Jim Godry

Dick,

Thanks for posting Dick Kermode's version of Summertime.  It brought back fond memories for me as whenever we used to walk into the Ontario House in the Falls where Dick was playing, he would immediately break into Summertime in a bluesy style.  It has always been one of my favorite songs and never fails to remind me of Dick. 

I last saw Dick in San Francisco in the early 1970's.  As I was walking down California St. in the downtown business district, Dick yelled out a hello to me from the Yellow Cab he was driving.  He pulled over and we had a brief chat and exchanged phone numbers.  I called him a number of times but never was able to connect.  That was back in the days of few phone answering machines and no cell phones.

Stay healthy,

Jim Godry

Bruce Brand

I remember hearing Dick play and was amazed at his mastery of the B3. Had he lived he wold have been another Greg Allman or Jimmy Smith in the blues/jazz genre. Sad his life was so short.

Richard Bowker

More Dick Kermode music.

The link I posted to Dick's rendition of "Summertime" seems to have worked, therefore below is a link to an  entire folder of Dick's songs.  Feel free to play, download, and enjoy great memories from the late sixties.  As Bill Mucci just said "very nostalgic, almost can taste the Schmidt's Tiger Ale."  My thanks to Bob Marcin for making these tapes available.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hj08mntzb8f6z62/AABfrfB5xkCKHmJFysrHgWw2a?dl=0

Bruce Brand

Great, thank you,

Jerry Kaiser

Dick,

Thanks for your postings on Dick Kermode and his music. Any idea who the other musicians were?

There are several YouTube videos of Dick's work with Janis Joplin and the Kosmic Blues Band, and you may catch a glimpse of Dick at the keyboard. 

Kermode sat behind Kaiser in homeroom, and, once in a while, we'd venture to Banat Hall in Riverside (if I recall correctly) when he'd play. He certainly was a great talent and we lost him too soon.

Hope everyone is healthy and staying safe. We're near Seattle and we know how serious this is.

Richard Bowker

Jerry,

Wonderful to hear from you, what a nice surprise.  I only know that the "Milestones" were a Trio and that these tapes were recorded at Ontario House on River by Bob Marcin.  Recently, Bob and I were talking about Jimmy Calire and the famous band "Raven".  I had read an article (cited below) about Raven where it said "Janis Joplin tried to convince Jimmy Calire to join her group, but Calire introduced her to Richard Kermode from Niagara Falls, who became her keyboardist".  Bob and I each knew both Jimmy and Dick, and that is when Bob mentioned he recorded Kermode when he returned from Viet Nam. I am grateful that he was happy to share the tapes.

That's all I know.  Delighted to know you are happy and well (even though that seems to be ground-zero west).

Be caeful and safe - and thanks so much for getting in touch.

Dick

P.S. Reference about Raven

http://www.foreveryoungwny.com/Forever-Young/February-2020/Raven/

Bob Ernst

Jerry Kaiser

Dick,

John Weitz was a three years behind us at West. He was, as the excellent article mentioned, a phenomenal guitarist. We'd walk home from the Hideaway on Delevan after seeing Stan and the Ravens play (he was 16, I think) and many at West followed his local career with the Rising Sons, Raven, and J.R. Weitz. There are several songs from the Raven album (as well as live recordings) on YouTube. "Raven - Live at the Inferno 1967" is a real classic. It's at https://youtu.be/XD2pBGopKmw

Stay safe, everyone. The linked article is cause for concern. 

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-03-29/coronavirus-choir-outbreak

Jim Godry

Hello All,

All this talk about Stan and the Ravens is ironic because every year for the last several, the Sportsmen's Tavern (opened on 1985 for those of you who no longer live in Buffalo) has been holding an annual Szelest Fest.  I have gone to a couple of these since moving back to Buffalo in 2009.  This year's event, which I attended, was held on March 8th and Jimmy Calire showed up to sing and play (organ, piano and sax).  It was a great event and the place was packed-probably no one under the age of 70.  And I also heard Tony Galla sing a few years ago at the Lewiston Jazz Festival.

