A Tribute to Richard Lewis 

Comedian/actor/author Richard Lewis died today. Heart attack at age 76. I knew he had Parkinson's Disease but just saw him on Curb Your Enthusiasm Sunday night, doing his crazy improv riffing with Larry David. Worked right up until the end. That's how I want to go. Giving my all until my next nine lives...that's how Richard rolled...
I first met Richard in January of 2001 at his book signing for "The Other Great Depression" at Booksmith on Haight Street in San Francisco. He signed it, "To Kimberlye, A beautiful name for a beautiful woman. Have a beautiful life. Love, RL"...It was, well, beautiful. I'll never forget that night because I lost my car and didn't find it till the next day. I blame Richard for that. No, nothing happened, I know what you're thinking. I left the bookstore and literally couldn't find my car. A friend had to come get me and we went back to the scene of the crime the next day and there it was right where I left it.
Here's what DID happen. And it was a spectacular run.
Richard was a HUGE part of my early professional journalism career from 2001-2005 or so. I think I interviewed him at least 4 times and had dozens of pieces published all over the country in daily and weekly papers and prominent magazines. We had this crazy connection from the first few words we spoke to each other on the 1st interview in 2001...like we'd known each other forever and bantered back and forth like clever banshees...of course, I did my research and had planned questions, but all that had to be thrown out the window and brought back and forth into the conversation when I could get a word in edgewise...it was like a wild chess game on steroids, not for the faint of heart!
ALL the phone interviews were hysterical and chaotic and brilliant, but almost unintelligible, his brain always fired a million different directions at 500 miles a minute, and I would yell at him, "Richard! Slow down! Stay on at least ONE topic! You have to at least finish ONE sentence!!" I would be jotting things down as the tape rolled because I knew he had just said something hilarious or profound that I would want to use, all the while laughing so hard I could barely catch my breath, and somehow, I learned how to decipher his ranting, off the cliff riff-fest and pick and pull it together to write coherent articles that got published. Richard had a lot to say, from the dark to the light and all points in between, and I was on a mission to help him share it from his unique perspective and heart. It began with local paper The San Francisco Herald for my "Almost Famous" column and took off like a lightning rod from there. I started to track his stand-up tour schedule and pitch my interviews to entertainment editors of the daily and weekly papers in each town he was appearing, competing with the staff writers of those papers and it eventually paid off! My 1st freelance piece I sold was an interview with Richard for the daily paper in St. Louis, MO. I will never forget that day. I ran around the house and jumped up and down off the couch like Tom Cruise on Oprah screaming, "I'm a PROFESSIONAL freelance writer now!"
I still have some of the transcriptions and the microcassettes are in storage somewhere. I swear they were even funnier than his stand-up act. Richard reserved a V.I.P. table for me at his sold-out Cobb's Comedy Club show in SF in 2005, comped everything, and had me brought backstage so he could hug me, crediting me with his sold out 3-night run because of the Dog Bites interview I got him in the SF Weekly, which he signed for me. We were both so emotional we were practically crying. An out-of-body experience. Why didn't I get pictures?? I gave him my Sycamore Street CD as a parting gift, hoping he would share it with his music publisher wife.
I got Richard in Time Out NY Magazine, which he had tried to get his whole career, right before he headlined for the first time in his hometown of Brooklyn, NY, and he credited me with that too. He was SO grateful. I got him on the cover of Recover Magazine with a 4-page color spread, so he could just talk about his sobriety and life in recovery, which meant so much to him. Richard made fun of my relentless pursuit to get him published everywhere, making up names of publications, like "I'm in 'Dry Cleaning Weekly', now, what?!!!" but he was thrilled , always yelling at me, "GOLD! It's all YOU! You're a brilliant writer!!" Richard never ended our interviews or conversations first. It was like we could just talk forever and never run out of topics. He trusted me to get it right every time. It was an AMAZING time in my life.
We lost touch over the years, and I turned my attention to my music career, but I am still in touch with his former publicist Michelle Mourges Marx ,who was the conduit to making all this happen for us. I am eternally grateful. Ditto to "Master Of All Media" and my journalism career mentor and dear friend Ben Fong-Torres for connecting me with her.
My heart goes out to all of Richard's family, colleagues, friends and fans, especially his wife Joyce Lapinsky, Michelle Mourges Marx, Larry David and all who loved him.
Here's my 1st interview with Richard Lewis from 2001 for my Almost Famous column in The San Francisco Herald that got edited several times by editors all over the country and landed me my first freelance piece, leading to all those interviews with Richard over all those years. I'd greatly appreciate you taking a few minutes to read it and enjoy his brilliance:

