1. Who you know.
2. Lucky breaks.
3. Persistence.
4. Talent.
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
We've always been a close family. I mean close both spatially and relationally. I grew up only minutes from my maternal grandparents and so did my cousins. Almost every Sunday for many years we got together at Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner. We'd play Wiffle Ball in the street (which is why my Sister is even better than my male readers at baseball), then we'd sit down for dinner, after which we'd watch 'The Wonderful World Of Disney' together, or the fake Moon landing, or whatever was on the tube at that time.
My cousin Johnny Napier is about 5 or 6 years younger than I am, and when I was a teenager, I corrupted and poisoned that good Catholic kid with my Rock 'N' Roll obsession. I used to say, "Johnny, come out to my car with me. I've got something I want you to hear." And there I would play Santana, or Thin Lizzy, or Lynyrd Skynyrd, and I'd crank it up to eleven.
The band I turned Cousin Johnny onto, however, that really did the trick more than any other was Aerosmith. Johnny got hooked.
[Below, photo of Kuzin John Napier performing in Topanga Canyon, California.]
Years later, Kuzin John got into a band and began performing at local Los Angeles dives like the legendary Club 88.
The first band was called 'Sex And Violins', and I thought they were pretty... well... let's just say it wasn't my cuppa Malt Liquor. It was a Punk/Thrash kind of band; no one in it was particularly good, including my Cousin. But I always supported Johnny 100%; I went to all the shows, dragged friends with me, and applauded loudly. But I can't honestly say I dug it.
Johnny and I grew up in a section of Los Angeles that later famously became known as "DOGTOWN". Geographically, Dogtown was the very Southern-most part of Santa Monica and the very Northern-most part of Venice. (Nappy, Bonehead and I lived in the Santa Monica portion, and Johnny's family lived in the Venice section. All of us were about 17 blocks from the Pacific Ocean and about 8 blocks from each other.)
Dogtown is frequently referred to as the place where "Xtreme Sports" first came to life in the form of "radical skateboarders". At the very time we all lived there, guys like Tony Alva, Jay Adams, and Stacy Peralta (The Z-Boys) were creating something new in America. In fact, Nappy and Bonehead knew a couple of those guys pretty well, having attended high school with them. And by weird coincidence, my great buddy Eric (who was also really into the skateboarding scene and always looking for empty swimming pools to practice in) once shared a Santa Monica hospital room with Tony Alva. He said the steady stream of "hot babes" coming in to visit with Tony was non-stop and amazing to behold!!!
Yep. Johnny, Nappy, Bonehead and I are all "Dogtown" natives. ('The League Of Soul Crusaders' Bay Street house was just a block or so from the Z-Boy's skateboard shop/headquarters.)
In October of 1992, I moved from Los Angeles to tiny Prescott, Airheadzona - the home of "Billy Jack". (The Courthouse where Billy introduced an idiot's head to the concrete fountain is still there, for you road-tripping cinema historians!)
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| KENDALL'S ICE CREAM SHOP IN PRESCOTT: "I... JUST... GO... BER--SERK!!" |
The culture shock was too much for me, and about 17 months later, in 1994, I moved back to L.A.
Only a couple weeks after I moved "home", and just a couple weeks before Jesus unexpectedly visited me and transformed me in my Los Angeles apartment, Kuzin Johnny called me to say he was in a new band called 'BLACK CAT MOAN'. They'd recorded 5 songs, and Johnny wanted to bring over a six-pack of beer and play them for me.
Inwardly, I cringed a little bit and said, "Sure, come on over!"
So, Johnny gets there with the six-pack and a cassette tape. We crack a couple beers open and hit "Play". The first song was titled 'JOHNNY'S GONE'[excerpt]...
"Bags are packed / Toothbrush safely tucked away
Coat's slipped over his shoulder / Now it's finally the big day.
Says goodbye now / Bids farewell to all his friends
It ain't quite goodbye though / He'll be coming back again.
Walking through the jungle like strolling through the park
Another mother's favorite son seeks the light and craves the dark.
Now the word is on that Johnny's gone
Loosened up and lost his grip and the last year's up and done
Trying to live down a reputation, ended up living it up too high
The dreams did not happen as the years slid right by.
Big city lights expose secrets of the dark
All the days remind him of the things he hasn't got
[*something*] exchanging, with new friends made and old ones lost
It's a brand new world to step in, he just doesn't know the cost.
Walking through the jungle like strolling through the park
Another mother's favorite son seeks the light and craves the dark.
Now the word is on that Johnny's gone
Loosened up and lost his grip and the last year's up and done
Trying to live down a reputation, ended up living it up too high
The dreams did not happen as the years slid right by.
{*Great sax solo here!*}
Now he don't see the jungle / He only sees the park
Another mother's favorite son leaves the world without a mark
Oh, yeah, I don't wanna be like Johnny!
Oh, Lord, I don't wanna be like Johnny!
Oh, Lord...
Oh, Lord..."
And the song ended with a great merging into that riff from The Doors' song 'Touch Me'.
About halfway through 'Johnny's Gone', I glanced at Johnny from the corner of my eye.
The next song was 'HARD NIGHTS'[excerpt]...
It started with a bang on the electric piano:
"Woke up with my shoes on / Couldn't find my pants or my knees
Looking for my aspirin / It's just nowhere to be seen.
A warm beer in the fridge now / Warm because that bill's overdue
I've lived through mornings like this before / Guess I'll live through this one, too.
I finally get it together / Go out hoofin' it for a job
They say, 'You're qualified, son, but this is the Nineties and your hair's a bit too long'.
I don't think about money / Because it depresses me when I do
I don't think about women / I'm just taking lumps for hard nights, rhythm and blues.
