| My Musical Family |
| I come from a musical family. My uncles Frank (Zeb) and Louie (Cecil) played in a hillbilly band in order to make a living. My cousin Jody (see below) has always been involved in the music business. |
| Verna, my sister, was the lead singer in the group Punch and Judy. Who can forget those memorable tunes of the early 70's Catch a Rainbow and Time for a Change. In addition, Verna has her own album entitled Children at the Crossroads with accompaniment by Richard Shulman |
| As for me, well I did have a recording contract with a small record company (Biograph Records) in the 70's but never was willing to put the time or energy into all that makes one get "known". I used the pseudonym Jesse Albert (a combination of my mother and father's first names which at the time I thought was more appropriate than my surname. The president and founder of Biograph, Arnie Caplin was a great guy who took a sincere interest in my music. He was willing to invest time and money but I needed to have a full time job at the time. Here's a sample of one of my songs called, appropriately enough....... A Mystery |
| In the 70's I won the New York state section of Tetley Tea's "Tea Talent Search". Never won the National part of the contest but used that money to buy my 12 string Guild guitar. I also have a couple of song writing awards, and have a vast catologue of songs that may some day be "discovered" when my ashes are scattered to the winds. |
| Country Roots |
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| That's uncle Zeb in the middle and cousin Jody on the left as they appeared while bringing some country to the Catskills in the 60's. Jody was one of the premier steel guitar players of his day and more than likely could have been a greater legend than he already is if he did not go to work for this new kid on the block named Leo Fender who was trying to sell his brand of guitar. Jody and I worked together at the famous Fender Service Center in New York when I was in my early 20's. He is still known as the man who brought tears to the eyes of Arthur Godfrey when he won his Talent Scout show. |
| The picture below is Jody with his famous 4 neck steel guitar. Not many people know how to play that thing. |
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| And from an early Fender Catalogue with some of the other noteworthy musicians of the day who played Fender Instruments. |
| Jody's album with Johnny Cucci named Hot Club of America in Hi Fi is a classic and may still be available on CD. Click the picture below for more information on Jody, Johnny and the album. |
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| Frosty the Snowman? |
| Jody sent me a copy of an old letter to my uncle Zeb from a songwriter named JacK Rollins. If you are interested in seeing the letter click here. It's old and hard to read, but interesting and kind of personal. What's even more interesting is what Jack said about some songs that Zeb co-authored. |
| Jack (Rollins)was working at Penn Station as a baggage clerk. He used to write songs and Uncle Zeb used to play his songs over the WOR mutual radio show every night direct from the Village Barn. Jack and Zeb wrote many songs together. I have about 5 different songs they collaborated on but there were songs that Jack wrote and asked Zeb if he would take his name off. These songs became hits!!! He explained that some other well known people, a guy by the name of (I believe) Steve Nelson, for one, wanted his name on the songs before he would promote them. There were about 5 songs that this happened with, but the 2 that hit were Frosty The Snowman and Peter Cottontail. My mother always said to my father.;Why the hell did you do that? You are always the nice guy"; She was right, but ole Zeb was a trusting guy and figured as he said, "Jack has a lot of talent, he deserves a break" Zeb also said "what the hell, Im working at the Village Barn and making a living". Little did he know what would happen years later. When I asked Zeb about 15 years ago if he ever regretted doing that he said, "not really, but I guess mom could have used the money". Poor Jack Rollins died shortly after his songs became popular and Zeb said "God Bless Jack, but I still have a lot to be thankful for" |
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| Here is the Village Barn taken at the time that Zeb and the boys played here. That's their instruments and amps set up on the stage. |
| My Instruments |
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| From left to right, 12 string Guild (1973), Gibson J200 Special Issue 1995, Washburn D94 Limited Edition 1994, Martin Backpacker, Epiphone/Gibson Mandolin, 1998. Not pictured....1980 Gurian |
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| This is a mural that is on a wall in Hollywood. Fender put it there in honor of Leo Fender and some of the pictures that have been taken of artists who play Fender guitars. There's Jody in the center and Bob Dylan to his right, |
| Jesse Albert |
| This original record recently sold on ebay for close to $200....hey wait a minute..I have one of those!!! |
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| Click the photo to go to my site |
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| In September of 2004 Jody was inducted into the Steel guitar Hall of Fame. A most deserving tribute to one of the steel guitar pioneers Sadly, for Jody and the rest of our family, his beloved wife Marilyn (pictured below at the ceremony with Jody) passed away shortly after he was inducted. |
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| In the Summer of 1950, Jody met a young lady in Fleischmanns NY. at the New Edgewood Hotel. She sang a bit with his band and they became good friends. Jody lost track of Sandy (the young girl on the left) but when he entered the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame, she took a chance and contacted him to see if he remembered her. Not only did he remember her, but he recalled the fact that she may have been closer to him today had things worked out differently. She now lives in California and Jody has produced her CD. |
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| Sandy today |
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| DJ Tim Martell |
| From stockbroker to full time DJ/ Producer. Tim has decided to give up the wacky world of big business to pursue his musical heritage. And so the tradition continues......from hillbilly....to country....to folk.....to folk rock....and now to Hip Hop!!!! The generations continue to gap. Tim has toured the USA with the basketball team "And One" and has DJ'd at the X Games for the past 2 years. You can find him in NYC DJ ing at a host of venues. Click the link below to go to Tim's page on My Space where you will find his latest club dates, travels and ventures along with a taste of his music. |
| You can hear a track (All My Children) from a collection that was recorded in (where else) my basement (hey, it's not a professional recording studio) if you click the link below.I wrote it for Sister Anne Behre who founded the Saint Francis de Sales School for the Deaf in 1960. The CD is not for sale but may one day become a collectors item. If you are one of the lucky ones that have a copy, hold on to it......one day you may be able to cash it in for big bucks on ebay........lol!!!! It is titled "Passing By the Accident". |
| Verna |
| The song playing in the backgroundf "Choices" is George Jones.....unfortunately its not me!!! |
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