"The Greatest Night In Pop" | Review 

We watched it yesterday...the new documentary THE GREATEST NIGHT IN POP, about the making of the iconic "WE ARE THE WORLD" video event in 1985....Scott was kind enough to offer it up at his house (since I am the only human being on Earth or any other planet that doesn't have Netflix)...thanks so much, Scott, you're a mensch (Yiddish for "cool dude")!!!
Holy $#@!, did it live up to ALL the hype TIMES INFINITY!! I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVED every second of it!! Especially how they went into GREAT detail about the songwriting, planning, producing, and all it took to get to the finish line...my heart was pounding and I was in happy tears throughout the entire journey, what a RUSH!! A MUST-SEE for any and everyone but ESPECIALLY anyone who remembers the '80s and to whom all these iconic figures in music mean so much, and all of the SONGWRITERS, PRODUCERS, and people who work in the music industry!!
Of course, my favorite parts were any time my childhood chum Huey Lewis was on that screen, then and now...so humble and invested as he always was and always will be...he told me "It really was an incredible evening!" Prince totally missed out on a once-in-lifetime opportunity he was offered to participate in, but his loss was our gain because Huey Rose up and BROUGHT it!!
EVERYONE brought their A-Game and just KILLED IT...and it was just INCREDIBLE to have a front-row seat to the entire creative process of a true MIRACLE in music history!! All those LEGENDARY HUGE stars and BIG personalities and SO MUCH TALENT coming together for SUCH a good cause!! And some unexpected, funny things happened in between all the magic that you MUST witness yourself!
Hats off to Harry Belafonte, Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones and the "cast of thousands" of iconic artists who "left their egos at the door", per producer Quincy Jones instruction on the sign on the door, and to the tech crew and production staff who build this magic castle above and beyond anything anyone could have ever dreamed of!
Like Diana Ross, who cried at the finish line, "I didn't want it to end!"
I second that emotion, Ms. Ross. I could have stayed in that recording studio with all of them forever...

David Garibaldi Steps Down From His Drum Chair | Tower of Power 

I'm sure many of you have read or heard that one of the most respected, influential, and inspirational names in music history, David Garibaldi, original and founding member/drummer of the iconic 55-year-old SF Bay Area funk band Tower of Power, has made the difficult and most importantly, WELL-EARNED decision to step down from his drum chair, unpack his bags, and move onto the next great chapter of his extraordinary life. Please read his beautiful exit essay to all of us, which brought tears to my eyes. Even if you have no connection to DG's legacy, I hope you will be as moved beyond measure as I was.

 

On a personal level, I would like to add a bit about David's exemplary character and what an amazing friend he has been to me over many years. Despite his non-stop touring schedule on the "Million Gig March", as he likes to call his Tower Of Power journey, David took the time to help me through my own "what is hip" replacement journey back in 2018, becoming what I liked to call my "#1 Hip Whisperer" since he had been through two of his hip replacements and survived a near-death train experience subsequently. If ever there was a true miracle in human form, it is David Garibaldi. I'd only met DG a few times, through my work with one of his TOP bandmates, who so graciously connected us at the end of 2017, and I will never forget DG's kindness, willingness to advise and support me, giving me even tough love at times, guiding me through the whole experience and offering words of wisdom that resonate to this day. Even though we have only communicated occasionally after I got to the other side, his warmth has never faded. He always cheers me on. I am humbled beyond measure. 

 

And even though DG's time was so limited between his tour schedule and devoted family life, he still made the time to participate in my little testimonial video for my SOLILOQUY EP at the end of 2022, you can catch his beautiful words of encouragement, and support at 4:27: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8VRoDtXY0Y

 

David, I wish you every happiness with the bright future I know you are embarking upon. Much love to you, Maria, and your family. Unpack those bags and enjoy your new life! We will all miss you on that TOP drum throne, but your legacy will live on forever. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for always following yours and leading by example on how to live your best life and overcome every obstacle with grace, diligence, humility, and supreme talent. Godspeed, my friend!!

p.s. A shout out to my friend and another stellar, funky drummer Herman L. Matthews, who will once again be taking over the TOP drum chair until they find a permanent replacement...the band and legion of fans will be in great hands/sticks on the soul side of town!

