Jamie was 16 years old when we got him in the band. He may be 17 in this picture. The only way I can tell is because he's playing his new bass. When he first joined, he had a cream colored Fender Precision Bass that our stepdad, Jay, had given him.
Looking back, the P Bass was bad ass. We all know that now, but back then it had three strikes against it:
It was a pale yellow.
It was too heavy for a 16 year old bean pole like Jamie to handle for our 90 minute set.
The action was too high, so it was hard to play. (If you were going to play metal, the instrument had to be white or black, and easy to play.)
I don't even remember what it was, but his amp was a piece of shit too.
After our first few shows, we knew we had to help him up his game.
Cashing in a bond that our grandma gave him, Jamie and I drove down to Rhythm City in Atlanta one weekend and he bought the white Guild Pilot bass in the picture, and a killer Gallien Kruger bass rig that he used for years afterward.
That trip is just one of many fond memories of my little brother.
That trip is just one of many fond memories of my little brother.
He drove his little Honda Hatch Back on the way down, scaring the shit out of me the whole time. A small plane even made an emergency landing on the interstate right outside of Chattanooga right in front of us. We loved that! (Even though it held us in traffic for an hour, it didn't matter, we were on an adventure.)
Jamie wanted me there so he wouldn’t buy anything "cheese." He was filling some big shoes replacing Skully, our old bass player and one of Jamie's heroes, so he needed me there to approve the upgrade.
I'm sure we could have found the same stuff in Nashville, but this store in Atlanta had a mystique back then. Plus, it was a good excuse for some brother hang time and a road trip. Paulie and I had been like ham and cheese for a long time. We were always together and had been playing in bands for years while Jamie was still playing baseball and riding bikes. Paulie and I were only two years apart, while Jamie and I were 6 years apart. It was so awesome to see the fine young man and musician Jamie was growing into, and it was exciting having him in the band now. It was great just hanging with him as a friend now, as well as a brother.
We decided on the gear, made the purchase, and I drove back. He fell asleep on the way back and I remember looking over at him sleeping in the passenger's seat. I was so happy about this latest turn of events.
We were brothers. We were a band.
We were SIMMONZ.
The story of how we got there, is pretty cool.
***
Jamie came out to California in the early summer of '83 to visit me and Paulie, and spend the summer with dad. We were living with our dad, his second wife Kelly, and our two step sisters, Kristy and Jenny.
Paulie and I had initially come out to Los Angeles with our bass player, John Downey. John, also known as "Skully,” had convinced us that LA was the place to be, and we quickly agreed. We moved out in March of 83', briefly stayed with some friends, then moved into an apartment with the Skull and his girlfriend, Laura.
My sweet grandparents left each of the brothers a 5k bond that matured when we were 18. Well, Paulie was 18, I was 20, and we both cashed those suckers in! We were moving to California to find a singer and become the next big metal sensation. I just knew, 5k would last forever.
5k didn't last forever.
We had some great times in those first three months, but after we struck out finding the next Ronnie James Dio, Skully was headed back to Nashville to go on the road with Lust, and we were headed to dad's place in Camarillo, about 30 miles north of Hollywood.
Once we were settled in with dad, we hooked up with some local guys there, and started our next band, Ezekiel Steel. It was right around the time of Ezekiel's first gig that Jamie came out to visit his two fledgling rocker brothers.
I think he was 14 then. The first thing I remember when he got there was... "Damn! Mus, you are as tall as me!" Mus was one of his many nicknames. It was short for Jamus Bon Bonus. He begrudgingly accepted it over time. After all, it was much better than SBQWBBBB. (Short for, Skinny Boned Queer With A Big Brown Baby Butt.)
My whole perception of him changed after that.
It had been a while since I had seen him. I was amazed that my baby brother was actually growing into a young man.
While Jamie was there, Ezekiel Steel's first big gig fell through. We were so bummed and pissed off.
I think it was the next day that we got a call from Skully saying that if we came back to Nashville, there was a good chance the singer from Lust, Mike Easley, would join our band. Skully had played him a rehearsal tape we made in LA of our original songs, and "Easlo was totally amazed, mannnnn!"
