The Tale of Bubble Puppy 1966-1972
The Tale of Bubble Puppy 1966-1972
Let me introduce
myself, I'm Rod Prince...co-founder of Bubble Puppy. As the eldest, this
task falls to me: To tell our story in full. I'll tell it as it came down,
only truth, will no holds barred.
The Puppy was
and is: Rod Prince-Lead Guitar and Vocals
Roy Cox-Bass and Vocals
Todd Potter-Lead Guitar and Vocals
David " Fuzzy " Fore-Drummer-Vocals
Now, shall we
begin.....
Late winter, 1966, just north of Corpus Christi, Texas. I'm in Mathis,
Texas at my parents house, lately back from L.A. trying to sort out my
life. Cox calls from San Antonio wanting to make another stab at musical
greatness.
We first met when the Bad Seeds split, and Cox was playing keyboards under
an assumed name. We made the 'New Seeds', with my former Seedmate,drummer
Bobby Donaho, and Steve Lohse on bass. Good stuff, but not magical-we split,
Roy went back to S. A. and I put my guitar down for eight months.
Now, here's Roy calling me to come to S.A., nothing solid, only in
his head, Right? Ah, fool that I am, off to friends couches for months.
However Cox, even then, was obsessed with his vision of a top gun Rock
band. Soon he presents me to Clayton Pulley, basher deluxe from Austin,
Texas. We start to make music and it's got that magical thing!(To veiw
Clayton,imagine the singer from the "Union Gap" remade in a 6'3" muscle
version with a heart to match-a dear friend). Now, Clayton knew this little
Potter guy-gymnast, sax player and guitar study, who Clayton thought equal
to the dual- lead guitar band I'd invisioned for years. We went to Austin,
Todd and I sat down together for a pick- Bingo! We meshed instantly-one
more magical player!
I make it sound all fun and good times-but not at all. Truth to tell, only
the strength of Roy's purpose held me. Long I brooded in whatever secret
place I could find. The music was all, the high points were few, and that
didn't pay the bills.
Danny Segovia joined us then, golden voice and deadly sax player-The original
Puppy was born.
Many months we rehearsed mornings and afternoons at the "PussyKat" Club
in San Antonio, recording some four or five songs during that time period.
Those tapes were lost for many years, but I've been lucky enough to find
them again, soon to be remastered by ActualArtists for your pleasure.
Finally a major break-the
mission: opening act for the "WHO" This would be our first live performance.....what
a beginning. The Who came to town a day or so before the show. We had aquired
a manager by this time and he encouraged the band to come and enjoy our
rehearsal venue (a Godsend to a touring act ). So, we found ourselves
making music with the late Keith Moon, John Entwhistle and Pete Townsend,..while
Roger Daltry looked on.
The show was
an amazing success-our true and future drummer, David Fore, had come up
from C.C. to see the show, and "Fuzz" wouldn't shit me, 'eh!...
Then, as all
bands do,...we began to grow. And, in so doing we began to change. Clayton
was gone, replaced by Craig Root. Danny was gone, not replaceable...then
Graig was gone and replaced by David Fore..finally becoming the true Puppy
drummer.
This nexus occured in the move to Austin, Texas in the summer of 1967.
We had aquired some financial backing by this time and were able to rent
a place to live and practice. The house is gone now, only empty fields-
where so much of the Puppy was born and grew. We began our year long practice
discipline of 10 hours a day, 7 days a week there. We were also given the
Vulcan Gas Company as a rehearsal venue. We had started to open for established
acts such as "Shiva's Head Band"..."New Atlantis"...The "Conqueroo"...AND.."The
Johnny Winter Band" with Uncle John Turner and Tommy Shannon.
Soon, the hard discipline began to show in our performances. A fluke of
fate brought us to Houston, and a recording contract with the "International
Artists" record label. "AH, They've made it" you say. Sheepshit! For ten
months we literally lived on black eyed peas and music. I. A. had only
advanced us enough money for rent. We slept on old cast iron beds from
my Great- grandfather's house; we ate black eyed peas canned in mason jars
by my Great grandmother. We had nothing else-our entire world was our music.
