Welcome to a breath of fresh air with Sandy Kaye. Hello, great to have you with me today. I hope you’ve been enjoying a fabulous week.
I’ve been very busy chatting to some amazing artists this week on your behalf, so in the weeks to come I’m super excited to be able to bring you people like Sergio Mendes, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Artemis Pyle, and Little Feats founder Bill Payne, amongst a whole lot of others. Is there anyone you’d especially like to hear from? Please do let me know so I can get your favourite artists onto the show. And maybe you’d like to join in the chat too and say hi to them.
Think about it, could be a whole lot of fun, huh? This week my special guest is someone you’re sure to remember. He’s Grammy nominated and multi-platinum selling John Ford Coley, who’s best known for his early career work as one half of the 70s duo England Dan and John Ford Coley. The duo scored number one hits in both Japan and Israel with this one.
England Dan and John Ford Coley generated six top 20 hits all up. They split up in 1980 to allow England Dan to pursue a solo career in country music, but John Ford Coley continued on as a songwriter, producer and actor. Today John still tours and tells hilarious stories.
John Ford Coley, what an absolute pleasure to meet you. Congratulations on your appearance at the Grand Ole Opry recently. Oh thank you so much, that was so much fun, what a thrill.
Tell us all about it. Well okay, it’s my first time and so when they asked me if I would consider doing it, I went gosh you know man, I’m not country, I’m kind of pop and they said they don’t care, they like it. So they just had Vince Neil from Motley Crue on and I went okay, let’s do this thing.
Was playing at the Grand Ole Opry always on your bucket list? Was it something that you always hoped to do? No, it was never on my bucket list because again, I thought that I was out of the genre of music. As a matter of fact, I made a joke that evening because I played Love Is The Answer, so this is soprano sax. You find a soprano sax in country music probably, you know, never.
Your partner did end up going down that country road, didn’t he? He did, Dan did very well when he went into country, but actually between you, me and the gay pros, that’s where Dan should have probably been all along. You two met at school, is that right? We did, high school, yeah. He was in a band, one of the guitar players quit because his girlfriend didn’t want him in the band getting, I don’t know, touched by all these women or something.
And the band wanted to put a keyboard player in, Dan wanted to put another guitar player in, I’d get the gig. Dan and I were just like, boom, we just did not get along at all because he didn’t want me there. And then we would travel to various gigs together and we would sing Everly Brothers and Righteous Brothers and things like that, kind of discovered that we had a natural blend and it just kind of took off from there.
Of course, you were a classically trained pianist, weren’t you? And the ambition was never to be in a band. No, as a matter of fact, I make a big joke because I’ll play something like Bach or Beethoven, just big piece. And then I’ll go, playing that is what I came from.
And then I went into the band and now I’m playing things like, and I start off with, I got you, babe, just boom, ding, ding, boom, ding, ding, boom, ding, ding, boom. I got you, babe. I got you, babe.
I just played this masterful piece by Beethoven or something, you know, and everybody laughs because I never planned on being in a band. Your parents must have been very disappointed when you joined the band and gave up all that, the money they’d invested into your classical training, no? They loved it. Mom and dad, the funny thing about it is I was trained on opera and show tunes, a lot of church music, things like that.
So we would occasionally listen to rock and roll, country, you know, with other things. And I tell everybody that my parents were so serious about it that they would not allow me to watch Gunsmoke until I had watched Mitch Miller and Lawrence Welk before that, you know. So you get that rounded education on music.
And to this day, when I sit down to write something or to play or sing, just whatever comes out is just whatever comes out. So of course, you’ve got the luxury today of being able to produce and write whatever genre you like and mix it up. That wasn’t the way in the 70s, though, was it? It was not the way whatsoever, because Dan and I used to have the opportunity to go into the record companies when we were looking for a deal at the beginning.
And you could play for the A&R people. So we’d take our acoustic guitars and invariably the guys would always go, well, what are you? Are you classical? Are you rock? Are you pop? Are you country? I mean, what are you? We’d go, yeah, pretty much. All of that.
I tried to push her away. I shut and locked the door. Her eyes grew large and asking.