Tribute to James Kottak  

Back in the mid/late '80s, when I lived in Los Angeles, CA, pursuing my creative dreams on and off the stage, I used to go hang out at the various Red Onion nightclubs to catch my pals playing in the Top 40 bands they booked there 5 nights a week, sometimes sitting in, eventually hiring many of the band members to play in my own bands and recording projects...The Team, Liquid Blue, and a few other great bands, always the cream of the crop, like the Las Vegas of the LA Top 40 circuit...and many of these musicians went on to play with world-famous bands and had very successful, lifelong careers of their own and still do...

 

One random night I wandered into the Red Onion in Marina Del Rey, CA, almost no one was there, and a brand new band from Kentucky called City Lights was playing...they were all very talented musicians but all I remember was the DRUMMER...I could not take my eyes off him, like the biggest fireworks display on the 4th of July and the ball dropping in Times Square on New Year's Eve and every major event in between, all wrapped up into THIS one exuberant, electrifying fireball of long blonde hair flying, huge, gleeful grin, sticks twirling, cymbals crashing, jumping out of his drum chair, hitting every snare and tom, dick and hairy like his life depended on it...who the hell WAS this guy and WHAT was he doing playing in a Top 40 band to an almost empty club on a weeknight?! 

It was James Kottak. 

 

I got to know James a bit after that, instinctively knowing his star was going to rise sooner than later, and his attention would be fleeting, but I was so game to be in his orbit, even for a short amount of time. Underneath all that "rock star to be" flash and flare, James was a sweet Southern boy at heart, and we had some fun, hanging out, writing songs, (including a great one called "Never Too Far Away" that we should have recorded, the work tape is on some cassette buried in a box 10,000 moves ago) and I was smitten for a hot minute, but like I said, I knew this wasn't going to go anywhere and hell, we were all in our 20s and living in the moment and he never knew how I felt about him...nothing serious or bad ever happened - he got back together with an old girlfriend and the torch I carried eventually dimmed and faded away...I even wrote a cute song for him simply titled "James", that documented this bittersweet moment in time...another one stuck on a work tape, probably in that same long, forgotten box...

 

BUT - in 1987, a song I wrote with Steve Siler called "A PLACE IN YOUR HEART" became the subject of a bidding war between Chrysalis Music Publishing and Almo Irving Music Publishing...the latter won and we were offered the chance of a lifetime: to record the demo they would shop to major artists and TV/Film projects at A&M Records in the same studio that everyone from The Carpenters to Al Green recorded in! They provided one of their best engineers (unfortunately, I don't recall his name), one of THE hottest session guitar players, Tim Pierce, and allowed us to bring in the rest of the musicians. I brought in an incredible male vocalist named David Burns (another musician I had discovered in another Red Onion band Midwest Coast, who sung on our original 8-track demo, and who would eventually join my band Kimberlye & The Band Of Gold and sing it with me as a duet), my co-writer Steve Siler confidently executed all the keyboard duties, and I included a bass player I had worked with in Tuesday Knight's band Louis Ruiz, and on drums....

I brought in James Kottak. 

 

It was supposed to be more of a Disney movie-esque, mellow track, and with a different drummer, it might have been...but I just wanted to be swept up into that orbit of barely contained, positively cataclysmic energy again and lift our song to reach it, and my co-writer allowed me to let James lead us there. And it was EPIC. He tore the roof off the joint! 

The story behind this song and all the twists and turns will be told another time. Maybe in the book I know I need to write. The Disney version we meant to record all those years ago is now on my new EP SOLILOQUY, produced by Jimmy Goings. 

But this tribute is for James. Who went on to play with Kingdom Come, Warrant, and The Scorpions for the rest of his life. Like I knew in the first 5 seconds, he was always destined for greatness. 

 

Another great musician I met in another one of the Red Onion bands named Teddy Andreadis , who played in The Team, and eventually Kimberlye & The Band Of Gold, and then went on to play with everyone from Guns & Roses to Carole King, posted an after show stage shot with James the other day and it came through my newsfeed. And I just knew. I googled his name...James Kottak, gone at only 61 years old on January 9, 2024...yes, he had his struggles and demons like so many of us...there is no judgment here...only sadness for the loss of yet another huge talent and bright light...

