What was the Lower East Side of the early 1960s like?
My grandparents escaped Russia and Germany. The Russian side settled on Orchard Street and were merchants when the pushcarts were out there. My grandmother was tenacious and fought to eventually acquire the building. They had an undergarments store, and when my mom became of age, she and my dad had Blue Chip Handkerchief, scarves and dry goods, on Orchard Street. The Lower East Side was the only thing that could happen on a Sunday. In New York City, there were the blue laws, and stores couldn't open up on Sundays. We closed on Saturdays, our Sabbath. On Sunday people could shop the wholesale, retail, and small stores. Unfortunately, my pop passed away very young. He was a great singer and an entertainer. My mom kept the store going. It was my brothers who said I should go with her on Sundays. I spent every Sunday of my life – 20 years, from 11 years old until Mom retired – on Orchard Street. It's an old neighborhood. Little Italy was a few blocks away.
When did you start playing music?
I still have my dad's Webcor [reel-to-reel] tape recorder, with the little plasma green light on top of the tube. I had this fascination. I had an uncle, Alex, who was an audiophile/photographer fanatic when I was a little boy. He'd talk about this amazing thing called stereo [that was] coming, and Les Paul. "Listen to this record!" Then I realized, "Music and drums!"
Your father was a musician?
He was a singer. He was a cantor in our Temple and had the ongoing Catskill gig at the Young's Gap Hotel. A big to do on the high holy days. My mom was a professional singer in her younger days as well. Doing the Loew's Theaters' traveling amateur talent contests through the NYC boroughs, and some radio spots.
So, you had music in your blood?
Neighbors used to talk about how my parents would sing opera duets on Sunday mornings. "We could hear it coming out the windows." It was music, and the fascination of tape. Later, Little Richard was an influence. Then The Beach Boys, Motown, and Chubby Checker. I was banging on everything, so I got a drum set. I realized that the Webcor tape recorder could record our fooling around. I became the band leader of The Esquires. I wanted to be Dave Clark. I loved The Beatles, of course. I thought, "I can do that!" We'd do the school dances in the '60s. Schools were beginning the first year of integration. My mom would let us rehearse in the living room with my noisy drums. She was a bohemian. Music took over then. It's like the story of so many of us who were born in the late '40s and early '50s.
Did you start recording The Esquires regularly?
I was able to use the Webcor and put a microphone in the room. It was mono, and the tapes to this day are still pristine. I transferred them to digital, but they haven't gummed up or anything. Thank you, Dad. Your spirit is keeping the tapes alive!
When did you first enter a recording studio?
I was in my mom's store, and this woman – Carmen Baby; a free-spirited Jamaican lady – came in. She was talking about making a record. I said, "Record?" She said, "You want to come to the studio?" I remember going to midtown. It was a 4-track room with a Studer [deck] and a Studer console – with the ashtrays in the end – and the [Altec-Lansing] Voice of the Theatre speakers sitting up high. I was actually seeing a 1/2-inch tape deck. I thought, "What the hell? Look at the equipment!" That affected me and got the bug of the studio going for me. That's the first time I asked myself, "How can I do this?" It fascinated me. The seed was planted.
How long after that did you start putting a studio together?
My grandfather lost everything in the Depression. We had the old tenement, and we held onto it. He filled it up with junk and instruments. He was a bohemian who sat on his steps and played guitar, which he tuned in his own weird way. When grandpa passed on, it took forever to clean out, but I had a section of the place. The carpet store on Essex Street was throwing out all these samples of carpet. I went with my friend, Bob Corchia; we filled up the car and brought it to the studio. I stapled them up, and that was the rehearsal room. No air circulation or anything. Then I bought a little Sony 2-track [tape deck].
What year would that have been?
This was like 1970 or so. I brought a microphone in, as well as my mom's upright piano. I built a little glass wall and went to Martin Audio. Norman Kassel was the business manager there. He said I was crazy for buying equipment. He even said, "Who in the hell is going to go to the dirty old Lower East Side and record?" I brought in a few thousand dollars to buy a hefty TEAC 1/2-inch, 4-track, and a Model 10 Tascam [console] with eight inputs and four outputs. I had eight microphones. I already had the 2-track [Sony] mixdown machine. This was semi-professional. My friends were more interested in me being on the other side of that glass than beating on the drums anymore.
But you still played drums though.
