I lost a good friend to ALS the first week of 2015. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. A humble and often self-deprecating man, Jim was an intelligent thinker and excellent musician.
Childhood friends and musicians, Jim Gardner, and I attempted to become a two-keyboard rock band in the late 1960s. We performed publicly only one time — in the Auditorium at Benton Central Jr./Sr. High School. The concept failed.
In the early 1970s, Jim was deep into the music of Pink Floyd. He liked the orchestral and theatrical “feel” of their music. That style did not fit well into the dance scene of the times but that did not deter Jim from publicly performing that type music. Once, in an attempt to cheer up his dad who was in the hospital, we tape recorded “When the Saints Go Marching In” on our clarinets for private playback for his dad. It was intentionally bad and I think met our goal of bringing a smile to his dad’s face.
Jim played in numerous local bands throughout his life. When The Elements of Time reincarnated itself with the late Kent Stembel at the helm, Jim took over my spot at the keyboards and the band continued to thrive for several years.
During one of our marathon two-keyboard living-room practice sessions in 1969 or 1970, Jim cracked me up by suddenly reciting comedian George Carlin’s “Hippy Dippy Weatherman” routine from memory. He must have gone on for 10 minutes and got it right — word for word.
It seems appropriate to quote Carlin from that weatherman routine: “Tonight’s forecast: Dark.”
Rest in peace, Jim.
Childhood friends and musicians, Jim Gardner, and I attempted to become a two-keyboard rock band in the late 1960s. We performed publicly only one time — in the Auditorium at Benton Central Jr./Sr. High School. The concept failed.
In the early 1970s, Jim was deep into the music of Pink Floyd. He liked the orchestral and theatrical “feel” of their music. That style did not fit well into the dance scene of the times but that did not deter Jim from publicly performing that type music. Once, in an attempt to cheer up his dad who was in the hospital, we tape recorded “When the Saints Go Marching In” on our clarinets for private playback for his dad. It was intentionally bad and I think met our goal of bringing a smile to his dad’s face.
Jim played in numerous local bands throughout his life. When The Elements of Time reincarnated itself with the late Kent Stembel at the helm, Jim took over my spot at the keyboards and the band continued to thrive for several years.
During one of our marathon two-keyboard living-room practice sessions in 1969 or 1970, Jim cracked me up by suddenly reciting comedian George Carlin’s “Hippy Dippy Weatherman” routine from memory. He must have gone on for 10 minutes and got it right — word for word.
It seems appropriate to quote Carlin from that weatherman routine: “Tonight’s forecast: Dark.”
Rest in peace, Jim.