That song cycle-songtitles such as "Beginning, Elizabeth, Hurry Sundown,
I've got to Reach You" showed a certain hungry edge, don't you think?
Then, December '68...Hot Smoke was released. I.A., fat and dumb,...had
a HIT on their hands. Consider the song scope- Hot Smoke was No. 1 across
the globe for two months. This is NO joke, I was there, I saw the numbers.
Name a country, any country-No. 1, 8 weeks! Why not number one in America?
True tales are best.
Now, consider I. A. Their only other chart maker was "You're Gonna Miss
Me" by the 13th Floor Elevators. The only true music- industry person in
the ranks was our beloved producer, Ray B. Rush. With the notable exception
of Nobel Ginther, the entire organization was made up of no- talent lawyers,
thugs, and the spawn of the shallow end of the gene pool-clueless all.
Comes a time-the band was in the studio rehearsing new tracks. Now, from
that room, one can see who comes and goes, if the main door is open-it
was. We see three persons-Black on Black, slick hair, the eyes of snakes.
They pass the studio room, mount the stairs to the President's office.
We consider, then play some more. Directly, back they come, grim as death,
climb in their limo and burn away. Maybe ten minutes later, a very shaken
pres., stumbles down stairs, croaks for water. Seems these three reptilians
were the reps. for our"other government", and the pres. didn't want to
pay their "mordido" for New York and Los Angeles air play. Remember, this
was early 1969 and these things were very real. They let him live, but
Hot Smoke was allowed no air play in New York or L.A. Hence, in the U.S.A.,
Hot Smoke only reached number 13 on the charts-shit, not too bad, without
the two major U.S. markets. Stay with me, it only get's worse.
Once again, consider I.A., Of course, they have their own booking agency,
managment company, publishing company. When the moment came the throw the
Puppy on the road, what do they do? No. 1 across the globe and they fly
us into Chicago O'hare, room us at the Holiday Inn, and book a world-class
act in every 200 seat bar within driving distance of the hotel. Todd had
to collect the gate dollars; in truth he was our road manager as well as
bandmate, a very sad state for us. We hungered for the rest of the planet.
The fans who had made us no. 1 for months should not have been denied just
to feed the ego of the imcompetants who refused to relinquish the career
management of the Puppy. Black hatred.... and the start of our crash course
in reality ( as it is, in the music biz).
We had never lost our committment to our music, and having, at the least,
another LP's worth of material already recorded at I. A., we began to focus
more and more on our live performance skills. Now, a monster hit from a
new band, by nature, throws the band into the opening- act roll for any
upper echelon, artistically comperable headliner. Now, you know we didn't
blow the WHO off of the stage, but that was long ago by this time. Into
the fire we went, our long years of hard work enabled us! Against all odds,
show after show, we, the opening act would command standing ovations and
multible encores, the things usually saved for the headliner.
It was much like pro sports-if we were all healthy and undamaged, the game
went to us. But if our discipline, organization, or simple health faltered-the
game shifted to the headliner's court. Acts of God? Well, maybe-I recall
vividly our first six week venture to Chicago's O'hare Holiday Inn. My
luck ran out. I had contracted some form of intestinal flu virus-couldn't
even keep pepto bismol down. OH, we did the shows, but I only remember
flashes. Bob Seger's sound check at some high school gym, many shows in
piecemeal. How can this fly? Rod is to sick to walk, much less be playing
and singing. Eventual recovery, but only when we returned to Texas. Six
weeks of delerium, but suddenly FatRodney wasn't fat. Cool, but costly.
But, I wander-during these times the Beatles' Apple Records made
an offer to lease the "Hot Smoke" single, through the efforts of Carl Becker,
manager of the " Bad Seeds". Still makes me wonder how a baggage tech.
at the C.C. airport could have emassed such clout.........Of course you
know the answer to their offer-correct!!! I.A. won't release control, even
to Apple. Poor fools, Poor US. The millions they could have made by simply
recognizing that they had NO experience, much less ideas, of how to exploit
a world wide number one hit maker.
