My first band, a photo, and some more information...

Yes, here we are in all our glory. Band practice... I'd guess around 1965-66.

On Bass, (the red bass guitar far left)... Johnny Upton. Did not see him for some 55 years... invited him to the Crab Social I attend about two years ago.. met, talked, reminisced. His parents had a country band, they are now deceased. Johnny lives nearby in the town of Chowchilla.

Mike Carvalho on drums. Mike passed away from lung cancer about 4 year's ago. He and I traveled a lot in our early years... played in other bands. Mike played in Vegas for many years... then he and I both settled back in our home town, took over our farms from our Dad's... and spent our life playing music and farming. We were best friends our entire lives, having started kindergarten together through H.S. We were never out of contact with each other.

Lead Guitar David Rico. I know little about David and what he did after the band disbanded... I do know he's now deceased as well, and most tell me it was drugs. He auditioned once for the Grateful Dead... I took him too the audition, where I met Jerry Garcia. He couldn't stay clean, however, and the Grateful Dead dropped him.. that was the last time I ever saw him.

Rick Miller on the Organ - a genius. Founder and current Dean of the Olin College of Engineering. Worked for JPL for years, developed the system they used to 'fold' various things used in space. I'm in contact with him via the internet... we speak occasionally, but I've only met with him a handful of times since those days. He's my cousin,.

Yours Truly... in the hippie shades. No idea why I'm holding a guitar BUT... I did actually play the bass during a gig ONE TIME...to the song "It's My Life" by the Animals. At this time I was the lead singer... not as yet drumming in the band although I could play them.

Interesting bit of trivia... I remember the shirt I'm wearing in this photo.... for good reason.... it was this shirt I wore when I first soloed in a Cessna 150. Not sure if they still do this but THEN when you completed your first solo they cut off your shirttail....then wrote your name and date on the cutoff shirttail. I still have it, somewhere, just no idea where.

This was taken at the Bass Player's house, (Johnny Upton), in Kerman, Ca. Johnny and David were from Kerman, started the band with a third guy whom I played with for a very short while, a few months... Mike, Rick, and myself were brought in soon after, we lived in Tranquillity.

This particular practice was sort of a celebration.. final practice for an original song we wrote then recorded at a music studio in Fresno, Ca.

Pretty sure I posted this photo before, but not all the added info. We were called "The Commons". In central Ca. we were quite well known.... often playing with... practicing with... some other bands that 'made it'... like "The Roadrunners".... "The Association". I'm no longer in contact with any of the guys in those two bands. - JamesJM