1969

Today, like most Wednesdays, I went to Dino's Capuccinos in Yellow Springs. Dino's is a really small place, so when I arrived I sat at a table with a 50-something guy I kinda know. I've only ever had one real conversation with him (several months ago), but we say hi to each other every week and we sometimes talk for a few minutes.

So we were talking about drums and drumming when he said something about being in the Woodstock movie. After some clarification, I realized he meant he was a performer at Woodstock. Elaborating, he then told me he was the drummer for Country Joe and the Fish.

So I said, "Are you serious?"

Long story short... He was serious. So I Googled his name (Greg "Duke" Dewey) as soon as I got home, and I found out right away that he is exactly who he claims to be. But there's a lot more to it than that. This dude was a big part of the San Francisco scene of the 1960s. He was right in there with the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and all that shit.

Originally from Yellow Springs, he was in a band called Mad River. The band moved from Yellow Springs to San Francisco in 1967, got pretty well known, and recorded two albums for Capitol Records. They were real tight with a writer/poet named Richard Brautigan. That's about as much as I've read so far.

Kinda weird, huh.

Before he left, Greg told me he's been dying to find out why I've been bringing a camcorder with me to Dino's the last several weeks and taking lots of notes on the tapes I watch. Realizing I'd never told him about Aimless, I wrote down the URL for him.

So Greg, if you're reading this, welcome to my world. I'll try to remember to bring that snare drum next time I go to Yellow Springs, but you might want to remind me, say about Tuesday night.

Aimless