 

James is but a footnote in my long history on and off the stage in LA/NYC/Nashville and back here in at home the SF Bay Area...but sometimes it's the little stories that stay with you for a lifetime...that make you smile when you think of them...that represents a place in your heart you will always treasure...

And that will always be for James. My heart goes out to his family, friends, fans, and all who were blessed to know him. Rock In Peace, my friend.

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A Tribute to Tony Bennett 

Tears are trickling out of my eyes as I write this tribute to legendary TONY BENNETT...someone who has shaped my destiny and will forever be a part of the trajectory of my history...till I take my last breath into my next nine lives...
I am a proud 3rd generation San Franciscan. The iconic Tony Bennett AKA "Anthony Benedetto" put our little city by the bay on the global map for all time with his signature "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" (George Cory/Douglass Cross)...and each time he performed it, it felt like he was experiencing that joy for the very first time. Thousands of times over close to a century and it never got old...neither did he or the mutual love affair he had with every one of us he touched with that singular voice and gleam in his eye...the way he put his whole body and soul into each note....
But Tony could sing the phone book or the back of a cereal box and have the same effect. Nobody can fake that. It's not just the act of a pro, it's a gift he was born with and a mission he never shied away from flying to the moon on each moment he brought the mic to his lips...
 
NOBODY stayed hipper or more relevant than Tony Bennett. He released Grammy winning duet albums with singers from every generation, most recently his beloved partner Lady Gaga. He won a Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Album at 96!
I want to talk a bit about how much Tony has meant to me personally over the past 12 years.
I run a business playing music for retirement communities, hospitals and skilled nursing facilities, all over the San Francisco Bay Area and even as far as Hawaii a few years back. Some folks are at the top of their mental and physical health, some close to Heaven's gate and all points in between. And Tony Bennett's music and story have been the thread that has woven almost every performance together. I tell them all about his journey. His zest for life. How he performed at Radio City Music Hall on his 95th birthday and still nailed every note and was as joyful as he'd ever been. I have told them he's still with us and was about to celebrate his 97th birthday on August 3, 2023....how it's never too late to live your best life and experience joy...
 
Yes, Tony Bennett suffered from Altheimer's Disease the last few years of his life. But not when he was singing. I witness people transform right before my eyes as soon as the music starts. People who can't speak or barely move anymore. Until the music starts. And suddenly their eyes light up and they know all the words and they sing along with each syllable. There's a place in the brain that only stores lyrics and when it is activated, a person comes alive again. It's nothing short of a miracle and it NEVER get old. If it were up to me, I would have let Tony keep performing until his last moment on this earth. I bet he would have rocked that last note on that last stage with a giant smile...and apparently, he still was, sources reporting that Tony sat down at his piano just the other day singing his first hit "Because Of You"....Tony knew he had to keep the music flowing till his last breath...
 
I tell all my groups, "I want to be Tony Bennett when I grow up. Still belting out my songs and living my best life! And you're all gonna be there with me, singing along, right??" They always cheer and applaud Tony! They get it! We all need to take a page from Tony Bennett's songbook!!
 
At one of my San Francisco communities, a man raised his hand and asked if he could share his own story about Tony Bennett...I learn SO much from my amazing audience members, so I was all ears...
This man used to work as a janitor at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, where Tony Bennett had his iconic residency for many years. He told us that Tony Bennett was the nicest guy, that he would go around and introduce himself to the employees and remember their names and ask how their day was going and he witnessed Tony's genrosity of spirit every time he came in contact with him. Now THAT'S a class act.
 
Tony, I promise to carry on your amazing legacy every day....your golden sun will shine for me...yes, the songwriters wrote "your golden sun will shine ON me"...but Tony always sang "FOR me"...
I'm gonna keep doing it like Tony...🙏🌟💪🎤💜
-Tony Bennett aka Anthony Benedetto
August 3, 1926-July 21, 2023

