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Date or Sequence Narrative including Bands &
Personnel and Musical Influences
1942/11/00

In 1942, thinking that when I grew up I would have to shovel snow in winter time, I decided to move to Southern California (I took my parents with me).

Me - Nov. 1942
1945/00/00

I remember, sometime around this time, sitting on the cold cement steps of our home in Bellflower, CA in just my underpants and watching the sun come up...maybe the beginnings of my Spiritual Quest(s) & Other Weird Stuff.
1947/00/00

As a young child, I often listened to the radio with my folks including swing, country, classical, and popular music.

I remember memorizing the words and singing Anniversary Waltz. I still remember most of the lyrics.

 Influencial Radio and 45s:
  • "Anniversary Waltz" - probably by Al Jolsen - I still remember a lot of the lyrics
  • Roy Rogers
  • Gene Autry
  • Benny Goodman
  • Hill Toppers - "To Be Alone" (first 45 I ever bought probably around 1951! I still have this 45.)

See Sonora Marianao 1968/00/04 autobio-1960s.php for a description of an interesting performance of Anniversary Waltz as a mambo.
1949/04/09 2012/03/18: I just remembered this episode and Googled the following:
"The story of the girl trapped in the Los Angeles sewer was loosely based on the real life tragedy of Kathy Fiscus of San Marino, California. On 9 April 1949, the three-year-old fell down a 90-foot deep, 14-inch wide uncapped well. After 50 hours, rescuers finally reached her, but she had already died. It was one of the first televised "media events", with more than 27 hours of the rescue recorded by television cameras."
My dad proposed a rescue but it was ignored by the authorities. His proposal was to make a torpedo shaped tube with the pointed end connected to a cable which could be lowered into the well which had the "ridges" upside down. I was to be suspended upside down by my feet within the tube, lowered into the well to grab Kathy by the hair (I was strong for my age), and then the tube would be raised to the surface. I thought then and still think Kathy could have been saved. IMHO, the lack of vision/understanding by the authorities resulted in Kathy's death.
194?/??/??

Sometime during the late 40s to mid 50s while living in Bellflower, I used to ride my bike out to a dairy farm (maybe in Artesia) and the dairymen let me ride on the hay wagons and feed and drive the cows into the barns. It was a rewarding experience.