Sweet Stavin' Chain

This was the second band I played with.   The first was the Monks.   SSC was lead by Danny Starobin and phenomenal blues guitarist whose theme song was "Teddy Bear's Picnic."  Danny had the shortest stockiest fingers I've ever seen on a guitar player.   Boy, did he have power to "bend."  Danny and the group introduced me to Chicago Blues....after I'd been playing soul and r&b.  My memory is that we sounded pretty good.  We ended up opening for and hosting many visiting rock/blues groups including Mike Bloomfield, Canned Heat, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy.   The high point of meeting these great musicians was jamming with Otis Spann in our rehearsal apartment on West Park St in Germantown.   We took Muddy Waters and his band to eat at Mama Foo Foo's where we ate Whammer Jammers (Mammer Jammers?)

I left the band because I didn't care for the social dynamics.   Rock and roll groups have a great challenge. . . to balance musical taste, leadership, money....all while spending a lot of time together, and musicians' native tendency toward big egos.   Attach all that to the instant gratification of turning up the amp and for me it was not very satisfying.   When I left the band, it was my intention to only be in a band with friends.   That's not so easy to make happen.