America the Beautiful

I arrived in America in 1972. I love this country. It’s the most beautiful place to live in, and I admit that I’ve fallen hopelessly in love with everyone who lives here. La and I have now traveled to 48 States in the course of our career, and we have never yet met a stranger. And we’re so glad!

When I first arrived in the US, I flew to Toronto (cheapest flight I could find) and then hopped a Greyhound bus across the border to Boston. I was young and naive without much money, and met a young couple whom I hitched a ride from after arriving in Massachusetts. That evening we went to a party outside Boston, where I met a ton of really fine people. The couple invited me back to stay with them. I stayed with them for a couple of days, before I headed south to Mississippi. to start my epic journey through America. Folks took me in, without question, giving me food and shelter for the night. And that.. was the America I found, and grew to love.

I bought a “go anywhere” Greyhound bus ticket. It was good for 3 months so, for the next 90 days, I traveled everywhere. To save on hotels I’d arrive in,say Los Angeles, spend all day there hanging out then find a bus leaving LA around 11.30 pm and head for a city roughly 8 hours away. That way, I could sleep all night on the bus. I found cheap (hostels) places if I wanted to stay somewhere for a few days, and I was deliciously happy being a troubadour. I owned a back pack and a beat up guitar which I used every day in the cities I landed in, by busking in subways and acoustically friendly places. I always made enough to buy a couple of meals, but the thing I liked the most was meeting the people. EXCEPT for one time.

I was busking (street performing) in San Francisco at the entrance to a walkway that allowed pedestrians to walk beneath a busy street. I had spied out that spot because there was a lot of foot traffic. It was a perfect location because I was also able to see across the street so that I could boogie if the law started heading my way to close me down (they enforced busking laws quite strongly). It was lunchtime on a busy Thursday and business was brisk, so I lost focus for a few minutes. Suddenly a plain clothes officer flashed a badge in my face. OMG I figured I’d be on the next plane home! Instead of arresting me he was actually very polite. He explained that a bank right over the street had just been robbed. He asked if I’d seen anything suspicious. I’m a pretty straight up guy and the fact is, I’d seen nothing. In fact, I was so wrapped up in busking that I don’t think I’d have noticed if a herd of elephants stampeded past. So, I just told him the truth, and told him I hadn’t seen anything. He appeared to be satisfied, and gave me a bit of a lecture about busking without a permit, and then he wandered away. I then carried on busking for about another hour or so, until much to my surprise 2 plain clothes police men approached me, and noticed I had a clear view of the banks entrance from where I stood. They introduced themselves to me and showed me their badges. After a couple of minutes, I mentioned to them that I had told the other officer what I had seen (nothing) and given him my particulars. Both men suddenly went very quiet, and asked me what the officer looked like. I have a pretty good memory for detail and described him down to the suit he was wearing, at which point both officers became very serious and asked me if I would accompany them downtown. “Christ,” I said to myself “I’m being arrested now.” So I packed up my guitar and they led me to their squad car and drove me down to police headquarters. It was as if I was suddenly in a bad episode of Dragnet !

They took me to HQ and set me up with a police artist who drew a remarkable likeness of the 1st police officer. Obviously you’re getting the gist of the story now, right ? Turns out that the 2 police men were the official investigators of this bank robbery, and that the first “police man” was in fact a fraud and the suspect of the robbery who was making sure that if I’d seen a robbery in progress, would have eliminated me just to be certain. In a weird twist of fate I apparently gave such a good description of the guy, that he was picked up a few days later. Oh what a strange and interesting life all of us artists have led? But I wouldn’t change anything about it.

One night I slept on a park bench, and at 2 in the morning was arrested for vagrancy. I got on well with the nice cops who arrested me. The following day, they brought me coffee and doughnuts for breakfast, then drove me out of town. Aah those were the days.

Over the next few decades, I came to live here permanently. This is my home. I got married and raised a beautiful daughter with my wife and music partner Laura. In the course of our travels we’ve met thousands of really good Americans from all walks of life. We’ve met President Clinton and Secretary Clinton. We’ve met Senators, Congressmen, Plumbers,Lawyers, Electricians,Doctors,Vets,Roofers,Musicians,Artists,Old Folks,Young Folks, Teachers,Nurses, and we love them all and are so proud to call them our friends.

I love this country, and I love that no matter if you’re a Jew, a Muslim, a Hindu, an Asian, a Catholic, a Christian, an African, an Ethiopian,or you come from Timbuktu, you’re permitted to say what you want and to worship how your heart tells you to. We wrote the song FREEDOM for all the people I’ve just mentioned. FREEDOM is a song about Americans, ALL Americans. FREEDOM is a song for the whole World. It’s a song for children, for Dads, for Mums and Grandparents. It’s a song for singles, gays, plumbers, teens, electricians, lawyers, writers, students, teachers, musicians, doctors, sales associates, government workers, mayors, and presidents. FREEDOM is a song for Jews, Christians, Sikhs, Muslims, Buddhists, Jain's, Hindus and Atheists.

After the atrocities of last weekend in Charlottesville Va. where neo Nazis, Klu Klux Klan members, White Supremacists, White Nationalists and members of the Alt Right marched together in violence and hatred our faith in humanity was sorely tested. The fact that 3 innocent people were killed and 19 others injured when a young man named James Fields a 20 year old neo Nazi ran his car into a group was an unforgivable act of domestic terrorism.

I’ll always look at America as a land of opportunity, a place where love grows, where young people learn, and professors, teachers and parents pass on their wisdom to their students so that we as a people can grow stronger every day. I will always believe that this country I love so much is truly ...........America the Beautiful.