Fairview
Once upon a time, there was a wonderful, magical piece of the American
Dream called Fairview. It was inhabited by beautiful people who
referred to themselves as the Fairview Gang. The members of the
Gang grew up together, and shared many experiences and childhood
memories. They shared growing up in the sixties and
seventies. They played army, and touch football in the street,
and kickball. They walked to school together. They went to
each other's houses, and would play Risk, Stratego, Ping-Pong,
and Pool. They would invent games played in basements full of
junk, games played with badminton rackets and ping pong balls.
They would play baseball in the backyard, using a wooden bat and rubber
ball. Between the tree and the clothesline would be a triple, and
beyond the fence would be a double, unless it went past the swingset
and then it was a home run.
The inhabitants of Fairview loved to sing and dance and play
music. There was the man with a thousand harmonicas, who could
listen to any song and immediately play it from memory. There
were the band kids, who gamely toted their instruments on the long walk
to school every day. There were the kids who obtained their
musical educations on the accordion, or, as they called it, the squeeze
box from hell. There were the kids who taught each other how to
play the guitar, and eagerly exchanged the latest chords and licks they
had learned. They would form bands, with names like The Glass
Menagerie, The Limit of Venetian Evil, and others. There were
rival bands, and each would think they were the best, and make fun of
the other, but in the end learned from each other.
As the children of Fairview grew up, they expanded their horizons,
visiting other places and making new friends. The Fairview Gang
grew to include many who didn't live in Fairview. The only
qualification for being a member was to hang out together, united by a
bond of friendship and music. There was Paul, a band kid who
played the drums, and who had to lug his snare drum to school
every morning. There was Pat, who always knew the latest chords
on guitar. There was Harvey, who was the first in the Gang to get
a real electric guitar, a Silvertone with a case with a built-in
amplifier. There was Dave, whose first guitar was a bass guitar
bigger than he was. There was Chuck, a multi-talented musician
who could sing, play guitar, *and* play the drums, sometimes at the
same time. There was Mike, Chuck's older brother, a guitar player
who was just one step below Clapton to our ears. There was Jim,
whose Dad gave him his old acoustic guitar and outfitted it with
pickups. Jim was the lead singer, until the band acquired
sufficient amplification that the singer could be heard over the
guitars. There was Mike (another one), who couldn't play or sing
a lick but was nevertheless a member of the Gang. There was
Jerry, who also couldn't play but was very handy at building things
like strobe lights. There was Ronnie, one of the pioneers of
music in Fairview, and one of the few who actually owned a
microphone. There was Ricky, whose only musical talent was that
he could recite the complete narrative to Alice's Restaurant from
memory.
This core group comprised the Fairview Gang, although nowadays I like
to think of all of the inhabitants, neighbors, and friends in Fairview
as members of the Gang. Fairview was a great place to grow up,
and the sixties was a great time to grow up. Best of all was the
people. Here's to the entire Gang, wherever you may be.