The Night Shift

[WildcatOne]

Doc, those are Bill's songs. Have John contact him either by phone (281) 615-3536 or by email...
wggibson@earthlink.net
He already told me this sounds like a very cool thing to have done...
Bill's officially granting permission will just be a formality. I can't wait to see the movie!
Cheers, WC1

[jim sanders]

ok WC.... i'll pass on the info to brother John.. Iwas kinda hoping they were your tunes.... just because.. I am not involved at all on the movie project they are trying to put together.... i think the latest deal is they are going to use some instumental stuff from some local friends and just print the deal.. i don't know as i am upstairs... brother John rents downstairs .... regardless i will send you a dvd of this crazy movie just because... i think you might enjoy it from what i have seen so far....

[WildcatOne]

I'm sure I will enjoy it! Thanks! As for Bill writing those songs, they were his musical and lyrical ideas, but Scott the drummer arranged both songs. Randolph also played a heavy hand in the construction of those tunes, but as for the arrangements, I'd have to give that part to Scott. I've said before that Bill is a poet who also happens to play some guitar and sing. His songs are palatable on several different levels all at once, and often when I hear them or play them, I hear more than one song going on at any given moment. That's been the key to the Citykings' style...complexity that makes your foot tap...Bill's guitar solo on "I've Been Waiting" (Debby's favorite Citykings song) is one I made up that I used to play, and Bill asked me to teach him how to play it so he could do it...I do the first one, he does the second one, the "signature" solo, and I thought it was a great idea to do it that way. I could go over that whole album note-by-note and give explanations of how, what, why and when all of it got made up...Tell John thanks for going with those 2 songs! Cheers, WC1

[WildcatOne]

[draglist]

I love it. Looking great, John. bp

[WildcatOne]

This guitar will last me for the rest of my life. Friday night before last, we played at Bojangles on NASA Rd 1. I gotta say straight-out, I absolutely SUCKED so bad I could have went out into the parking lot and cranked up a Harley by wrapping my mouth around the exhaust pipe...I could blame the lighting (I couldn't see that my tuner was a half-step flat and didn't find out until we started the first song...SKRONK!) or the keyboard player for being out for 2 weeks, or I could have blamed the pimp down the street selling crack and yelling something about my mommy at me. Bottom line: I hadn't played that bad since I used to do drugs back in the 80s. I knew I needed a new guitar in the worst way. The old '69 Gibson Les Paul I've been using was having some serious problems and it just wasn't a front-line professional instrument anymore. Not that I claim to be the world's greatest guitarist and the problems I was having were due to anything else...not by a long shot...but I'm playing professional gigs in a show band and I had to make a change. I got the bill from the veterinarian's hospital where our cat Sabbath had hung on for 3 weeks before we were told there was nothing more they could do for him...I won't derail here...It was somewhat less than I expected it would be...I was on my way over there to pick up his ashes Saturday morning. About 5 miles up the loop from there is Fuller's Vintage Guitar Shop. I went ahead on over there and bought this guitar. How many times ya gonna live? I tried an old Telecaster from the 70s, (kinda reminded me of the Les Paul...old) I tried a brand-new Highway 1 Telecaster with a maple fretboard, it was as light as a feather and I could hear something in the tone that I didn't particularly feel would be adequate for what I wanted to do. I pulled this one off the rack. It also is brand-new. It's an American Telecaster, made in USA, not Mexico or Japan or Korea, those Telecasters look identical but have none of the quality or tone that this one does. It rang. It twanged. It shook and it shimmied. I whipped out a check for a thousand bucks and change and walked out with it. I got what I paid for, to say the least. After I went by and received Sabbath's ashes, I went out and played a gig that night in San Leon and we blew the roof off the joint. Pee Wee grabbed me and he said "That thing sounds FANTASTIC! You did GOOD, John!" Pee Wee started calling me "Big Bad John" onstage...it's cool...I'm developing a new identity with Pee Wee's band. I get to "shake a leg" and do my thing and Pee Wee encourages me to do that. Now that I have a guitar that works and is easy to play with no restrictions ("uh-oh...I gotta watch out for that second fret...it's gonna snag the high E-string when I play that lick..."), it was like a whole new dimension had arrived. That guitar has tone, twang and dynamics out the wazoo. The band threw a party over it, and they all slapped me on the back. I told 'em, I knew all along I was just a good guitar away from really being there. They all said good form, John...well done. When the horn players turn around and give the guitar player a wink and the OK sign after a guitar solo, you know something is being done right. We played to around 700 people this weekend. 6 of my cousins showed up and danced and partied and we had a blast. Life is good. There is more to this story but I gotta run and get some dinner for my hungry litter here at the Cat House. Cheers, WC1

[pro70z28]

Sounds like a cool upgrade WC. Just went from gas to N-I-T-R-O.

[jim sanders]

great read WC !!

[Billy Mac]

I know you have mentioned it before, John....but it really DOES bear bringing up again......it is truely amazing the transformation that you go through when you have a guitar in your hands.......if average Joe meets you on the street.....he sees and experiences John Bockelman; a quiet, reserved, soft spoken, easy going kinda guy.........but once those stage lights come on and you wrap your paws around the neck of that "geetar" ...all Hell breaks loose and Pee Wee's new moniker for you; "Big Bad John", really DOES come into its own.........I'm proud to know you and call you my Friend!!!

[Gator]

'Cat..You relate life's experiences well!
I'm pleased to hear that the new deal with PeeWee is going well.
Equipment upgrading, whether in Racing ,Music,Whatever is exciting!