pressure came from my family and Kitty´s family to get married, but we stood them off. I asked Kitty if she would quit her job to be my secretary. I told Kitty that she needed to stay close to the phone and take the appointments when the decorators called. Kitty accepted. Joey Drapes said that he would give me all his accounts because he could not fulfill their request with his business. I asked my mother if she would give me the money to buy a station-wagon for the business. My mother was willing to help me get straight with my life. Kitty quit the photography school. I bought the car and the decorators started calling. In my first week on my own I made $1000.00, but I was working day and night. I was enjoying it very much although it was very physical work.

I had talked to Kitty a lot about Colorado. I described it as best I could and asked her if she would like to move there some day. Kitty loved the idea. In the meantime, I continued working and developing the drapery installation business. After about a year, I saved enough money and Kitty and I decided to get married. We had planned to get married and move to Colorado to try to do installation work there. If it didn´t work out we would always have the option of moving back.