It began to get rather ugly. Our producer Ray Rush, being who he was, took
our side-like magic Ray was gone replaced by Fred Carrol-WHO?? Now, you
may have observed in my ramblings that Ray Rush was very much the fifth
member. Awesome production skills, adept at pulling the true song from
one's brain. The lost of Ray was the final blow-there was nothing left
at I.A. musically, and the Puppy WAS music.
In the spring of 1970 we moved back to Austin. As I've said, our live performances
had brought us to a comfortable level financially. We'd work two shows
a week, give 'em a performance! 90 minute set, $2,500 per, good money back
then. We had a cool home on Spicewood Springs, with waterfalls and
serenity, hills to walk, new music to birth.
In desperation, I.A had agreed to let professionals handle our bookings-
(year late, lifetime short ). And they worked their customary William Morris
Agency magic. Point being, as Roy has said, " If you was anybody and came
to play in Texas, you play'd with the Puppy"! Our idea of warming a crowd
was to burn'em with our long perfected " Who's the Headliner Now?"show!
Easy for us then..., we could be home that night. When I have the right
audience, I never failed to let the Puppy send ANYBODY slinking to the
dressing room in shame. But, believe it.Our fans were and are the most
loyal of all the music lovers of the late '60's and early '70's. God love
'em, they could be brutal at times. I truly didn't understand the depth
of passion these folk felt toward the Puppy. We were their band, with our
global Hot Smokin' Sassafras and our anti-record company attitude.
One sentence
pertains-WHY GO TO CALIFORNIA?
Why would we leave an established mid-west touring gig- large halls, steady
bookings; good money situation? Several good reasons in truth.
1. The dreadful
I.A. people and their demands-
2. The vain
hope of legal assistance from the AFM in L.A.-
3. Steppenwolf's
Nick St. Nicholas, who believed in us- completely
4. Last, and
most relevant...we were still young and dumb- -
The first good reason-In the preceding months, we had returned to the I.A.
studios, hoping to reclaim some part of our previous magic without Ray
Rush. Our second single, "Thinking About Thinking"and " Days of our Time"
were the last sessions with Ray for us. So, with grave apprehension, we
began. In moments we realized how far we had come musically. That last
session yielded "What Do You See", arguably the tastiest single of the
lot.
However, the
company had changed hands in the past year. Worse and worse. At least the
previous president had seen his mistakes, and how to avoid them. The new
guy was completely clueless-not even a lawyer? In short, "What Do You See"
had no chance of success, with no one to promote the record. That was it
for us. We never returned to I. A., and the fumble of "What Do You See'
only made us more resolved to find someone else to record and manage the
band.
The second good reason-As one might expect, our animosity and contempt
for I.A., has begun to create a turmoil of legal maneuverings. We sued,
they
countered sued, we sued again, they countered sued again-a situation the
former I.A. directors would have never allowed to grow. And it grew. And,
it grew ugly. Now, the California legal system is very different from Texas.
Also, much more entertainment- industry friendly. Our hope was to secure
some sort of legal support from the musician's union. Now, that's Local
One- Hollywood-BABY! Our brothers would find a way for us in the growing
darkness.
The third good reason-Nick St. Nicholas, Steppenwolf's bass player. Now,
the Wolf and the Puppy were both William Morris acts, and we'd shared many,
many shows. AND, as I've said,...if we were on, the show was ours. Nick
saw this and asked us to spin the wheel of fate. Walk away from a comfortable,
ever growing lifestyle as a two show a week live act. Move to L.A., and
get the "major record label deal". The Wolf's label at the time was ABC-Dunhill,
and Nick was more than confident of our quick signing. He was prepared
to keep us alive for as long as it took. A true believer, that one. A very
powerful enticement it was.
The fourth good reason-an explanation:
Consider
if you will-We were at the peak of our prowess. The years of brutal rehearsals,
and the live shows we'd performed every week had made us the deadliest
of ALL acts to follow. We played the East, the Mid-west, South.... what's
L.A. but one more place, yet to be enlightened by our fine tuned
and brilliant act? Looking back, it seems strange, even still, that we'd
forgotten, or didn't consider that little incident at the I.A. studio.
The black suited reptilians, and the result of their visit. New York and
L.A .-remember?
AH, you see it now! I didn't until many years later, much to late to change
the fate that awaited us in L.A.......... ((
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