Rest in POWER, Tina Turner 

At the end of my super FUN gig today at Rossmoor with Joe Lococo and Doug Rowan to a full house of happy campers which I will post about later, a lovely woman approached me to share the sad news about the passing of one of the most iconic artists of any generation, TINA TURNER...
I love TINA TURNER beyond measure....her triumph over adversity in every way humanly possible...NEVER giving up...achieving every dream, including finding true love for the first time, long after everyone else said it couldn't be done...that fierce, singular voice that could redefine the phone book, that unstoppable drive, that unassuageable spirit, time and time and time again...
I had the pleasure of meeting Tina twice: once in 1984 when I was singing background for LA recording artist/actress Tuesday Knight ...Tuesday's guitar player/producer Paul Warren was playing in Tina's touring band on the Private Dancer tour...one of the most spectacular concerts I have ever attended. Paul brought us backstage to meet Tina and she was lovely and gracious to us. It was such a honor and thrill to meet one of my superheroes.
But the time I will hold closest to my heart was when I was hired to be a cater waitress at Tina's mother's house for her mom's birthday pool party. There were only two of us working that day, it was a relatively intimate gathering. I worked a lot of "celebrity parties" over the years in LA/NYC/Nashville and was generally treated like "the help". Tina treated us like family members, and introducing us to everyone and offered us birthday cake. I will never forget her kindness. There was no separation between us. The true definition of a class act.
Watching the HBO documentary in 2021, my heart broke for Tina during the many years of abuse and shame. I won't mention his name because Tina is done talking about him and that time in her life and I want to respect her wishes. And the fact that "River Deep Mountain High" died on the vine when it should have defined her career for a lifetime.
When Tina walked across that freeway and took her life back, I began to cheer her on throughout the rest of the doc. And when she hit #1 with "What's Love Got to Do With It" and filled those stadiums, I was literally on my feet shouting "Whoo HOO! You GO, Tina!!"
I was a part of that time in her life. I remember where I was.
When she gave that interview to Kurt Loeder from Rolling Stone for her book and described how she had never experienced true love in her entire life and began to weep, I cried right along with her. And when she finally found it with her now husband Erwin Bach at age 50, I rejoiced with her. Real tears flowed when he said this on camera toward the end of the doc, “It’s love, it’s something we both have for each other. I always refer to it as an electrical charge. I still have it. I still have it even though when I left her two hours ago, three hours ago, this morning, I still have that feeling. That feeling is still with me. It’s in my heart. I feel very warm about this.”
If ever a human being deserves every moment she has achieved in a lifetime, it's Tina Turner. And THAT's "What's Love Got To Do With it".
Rest in POWER, TINA TURNER. There will NEVER be another. Simply the BEST.

Bonnie Raitt's Win for "Just Like That" 

And "JUST LIKE THAT"...the Academy remembers what it used all to boil down to...the SONGWRITER and the ARTIST who bring a story to life through music...and how it is most magical when they are one and the same...
“I was so inspired for this song by the incredible story of the love and the grace and the generosity of someone that donates their beloved’s organs to help another person live, and this story was so simple and so beautiful for these times and people have been responding to this song partly because of how much I love and we all love John Prine, and that was the inspiration for the music of this song, telling a story from the inside,” Raitt continued. “I don’t write a lot of songs but I’m so proud that you appreciate this one.”
---Bonnie Raitt, upon winning "Song Of The Year" at the 2023 Grammy Awards last night.
Bonnie Raitt recognizes and is inspired by an unforgettable story....sometimes she covers another's interpretation...and occasionally writes her own beautiful song to capture that moment in time...
THIS is why I started playing guitar at 8 years old and singing since I was born. THIS is why I hid a transistor radio under the covers after my parents put me to bed and listened to KYA , KFRC and KDIA all night till I fell asleep. The SONGS. THE STORIES. THE MUSIC. THE VOICES.
Bonnie Raitt is 73. And I couldn't be more thrilled for her. My hero and mentor and one of the artists I am most honored to sometimes be compared to, and not just because we're both Lil' Redheaded Guitar Gals. I have always aspired to be like Bonnie. She tells THE STORY. HER SONG. HER MUSIC. HER VOICE.
I remember when Bonnie won all those Grammys back in 1989 for her album NICK OF TIME after languishing in relative obscurity and professional and personal struggles for decades, and the last one she held up and said, "This is for all the songwriters and artists who can't get a deal. Don't give up!!" I cried and never forgot that moment...I felt like Bonnie was speaking directly to me...and the timing of her winning "Song Of The Year" in 2023, when I just released my own new record SOLILOQUY and the critics are already recognizing what we set out to do, celebrating my SONGS and artistry the way the greats used to do...speaks VOLUMES and gives me renewed HOPE for the future...it's NEVER too late...age ain't nuthin' but a number, indeed...62 is the new 73, lol!
I dare you not to cry while listening to "JUST LIKE THAT"...doesn't get much better than this...
CONGRATS BONNIE RAITT!! SO WELL DESERVED!!