And the smell of incense fills her room. So when you and Dan left school, you both became members of that group called Southwest FOB. Then you decided to leave them and go out as a duo looking for a record deal yourselves.
When did that happen? I think it was the adventure of it. The Southwest FOB actually was still the same band that I started off with with Dan. That was the Playboys Five.
We changed our name to these few. Then we changed our name to Southwest FOB. I was trying to play in a band.
And so to have the opportunity of playing just two acoustic guitars, because at that particular time, it was James Taylor and Simon and Garfunkel and people of that nature. And we really wanted to get in and be part of that. So that’s pretty much how that came about.
Right. And then you guys changed your names as well. We did.
As a matter of fact, that name came from Jimmy Seals, from Seals and Crofts, because Jimmy Seals was the older brother of Dan. So Dan used to walk around mimicking the English accent. Okay.
Now, if you’ve heard a Texan like me try to mimic anything other than a Southern or Texas accent, it’s quite common. And so Dan was always walking around going, Yeah, call me Don, you know, and you go, What? What are you saying? You know, Don, Don or Dan? You know, it’s English. Just say it the way it was.
So you go, Nah, can’t do that. So and then my name, last name was Collie. And the majority of my life, I’ve been called everything but Collie.
And so we just dropped an L out of it, and it became Coley, which was much easier to recognize and say. That’s pretty much how that came out. So he became England Dan, just because of his affinity with England, or his jokes about it.
And you became John Collie. Then you dropped the L and became Coley. Coley.
Okay. And where did the Ford come from? Oh, actually, Ford, at that time, there was a big director called John Ford. He did a bunch of Westerns.
Also, there was a man by the name of John Rip Ford. And John Rip Ford was the last Confederate general that won the last battle in Texas in what’s known as the American Civil War. So you pinched the name? I pinched the name.
Sure did. See, I know what that means when you pinch something. You do, don’t you? I was trying it on you.
Well, and you probably know that from England Dan, right? Because he was- No, I actually learned that from traveling with Elton John for a month in England, about 1971. They’d go, oh, you pinched that from us, did you? And I’d go, yeah, I guess. It’s not something that’s said in America, is it? Not at all.
So when you guys first started playing around, it was difficult for you to get a record deal, wasn’t it? It was. But then we got really lucky because Jimmy Seals, Dan’s brother, was working with one of the guys in the Wrecking Crew, which are the studio musicians in Los Angeles. And he also had played with Seals and Cross, who were called the Dawnbreakers.
That was Louie Shelton. And Louie took our tape to Herb Alpert over at A&M Records. And he said, just tell me what you think.
It’s kind of a cross between the Bee Gees and Simon and Garfunkel. Herb said, well, we don’t really need that right now. He goes, well, please listen to it.
So the story comes back that Herb is shaving, listening to the tape, shuts the machine off, wipes his face, and calls Louie and says, get him out here. And that’s how we ended up on A&M Records. He was one of the owners.
It was Albert Moss, A&M Records. How amazing that it was taken straight to the top and that he liked you. So as a result, you moved to California and started afresh.
We were out there pretty quick, yeah. That was a great place to be during that time period because everything was fresh and new and there was excitement. And so you can play a guitar.
Let me hear what you got to play. I want to hear it. They were interested in new things.
That was unlike anything that we had come across in Texas at that point. I’m chatting with John Ford Colley. Describe that atmosphere in terms of music more fully in the early 70s.
What was happening? You could do anything. You could do anything at that point. There were different groups that you ran with.
I ran with Richie Fure because he was in a group called Poco that he began. And he also began Buffalo Springfield. And so we would play with Poco quite a bit.
I was more in the James Taylor, Carole King crowd. So you had different genres within the same genre. It was exciting because, again, there were so many different people that were introducing new sounds into music.
As a matter of fact, one of my favorite stories was there was an engineer. His name was Henry Lewin. Henry was the man who was engineering Dan and my record with Louis Shelton producing.
So he’s a big German. He’s big into meditation. So he would take the time out.
He would go. He would meditate and rejuvenate himself. I’m in the studio.
