The Paupers Lakewood, Ohio 1965-1967        I was in 6th grade in Lakewood, Ohio when the Beatles sang on Ed's show and my very cool sister (now the famous poet Gail Ghetia Bellamy) attended their first American tour show in Cleveland's Music Hall. I promptly begged my parents for a guitar...and got a Sears Silvertone acoustic. (Uh, I was thinking maybe Vox or Rick, you guys.) My first band cranked up to 10 in 1965 when I met my lifelong friend John in 7th grade. Music saved me from being just another acne-devastated nobody. We played school dances at Horace Mann Jr. High School and other local "venues." The Paupers even ventured into a few private parties and played a nasty-ass place my station-wagon driving dad described as a "road house" with a streetwise snort. (The drunks loved us!) We walked away from our best paying gigs with about $135 in cash, as I recall. Which we used mostly to burn through a long string of vintage instruments we should have NEVER traded away. On the upside, we also stuck with music in the long haul. The Paupers played mostly junk Kent guitars, before graduating to a Goya pushbutton solid body (mine) a Hagstrom electric 12-string (John's), and a Gibson SG that we "tuned down" and used as a bass. Our drummer played...what else...a Ludwig blue sparkle kit. We sang Beatles-influenced harmony through EV 664s (still got 'em!) running into a Bogen "PA" amp (it had a "PHONO" output, too) and our amps were the tube-fired stuff kids drool over today at vintage shows...a Vox (unknown Model) a Gibson Falcon and my much-hated-at-the-time Searsburger Silvertone with the 6 x 10 cab.   Personnel: John Brite - Guitar/Vocals George Ghetia - Guitar/Vocals Greg Partalis - Bass/Vocals Cam Morris - Percussion Influences: Beatles, Stones, Dylan, Byrds, Beach Boys Setlist Sample: Ruby Tuesday, Hang On Sloopy, Get Offa My Cloud Equipment: Vox, Gibson, EV, Silvertone, Hagstrom, Goya, Kent, Ludwig Rehearsal Space: John's basement, Cam's basement, Greg's basement Band Vehicles: Parents' Wagons (not old enough to drive) Fashion Statement: "Stereo" t-shirts, half black & half white, split vertically. Later Hopsack CPO jackets in green...yum Best Gig: The Roadhouse - Real Drunks! Gig from Hell!: Lakewood Methodist Church - had to work sans drummer Last Gig: Unknown Comments: Top photo info: The Paupers at the Lakewood, Ohio YMCA Battle of the Bands in 1966: (left to right) Greg Partalis, vocals and "bass" on tuned-down Gibson SG and Guild amp; John Brite, vocals and lead guitar on Hagstrom 12-string through Gibson Falcon amp, Charles A. "Cam" Morris, drums on Ludwig three-piece blue sparkle kit and George Ghetia, vocals and rhythm guitar on Kent soldibody through Sivlertone "6x10" amp. Gotta love those drapes. Thanks to my little sister Lauriue and her friend stuffing the ballot box, the Paupers "won" the event. (George still owns the Electrovoice 664 mics and Atlas stands in the photo and they work great!)    Where are they now? George, Norman Oklahoma - writer/musician, John, San Francisco - artist/musician, Cam - (lost touch), Greg - Atlanta, GA. George Ghetia today, and with his blues trio Dog Hill Check out their website at: http://www.doghillband.com/index.asp from George's Bio: I recently pulled the plug on my career in ad agency writing and management to return to freelancing copy and playing bass and singing in a blues trio. My 18-year old son is a serious jazz guitar student and my 16-year old daughter plays electric bass. On a more respectable note, she's headed to Chicago this week as a violinist (I gave her my 200 year old Italian axe for Christmas last year) in her school orchestra competition. Both of my kids have been involved in a project here their instructors call " Rock Clinic." It groups instrumental and voice students with like interests in small ensembles directed by an instructor. The teacher walks them through the mechanics of choosing material, running rehearsals, and ultimately performing at a local University of Oklahoma campus club in a Rock Clinic recital. I gig with my son's guitar teacher as the bassist in a pick-up band of accomplished musicians (of which I'm by far the least accomplished) on a regular basis...playing some of the same Dylan, Byrds, Stones and Beatles tunes I learned in the garage. I also get a chance to perform my original tunes and some truly first-rate material written by my amazing friends. My new blues trio, Dog Hill, feeds my sanity by relieving the pressure of deadlines and the sameness of the business writing world. It also lets me feel like I'm doing something important with my life, besides simply making money. My sister saved some 1965 photos of my band,The Paupers, taking top honors at the Lakewood, Ohio YMCA Battle of the Bands the year I turned 14. (I'm the one with the acne.) I also saved some of our old business cards. My close friend and Paupers co-founder John Brite moved to California in the late '70s and still gigs regularly in the Bay Area. My poem, "The Way They Do It In West Virginia" (posted below) recalls my days in a Cleveland-Based band called Pine Creek. I joined that band after graduating from Ohio University with my degree in English. You can find my account of the Dog Hill band in the text I wrote for our website: http://www.doghillband.com/index.asp I'm the fat guy in the middle -- without acne! -Geo. P.S. I finally got that '67 Rick, by the way. My son thinks I'm crazy...After a decade or more as its loving custodian, I traded it for a little cash and a killer Hughes & Kettner bass cabinet at the Dallas Guitar Show a year ago. What my kid doesn't know as that the trade paid for his lunch that day...and the gas we bought to get home from Dallas! (Crazy like a fox, maybe!)   The Way They Do It In West Virginia  We billed the band as bluegrass, but had a drummer and ran digital delay on the fiddle. After a gig, we hit Floyd's Diner at 2 a.m.  With the fry vat cool, it was hash browns all around. But, I always ordered a burger in counterpoint to all those eggs with toast.  One Saturday back in junior high, Jon and I first met Floyd. Sitting at his counter, we decided he flipped the world's best burgers.  "Lookie here, gents," Floyd sang, "Here's the way we do it back in old West Virginia." Then, he'd play that spatula like my violin:  Flip, pop, press to degrease. Place the buns. Off the grill, onto a towel. Back to the grill. Deal the cheese. Buns to plates. Add a dill.  Floyd kept after it as long as orders came in, just the way Jon would fret until his fingers ran red with his own blood. It's called love.  If he hadn't run out on his wife and kids, I guess we might have found a hero in Floyd. As it was, Lennon & McCartney got the job.  But Floyd stood faithfully by his grill, while we chased our dreams through Cleveland's bars - until a wrecking ball broke the spell. - George Ghetia     Information contributed by George A. Ghetia gghetia@cox.net

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