We started packing. We were nothing, if not driven. And, we were about to drive, again.
As we were leaving, we both hugged Jamie and said our goodbyes.
I’ll never forget, Jamie pulling me aside.
"Mike, I'm learning the bass. I don't want to play keyboards, I want to play metal."
Jamie wanted me there so he wouldn’t buy anything "cheese." He was filling some big shoes replacing Skully, our old bass player and one of Jamie's heroes, so he needed me there to approve the upgrade.
I'm sure we could have found the same stuff in Nashville, but this store in Atlanta had a mystique back then. Plus, it was a good excuse for some brother hang time and a road trip. Paulie and I had been like ham and cheese for a long time. We were always together and had been playing in bands for years while Jamie was still playing baseball and riding bikes. Paulie and I were only two years apart, while Jamie and I were 6 years apart. It was so awesome to see the fine young man and musician Jamie was growing into, and it was exciting having him in the band now. It was great just hanging with him as a friend now, as well as a brother.
We decided on the gear, made the purchase, and I drove back. He fell asleep on the way back and I remember looking over at him sleeping in the passenger's seat. I was so happy about this latest turn of events.
We were brothers. We were a band.
We were SIMMONZ.
The story of how we got there, is pretty cool.
***
Jamie came out to California in the early summer of '83 to visit me and Paulie, and spend the summer with dad. We were living with our dad, his second wife Kelly, and our two step sisters, Kristy and Jenny.
Paulie and I had initially come out to Los Angeles with our bass player, John Downey. John, also known as "Skully,” had convinced us that LA was the place to be, and we quickly agreed. We moved out in March of 83', briefly stayed with some friends, then moved into an apartment with the Skull and his girlfriend, Laura.
My sweet grandparents left each of the brothers a 5k bond that matured when we were 18. Well, Paulie was 18, I was 20, and we both cashed those suckers in! We were moving to California to find a singer and become the next big metal sensation. I just knew, 5k would last forever.
5k didn't last forever.
We had some great times in those first three months, but after we struck out finding the next Ronnie James Dio, Skully was headed back to Nashville to go on the road with Lust, and we were headed to dad's place in Camarillo, about 30 miles north of Hollywood.
Once we were settled in with dad, we hooked up with some local guys there, and started our next band, Ezekiel Steel. It was right around the time of Ezekiel's first gig that Jamie came out to visit his two fledgling rocker brothers.
I think he was 14 then. The first thing I remember when he got there was... "Damn! Mus, you are as tall as me!" Mus was one of his many nicknames. It was short for Jamus Bon Bonus. He begrudgingly accepted it over time. After all, it was much better than SBQWBBBB. (Short for, Skinny Boned Queer With A Big Brown Baby Butt.)
My whole perception of him changed after that.
It had been a while since I had seen him. I was amazed that my baby brother was actually growing into a young man.
While Jamie was there, Ezekiel Steel's first big gig fell through. We were so bummed and pissed off.
I think it was the next day that we got a call from Skully saying that if we came back to Nashville, there was a good chance the singer from Lust, Mike Easley, would join our band. Skully had played him a rehearsal tape we made in LA of our original songs, and "Easlo was totally amazed, mannnnn!"
We started packing. We were nothing, if not driven. And, we were about to drive, again.
As we were leaving, we both hugged Jamie and said our goodbyes.
I’ll never forget, Jamie pulling me aside.
"Mike, I'm learning the bass. I don't want to play keyboards, I want to play metal."
It felt like he had been wanting to tell me this since he got there. We were about to drive back to Nashville, so it was now or never.
When he was old enough, our plan was to get him in the band playing keyboards with us and Skully. We never dreamed there would be another bass player that could replace Skully, even after he left us hanging in LA. It was like we knew we would get back with him.
"You don't even have a bass, Mus." I said, skeptical.
"Oh yes I do! I bought a Hondo bass, and Jay just gave me his Fender P Bass!"
When he was old enough, our plan was to get him in the band playing keyboards with us and Skully. We never dreamed there would be another bass player that could replace Skully, even after he left us hanging in LA. It was like we knew we would get back with him.
"You don't even have a bass, Mus." I said, skeptical.