He comes in. He’s getting everything prepped. And he just arbitrarily turns to me and goes, John, who do you like? And I said, Henry, I’m not a mainstream kind of guy.
I like people that are a little bit more unusual that just got a content and things that I can relate to. And he said, like who? And I said, have you ever heard of a girl by the name of Joni Mitchell? I said, I love that girl. He looked at me, first of all, like a cow at a new gate, like I had just said the dumbest thing you’d ever heard.
And he said, you are kidding me, right? And I said, oh, you’ve heard of her? And he goes, heard of her? Joni, I’m her producer. She’s recording in Studio C on Saturday. Come over.
So I went over there. I missed James Taylor by about 10 minutes. He just finished a song called Case of You.
She’s working on an album called The Blue Album. I sat and watched her record Last Time I Saw Richard and All I Really Want. I’d never seen her dulcimer.
And she’s playing the dulcimer on All I Really Want. So I heard you, too, then we both get so blue. That kind of a situation that would come up all the time, you would run into Karen Carpenter in the parking lot.
You sit and you talk for a while. It was that kind of thing that went on all the time. Did you have to keep pinching yourself to reinforce that you weren’t dreaming? Also, there was the fact that I wasn’t aware of so many of these groups.
So when they asked us to open up for Carole King, and she’s just done the tapestry album, they go, man, you’re opening up for Carole King. And I’m going, who the hell is Carole King? I didn’t know who she was. Elton John.
We toured with Elton John. I went, never heard of him. And so you would walk into those kinds of situations.
It was obviously a very exciting time to be in the music business, but the best was yet to come for England Dan and John Ford Coley. Don’t go anywhere as John continues his story.
This is a breath of fresh air with Sandy Kaye. It’s a beautiful day. I’m so glad you’re still here.
John Ford Coley has been painting us such a vivid picture of what it was like to be a musician, especially in California in those days, that I almost feel like I’m back in the 70s again. It was an exciting but tough and very fickle business. Luckily, John understood how to keep it all in perspective.
There was so much that was coming out. There was just groups that you probably still have never heard of that I really enjoyed, like Moby Grape or, you know, these kinds of groups. I had come across a young girl in Japan because we had a number one song there.
Her name was Dandelion. So it was just like, you know, so many things that you could come across. Was that number one Japanese hit single, that was Simone, wasn’t it? That was Simone, yeah.
Simone, why do you cry? Don’t you know your tears will dry And take away that loneliness That inside will keep you dry Simone, why do you cry? Don’t you know the sun will shine And on your mirrored soul you’ll find Reflections good, ooh, I said you would You’ve been searching everywhere For something to believe in You’ve been searching, it’s never there Reach it on, look and you’ll know So you’ve got the record deal with A&M. You have this hit Simone. But in 72, they dropped you the label.
Why did that happen? Herb, when we came in, we were kind of fussing over the album cover, the first one. And he said, guys, look, this is a real deal matter. He says, the first record, we didn’t expect to have anything off of.
Second album, we expect to see just a little bit of action. But the third one, we expect to see some major chart action. Well, we got it with Simone.
We got the first record, a thing called New Jersey. So we kind of started up, but it never reached the height that it was supposed to go to. Internationally, we had a couple of things.
Here in the States, it just never, you know, boiled above the thing. So they did not hear a major single on the third record. And they said, OK, that’s it.
What happened to the two of you then? We started for a long time. Really? Oh, yeah. I mean, it was hard.
I mean, fortunately enough, because we had been able to play with a lot of groups like Bread and Seals and Crofts. I mean, it was hard. As far as the radio was concerned, we were kind of dead in the water.
And then we had the thing come up with Love to See You Tonight. And it just kind of took on a life of its own for me. Tell me a little bit about that song.
Well, neither Dan or I wanted to do Love to See You Tonight. We were kind of under the impression it was a female song. But that wasn’t the real deal.
It was the fact that we wanted to really write and sing our own songs with a singer-songwriter kind of situation. And we didn’t write it. And so we just kind of balked on it for a little while.
