If you came for Sugarcane's music, look below!
I met Paul Lagos during the time my brother Art and I were starting a
band. Paul was by far the best drummer we tried and from the first bar
of whatever we played, we could hear that. Paul died last fall and you
can see more about him here: http://rememberpaul.posterous.com
I met Don at Paul Lagos' house, in the basement where we started
jamming. Paul put together the "Sugarcane Harris Band", I believe
after touring with Don and Larry in John Mayall's band and recording
"USA Union". Don was impossible to work with and John dropped him.
Larry quit the band after a couple of gigs, one of which was at the
Troubadour Ash Grove on Santa Monica Blvd.
When Larry split, my friend Victor Conte came in and I think the band
sounded better from then on. Victor's style, which developed during
that band's life, got really personal, and he learned, we both learned
a huge amount of shit from Paul, from Don and from others like Richard
Aplan, the great sax and flute player that we got to know through Paul.
One of the first gigs we played with Victor was at El Monte Legion
Hall, opening for Johnny Otis, with whom Don and Paul played before.
In fact, Paul is the drummer on the Monterrey Jazz Festival recordings
of Johnny Otis. On that gig, the audience went nuts over Don's
playing, singing and his stage antics, such as jumping into the crowd
with his violin, creating at the same time a hugely amplified 60 hz
hum when the cord snapped out of the violin.
From the first gig on, I saw the magic Don inspired in audiences and I
thought he'd be another Jimi Hendrix, albeit not as creative in song
writing. I think we could have gone there eventually if not for Don's
total self-destructive habits. All I can say is that I never got
chills in any other band like the ones I got when Don took off alone
in a cadenza or when he and Paul did violin-drums duets. It was
tribal, it was primitive and it was real music with all the faults
that make us human. Don had a swing to his playing, a groove, a
soulfulness that you don't hear anywhere else. No one plays with such
gut-wrenching rawness, because musicians are trained to play "better".
Little by little, I want to try to comment on the recordings I will
post. I hope someone reads this and shares their own memories.