"Oh yes I do! I bought a Hondo bass, and Jay just gave me his Fender P Bass!"
Then, with eyes wide, he said, “I've been practicing too. Will you show me some stuff when I get back home this fall?"
"Hell yes I will! Call me when you get back."
As we drove out of California, Paulie and I talked about how cool it would be to have a band of brothers on all three instruments. I loved the idea, but it seemed too far off. It was 1983 and Metal was hitting its prime. The clock was ticking. The age difference seemed too great, and it would be a long time before Jamie was any good.....we thought.
***
"Hell yes I will! Call me when you get back."
As we drove out of California, Paulie and I talked about how cool it would be to have a band of brothers on all three instruments. I loved the idea, but it seemed too far off. It was 1983 and Metal was hitting its prime. The clock was ticking. The age difference seemed too great, and it would be a long time before Jamie was any good.....we thought.
***
Paulie and I formed Assault in the summer of ‘83 with Mike “Cash” Easlo on vocals and Skully on bass. We were the only metal band in Nashville doing all original material. There were a few other bands around doing originals but they all played covers as well.
The other bands were good, but our songs were a few steps above anything else that was being done in Nashville. We were heavily influenced by Dio, Iron Maiden, Rush, Van Halen, Saxon, Judas Priest and others, and our musicianship raised the bar. We were focused and inspired. We killed right off the bat.
Nobody liked playing after us.
We lived up to our name.
We recorded a six song demo and played quite a few shows around the area. There were not many places for metal bands to play then, but we played wherever we could.
We were offered a recording contract after a show at Brass A Hickory Hollow one night. We ended up passing on it and that was the beginning of a major rift in the band.
By spring of ‘84, things had gotten very strained in the band.
Jamie came over to the band house where Paulie and I lived around that time to hang out and show me how he was coming along on the bass. We got together a couple of times a few months before, and I showed him some scales and stuff. He told me he had been practicing for hours every day. I found out later he had been jamming with friends from school too.
I don’t know what I expected, but I was floored by what I heard.
The kid was amazing!
Skully was an absolute bad ass on the bass. Jamie loved the way the Skull played, so he learned every song on the demo tape.... note for note!
Not only that, he had it.
He had that thing Paulie and I had. It is this musical ESP we have where one guy intuitively knows where the other guy is going. I felt it right off the bat when we started jamming in my bedroom together with my old wooden metronome. I started showing him scales and new stuff, he picked it up immediately.
I knew right then that we were not going to have to wait for Jamie to get any older.
It wouldn’t have mattered if we were having trouble in the band or not, this was what had to happen, I was sure of it.
It wouldn’t have mattered if we were having trouble in the band or not, this was what had to happen, I was sure of it.
I knew Paulie and Easlo would be skeptical, so Jamie and I went to the woodshed for about a week. I showed him all of the other songs and we went over and over the whole set until our fingers were numb.
He was ready.
By this time, we had parted ways with Skully. We were working on new demo recordings for a few weeks and he was very upset about the volume of the bass in the mix. It was a major bone of contention in the band.
One night he said he was going to start a band with all European musicians and we told him to go ahead.
That was that.
We tried out one other guy after that, but it didn’t feel right at all.
Everything was set. I was so excited. Jamie was going to be our bass player!
I knew it was gonna work. Well, I hoped it would. We had shows coming up too... it had to work.
I set up a rehearsal for Saturday night.
Easlo said, “You sure about this, man?”
Paulie, “You think he can do it, Mikey?”
Me: “Just wait boys, you’ll see!”
That Saturday morning I got a call from mom.
“Michael, Jamie wants to borrow my car. He said something about going to rehearse with you guys. You want him to join the band? Well, that is not going to happen. He’s only 16! Michael Andrew, what are you thinking?”
Uh oh.
She called me Michael Andrew. This was going to be more difficult than I thought.
“Mom, mom... calm down. Listen, I’m coming out there. I’ll be there in an hour.”
Damn. This could be a problem.
It was time to muster all of my powers of persuasion.
(To be continued....)
Absolutely lovin' your writing, Mikey ... Please keep this up ... Its sooooo good for the 'soul!
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