And they talked us into it. We did it. And the funny thing about it was when we got the deal, we had an open invitation into Atlantic Records.
Our manager comes in with that song, We Love to See You Tonight. And he listens to it. And all of a sudden, there’s a knock on the door.
And they usher in two people from a subsidiary of Atlantic. They’re just kind of sitting there talking. And I’m sure Susan’s thinking, Get the hell out of here, man.
Come on. I’m going to close the deal on this song. Doug Morris looked at Bob and said, Bob, what do you think of that song? Bob looked at Susan, our manager, and he said, Susan, it’s close, but I don’t think that it’s not what we’re looking for.
No, I don’t think that’s it. So she’s very dejected. And Morris says, Are you sure you’re going to pass on that? And Bob says, Susan, I’m sorry.
We’re going to pass on it. Doug Morris looked at her and said, Susan, we want the record. And that’s how we ended up on Big Tree Records.
I mean, it was just, I don’t believe in coincidences, number one. And it was just like dominoes would fall that we had no control over. And I would hear groups to this day that could play and sing me under the table, make me sound like a fledgling neophyte.
But why they didn’t get a deal and we did, I don’t know. I don’t know. Hello, yeah, it’s been a while.
Not much. How about you? I’m not sure why I called. I guess I really just wanted to talk to you.
And I was thinking maybe later on we could get together for a while. It’s been such a long time and I really do miss your smile. I’m not talking about moving in and I don’t want to change your life.
But there’s a warm wind blowing the stars around and I’d really love to see you tonight. We could go walking through Windy Park or take a drive along the beach or stay at home and watch TV. You see, it really doesn’t matter much to me.
I’m not talking about moving in and I don’t want to change your life. But there’s a warm wind blowing the stars around and I’d really love to see you tonight. Well, you were pretty talented.
You said yourself a little short bit. Actually, I was hoping we were going to stop at pretty. You know, you were pretty.
You were pretty too at John Brooks College. I joke with people all the time when I get on stage. I just did it the other night.
A lady introduced me and I get up and I go, you know, I don’t want to complain right off the bat. But no matter who I give my introduction to no one ever gets it right. What they were supposed to say was, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the brutally handsome and humble John Ford Colt.
But they never do it. Nobody ever gets it right. John, who chose that song for you in the first place? Because it was written by a composer named Parker McGee.
Right. How did you find it? They actually came to us with that song. Now, again, we didn’t want to do it.
But what was really funny was when we’re still kind of balking at it. When we got the first royalty payment check, all of a sudden I saw lights go off. Because again, you got to realize on all my songs, I think I’d made like $1.98. That was it.
I’ve got a check on my wall that I never cashed from BMI for a radio play for a whopping 54 cents. It’s on the wall. I mean, I never gave it back.
But I found myself calling up Parker going, Parker. Hey, buddy. What else you got? It’s like you become very mercenary very quickly.
You did get into another one of his songs, didn’t you? We did. Nights Are Forever Without You. Lying in bed with the radio on.
Moonlight falls like rain. Soft summer nights spent thinking of you. When will I see you again? Soft and low, the music moans.
I can’t stop thinking about you. Thinking about you. I didn’t know it would be so strong.
Waiting and wondering about you. I didn’t know it would last so long. Nights are forever without you.
He also wrote one called Where Do I Go From Here? The Karen Carpenter. All right. Well, Nights Are Forever Without You went right up to number 10.
So obviously, the US is now starting to take big notice of you. Well, I guess you were already a hit there. You’d cracked the US market.
And now you’re following up, right? Right. Absolutely. Again, you realize you don’t pass up a good song.
And probably we had done that on several occasions. So the object of the exercise is to continue working. And we just happened to hit some songs that people enjoyed.
Yet, you both saw yourselves as quite prolific songwriters. I mean, the urge to write your own songs and have them produced as hits must have been with you the whole time. I can imagine that it’d be eating you up a bit.
It did a bit. Yeah, as a matter of fact, because if you want to be a singer-songwriter, then you’ve got to have something that people are still going to want to hear. And I told a lot of stories.
