Talkin About My Generation!

There were a three critical days in my life that truly defined what I was going to do with the rest of my life.

1-Elvis on Ed Sullivan 1956

2-The Beatles on Ed Sullivan 1964

3-A Hard Day’s Night 1964

These three momentous occasions changed not only my life, but the lives of many professional musicians who will be relating stories on this page.

I do hope you like it!

Since my father was a musician it wasn’t a matter of if I wanted to be involved in music but WHEN. In 1968 I went to my first rock concert- at the Filmore East. I was 14 years old. The place was filled with pot smoke, the lights and projections were totally psychedelic and overwhelming; I had never seen ANYTHING like this before in my life. As you know, the Fillmore was famous for having 3 acts a night of almost any genre on the same bill. This particular night the “Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation” with a very young Aynsley Dunbar on drums was the opener. They were followed by “Spirit” with Randy California. The headliners “Creedence Clearwater Revival.” It was a life-changing moment for a 14 year old kid. I knew then and there that I would be a musician. I never looked back on that decision. I visited the Fillmore many times before it closed, sometimes skipping school to do so, just to hang out in the East Village. I saw Emerson, Lake and Palmer there, Small Faces with Rod Stewart, Black Sabbath with Ozzy, Edgar Winter’s White Trash and many others. I would never have known about some of the bands that played there had it not been for Bill Graham’s genius- Curved Air (with Stewart Copland), The Flock (with Jerry Goodman on violin)…etc. There was never a more creative entrepreneur than bill Graham. Fortunately I got to meet him a couple of times after I myself became a professional bass player and did gigs for his agency. Many have tried to copy his methods, no one has succeeded. It was a time and place that will never exist again.   Mike Visceglia is the bassist for Suzanne Vega. Check out his website at www.mikevisceglia.com