Ray
Iodice
At
the tender age of 9, I asked my parents to buy me a guitar and pay for
lessons. They said if I bought the guitar, they would pay for the lessons.
It took me weeks of paper route money, but I finally saved the huge
cost for that Gibson guitar of $30! (Money went a lot further in 1950’s
and 1960’s!) I started playing in bands when I was about 13 years
old. By the time I reached high school, the British invasion by the
Beatles and other English groups had reached fever levels and the local
bands changed from primarily playing music, like Dick Dale and the Ventures,
to playing music and singing. I must admit, I enjoyed both playing and
singing.
I
eventually met Gerry, Paul, Kenny and Mike, and we made the Good Feelins
come alive. The Good Feelins was the best group I had ever experienced.
It was a unique group as we all had a contribution to make, and we all
were part of our unique sound and live performance. I have many fond
memories of the Good Feelins performing with some of the biggest groups
in the country, including the Rolling Stones and the Animals, and signing
the recording contract with Liberty Records. Unfortunately, the Viet
Nam War came to life, and the Good Feelins broke up. I continued in
college and, until my graduation, continued to play as a musician, but
only as a replacement, as I never joined another group. I then entered
the far less exciting world of finance.
After
40 years when the Good Feelins finally got together again and reentered
the recording studio, not only did the music flow as if we had never
stopped playing together, so did the personal interactions. We may be
older, but the magic is still there!