As a matter of fact, when we did that third record, there was a song that Jimmy Seals came in. I so distinctly remember him going nuts over it. It was called Whistle Slow.
And he’s going, that’s your hit. That’s your hit. That’s your hit.
And I’m thinking, good, good, we got one. Well, the other people didn’t think so. And it was a story song.
And I’ve been told there are love songs. You write, I love you, you love me. Let’s make love.
And you got a hit. You can write one that goes, I love you, you don’t like me anymore. And you left.
That’s called Blues, isn’t it? Right, Blues. But then you write one that tells a story. And it’s like, ah, we’ve heard it the first time.
And it’s over. So I wrote story songs. And I still do.
Right. Kind of in the vein of Jim Stafford. Jim Stafford.
Yeah, Jimmy wrote a bunch of really good stuff. I just played with him about a year ago. How nice.
And he’s still out there doing it. She said, I don’t like spiders and snakes. And that ain’t what it takes to love me.
I don’t like spiders and snakes. And that ain’t what it takes to love me. Like I want to be loved by you.
Audiences can’t get enough of all those old songs. Does that surprise you? No. I love going down memory lane.
And people, when they come, they want to go down memory lane. So you can introduce maybe one, maybe two, three songs tops to them that are new. But they didn’t come to hear your newest song.
They came to hear the songs that they remember back in high school or college. Yeah. As the 70s went through, there was never another hit as big as I’d really love to see you tonight, was there? No.
On the number-wise, no. That reached number two. But we had four top tens.
Love is the answer. Never have to say goodbye again. Night’s a forever.
And Love is the end of the night. But then we had a couple of top 20s gone too far and said, belong. So in essence, we had six.
And you’re often mistaken as a one-hit wonder as a result of Love to see you tonight, aren’t you? Right. Absolutely. Of the six, the only one that was written by us, I wrote Gone Too Far.
And the other was written by Randy Goodrum or Jeffrey Commonore. Todd Rundgren wrote Love is the Answer. So we got some good songs.
And finally, our self-control got the better of us on not picking other people’s songs. So I’m wondering how that felt for you also. When you’re doing other people’s songs, you’re managing to hit the top of the charts more often.
When you start to do your own songs, there must be a real rewarding feeling internally but it’s obviously not making you as much money. How did you balance that in yourselves? I think you just come to terms with the fact that you’re an act, you’re an artist. And you want to get the best song that you can possibly get.
It’s like when I came back to Nashville. Okay, I’ve written a couple of hit songs. I think I’m fairly decent.
I come back to Nashville and I got my lunch. These guys are writing such monster songs lyrically. I’m trying to keep up but I had the presence of mind to be able to stop people and say, what did you just do? Show me what you just did.
Play that chord again. And they were very patient with that. So I didn’t come in with the attitude of, oh, man, I’ve done this.
I came in and recognized that I had just been beaten up and said, how did you guys find this? Many times I wish you were here Through the velvet shadow of my dreams Many times I wish you were near Through the darkness as it came But it seems that you You never said what I needed to hear Just tell me you love me Whisper words I so long to hear Let this time not be borrowed Let it be ours to share And if you tell me you love me It could lead the way to your heart Through the mirrors of silence You love me Quietly I’ve waited For the memory born of our first kiss Patiently I’ve waited John Ford Coley with Just Tell Me You Love Me. Stay tuned as England Dan and John Ford Coley’s worlds are about to be turned upside down.
This is a breath of fresh air with Sandy Kaye. It’s a beautiful day. Thanks so much for hanging in with me.
I hope you’re enjoying the story of 70s duo England Dan and John Ford Coley. As the decade wore on, we all know now that punk music started to rear its ugly head and disco fever just exploded. The pop culture was shifting rapidly and everything began to change, especially the music.
It did, very much so. Disco completely took over. I’m fond of saying that in 1979, Love is the Answer and I think After the Love is Gone were maybe something by the Doobies, were the only songs that were in the top ten that were not disco.
Everything else, it just stomped all over everything. So again, you recognize, okay, I love to learn and I watch and I try to pick out how it’s going to end up. We had traveled with all of these groups.
