Gino Vannelli meets A&M...

Rudy

¡Que siga la fiesta!
Staff member
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Straight from the source, this is Gino's run-in (literally) with Herb Alpert on the A&M lot.

http://ginov.com/forget-vegas-final-chapter/

Between Joe, Pasquale and me, we had exactly five dollars left in the piggy—enough for one day’s motel payment, due that day, two days before Christmas. The fifty dollars my mom sent via Western Union went to Hollywood Florida by mistake.
“Nothin’ doin’, other than panhandling on Hollywood and Vine,” Joe scolded to me.
“Time to go home,” the CFO of our bankrupt fraternal order said grimly.
I crawled into my corner of the bed that night groping for answers in the dark, drifting into the infinite void of why, where, how and what. Other than a few grunts, snores and stomach rumbles in the tiny motel room, I heard nothing but the cool indifference of silence. Four months of knocking on doors in LA, now all of them shut, some even shut tight. But I couldn’t go home empty handed—not again. Whatever I had to do to remain on the West Coast I was resigned to do.
By 5:30 am, my eyes still wide open, punching holes in the ceiling, while Joe and Pasquale slept, I crept out of the room and walked along Sunset Blvd, getting a leg up on the sun, hoping to dream up a last ditch leap forward. Where would I sleep and get some grub, at least for the next few days while I searched for a more permanent solution, I grilled myself.
After thirty minutes or so of walking eastward, to my left, I noticed a church with a soft brown, ornate Renaissance facade. I climbed the steps and to my surprise the heavy wooden doors were unlocked. The sharp creaks travelled far into the large sanctuary as I pressed on the weighty doors. I stepped cautiously through the middle isle, each footstep piling upon the other, then, rolling into a solid block of sound. Not a soul in the sanctuary. I decided to park myself in a pew for a while.
How dark and mysterious it was to me, after all that time of having abandoned my childhood beliefs. The painted murals dug up many buried memories. I wondered if I had enough pluck to stay. Clearing my throat, or even just swallowing, ricocheted off the finely sculpted walls decked with Stations of the Cross and stained-glass windows above. I was uneasy—as if I had returned to face a beloved I had walked out on many years ago. But I was desperate and out of options. This was at least a chance to sit in silence and think, even if it meant sharing a seat with a few old ghosts. So, I unwound and melted into my wooden pew, closed my eyes, and took a trip into the reaches of inner space.
My head hung down, as if frozen in supplication, I dreamed such dreams, so real, that they seemed more than the handiwork of unmet wishes or a heavy heart. There was an odd clarity to them, as if the dreams were being broadcast in hi-def. I opened my eyes four hours later, suddenly filled with certainty, as if I had found the missing address and directions to my next stop. I hurried back to the Motel Orange.
“Joe, get outta bed,” I shouted, as I entered the ochre-shag carpeted room.
“What is it?” he moaned.
“Don’t ask! I might blow it if I answer. Just get up and get dressed,” I replied, impatiently.
“Where we going,” Joe asked, as we did a quick march to the old Charlie Chaplin studios on La Brea, home of A&M Records.
“Just trust me,” I whispered, trying to reassure both of us.
No sooner did a few minutes go by, when the uniformed guard keeping watch from the tower beside the open gates, stepped down and asked what we two young tramps were up to.
“Waiting for a friend,” I lied, with all the spit I could marshal to pry my tongue from the roof of my dry mouth.
The guard gave me that don’t-give-me-that-$#!^ look, as he cocked his head.
“Sir, it’s a free country and we are on public property,” I ran to my own defense, with just the right spoonful of indignation on my face.
“Yea, well, make sure you stay on public property and keep clear of those gates,” he warned, as he rested his palm on his holstered revolver.
Twice he came down from his tower to check up on Joe and me, and twice more I stood my ground. After a few hours of ambling in small circles, my hopes beginning to dim, thinking I might have been dead wrong about my church dream, suddenly Herb Alpert walked out of his office and strolled across the A&M parking lot. As if it happened once before, I knew precisely what my next move would be.
“Take this, Joe,” I said in a huff, as I handed him my guitar and ran through the tall gates.
“ I knew it, I just knew it!” cried the guard, adding a few expletives, as he hobbled down from his tower, waving his gun.
It turns out that Johnny, the watchman, was a Vietnam vet and had been wounded during the war. He had a bad limp, thus I knew I would have at least a ten second jump on him.
“Herb!” I shouted, as I stretched out my hand.
Herb looked gray and baffled, wondering if this was round two. Seems Lani Hall, his wife, had narrowly escaped kidnapping a few months prior.
“What do you want?” Herb asked, nervously.
“I wanna be a star!” I hollered, unable to articulate a more nuanced response, while the angry guard hauled me off.
I turned to Herb, as I was shown to the front gates. Our eyes met and locked for a moment—not a blink.
“Wait a minute, Johnny,” Herb cried.
“Come here.”
“What are you really looking for?” he asked me.
“I think you’ll like my music, Herb. Give me a chance to play for you.”
After what seemed to be an eternity, Herb said, “Come back in thirty minutes.”
He instructed Johnny to write me up a visitor’s pass.
Johnny, appalled and nodding his head in disgust, holstered his gun and begrudgingly wrote up and handed me a yellow slip. (In later years we would laugh about that day)
“Welcome to the family,” Herb Alpert said, after I played five or six tunes on my beat up nylon-string.
“On one condition,” he added, “that you let me produce your record.”
It was 1972, Christmas Eve, and we were on our way back to Montreal. Even with the incredible good fortune of being signed to A&M at twenty years-old, Herb himself wishing to be personally involved with my career, throughout the whole trip on that 707 I thought mostly about those four hours when I had dozed off in that church pew. I wondered where the sudden clarity had come from? Who or what blew the unexpected wind in my sails? How could I have possibly seen what had yet to transpire? Was this the work of a higher power, a sixth sense, or merely the play of coincidence—synchronicity, as Carl Yung would say. Such questions would follow me for years. It was the first of a few transpersonal incidents that would alter my perception of life (and death) and urge me to search for Truth in pages and places both welcome and hostile to my sensibilities. It would incite me to follow my heart wherever it would lead, no matter how remote the destination was. In time I would come to see magic in the most ordinary things.
Gino
 
