Where and when did you grow up?
Worcester Massachusetts in the 40’s and 50’s
Was music a big part of your family life?
No, I am the only musical member of my immediate and distant family. My parents did not comprehend how much music meant to me but my mother was happy that I was coming out of my quiet personal shell with the playing my banjo and guitar.
Did the local music scene influence you or inspire you to play music?
Somewhat. I had friends who were musicians and I would learn from them and also I was ultra-sensitive to recordings and voices in general. (When I was once getting a standard eye test, the ophthalmologist’s voice tweaked me somehow and I fainted!). Listening to the first Bob Dylan record would seriously be dangerous for me as I would feel this powerful urge to run away from home, hitchhike across the country.
When did you begin playing music?
Around 12 years of age. Maybe 10 or 11
Who were your major influences?
Dylan, Jimmy Reed, Geoff Muldaur, Pete Seeger, The Kingston Trio, Ray Charles, Leadbelly, Hank Williams, Jimmy Rodgers, Lonnie Johnson….
What’s the story behind the 1967 release of The City In An Owl’s Eye?
I was off the charts popular at the gigantic Indiana University. I would play this coffee house, The Owl, and it was always sold out, packed to the rafters and people would even sit outside the windows on the lawns and sidewalks trying to listen and see what I was doing. I was oblivious or something about my popularity at the time.
Did you self-release it?
No, it was a coffee house group of students who funded it. The 1,000 copies sold out in a week or two.
Did the size of audiences increase following the release of your debut?
YES, IMMENSELY, but it was already huge at IU. That is when I first started to hear the comparisons to Dylan. Marshall Chess also felt Dylan that. Let me add that…..I just want folks to know that I can be compared to anyone whoever wants to compare me to, but I cannot be Bob Dylan, nor anyone else. And he can’t be me unless he wants to dumpster dive down to the world I live in. I can sort of channel him, write like him, I would even sing as he used to sing, but that is self-defeating as I search my own soul and devise my true self.
Can you elaborate the formation of Salloom-Sinclair & The Mother Bear?
Well, I wanted to go electric, so I found a blue-eyed soul band called The Mother Bear at a bar and asked them if they were interested and they were! Dick Orvis, the keyboard leader of the Mother Bear, really peaked about my songs. I should have let Dick sing more…actually I never stopped him. Or maybe I did, but he was a great blue eyed soul singer…I mean really good. Robin Sinclair joined later as she was intrigued.
Moving to San Francisco in 1967, the band performed in venues such as The Carousel, The Fillmore and The Avalon Ballrooms. What are some gigs that are well remembered?
Playing on the bill with Van Morrison at the Carousel Ballroom, Procol Harum, Santana, BB King and many others ….I cannot remember many of them.
What influenced the band’s sound?
LSD, the hippie and lefty attitude, freedom, new society, new norms, and marijuana…..all kinds of music, as we were not copying anyone….also soul music and my strident belief in myself and all the band members’ belief in me and vice versa.
Cadet Concept was an offshoot of Chess Records. How did you get signed to Chess?
Marshall Chess heard us and signed us. There was serious buzz in the Midwest about us.
How about the Salloom-Sinclair album?
Well, that first Chess recording was recorded in Nashville with Dylan’s people as Marshall Chess wanted with AREA Code 615. I was willing to do that because I loved Dylan’s Nashville Skyline. I eventually moved to Nashville and hung out with Guy Clark, Rodney Crowell, and intermittently with Susannah Clark, Skinny Dennis toured briefly with me, Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff Walker. Everyone was either in one of three states of mind, sobering up from the night before, preparing to drink, or already drunk. The last party I was at, everyone was playing a peculiar parlor game. The person who could successfully spit on their boots as they walked, was the winner of the contest. Years later, some sobered up and some died, sadly. Dennis went on tour with me and I am so sad he and others are all gone.
Would you share your insight on the albums’ tracks?
Rather than be specific…….WELL, IT IS a little bit of all of the influences I was soaking up every single day…including recordings, the Meters, Dylan,The Fuggs, really everyone on earth whom I heard, even if only once. I absorbed everyone I listened to all the time….. I make up melodies any old time I want to. I wrote some songs and the band liked them. I am pretty regular person, a little shy for long periods of time.
Did the band tour to support the LP?
No, not really. We just moved for a five or so years to the San Francisco Bay Area. Then, I was solo exclusively for a while, using different names at my gigs. I was sort of lost for some years. Even my sweethearts were sort of lost as was I.
What was the dynamic between your songwriting and playing together with Sinclair and The Mother Bear?
I was the youngest member of the band but they saw me as their leader. I was surprised and eschewed leadership at first. I suspect now that they must have been inspired by my songs. I had a wonderful Manager, Billy Joe.
What happened after the band stopped?
I just wanted to live a normal life so, I went back to work for my Uncle Eddy at his store. I did not want to be recognized and when I was recognized, I did not know if I should even care. Of course, I started the music obsession again!
Your solo album (WOULD YOU LIKE TO MEET SOMEONE) was released in 1983?
In 1983, a financier type fellow, JEFF DWYER and two of his friends liked my solo thing so much whilst I was in Northampton, he offered to make a record for me.
How did you get in touch with Chris Sautter and how was it to work on a film about you?
He reached out to me somehow. I did not know him or know of him. He was mostly a political guy who loved music, my music. Chris was the very first person President Obama ever asked to work for Barack’s first presidential campaign. His wife is the youngest woman to win a car in front of the US Supreme Court. Simply put, Chris had been quietly following me whenever he could. He found out I did a homecoming type of show in Bloomington. Stan Hirsch and Jeff Green had me do a show back in Bloomington and Chris heard about that and he approached me on the phone. Prior to that he maybe thought I was dead or incarcerated.
In 2009 La Te Da was released?
Well, I cannot remember much of the timeline. I do remember approaching Charles Neville in a post office about blowing sax on it. Everything else is vague.
What currently occupies your life?
My family, music ( interestingly, I’m still writing and singing and for some strange reason, I am better than ever.). I care for a disabled family member as well. My wife is the one who got me into playing again. When she first met me, she thought I was a homeless person. She made a promise to come to every show if I started performing again, so I agreed. Donna fulfilled her vow.
Actually, when I look back on those days prior to the film. I would frequently use fake stage names. I think I did not want people, especially friends, to know I was performing. That is pretty interesting. I found out later that bluesman Robert Johnson did the same thing. And John Lennon found it easier to write new songs than recall existing songs. I had that predilection.
Looking back, what was the highlight of your time in the band?
Great question. I guess in the early days, it was making people feel something good mostly. Nowadays, I love making people laugh and feel what I see. I am very interested in helping people heal.
Which songs are you most proud of?
DEAREST about my lovely deceased grandson. I will be happy to send anyone a copy.
Where and when was your most memorable gig?
The last one…First Night Northampton 2024, but it was similar in a sense as all the others . I love feeling things and showing people things. I love to help the lonely, the (sort of) misfits, the oppressed, the poor, single parents, emotionally challenged people, those who can’t see, walk feel or maybe hear. When I get to an audience, that gives me a thrill. I am proud of myself…I remember those shows. Nowadays, if I am in a concert, and especially if I am a duo or with a band, people really go enthusiastically energized….if they give me a chance, I usually will get them swept up.