Carole King, Brad, Sills and Cross, Chicago, Three Dog, all of these things and the greatest lesson I got was out of Three Dog because when they split and we were still kind of opening up for them, Corey Wells, one of the singers, got a deal on A&M. He ended up opening up for Dan and I. That’s the way it goes. So it’s a very ephemeral business.
And when you come home off the road, you don’t take a vacation. You jump in, you start writing, you continue to work because again, it’s going to go away. There’s just no way around it.
It’s going to go away. And I called it the fastest gun in the West syndrome. You’re always looking over your shoulder because there’s some new kid back here that’s going to come in, razzle and dazzle everybody and you’re going to be gone.
You’re going to be just kind of relegated to the back. And you have to come to terms with that. I mean, when Lose The Answer was going up and Dan and I were looking at it, because you’re trying to push us to disco.
I’d rather play Lithuanian punk rock than play disco. You had to know this is the end. So we said pretty much, although we had other contributing circumstances, it was like, look, if we’re going to go out, let’s go out on this thing on top.
I don’t want to be scrounging the bottom forever. I found it. So, baby.
It’s such a long. I don’t know. So in 1980, two of you finally did call it quits, didn’t you? We did.
We did. Must have been a sad day. Well, the one thing that happens to so many different groups happened to us as well.
You end up having people that have no business being in your business wedging in. And there starts to be a separation. Oh, you’re the good.
You’re the one that writes this. Oh, you’re the singer. And it starts to tear it apart.
You know, because you start. First of all, you’ve been with one another all these years. You’re a little bit tired.
And so when you’ve got other people that are doing things of that nature, you’re going to get swept up in it somehow. There’s a rule. You know, if you’re in a band, especially.
Keep your wives, your girlfriends, your boyfriends and your husbands out of your business. Rule number two. Keep your ignorant wives and girlfriends and ignorant boyfriends and husbands out of your business.
Rule number three. Keep your stupid, ignorant, don’t know anything, wives and girlfriends. Because it’s like, how many groups have you seen that happens? They get involved in places where they shouldn’t be.
Yeah. So what happened to you then? You took a bit of time off or you started writing for a few movies? I went with two girls, two sisters. And so we did an album on A&M.
It was called Mr. Kelly and John Ford Coleman. And you think you could love me again. I’d like to see you come back to me.
I’d like to see you come back to me. I’d like to see our love the way it used to be. Just like a happy ending from an old love story.
Everyone’s been waiting to see. And I’d like to see you come back to me. I moved on from that into putting some songs in films.
At one point, I got so sick and tired of the music industry. I said, I’m done. And I actually went to work in the courts in Los Angeles, California, in child abuse.
And the way that I got back into music was I had a guy call me from one of the companies that administered my music. And he said, John, are you in New York? And I said, no. And he says, have you been in New York recently? And I said, no.
And he said, have you been there in the last six months? I said, OK, I told you no twice. How many times do I have to say no? And he says, well, you got a call. He said, there’s a guy in New York that is going around saying that he’s shooting.
He’s doing radio. He’s doing television. He’s doing all this kind of stuff.
At that particular time, I’m a cowboy. I was working horses. And I had the little ranch and stuff.
And I said, yeah, well, he wants to be me. Tell him to come on out here and watch the kids. I got about 60 bells of hay to unload.
Because I just laughed at it. We’ll come to find out it was a real deal. And I ended up having to prove who I was.
I went on radio and television. I would do a radio show. And they would say, can you hold for a minute? And they would call somebody and go, is he supposed to be calling in? Is this the real one? And so then I would talk to them.
And one guy said, well, how do I know you’re the real John Ford Kohler? And I said, this guy is in New York, right? Saying he’s from New York. I said, have you ever heard any Texan sound like they’re anywhere above the Mason Dixon line? He was like, okay. So at that point, it just kind of took off again from there.
Wow. And did you ever find out who he was? Yeah, same as Bruce Stelzer. I put him in jail for a year.