I hope I don't die before I get there
Didn't think I'd have to wait this long
The crowd's calling, wants some more
I can't keep disaster from my door
I'm not old, but I'm no longer young."
I stopped the tape after 'HARD NIGHTS' and said to Johnny, "Tell me the truth! Did you go to THE CROSSROADS and sell your soul?"
To say that I was blown away would be a huge understatement because, today in 2016, I'm STILL blown away! The transformation had occurred so quickly - less than a year and a half - that it seemed / seems positively supernatural to me.
Suddenly, Johnny had this great Rock 'N' Roll voice with total mastery, total control over it; he was writing fantastic songs; he had the second best Rock "scream" I've ever heard (only Roger Daltrey could top him); and he was playing his harp (harmonica) with a Bluesy punch and ability that would have made Bob Dylan and Neil Young envious as hell!
What I learned was that other than just intensely practicing his craft over the last 17 months, Johnny had taken some professional voice lessons. Hokey-Smoke, was that ever a great investment!!!
'DO THE THING' [excerpt]
I ducked into a Blues jam out on Broadway and Fourth
I didn't tip the waitress and I felt no remorse
They called my name, I grabbed my harp and mic
Got down, got loose, got funky,
Cut the air like a knife
Did The Thing!!
(Fun Fact: The club he alluded to at Broadway & 4th is the same bar I mentioned to Pooh Lynth in the comment section HERE, where the cops chased a criminal through it while Cranium and I were drinking hair of the dog at the bar.)
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| 'HARVELLE'S' IN SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA |
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| WEIRD!: JOHNNY'S LAST NAME IS ON THE MARQUEE |
Those songs, and others that Johnny and BLACK CAT MOAN had recorded, like 'The Redemption' and 'How Your Puzzle Fits' (maybe my favorite), could have and should have been FM radio hits. 'Mar Vista Girl' had Top 40 all over it without sounding slickly commercial, and 'Clean Life' rocked like a son-of-a-bitch!!! It was as good as, or better than, anything on the radio.
These songs had IT ALL! Their sound was unique - it was Hard Rock with overtones of Blues, Funk, and R&B - and I guess if it was a drink you'd get closest to it by blending Aerosmith with Jim Morrison and Michael Jackson and something else I can't put my finger on. Maybe that mysterious ingredient is "Just Johnny".
Sure wish I had files I could upload here for you to listen to. You wouldn't believe any band THAT good could have failed to make it huge! "I have to tell you, baby, Johnny was armed with all he'd need" ...including the good looks. (Well, I think he still has it all. If only he knew the right people and/or could catch a lucky break.)
I was totally bummed when BLACK CAT MOAN broke up. But not too long later Johnny was in a new band called SANCHO. This was more of a straightforward Hard Rock sound with only undertones of Funk / R&B. In 1997 they did self-produce an album titled 'PSYCHO-DELIC GARAGE' which I still listen to (when I'm not listening to Black Cat Moan).
The other day, out of the blue, I got an Email from Kuzin Johnny and, in part, he had this to say:
GREETINGS FROM OCEAN PARK, CALIFORNIA!
Hey, Stephen, it's cousin John. I attached a few of my latest. I'm railing
against common sense as usual and playing with Sancho again. We're in
our 40's and 50's now, but we're seeing 20 and 30-something kids really
get into us. So we're all completely duped back into this bullshit like
the suckers that we are. Trying to turn it all into something in the
brave new world of social media before the ear hair starts showing up.
How
are you and Nappy and Sherrie? Are you still writing? I'm trying to do more and
more on guitar. See if I can get songs in movies, TV, etc. after the
ear hair does come in.
Johnny and I then got into a humorous text exchange:
STMcC: Have you ever seen the Rap video [link-->] 'IT'S GETTING REAL IN THE WHOLE FOODS PARKING LOT'? If not, check it out at YouTube. I've watched it about 30 times. It ALWAYS makes me laugh.
Johnny: Just saw the Whole Foods Parking Lot. It's friggin' perfect! Very appropriately filmed at the crammed location on Lincoln and Rose.
STMcC: Ha! Yeah, that cracks me up! In our (old school) day, there wasn't any yuppie WHOLE FOODS in Grungeville.
Johnny: Yep, that place was damn Thrifty's!
STMcC: Man, I used to get my tennis shoes at that Thrifty's. How yuppie is THAT?!
Johnny: Not very!
STMcC: Dazzz rite.
OK now, my "Westside of L.A." homies, I'm gonna post a few songs by Kuzin John and SANCHO for your enjoyment. Hard Rock may not be everyone's Mojito, but if it is, well, this blast's for you. Bear in mind that the sound quality is sketchy - these ain't professionally produced live releases - but I still think the "it" comes through.
Sing it away, Johnny!...
SANCHO - 'Something's Missing'
For bigger picture, click here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaoJFxF0Qs0
Alright, this is a super-freaky video. Buckle up!
SANCHO - 'Cholita Peligra'
For bigger picture, click here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8Q1Dt62cAY
This last one is a fairly recent 30-minute concert. If you're not inclined to watch the entire show, I recommend you fast forward to the song that begins right at the 9:00 minute mark. Watch that move Johnny puts on the mic stand to begin singing. Must have gotten that from his Mom, and my Aunt, who has been a professional dance instructor for at least 30 years:
SANCHO L.A. Live In Concert:
For bigger click, picture here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFT47n0Lr5s
OK, Dogtown Doggs and Doggettes, as you were.
A public service announcement (PSA) or public service ad, are messages in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge, with the objective of raising awareness, changing public attitudes and behavior towards a social issue, or promoting your cousin's Rock 'N' Roll band.
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