I heard this story on a radio show back in the late 70s and being interested in all things Herb at the time this caught my attention it's nice to have confirmation of what I heard back then
 
There is an earlier installment where Gino and Joe met Sinatra's right-hand man, Jilly Rizzo, who was presumably supposed to put them in touch with Mo Ostin (head of Warner Bros. Records).
 
The ochre shag carpet in the motel room clearly was an omen.

JB
 
And isn't it interesting that Gino's most recognizable work was recorded on the half dozen albums he did for A&M? While he has certainly written and recorded other great stuff, it'll never reach the magnitude of his A&M material.
 
Nightwalker on Arista is probably his most well known album alongside Brother To Brother--they are like a pair.
I agree totally I only wish " Living inside myself could have been originally Released on A&M ( had Gino stayed With A&M) to me it was equal to I Just Wanna Stop and I love both songs equally they have that special kind of Emotion and Soul vibe that Ballads i enjoy usually have. But at least for one A&M comp. Living Inside Myself was included ( obviously by a Licensing arrangement with Sony/BMG which owns the Arista Discography and has since Phased out the Arista Label)
 
And isn't it interesting that Gino's most recognizable work was recorded on the half dozen albums he did for A&M? While he has certainly written and recorded other great stuff, it'll never reach the magnitude of his A&M material.
I couldn't agree more With one exception As I mentioned above His sole Arista hit.
 
I agree totally I only wish " Living inside myself could have been originally Released on A&M ( had Gino stayed With A&M) to me it was equal to I Just Wanna Stop and I love both songs equally they have that special kind of Emotion and Soul vibe that Ballads i enjoy usually have. But at least for one A&M comp. Living Inside Myself was included ( obviously by a Licensing arrangement with Sony/BMG which owns the Arista Discography and has since Phased out the Arista Label)
Gino is still known to include "Nightwalker" and "Put The Weight On My Shoulders" from that album in concert, although "Brother To Brother" is one that always gets played, along with "People Gotta Move" from Powerful People. He had more chart action in his native Canada, but there is a dip in between Powerful People and Brother To Brother in terms of charting US singles, although album sales improved between these two albums.