Because, again, the thing that I was more concerned about than anything else is, first of all, he’s given all these ludicrous stories about the songs that he wrote, you know, that were songs that I had written or Dan and I had written together. And this accent was just from New York, you know. Why was he doing this? The way the story that I got is that somebody told him at a karaoke bar when he got up to sing that he sounded like John Ford Kohler.
And then he became John Ford Kohler. Wow. And then I told Dan, I said, man, that’s happened two times to me.
And Dan said, no, that’s the third time this happened. Somebody said, remember down in Texas when we were in FOB? And I went, oh, I forgot about that guy. So it’s like, why pick me? Right.
You got back into music? I got back into music and have been doing that full time ever since. It’s kind of gratifying because, again, you don’t stop doing it. A lot of people think that when you’re out of the limelight, more or less, you’re pretty much done with it and not involved.
It’s a lot like being in the mob. We all take a blood oath or something. You were mine in your life and I was blind in mine.
Had a strange sensation, darling, that’s when I knew that it’s sad to belong to someone else when the right one comes along. Yes, it’s sad to belong to someone else when the right one comes along. Oh, I wake up in the night and I reach beside me hoping you will be there.
But instead I find someone who believed in me when I said I’d always care. Oh, it’s sad to belong to someone else when the right one comes along. Yes, it’s sad to belong to someone else when the right one comes along.
So I live my life in a dream world for the rest of my days. Just you and me walking hand in hand in a wishful memory. Oh, I guess that’s all that it could ever be.
John Ford Coley, you have also penned a book about your time in the industry called Backstage Pass, haven’t you? It’s very Mark Twain-ish because, again, I love telling stories. I’m a Texas boy and I like funny stories. So the book is not about drug, sex, and rock and roll.
It’s just about all the ridiculous things that would go on on a continual basis. One of my favorite stories in the book was when you play in a band, you’ve got the same players all the time. So when you get on the road with those players, within 20 minutes, every joke has been told that they’ve gotten in the time.
Every fashion deal is just boring. And I tell people none of them can talk about nuclear fusion or alternative medicine like I like to talk about. And so in films, you have day players.
So they’ve got two days, three days. They come in, they do their stuff, they’re gone. A lot of times you’re not even there when the principals are there.
But in this first film I was in, Scenes from a Gold Mine, I had learned to play the drums. Timothy B. Schmidt was the bass player in the band. So the girl that is in the band is getting fired.
She doesn’t know it. She comes in, she pisses a hissy fit, just kind of goes crazy. Well, that young girl was Pamela Springsteen.
It was Bruce’s younger sister. When Pam came in, she had two days’ worth of work. She and I hit it off like we were cloned at the hip, like we were brother and sister.
And so then she’s going, John, I’m really working hard. I’m trying to get out from under Bruce’s shadow. I’m going to classes.
I’m studying. I’m becoming as believable as I possibly can. I’m going, Pam, don’t worry, man.
You know, it’s all networking. You’re going to get it. Just hang in there, right? The next day she comes in, sees me.
Her last day, runs over to me, grabs me by the arm. She goes, John, she said, I talked to my brother Bruce last night. He knows who you are.
Said he loves your music. Said he’d love to get together with you sometime. You guys can write or play, maybe even go on the road.
And for me to give you his telephone number and give him a call. I’m kind of dumbstruck. And I went, really? And she looks at me, she goes, no, I was just acting.
But tell me, did you believe me? Oh, my God. It’s stories like this, you know, that happen all the time. And I just pick up on the funny stuff.
That’s awesome. John Ford Colley, what an absolute delight to chat with you today. I thank you so much for your time.
Great to catch up. Nice talking to you. What a lovely man he is.
Who knew? And if you’ve been wondering whatever happened to England Dan, sadly he passed away in 2009 of mantle cell lymphoma. Another talented musician taken way too soon. I hope you’ve enjoyed the show and will join me same time next week to hear from another sensational guest.
Until we meet again, have a great week, won’t you? Have fun and do take care. I’ll see you then. Bye now.
It’s a beautiful day. You’ve been listening to A Breath of Fresh Air with Sandy Kaye. Beautiful day.
Oh, baby, any day that you’re gone away. It’s a beautiful day.