Roy T. Wolfe
After having Majored Mathematics at the College of Charleston at Charleston SC, I was offered a job at Point Mugu CA as a Mathematician for the US Navy in which I accepted. I love my work at the Pacific Missile Test Center at Point Mugu, but after several years my roommate Mike Mars wondered why I had a guitar, bass, and piano sitting in the corner collecting dust. He said to me, “well if you are not going to play them, I would sure like to learn how.” I told him that I had quit a long time ago playing music for fun, and that I would only perform for money (professionally). I also told him that if he was really interest in playing music that I would teach him how to play the bass guitar, and I that would have him up on stage in six months. Sure enough in about six months he was quite good, and I was able to take him out to audition for some local bands. At first we did not have much luck finding musicians that we could play with. We were looking in the wrong places, but then we were able to find a Mexican guitarist named Manuel with his sixteen year old son on the drums. They were quite good. Manuel had a beautiful voice, and his son kept a good beat. We had rehears for about six months with Manuel and his son, and then we audition at some dive named the Beachcomber in Oxnard CA, and guess who was watching us? John Marx and Geno Camarillo the best saxophone player I had ever seen. Any band that came to Ventura County had to have Geno play with them from Ray Charles to Jerry Lee Lewis to Chuck Berry.
Playing the night club life in Ventura CA during the late 80’s and early 90’s I was able to meet and play guitar and piano with such legends as John Marx, Randy Norris, Jackie Lomax, Nick St. Nicholas, and many others. We formed bands under various names to perform shows for R. G. Canning Greatest Attractions. How did all these great musicians gather in one place? Maybe it’s like this, Birds of a feather just flock together, but I think the real answer was the fact that at the time rap was in and rock ‘n’ roll was out. Because of the fact that most people were not interested at that time in rock ‘n’ roll I was able to book my band with R. G. Canning as a Latin group to the amazement of these legendary musicians.
Manuel and his son (the kid) – Guitar and Vocals the kid on drums
Manuel played and sang for most R. G. Canning Shows. The kid played at most out door concerts, because of his age the kid could not play at most of the nightclubs. His uncle Carlos Santana influenced Manuel in music. Carlos Santana did the musical sound track for the movie La Bamba in which Manuel dud with him.
Mike Mares– Base player
Mike did not play at R. G. Canning Concerts, because he had never performed in front crowds that large and was little stage freighting. Instead, I used Nick St. Nicholas as a bass player, or John Marx’s base players at R. G. Canning shows. Mike did play at the nightclubs.
Geno Camarillo Saxophone vocals
Geno was a performer, and he performed with anyone and everyone in Ventura any chance he got. Geno performed at all R. G. Canning shows with me. When Geno got on stage he was a presence to be felt.
Robert Moore – Drums
Robert Moore played at the first R. G. Canning Concert with me.
Randy Norris guitar vocials
Randy preformed with me at night clubs and shows
LA Times
May 06, 1993|BILL LOCEY, SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
Randy Norris, of Ventura by way of Kansas and Colorado, has been a local for a long time. He’s been playing guitar for about 15 years, developing a reputation mostly as a blues player, and has spent a lot of time on the road. His band, Randy Norris & Full Degree, has headlined the long-running, itinerant Blue Monday gig.
Currently, his top gig is with a three-piece band with a clever name, Art Carnage. Originally a basic bar cover band, Art Carnage still does that stuff but now they have 90 minutes of original material.
They play a couple of nights a week, usually at the Whale’s Tail at Channel Islands Harbor. On Thursdays they are joined by former Apple recording artist Jackie Lomax for a night of R & B.
Between Art Carnage dates, Norris writes songs and gets extra gigs out of the union hall. In addition to Blue Monday, Norris has played regularly at the Bermuda Triangle in Ventura, and has opened for Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Drifters, the Rivingtons, Rare Earth and Jack Mack & the Heart Attack.
May 06, 1993
I joined Art Carnage about a year and a half ago because they had gigs and I didn’t. When we first moved out here about eight years ago, my wife said, “Let’s go to the beach, honey.” We ended up at the Beachcomber in Oxnard. I went in there again to get a beer and the band had just lost their guitarist. I played with them that night and now we’re about to release our first tape. We do back-to-basics rock ‘n’ roll.
What’s the story on Jackie Lomax?
