Fresh Squeezed headed for the west coast of Florida where they kept pretty busy playing in the Tampa and Bradenton area right outside of St. Petersburg. The club in Bradenton I have to admit had the most original (and appropriate) name of all the clubs the band had played in (with the exception of “The Ruins”, still my favorite). It was known as “Stumble In and Fall Out” and most of the people acted as if that was an order they had to follow. And they followed it well. It was always fun sitting right in the middle of the crowd, shoulder to shoulder trying to work the sound board. But during the day when we had time off we would hit the Gulf of Mexico and it was absolutely beautiful, so different than the east coast of Florida. And at this time, this little area was like a well kept secret and had not began to expand.

Of course the band went over great, and they had been together about a year now, playing more nights than not, and had gotten really tight, music wise. But for various reasons (most having to do with the stress being on the road can have on a band) things were beginning to loosen up as far as the band members, and tension was growing. I have to admit I really didn’t see it coming, but the end of Fresh Squeezed wasn’t far away. They played their last gig at Marshall’s (across the street from Beach Shack in Cocoa Beach) in August of 1974. It was a sad time for everyone, because they had been leading a life together that kept them closer than most brothers, and even though there was tension, there was still a special bond and caring between everyone. I could never imagine these guys doing anything other than what they were doing at that very moment, and then came the fear of never seeing them again. But to this day I remain close to all of them, and the years we were parted seemed to never have existed, and we always seem to know what everybody was up to even though we were so scattered apart. And everyone knew that John could always be found by going to the Lane Homestead where just about every musician of that time jammed and held band practice. As Charley Plankey said, the Lane’s house was anything but typical.

So we all parted. But there really is a good side to everything. Bill and Dave were able to go in a direction that took them to the Henry Paul Band, where someone else carried their equipment which said “you’re on your way”, a sign you were on that ladder they had worked so hard to climb. They played with and meet so many of the greats (because they themselves were very talented and on the same level, and was finally recognized as being so). John returned to college and received his Ph.D in physics, so that at this very moment he is working with NASA preparing the shuttle for launch, and researching things such as protecting the astronauts from radiation, not if, but when we’ll go to Mars. And along with each and every member of the band his love for music was kept in tact. And it wasn’t by any means the end of these three guys friendship. They continued to play together at different times, and John and Bill still play together today, with a reputation as being one of the best and tightest rythmn sections many people have heard. One that started 40 years ago. And of course Jack Sullivan and Roy Zito remain among our friends, and Jack even sits in on drums when one of the bands find themselves in a bind for a drummer, as well as having his own band “The Soul Shakers”. Once again I was devastated feeling that I would never be with Dave and Bill again. But this was only the end of one very important time in our lives and friendships, and the beginning of so much to come in the future. These guys were meant to be just what they are, life long friends and fellow musicians, and this was no where near the end. And maybe this would be a good place to take everyone back to the most important beginning, when Dave, Bill and John, along with so many others first came together, long before “Smiling Sideways”, and so many lives would be shaped including my own.

I was listening to music today, music of my era, which is now classified as “the classics”, which “classic” they are. But while these songs were playing it was also taking me back to a place where I was as young as my mind still seems to think I am. The songs brought out every emotion that I can possibly feel, and there isn’t one which doesn’t bring back a memory, a place, person, or event in my life, all of them seeming as important today as they were 35 to 40 years ago. These events and people composing my memories have made my life, and each song was there as a part of it all.

Thanks to modern technology I can act as my own disc jockey, listening to exactly what I want, when I want. Among the list of songs I had put together of course included “Cream”. And naturally there is a “Cream” song for Dave Fiester. This particular song belongs to a very, very young Dave who as a 14 year old just beginning to learn to play the wah-wah peddle, became completely engrossed with “White Room”. It’s always so hard to imagine Dave not knowing any part or anything having to do with a guitar, but like everyone else he had to start somewhere. One particular day he put “White Room” on his stereo and played it over and over and over again, raving the whole time about what a great song it was, and working away on his wah-wah. He was absolutely obsessed. I’m sure most, if not all of you know that after Dave reached adulthood, became well known and very well respected as a musician, there were many times an interview of him would appear in the papers, or magazines such as Brevard Live (many I have managed to save over the years). He would always speak of the tremendous influence Muddy Waters “I’m A Man” had on him, even as a young teenager, but there was also the Dave who thought that “White Room” was the greatest song he had ever heard. would form a band known as “Another Mother For Peace” consisting of Bill Hoffman, John Lane, Fred Donaldson, and Jim Nash. The name of the band was derived from a bumper sticker Bill had strung across his bass drum, published by a Beverly Hills group of mothers who called their organization “Another Mother For Peace”. Just as it sounds it was a bumper sticker speaking out against the Vietnam war. Jim Nash who was the lead guitarist would move to Canada to avoid the draft, and Dave Fiester would take his place, and the band’s name would be changed to “Sun”.

At this time there were two other very young musicians extremely influenced by Cream. Bill Hoffman (a.k.a. Ginger Baker) and John Lane (a.k.a. Jack Bruce), and over the years nothing changed. They would and still do take any chance to break out into “Politician”, “Sunshine of Your Love”, “I Feel Free”, “I’m So Glad”, etc. And I can’t forget Fred “Star” Donaldson (who would later become the lead guitarist of a nationally known group “Jo Jo Gunne”) who could mimic Eric Clapton note for note. It was Fred who first introduced John and Bill to “Fresh Cream” even though Bill just having moved to the area from California brought with him unheard of groups such as The Doors, Mothers of Invention, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Country Joe and the Fish….. But they would form a band known as “Another Mother For Peace”
consisting of Bill Hoffman, John Lane, Fred Donaldson, and Jim Nash. The name of the band was derived from a bumper sticker Bill had strung across his bass drum, published by a Beverly Hills group of mothers who called their organization “Another Mother For Peace”. Just as it sounds it was a bumper sticker speaking out against the Vietnam war. Jim Nash who was the lead guitarist would move to Canada to avoid the draft, and Dave Fiester would take his place, and the band’s name would be changed to “Sun”.