Why That Song? #6

That headline may be true, but first you've got to be willing to make the investment to be really good. This is our high school band and I'm the one just to the left of Lynn Rash, who is front and center.
Concerts were an important part of my life as a teenager because I played the flute and we did concerts as well as playing for games, half-time shows and parades. I did actually go to a rock concert once as a kid to hear a group called "The Association". They were such a favorite with me!

But back to those old band days. We had a student director named Greg Adams. In the photo below he's the one at the far left of the back row, with long hair and shades. He was amazing on the trumpet. He lived across the street from my best friend, Wanda Martin, and we could hear him practicing his trumpet sometimes when we walked down her street. Sometimes we would sit on the curb and listen. He really was what one might call a prodigy and we all just knew he'd make good in music.

So, what became of Greg Adams? Well, he did become very successful. He spent 20 years playing with a jazz/blues/soul/funk band called "Tower Of Power" out of Oakland. That picture above is an early Tower of Power photo. In addition to playing music he was and is a brilliant song writer and arranger. Tower of Power has done the music for many tv commercials and has also been back up for Chicago (Hard To Say I'm Sorry), Elton John, Rod Stewart, Santana and a host of others while also producing their own albums. Greg has made a name for himself, too, as he went out on his own a while back and is still quite a hit!

About 15 years ago, Tower Of Power performed at our county fair in Turlock and after the show I went back stage and knocked on his trailer door. One of the other band members asked me if he could help me and I told him that I just wanted to say hello to Greg because I had known him in high school. Greg came out and when he saw me he said, " Yes, flute. You're Donna." I couldn't beleive he'd remember me at all! I was just one of the younger kids in the band. But he treated me like an old friend.