He moved to Ojai, where his ex-wife lived. He was the first guy signed to Apple Records. He did two albums for them in the ’60s. George Harrison produced; Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton and Ringo played on it. We back him up on Thursday nights. He does an R & B thing. My other band, Full Degree, is sort of on the shelf right now. It’s a lot of guys from a lot of different bands that we just do when we can. I’m also the backup guitarist for Jack Mack & the Heart Attack.
Randy Norris 2007 Miles From Chicago Band
Randy is a native of Wichita, Kansas. He’s been burning up stages for more than 25 years with his charismatic voice and intense, journeyman approach to his instrument. He has spent much of his life playing music on the road, performing with Jack Mack and the Heart Attack, The Boxtops, and opening for many notable acts including the Neville Brothers, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Rare Earth, Average White Band, Etta James, and Johnny Winter. Randy also spent 10 years in LA doing sessions and sideman work. Never the type to be stuck in a musical rut, he would play whatever style was required for the job, regardless of genre. His voice can be heard on many film and television scores. Randy’s a great addition to the MFC lineup!
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| Jackie Lomax | |
| Birth name | John Richard Lomax |
| Born | 10 May 1944 (1944-05-10) (age 66) Wallasey, Cheshire, England |
| Years active | 1960s – present |
| Website | jackielomax.com |
John Richard ‘Jackie’ Lomax (b. 10 May 1944, Wallasey, Cheshire, England) is a British guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his association with George Harrison and Eric Clapton. He currently lives in Ojai, California with his wife, Annie (previously Norma Richardson)[1], mother of fashion photographer Terry Richardson.[2]
| Contents[hide] |
History 1962 – 1970
In early 1962, Jackie Lomax left Dee and the Dynamites to join Merseybeat band The Undertakers. They followed the same route as The Beatles through local venues before setting out for Hamburg, Germany and finally securing a record deal. From that point onwards, they were dogged by ill-luck and lack of success. They signed with Pye Records and released four singles which only managed to place one week on the British charts between them. In 1965 they moved to America to try their luck there.
After two years in America with The Undertakers and a couple of other groups, Jackie Lomax’s latest band, The Lomax Alliance, were taken back to Britain in 1967 by Brian Epstein to showcase them at the Saville Theatre in London. He arranged for a single and an album to be recorded and they signed to CBS. Epstein’s untimely death ruined the plans for the band. During that period CBS released two Lomax Alliance singles and one solo Jackie Lomax single. More than enough tracks for an album were recorded but it was never released.
After Brian Epstein’s death, the Beatles’ new record label Apple took over responsibility for Jackie’s recording career, with George Harrison becoming heavily involved on the production side. Despite having 75% of the Beatles on the record as well as Eric Clapton and Nicky Hopkins, success remained elusive. The shambles which was Apple, after the break-up of the Beatles, made matters even worse. During that period Apple released three singles–including the song “Sour Milk Sea“, written by George Harrison–and the Is This What You Want? LP. By 1970, the break-up of the Beatles had badly affected Apple Records and Allen Klein was called in. Apple artists found themselves under contract to a label who had no interest in them.
History 1970 – 1977
After leaving Apple, Jackie Lomax joined a band called Heavy Jelly featuring bassist Alex Dmochowski, guitarist John Moorshead and Carlo Little (drums), who released a single on Head Records (“Chewn In”/”Time Out”, Head HDS4001, 1969). During that period a Heavy Jelly LP, made up entirely of Jackie Lomax songs, was recorded but issued for promotional purposes only. It was never commercially released.
In 1971 Jackie Lomax returned to America to live and work in Woodstock, New York. He signed to Warner Bros. Records and reunited with members of the Lomax Alliance and The Undertakers. They returned to the recording studio but his efforts continued to fall on deaf ears. During this Warner period two Jackie Lomax albums were: Home Is In My Head and Three.
Disappointed with his lack of success in America, Jackie Lomax returned to Britain at the end of 1973, where he joined Badger, a progressive rock band originally formed by ex-Yes keyboard player Tony Kaye. He proceeded to turn them into the type of R&B/soul band he had used on his solo albums. The band became a vehicle for Jackie’s songs and singing but was short-lived. During the period in which Jackie Lomax was a member of Badger, they released only one LP, White Lady, on Epic Records, which was produced by Allen Toussaint.
