New Note 2/3/06

[ChicagoSTYX]

Hello friends,

There was quite a diverse gathering of Don Felder's friends at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts this past Wednesday night for the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina. Were you there? Was it amazing or what?

Karen Han, composer/singer/Er-Hu virtuoso (two stringed violin) opened the evening with a dramatic, melancholy performance on the Er-Hu, so dramatic that you could have heard a pin drop as the audience gave her the space to have the utmost effect.
I started out planning to do a 15-minute set with my Shaw Blades/Damn Yankees brother Jack Blades, but as the date drew closer, Alice Cooper invited us to join his band for the evening along with NO DOUBT drummer Adrian Young and GNR guitarist Gilby Clarke. By the time the show started we had worked out a smoky version of "Born in East LA" with Cheech Marin, featuring David Foster on piano, Joe Vitale on drums and Timothy Drury on B3 which turned into a kick-ass jam that had the whole joint smiling. Cheech was one heck of a front man too.

After our sound check with Alice, Jack, Gilby and I jammed a little on "Brown Sugar" which he was set to perform and when showtime rolled around we joined him on stage with members of Don Felder's rock-solid band for a live version of this Stones' classic.

D. L. Hughley was supposed to do 15 minutes but he got on a roll and did not let the audience up for almost twice that. Although producer David Spero was forced to quickly rewrite the rest of the flow of the show, those of us in the wings were holding on for mercy as he kept us laughing the kind of laughter that makes your face feel funny the next day.

Jack and I played "Too Much Time" and "High Enough" with two acoustic guitars, then for "California Dreamin'" (from our soon-to-be released CD) Don's band, Stephen Stills, Rex Linn and Adam Rodriguez from CSI Miami joined us on stage to make it a big bad daddy of a closer of the first half of the show.

Dennis Quaid and his band good old fashioned Rock'n'Roll music ending with Jerry lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire. " That boy's got some vocal cords on him.

Of course the chance to be a member of Alice's band was something else altogether. He's Alice F@#%ing Cooper. We all had a good time slamming "No More Mr. Nice Guy," "I'm Eighteen," and "School's Out."

Stills is at the top of my hero list, and when he took the stage in the second half of the show, he threw down so completely and unabashedly, all I could do was stand there at the edge of the stage with tears in my eyes, as the spirit of Stephen Stills filled up the house. Such an all or nothing player/singer/performer, you can still see the uninhibited child there who first discovered the ability to communicate through music.

Don Felder closed the show with one great song after another, most of which he wrote with his Eagles mates but he also did a damn fine job of SRV's "Pride and Joy." Felder's solo in "Hotel California" is one up there with Page's "Stairway to Heaven" and "Hendrix's "All Among the Watchtower." There ain't no mistaking that one.

We all came out for an encore in a re-written version of Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" adapted as "Sweet Home Louisiana." Stills took the verse singling out Neil Young, which was wink worthy.

I could go on, but I'm running late for an appointment, so that's all for now!

Tommy