I'm considering driving to Pittsburgh in November to catch his gig there, but that is kind of far in advance to make plans for. Still, as rare as his appearances are these days (and I've seen none near me anywhere), it would be worth the drive, as it would be about 5 hours each way, which is not all that bad.
 
I'm considering driving to Pittsburgh in November to catch his gig there, but that is kind of far in advance to make plans for. Still, as rare as his appearances are these days (and I've seen none near me anywhere), it would be worth the drive, as it would be about 5 hours each way, which is not all that bad.
I Hope you do get to see him that would be awesome.
 
By the way I noticed some Gino Vannelli videos on youtube out of curiosity I noticed a remake of the aforementioned Living inside myself from 2014 live in LA and I Was Amazed Just How Equally as wonderful the original version ( Sorry I can't choose between the two) the only difference is its only one key lower its more than worth the cost of a download I Am Glad Gino is Still out there the song has much more meaning to me now in light of recent events in my life it still touches me for unanswerable reasons yet Even More Now.
 
Live in LA is a good concert video. But I realized while watching it that a lot of the audience is going to be women in their 60s and early 70s (who would have been in their 20s during the 70s and "crushing" on Gino during that time). I might feel like a fish out of water. :D

Gino's brother Joe sits in on keyboards for "Brother To Brother" in that concert.
 
I was introduced to Gino's music through the hit " I Just wanna stop" which I also like but not quite the impact as I was 11 when It came out in 1978.
 
Our local jazz station WJZZ used to play "Where Am I Going?" from Storm at Sunup and "Wheels of Life" (one of my favorites) from Brother To Brother. Couldn't escape the big hits on the AC stations at the time though.
 
I would suggest to all of you who are fans of Gino, that you go to see him in concert! His concerts are not to be missed! He takes his old material, and rearranges them as he sees fit, so as not to bore himself(or his audience) yet the tunes are still instantly recognizable. I went to see him in 1999 at Manhattan's Supper Club, and again in 2006 at BB King's also here in NY. At the Supper Club, after the concert I got to meet Gino himself! We shook hands and we talked for some minutes. I asked him about his production of Contemporary Christian Music Singer David Meece's albums, and how much his song "God Only Knows" meant to me. He seems like a very nice man, but also shy as well.(like his mentor,Mr.Alpert)

At the BB King concert, we had to wait on line to meet Gino. During which time, the guy that was in front of me; he was friends with Gino's drummer(whose name I can't recall) the drummer came to meet his friend again, and he told us that Gino is really a nice guy, no temper tantrums or anything like that, and when they went to Chicago, they showed him a lot of love over there. The drummer and the rest of the band were super tight that night, so if I were Gino, I wouldn't be pulling any tantrums either; the band was that GOOD. I think he's like Miles(who,from what I understand,is one of Gino's personal heroes as well) that if a band is good and competent, you don't have to yell or scream, because they come tight with their game.
Anyway, when I did meet him for the second time that night, I told him how much I like the concert, and he thank me for what I said, and also autographed the SLOW LOVE cd for me. Like I said earlier, A Gino Vannelli concert is not one to be missed!(this is for Rudy so that you can get going to see Gino!!)
Regards,
jaazdre
 
At the Supper Club, after the concert I got to meet Gino himself! We shook hands and we talked for some minutes. I asked him about his production of Contemporary Christian Music Singer David Meece's albums, and how much his song "God Only Knows" meant to me. He seems like a very nice man, but also shy as well.(like his mentor,Mr.Alpert)
jaazdre

I've noticed that neither David Meece or Gino Vannelli have much to say about their collaboration during the David Meece CHRONOLOGY and CANDLE IN THE RAIN sessions in 1986-87. Might have something to do with the fact that David has always been steadfast in his Christian beliefs, while Gino has admitted himself that he had a bit of a falling out with his Catholic upbringing around that time... and subsequently distanced himself from religion in general.

That being said, I also found "Seventy Times Seven", "Come That Day", "All Is God's Creation", "Nothing to Forgive" and "The Water Is Fine" to be on par musically with any of Gino's 80s recordings. "His Love Was Reaching" was more of David's personal style, but it still had the Gino & Joe influence on it (as they were composers of the tune). Every one of those songs were stellar. Heck, it was Vannelli arrangements and Vannelli band playing on those records. They had to be good!
 
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