Jackie Lomax crossed the Atlantic again to resume his solo career and Capitol Records signed him in 1975. He continued playing the R&B/soul which he had perfected during his recording career but which the public stubbornly refused to embrace. Unfortunately he has been without a recording contract since he left them in 1977. During his time at Capitol, he recorded two albums, Livin’ for Lovin’ and Did You Ever Have That Feeling?, the second of which was released only in the USA.
Living in America 1978-2000
The 1980s were a very quiet time in the musical career of Jackie Lomax. The mid 1980’s saw Jackie playing guitar and singing background vocals on demos for various artists produced by longtime friend Patrick Landreville. During this time Jackie briefly played with the short lived “Tea Bags” a group based in Los Angeles composed at various times of Brit musicians Ian Wallace, Kim Gardner, Mick Taylor, Brian Auger, Terry Reid, Peter Banks, Graham Bell‘, David Mansfield and others. The 1990s saw an increase in activity for Jackie. He spent periods playing with other British artists on the west coast of America and toured as the bass-player with some of the acts that were big when he first chose to play music – The Drifters, The Diamonds, The Coasters. In California, and Ventura County in particular, Jackie played live with a succession of line-ups, including Tom Petty drummer Randall Marsh, Jim Calire, Patrick Landreville, Mitch Kashmar and many other well respected musicians, as he returned to playing guitar, with a heavier emphasis on the blues side of R&B.
In 1990 he was seen in very good company on a compilation album which featured unique singers covering a wide range of songs, and he appeared on albums for other artists, both as a singer and as a guitarist. Recordings, however, were few and far between.
2001 Onwards
In 2001 Jackie Lomax completed the recording of his first solo album since 1977, The Ballad of Liverpool Slim. 2002 saw him continuing to play on the West Coast of America. In autumn of 2003, he made a triumphant return to The Cavern in Liverpool where it all began more than 40 years earlier.
Trivia
Jackie Lomax is mentioned in the lyrics of the song “Go To Rhino Records” by Wild Man Fischer.
Recordings
- The Undertakers Unearthed 1963-65
- The Lomax Alliance and CBS Recordings 1966-1967
- Is This What You Want? 1968 #145 US
- Heavy Jelly 1970
- Home Is In My Head 1971
- Three 1972
- White Lady /Badger 1974
- Livin’ For Lovin’ 1976
- Did You Ever Have That Feeling? 1977
- True Voices (Various Artists) 1991
- The Ballad of Liverpool Slim 2001 & 2004
References
External links
Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Lomax”
John “Marx” Markowski – Guitar and Vocals
Born and raised in East Baltimore Maryland, John began singing in church and for audiences at the age of six. He played the drums from ages ten to fifteen, and then took up the guitar to better accompany his singing. In 1967 he started the “Daddios” his very first blues band. They recorded an album for Decca records in 1968, and soon started playing bars and coffee houses in southern California until 1970. During this time, he was very fortunate to have met and played with Lightning Hopkins, Sleepy John Estes, and Albert Collins and many others.
From 1970 to 1978 he traveled around California and Arizona as a band leader and side-man. In 1979 while living in the San Fernando valley, a friend of his hooked him up with the famous duo “Captain and Tenille”, who needed a strong singer-guitar player. He was a natural for the band and found himself working with them for five years, until 1984. In 1987 he formed his own blues band the “Blues Patrol” which he has played many gigs around Los Angeles, Ventura and Orange County. During this time he has had the good fortune to have played the Blues with Luther Tucker, Larry Davis, Cash Mc Call, Earl King, Floyd Dixon, and recorded and toured with William Clarke.
Over the years he has found himself either on stage or in a recording studio with Albert Collins, Lowell Fulson, The Drifters, Gladys Knight, Carmelo Garcia, George Benson, The Dells, Al Duncan, Luther Tucker, Lee Oskar, Gabor Szabo, The Platters, Larry Hopkins, Luis Gasca, The Coasters, Charlie Musselwhite, Jimmy Smith, Jesse Ed Davis, and many others. After jamming at a local Bar one day with Saxophonist Joel C. Peskin and drummer Mike Kowalski, was offered a job with their group the “Backsters” and ever since they have been playing around So. Cal., tearing the house down.
John Marx has a great Voice and can really sing the blues in the tradition of Albert King, Bobby Blue Bland, Robert Crey, Nat King Cole and B.B. King His guitar playing is influenced by such greats as Albert Collins and Grant Green. He combines some different styles into his own blues, jump and jazz mixture.