Here's to fond memories of the good old days!

Jim

Jim Godry

Hi All,

Regarding John Weitz, Bill Boyle's older brother, John, was married to Marilynn Weitz (John's older sister).  She passed away about 10 years ago.  So Bill Boyle may have some stories to share about John Weitz if any of you are interested. 

Jim Godry

Kihm Winship

I remember two things about Rich Kermode. One, he was the only boy in our junior high swim class who could do a full flip off the side of the pool. (Naked) Two, many many years ago, I was watching an interview with Janis Joplin on TV; I think Mike Wallace was doing the interview. And Janis did the whole interview while sitting on Rich's lap.

Ron Wheeler

Wishing our West Coast classmate Judy Kelly Dow a Happy, Happy Birthday today, June 18th!

Kathy Meer (Tolien)

Happy Belated Birthday, Judy!!!! And many more!

John Burniston

Happy belated Birthday, Judy.  Hope you had a great one.  Enjoy, and stay safe.      John  Burniston

Donald Markle

Happy Holidays to end a difficult year.  Hang in their people, things will get better.

Donald Markle

Happy Holidays to end a difficult year,  Things will get better, hang in there.

Kathy Meer (Tolien)

Thank you, Don, for your words of strength that really hit home.  Happy Thanksgiving to you too and to all my Kenmore West 1964 classmates.  Keep calm and carry on!

Donald Markle

Kathy,

You are welcome.  I do not think we have ever talked.  It is a pleasure.

Don Markle

Donald Markle

Happy Birthday to me.  My name has never been included in "has a special day " notifications, so here is to make up for one.

Don Markle.

PS- Happy birthday Rol F and all the to all the others I meant to send that message./

Rol Fessenden

Hey, don, I got a note from this web site saying it was your birthday! i didn't post. No one replied to previous posts, so I thought maybe you weren't monitoring it any longer. I don't get to it very often, myself, to be honest.

Rol Fessenden

In reply to both Kathy Meer (Tolien) and Don Markle, it is good to put last year's pandemic behind us. The world is mostly still suffering, and in the long run that may be problematic for us too, in the form of newer variants. But for the moment we have a respite, and that feels pretty good.

Our life was affected by the pandemic is largely superficial ways. Our son-in-law got Covid-19 early on, but recovered completely. We and our kids all hunkered down in various places, used reasonable care, and came through it reasonably well, albeit a bit lonely. Contact by Zoom is just not the same.

Since retirement, we have traveled a lot. In 2019 we did a 100-mile hike in Catalonia in April, and then in January of 2020, we did a 10-day bike trip in Vietnam, capped with a visit to our daughter in Indonesia. 

We arrived home to the states pretty much at the same time as the Covid did, and that was the end of our travel. We are still not sure what we will do this year. Maine is lovely in the summer, so we are not planning anything until later on.

Wishing everyone good health, 

Rol

Ken Link

I hope all our classmates have been vaccinated.  We got ours early and took the opportunity to visit Bruce Canyon (Below),  Zion National Park in Utah, and of course the Grand Canyon in Arizona.  The trip was wonderful and anyone who has a chance to visit  those parks should put them on your bucket list.  The only hitch with the trip was being required to get a covid test in order to return to Hawaii..   

Dick Mooshie

It is with the saddest of feelings that I advise the class of 64 that my closest and dearest friend, Tom Lippard,

passed away this past week. Tom was in the class of 65 and he and his wife, Marilyn, were residing in the

Wilmington, NC area. We'll all miss you Tom.

Nancy Bishop (Wittman)

Asking for any help , does anyone know what happened to Carol Bobeck trying to find her !

if any one knows anything please message me ! Thank you Nancy 

Jerry Kaiser

Happy Holidays.

My wife was listening to the "CBS Sunday Morning" podcast and heard about the Gold Belly food gift site. There's something for everyone on the site and I thought you might enjoy it.

We ordered beef on weck from Anderson's!

https://www.goldbelly.com/andersons-frozen-custard

Be well.

Jerry