Sunshine Blogger Award
How in the Hell did this happen
I am amazed that I have been nominated for this award by two very talented people, Tamara Casey and Michael Maupin.
I intially told Tamara that I appreciated the shout out but felt too overwhelmed to respond, with Michael adding his nod I feel I have to respond out of respect to these two great substackers. I am going to cherry pick the questions from both of their posts.
Which do you enjoy more, cooking, baking, or neither and why?
I like both. I was raised on a dairy farm, my parents and my older sister Jo-an all did everything and that included both cooking and baking. The joy of creating something that people you care about can enjoy is something I continue to cherish
What’s your earliest musical memory?
The only radio we had on the farm was a console in the living room that my father administered and he had terrible musical taste. My first memory is when I bought my first transistor radio, a white Zenith that I had control over when I was 13 years old, in 1964. It was a pearl white Zenith with an extendable silver antenna. I could carry it with me wherever I went. I could listen to it while milking the cows. I could listen to it on the John Deere, as I pulled the disk over the plowed fields. I could listen to it late at night as I lay in bed. I could listen to the local radio stations, with shows like Invitation to Beauty, which featured classical music, and Afternoon Bop which aired Jazz. I could listen to WLS, and WCFL in Chicago, which had rock music all day and all night. At night when I was lucky and the weather conditions were right, I could even get the Border Radio Station, XER otherwise known as the X, and listen to Wolfman Jack. I heard the Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys. The Beach Boys led to a lifelong obsession with California where I ultimately ended up living.
Is there a musician you like and think should be more widely known?
When we moved to San Diego California in 1984 one of the first bands we got to see was Los Lobos, just another band from East Los Angeles, this experience turned into life long fandom. It seems that outside of their cover of La Bamba, they are considered a regional band. I just think they are great.
What is your favorite card game?
Yes it is a game called Sheepshead, a cutthroat game I played with my parents and relatives. It is a midwest/ Wisconsin favorite. Here is how you play it:
Name a concert you were lucky to witness and one you regret having missed.
Recently I was able to attend a concert by Tony Bennett at the Rady Shell at the Embaradero in San Diego. He was 92 at the time and was unbelievably good.
The opportunity that I turned down because I needed to earn money to pay for college, was a small gathering for 500,000 people at Yasgurs Farm. Yes I turned down tickets and a ride there and back to Woodstock. My neighbor in West Allis Wisconsin had made this offer to me, to this day I have never ending regrets.
What’s your main guilty pleasure?
Watching old and perhaps terrible movies like Conan the Barbarian, Riddik, and Preston Sturgis movies
Do you have a gadget or piece of gear you particularly enjoy?
My Olympus Camera and my Samsung S23+ as these are what I use to take my photographs.
How would you define success?
I am 74 and 3/4 years old so being Vertical, Above Ground, In Good Health and with People I love is my definition.
I’ve said that earnestness is underrated, is there a minor virtue that you think is under-appreciated?
Simple kindness and awareness of those around you.
A hill you’ll die on?
That the song The Road Goes on Forever, written by Robert Earl King and performed by Joe Ely is the best story song ever written.
When all is said and done, how would you like to be remembered?
A good man, a good friend, a good partner and a wandering soul with and open and caring heart.
Wow that was fun and challenging
Here are my nominees/Shout Outs
The best part of Substack is continually finding great writers photographers musicans and just great people.
Jon Pinter
Well deserved John and good to learn a little more about you. If it's any consolation, Joni Mitchell passed on going to Woodstock for a TV appearance I believe. She was already in NY with a helicopter waiting so your reasons for not going stack up pretty well.
She still wrote the definitive song of the festival but CSNY version has the authenticity of the experience. No one knew what a major event in music history it would become.
I remember reading about it in Circus magazine which we got on a three month delay if at all. Still remember some of the captions under photos like "Santana screeched like a raven while Alvin Lee screamed like a stallion". The movie was a knockout as I saw it with an American exchange student from Oklahoma who'd actually seen some of the acts live.
Love your work because it triggers memories like that and others.
Congrats Jon, I noticed the tag, thank you for thinking of me…..
A Fascinating read. Interestingly, I have listened to Los Lobos since the mid 1980’s, and still own several CDs. They must have been on a BBC TV music show??! 🙏