John and I grew up together, played in the neighborhood streets, parks and playgrounds, swam at the Boy’s Club, and hung on the corners together. Same high school too. We also spent a lot of time together as young adults and we shared a strong interest in music. We would often hang out late at night spinning records and discovering new music. In recent years we didn’t see each other all that much but we kept in contact. I sent him many mixtapes over the years on cassette and then burned CDs. I was in Buffalo and he was in Philly but we did see one another more often in the past couple of decades and caught up at the neighborhood reunion parties. Sadly, he developed a very debilitating illness which eventually circumstances forced him to move out of state and away from his friends.
John was also a classmate of my brother Tom and his friend too. The last time I talked with John was when Tom died in June. When I heard about John this week the first person I wanted to talk with was my brother Tom.
I want to remember one year in particular that I spend a lot of time with John 40 years ago. 1974. It was my first full year back from the Navy. We shared a house together in Germantown with a group of friends, sat on the front porch listening to the Phillies on the radio while drinking John Courage beers and I learned what hockey was all about from him as the Flyers won the cup. Him and I drove to New Orleans for Mardi Gras during the gas crises of that year and had a great time. We also went out to see lots of music together that year. Big shows like Bob Dylan and The Band, Eric Clapton, and Mahavishnu Orchestra opening for Frank Zappa. Small shows like Hall & Oates at the Main Point and Tom Waits at the Bijou Café. And so many others that year but the highlight was us seeing Bruce Springsteen four times over several months. Another highlight was seeing David Bowie at the Tower Theater with him in 1974. Amazing shows.
We also walked over to Morton Street a couple of times while living together in Germantown to see Sun Ra and His Arkestra play free concerts in the park across the street from his home. I wrote this while listening to the new live Leonard Cohen album and I know he would have loved it. R.I.P. John.
I took this photo of John at the Mardi Gras in 1974.
Earlier I wrote a post on Facebook about John and listed 5 artists I first experienced with him either on a record he played for me or a show he insisted on attending with me.
- Bruce Springsteen
- David Bowie
- Tom Waits
- Leonard Cohen
- Fairport Convention
He particularly loved Sandy Denny.