Nick St. Nicholas (born Klaus Karl Kassbaum September 28, 1943, in Plön, Germany) is a bassist, and is best known for his membership in Steppenwolf from 1968 to 1970, and then again from 1976 to 1980. After World War II, his family moved to Toronto and became Canadian citizens. Sister Maren joined the Canadian Ballet Company & Conservatory of Music as pianist. He also has a younger brother, Gary who went into the Merchant Marine.
Early career
Nick spent a brief period as bassist with the Epics, then Shirley Matthews and the Big Town Boys before joining a set of musicians who eventually coalesced as the Mynah Birds, featuring singers Rick James and Jimmy Livingston. In 1965, he replaced Bruce Palmer as bassist with Jack London and the Sparrows, and played on most of the tracks on their only LP, which was released in 1965. In the space of the next year or so, the group lost Jack London and became the Sparrows. Nick then added new German-born frontman John Kay and became The Sparrow, and moved south to New York, then Nick drove them non-stop to California.
Steppenwolf
In 1967, The Sparrow folded and St. Nicholas joined a Los Angeles-based group called The Hardtimes, who soon renamed themselves T.I.M.E., which supposedly stood for Trust In Men Everywhere. After only one album, St. Nicholas left T.I.M.E. and rejoined his former Sparrow bandmates (vocalist/guitarist John Kay, drummer Jerry Edmonton and organist Goldy McJohn), by replacing original bassist Rushton Moreve in Steppenwolf at the height of the band’s popularity.
St. Nicholas has several Gold and Platinum records to his credit playing and contributing on four Steppenwolf albums: At Your Birthday Party, Early Steppenwolf, Monster, and Live. He appears in many of the band’s early videos including an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. St. Nicholas left Steppenwolf in 1970 and was replaced by new bassist George Biondo.
In her autobiography .[1] Groupie Pamela Des Barres credits St. Nicholas with relieving her of her virginity.
Although John Kay’s autobiography, Magic Carpet Ride largely attributes St. Nicholas’ firing to sneaking on stage in nothing but bunny ears and a jockstrap at a 1970 show at the Fillmore East, according to Steppenwolf keyboardist Goldy McJohn, St. Nicholas was dismissed for a number of reasons:
The fuehrer (Kay) fired him [for] wearing dresses in Steppenwolf with that bleached blonde hair, being out of tune at gigs … lots of reasons. I liked the bunny ears, but John made such a stink about it at the Fillmore East, you’d think he was in charge. Everyone else was on acid in the audience and this great big guy got up and told Kay to let Nick tune up and everybody cheered. Stealing John Kay’s limelight has and always will be his modus operandi, in other words.[2]
After Kay and Edmonton’s version of Steppenwolf disbanded in 1976, St. Nicholas reformed the group with McJohn and guitarist Kent Henry, who had recorded the guitar tracks on the For Ladies Only album in 1971. There were several versions of this band touring at the same time for which St. Nicholas was not responsible. During this turn, St. Nicholas’ Steppenwolf included drummers such as Steve Riley and Frankie Banali. St. Nicholas stopped touring with Steppenwolf when his lease on the band’s name expired in 1980.
Post-Steppenwolf
After St. Nicholas’ second tour with Steppenwolf ended, he formed a band called “Starwolf” in 1980 with keyboardist Steve Stewart. Stewart left in the late 1980s to be replaced by Randy Carr about the same time guitarist Dave Olsen joined the band. At this point, “Starwolf” became “Lone Wolf”. In 1988, Kurt Griffey was added as a second guitarist and Chris Sweeney joined as the band’s drummer. After “Lone Wolf” became “The Wolf”, Sweeney was replaced by Ronnie Carson and Olsen was fired, leading to the band’s dissolution in 1989. In the early 1990s, St. Nicholas formed a new “Lone Wolf” with Griffey, singer Richard Ward, and drummer Daryl Johnson, which played bike rallies and clubs. In 1997, the band split as St. Nicholas launched the supergroup World Classic Rockers, bringing Griffey with him into the new venture along with former Steppenwolf bandmate Michael Monarch. St. Nicholas has two sons, Jesse and Devin.
During the time “ The Wolf ” band was formed Nick performed with my ( Roy T. Wolfe) group at the first R. G. Canninng Concert. Nick also has a lovely wife named Rosalli that performs with him.
World Classic Rockers
World Classic Rockers (website) is a supergroup formed in 1997. Members include former members of Steppenwolf, Santana, Toto, Journey, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Boston and others.
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