Rumors Jam-Tommy Patterson Final Performance

Songs played

You Can't Always Get What You Want
Roadhouse Blues
Get Back
Way Down South Blues
Tube Snake Boogie
She Loves My Automobile
One Way Out
Lay Down Sally
Suzie Q
I Can't Get Next To You
Going Down

Bill Bourbon-Sang lead on Lay Down Sally, One Way Out, Automobile
Tommy Bruner Sang lead on Get Back, You Can't Always Get What You Want
Nick Lnenicka played harmonica
Randy Burghdorff played guitar and sang on the majority of the songs
Tommy Patterson-Bass
Rob Merkel-Guitar
Terry Mcdowell-host
Rodney Smith-Drummer on these songs.

Notes:

Today was the chili cook off, but it ended at 4 and I missed out.  But we had plenty of jammers to while away the hours.

Terry sold me on the 5A Vater drum sticks that he uses.   For many years I used the Vic Firth 2BN baseball bats, then have been switcher to a lighter drumstick, The Vater 5A is hand selected hickory and maple wood.  Terry plays a bit more radical than I do, but he swore that the sticks he has been using has stood up to his playing.  They feel much lighter than the Vic Firths and whatever I have been using.  These sticks do feel light and don't fall out of my hands like the Pro Marks will, once new.

Earlier in the day, I went to Guitar Center and picked up yet another cymbal.  an 18 inch K Dark Crash.  I still have the 17 inch K dark crash that I traded my Hybrid K to Rocky Smith, but I'm not exactly sold on that sound.  I think 18 inch Dark Crash blends in better with the other cymbals.

Tommy was dealing with throat problems so Bird and Billy did the majority of singing of the songs.  I still find myself getting fucked up on the introduction to Lay Down Sally, I always seems to be on the off beat and opposite everybody is playing.  For Get Back, I cannot break away from the choo choo train beat, tho Tommy encouraged me that I didn't have to play that way.  But I couldn't figure how to incorporated anything else, outside of the Cant' Get No Satisfaction beat.  I will remain a slop artist drummer but whatever I play seems to work if I don't speed up too fast.  Lay Down Sally seems to be my Achilles heel.

Speaking of Rocky Smith, he showed up and played with the Boy Scout Hippies.  I got a chuckle out of Ron saying that Billy tends to hog up all the jam time, so to get back at him, Ron extended Keep Your Hands To Yourself into Glass House.  Ron gets a knee replacement Thursday, but he thinks he'll be back withing two weeks.

(Rob Merkel and Morris)

Somebody needs to sit Tim Kaufman down and force him to listen to Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) a few times before trying to play it.  I really thought about storming the stage and showing him how to play the song right.

There's a strange woman, that I have known for the past few years that comes up to the Rumors jam infrequently but she was up there.  I didn't associate with her much, I did notice her dancing on the floor and doing something like a leap frog, but I pretty much didn't pay much attention and she left after I played.  Maybe some day I'll learn and play Mott The Hoople's Rock N Roll Queen and dedicate it to her.

(Tommy Patterson)

After the jam Tommy Patterson passed away.   It's strange how after finishing up the jam, we shook hands and said our goodbye and I turned around to get something from Bird and Tommy disappeared.   He went home and went to sleep and never woke up. Everybody knew him, loved him.  He was playing in Koop And Company, a band that has Aaron Caryl playing fiddle and recently played too.  There's a parallel to his passing and Kyle Oyloe it seems, both died suddenly after playing gigs.

Tommy's resume is quite impressive, playing in Airwave with Doug Spinler and was part of Julie And The Mad Dogs for a short time.  Tommy did play last month at the Rumors jam with Mike Clair but I do believe this was my first and only time of being the rhythm section with him.  For a final performance, he did great.

RIP Tommy.