Here ye, here ye, it is my pleasure to report the proceedings of the first reunion of the Northeast Chapter ... I've waited until I had a few pix ready before submitting my account, but now they're back and the truth can finally be told: yes, it did happen Saturday, and yes, it was a memorable and merry evening ... Attendance was held down by certain outside forces: labor strife (Dave K locked up in Ontario), disease (Son L. came down with the flu) and perhaps crummy weather as well, but Errol B, Mark W, your correspondent, and the mysterious Dave Mellors mask could not be denied, gathering at Chatterly's Cafe, a most amiable pub in New Hartford, CT ... the food was delicious, the drinks were cold, and everybody hit it off great from the start, except for Dave Mellors, who was a little quiet ... healths were drunk, many things Ry and non-Ry related were discussed (mostly about music), and even such names as McKinnon, Marker, and LIndenberg, among others, were dragged into it ... lotsa cool stories shared, such as Mark's brother-in-law's barbecue with Eric Clapton and George Harrison, Sonny Terry blowing harp in my taxicab one night back in the 70's, and Errol's tragic tale of having to miss going to the Newport Folk Festival because of finals (!!) only to find out afterward that Ry showed up unannounced and played a set himself and one with Hiatt ... after a while Errol's buddy Chris, who had put us onto Chatterly's, showed up with a friend, so we expanded to five ... Around 10:30 an adjoining room emptied out so we moved over and dug out some musical instruments ... I had a guitar and a mandolin, and Mark brought along a beautiful sounding Martin mando that he had gotten a miraculous deal on ... another guy came over and he was a good player, so he joined in and we all got to singing and playing, from the Cooder repertoire (Jesus On The Mainline, Billy The Kid, etc) to the world at large (I Am A Pilgrim, various 12-bar things, and the like) ... I don't mind telling you we were kind of rockin' out there, fellow listies ... Final activity of the evening was reparing to my car for a listen to a short performance tape I have of RPC, caught off the radio years ago, which includes a song about preachers that he's never released on an album, so it was a final treat before we all faced the snowy drive home. It was, in short, your basic great time, and we all regretted not having the rest of the Northeasters there, but we determined that of course we'll have to organize a Chapter Two again before too long ... hope the UK group meeting and the next West Coast do are as much fun as ours was ... OK, attached to this message are two JPEGs of the three of us--oops, 'scuse me Dave, the four of us ... Errol is the young buck with the glasses, Mark is the distinguished looking gentleman with the white beard, and I'm the one left over ... note the issue of GUITAR & BASS magazine Mark is holding ... this is the French magazine that Stephane Rebeschini mentioned to the list a few weeks ago, and which he was kind enough to send me (Merci de nouveau, Stephane) ... also, the framed portrait of Ry you see in the back is a photo that a friend of mine water colored many years ago ... Errol took some other pictures, so we may have some more shots to post soon ... Respectfully submitted, --Scotty
Hello Everyone,
Later, Errol
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Our meeting in New
Hartford Connecticut this past Saturday evening was a great time. Three
of us, Scotty, MarkW and myself completely enjoyed ourselves eating, drinking
and yapping. The food and atmosphere of Chatterly's was perfect for the
event. We took a few photos which may eventually find their way to your
computer screens. After a couple of hours of dinner and music speak, we
commandeered the back room and the music began. I, being a non-musician,
was completely entertained by MarkW & Scotty hamming it up on mandos
and guitars. There was even some salt-shaker slide happening as that was
the only useable piece visible. A salt-shaker works just as well as the
real thing ! Some other local fellow, happening to be there with his wife
and mother-in-law abrubtly ditched them and came over to our corner to jam.
It really was a load of fun and Mark W and Scotty are truly world-class
people. We've already begun the trading of video and CD's. So, the three
of us decided to try and have another get-together sometime in the not-too-distant
future. Hopefully other Northeasterners will attend the next time for the
festivities. Hope to see you there.