Disco Dis Way - I Went Dat Way!

8/21/78 at the Harbor Inn in Rock Hill S.C. was my last gig with Rhapsody. I stuck it out for one year, and what a year it was. I ended up making $7,836.30. This works out to almost exactly $150 a week, as John more or less promised. Going through my records I see that there were a couple of times we were not paid, sometimes we were paid a little, and around the Xmas season I was making $200 a week.

It was a busy year - we played almost every week. We were dismissed a couple of times, and I think it was because we were booked as a 5 piece, but due to shifting personnel, sometimes we were not what we were advertised as. There were a couple of times when we played without a guitarist at all. Young John V. (the keyboardist) was the only player aside from the rhythm section for a few of those gigs (Richard had left to find a happier situation for himself) and I’m sure we must have been terrible!

Things were still dicey due to John and Pam’s affair. In Opelika, Alabama, Pam’s husband made a surprise visit to John and Pam’s hotel room one morning. Richard and I were in our room next door (with Sumo, the Akita of course!), and were woken by the sound of Pam’s husband banging on her (their) door. They never answered (smart) and the husband finally left. These types of things were wearing on all of us, as was the thought of going through another guitarist search, so I decide to quit. I called John to tell him the news. I don’t quite remember what his reaction was, but he wasn’t angry. I think he said something to the effect of “Well Gil Ray, it’s been great working with you!” Cool. I arranged to turn in my jumpsuit and the smoky smelling shirts and wondered who in the hell will be wearing these next? Hope he doesn’t mind the extremely snug crotch and too short pant legs!

I’m extremely grateful for the experience, though. John taught me many things. I came out of Rhapsody a better musician all around. My drumming continued to improve and I was becoming comfortable singing back up vocals. I learned how to be a showman, but knew when to lay back and let Pam have the spotlight. I traveled more than I ever had in my whole life. Mostly in the Carolinas, but some shows took us to Georgia, Alabama, Virginia and Tennessee.

I was thrilled that Mom would come to a couple of our Charlotte shows. It really felt great to have her see me in a professional setting, making money, and playing at fancy hotel lounges. Her escort was usually my very favorite uncle - Uncle Ambrose. He was the divorced husband of my dad’s sister. He made a point of visiting Mom frequently after Dad died. The 3 of us were more or less drinking buddies and we all had such a good time during his visits! He had a very booming, deep voice. He would sometimes refer to me as “Gil...you little bitch!” That would crack up all three of us! Not sure if he was gay or not. He may just have been a little prissy, but he was a great friend to my Mom and myself. He was an amazing man that made Mom laugh. I loved him very dearly.

Speaking of Mom - she was starting to have some serious health problems around this time. She smoked like a chimney and drank all the time. It was sad to watch, but her situation must have sucked. I was the last family member living with her, but I was growing up and getting involved in my own independent world. Her days consisted of checking in on her parents, grocery shopping, dealing with me and most importantly, being alone. Even our lifetime maid, Hazeline, had to quit due to a very unfortunate accident that rendered her husband more or less a vegetable. I hated leaving her all the time. If I wasn’t playing music, I was either sleeping at home or hanging out with my girlfriend (that also wasn’t too keen on my continual absence). I had to do it. I had to somehow develop a sense of self. It was hard, and as usual, I felt very guilty doing this, and man... did that bite me on my ass later on in life. Still does, but in a little bit more..controlled fashion thanks to about $30,000 worth of psycho therapy and doctor prescribed chemicals. It helps.

Soon after Rhapsody, I got a call from Clark P. He was a buddy musician I met at college, and he had an offer for me. His selling point was that in his disco band, all members would be paid equally. No one would be paid on a different scale no matter what they did in the band. He said they were getting paid around the same amount Rhapsody was, but there would be fair distribution of the money. That was appealing to me at this point because I figured John and Pam were probably making around $500 - $1000 a week while the rest of us were making $150 a week. Sounded pretty good. I knew he was a great player. His band was called Skyline, which featured Clark on guitar, Sammy B. on keys, and William on bass. William was African American, and that would be the very first time I would be playing and hanging with a black guy. Sounds silly now, of course, but it was a big deal and I was very excited about this! My Mom loved William. He was super polite and she always liked that. And of course, he was a damned funky bass player that could sing and really entertain. Great stage presence.

Skyline was also looking for a singer and I believe we found one not long after I joined. Her name was Jennetta, and she was African American also. I think our booking agents (McWing Productions which featured Mick - Ebenezer’s old manager! ) recommended her. Not sure what the appeal was, though. She didn’t sing very well, and frankly, wasn't very good looking. She wore terrible clothes and was not a dynamic show person, but we went with her.

Thankfully, there were no jumpsuits in this band. Black pants, white shirts and a black vest was what we wore. It seems moustaches were required too. We quickly took some publicity shots and now we were ready to go. Cool. I hope!