My first paid gig was at Palma High School in Salinas somewhere around 1959.  Prior to that, I would stop by a small club on the way home from my after-school job at Safeway, and play piano with a three-piece blues band until 2 in the morning. That same year, I started playing piano with Bobby Bare while he was in the army and stationed at nearby Fort Ord.

In 1957, I attended my first concert and met Gene Vincent. Once I was old enough to drive, I hung around the National Guard Amory on a fairly regular basis, meeting Ike and Tina, Brook Benton, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, Bobby Darin, Jerry Lee Lewis and many other great acts on their way up. I was totally consumed by music and that's the way it's been ever since those early Rock and Roll years.