Table of Contents
Thanks: Carol, Heidi, Road Manager Mike, Mitch Bury of Adams Mass.
For Ginger, always
JOE COLE 04.10.61 - 12.19.91
APRIL 2006
The first to start and the last to quit, the loser runs longest but unknown. Here I am setting up for the last one. I am nothing but my will.
04-01-06 LA CA: I should explain what this story is all about. I can only tell you about it up to a certain point because I dont know how its going to end. I can tell you how it started though:
Several months ago, Chris Haskett (old pal from DC & guitar player in the Rollins Band) and I started e-mailing back and forth about doing some music together. It had been a long time since we had worked together. I was enthusiastic. I didnt have anyone to play with and wanted to do something. You can get as strange as you want with Chris and hes completely cool with it.
Whenever I was in NYC, where he lives, we would get together and talk about what kind of stuff we wanted to do. Months went by and we had not really gotten a lot happening. Schedules and everything else seemed to keep the project on a back burner.
At one point Chris asked what I thought about playing with what we call the other two, who are Melvin Gibbs and Sim Cain. I liked the idea but it comes with baggage. When you have played with people for a decade and then not played with them for almost that long, theres no way theres not stuff to deal with. We had parted ways as a band in the autumn of 1997 in Osaka, Japan. At that time I thought we had come to the end of what we could do together as a band and I didnt know if that had changed. I didnt know why it would have. Our conversation would eventually stray onto other topics as theres always something to talk about with Chris, his mind is a warehouse of information. Hes quite brilliant.
A few months ago I was in NYC again and Chris said he had been talking to Melvin and did I want to get together with them and talk about music? I dont remember what I said but that night I was at Chris place and there was Melvin. I had not seen him for years. He looked the same, except for very long dreadlocks.
We talked around the topic for awhile and then Chris finally asked Melvin what he thought about playing with the two of us. He said he was into it. That surprised me and moved me a great deal.
You might be wondering why theres been no mention of Sim Cain. No one had talked to Sim yet as he was out in New Jersey and not in the neighborhood. Chris, Melvin and I talked about Sim and then it sounded like reunion and everyone kind of backed off and the topic changed.
At some point, I am not sure exactly when, Chris made contact with Sim and asked if he would be interested in jamming with him and Melvin on some old songs. Sim said ok and Chris booked time.
I eagerly waited to hear from Chris about how it went. He got back to me and said it sounded pretty good and that everyones mood was great. He asked what I thought the next move should be. I thought they should practice a little more and see if it still felt good to them and if it did, I would go in there and jam with them. After that we could see how it was and go from there.
In a few months, I had gone from thinking it would be a bad idea to a good one and thinking about it all the time. So, to get to the point, the men worked on many songs and got them together. On 02- 17-06, I walked into Ultra Sound on 30th Street for band practice. This would be the first time these four people were in the same room since late 1997. I wasnt nervous. I was actually looking forward to it. These guys are some of the finest people I have ever met.
I finally figured out what room we were booked into as no one there seemed to want to help me. Melvin and Chris were there. Sim was out getting some sticks and would return in a moment. I had not seen Sim since Osaka, 1997.
Then Sim Cain walked in and we hugged. I was so happy to see him. I have known him for 20 years. He sat down behind the drums and then all the old jokes started up again and it was as if I had not been away from these guys at all. It was very strange.
I had my mic with me. I plugged in and looked at the list of songs they had ready to play. I asked if they wanted to do Volume 4. Sim just started counting in and all of a sudden we were playing. We played for almost three hours. At one point, we all sat down and I asked them what they thought. Everyone said it was feeling good. I then asked if we were really doing this. I said I am in if they are in and willing to do what it takes to really kill it. All agreed. It was on. There was one detail we had not worked out yetour soundman and very important member Theo Van Rock, the Low End Ranger. Chris said hed put in the call and see what he said.
We left practice promising to keep in touch and to start developing a schedule that would hopefully have us in fighting shape by August.
Jetlag has its teeth in me. More tomorrow.
04-02-06 LA CA: 1946 hrs. So, like I was saying, we left it there. The guys would keep practicing and I would get back to them as soon as I could. Chris got in touch days later and said he had talked to Theo and reported that he sounded good but was slightly vague and would not commit. Theo said he would talk to me when I got to Amsterdam in a few weeks. Thats Theo. Hes going to do what he says hes going to do. If thats what he said, you can just stop asking about it. Once he says it, it stays said, if you know what I mean. I promised to get back to the others after I had met with Theo.
On March 21st, I did a show at the Paradiso in Amsterdam Holland. This is the venue where I turned 22. I hit stage and sitting right in front of me, dead center, was Theo. We just grinned at each other and then I got to work. After the show, he and I talked for about an hour. He wanted to hear it from me, see me say it. Thats Theo. I told him it was the real thing or I wouldnt be doing it. I said it was going to be great and everyone was in but him. He said he was in. I told him I would keep in touch.
I dont know how many bands count the soundman as a member of the band but in this one we do. The Rollins Band is five people. Theo is as much a part of the sound as any of us. I didnt want to announce the thing without knowing if he was in or out. I was happy he was in because to me, it wouldnt be the thing without him. It would just be a thing. A good thing but not the thing.
After he left, I wrote all the others: You have a FOH sound man. His name is Theo Van Rock. Hes in 100%. Get ready for the return of the Low End Ranger, motherfuckers. So, that was it, we were back.
Later on as we were heading to Belgia (I have renamed Belgium), Road Manager Mike and I started planning potential tour ideas and schedules. The two of us have spent hours all over the world plotting our next move as the miles pass underneath the bus wheels.
A few nights later, we were in London talking to Paul Boswell, who has been booking me since Black Flag. He was happy about the news and promised to start looking around to see what interest, if any, there would be.
I dont know if anyone will care about us getting together to play. I announced it on my site the other day and got a few happy letters. Management has been putting the word out to people and apparently theres interest with promoters and venues. I am going to enjoy the next four months.
