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Chapter 19
If
were not performing
in Long Beach
on August 29, 2021,
this page would not exist
I was offered a gift ticket
but I could not have
fully enjoyed the show
without the presence
of my better half
So I beseech Pat Sayjack
and Banana White
to spin the wheel of Time
and land on the date
of March 18, 1966
with two of my relatives
who lived outside of
Sometime during the week
leading up to
that concert,
my Mother found
a small manila envelope
which contained
what her son referred to
as "flavored foliage"
When she uttered
the immortal words
I am glad it was
grass and not pot,
everyone else in
our house laughed,
including my
9-year-old sister
My mother sought advice
from her sister
who told her
it was possible for Paul
to have fun
without being with
his "hippy" friends
I don't know if
my Aunt Jean
paid for the tickets
or my parents did
But the result was
seeing the Beach Boys
and their opening act
—the Lovin' Spoonful—
at Fordham University
in the Bronx
where my cousin Robert
was a student
I was there with
Aunt Jean
and my cousin Lorraine,
who would become
the most important girl
for the first third
of my life
The grand mass
of marvelous memories
of that concert
cannot be measured,
despite the absence
of Brian Wilson
I bought a concert t-shirt
for Robert,
who chauffeured us
to and from the concert
On the ride home,
I asked Aunt Jean
if she was now
a Beach Boys fan:
I will be
if you prefer me
that way
But that Zal Yanofsky fella'
sure needed a haircut
He was the lead guitarist
of the Lovin' Spoonful
and the big shadow
of his thick shoulder-length
locks on the white wall
behind the stage
is as tangible to me
today as it was
fifty years ago
Three months
after the concert,
The Oliverio family
was in Rocky Point,
our summer home
We were eating a traditional
Sunday morning
home-made Waffle breakfast
when CALIFORNIA GIRLS
started playing
on Paul Oliverio's
transistor radio
I turned up the volume
full-blast and had the audacity
to sing along
while Lynda and Judi
[as if on cue]
started dancing like go-go girls
Sam and Grace
just sat there eating waffles
but they did hold hands
until the song ended
I wish they all could be
California Girls
Oliverios
***
The next chapter
is here
The first chapters
of this autobiography
are there
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