The three gentlemen on the left are the original members of Small Talk. This picture was taken at the Silver Dollar Saloon sometime in 1981. Small Talk is opening up for Grinderswitch. I was the sound engineer at The SDS for about 3 years and sat in with Small Talk whenever I could. In this shot we are probably playing "Traveling Man" or perhaps "Lay Around the Shanty Mama & Put a Good Buzz On."

There is a lot of cool stuff in this photo.

• the stage monitors - These were part of Scott Berry (the co-owner of the Silver Dollar along with Frank Boulton who now owns the LI Ducks and many other fun enterprises) They were originally purchased by Otter Creek, Scott's former band. The Jim Small Band eventually bought these from Scott and we used them for the next 20 years. The four cabinets clipped together in pairs and had a rubberized outer coating. They were small, portable and they sounded pretty good. Another benefit was that once they were clipped together, you could literally throw them into the back of the truck.
• Larry Galletta is playing a Fender Tele Bass into a "Berry" cool bass rig. In between Larry and Phil, at about knee level is a large, rack-mountable amp with two large VU meters on the front. This was a Macintosh amplifier (not related to the computer company). These amps were legendary for their power. This was part of the bass rig for Grinderswitch's bass player, Joe Dan Petty. Now Joe Dan was a former roadie for the Allman Brothers. On the back cover of the Live at the Fillmore East album, Joe Dan is the one in front with the beady eyes, receding hairline and 16 oz. Budweiser in his hand. The bass rig had belonged to Berry Oakley, bassist with the Allman Brothers and one of my favorite bass players. It was given to Joe Dan upon the untimely demise of Mr. Oakley in a motorcycle accident. During the afternoon, I did plug my bass into Berry's amp and play Les Brés in A Minor, really loud. It was a rush.
• Phil's Gretch acoustic guitar is plugged into a Barcus Berry preamp (that little black box on the floor at the edge of the stage in front of Phil. Phil is, of course, wearing his trademark white fedora.
• Jim's hair is really long and is pulled back into a pony tail. He is huffing into a harmonica attached to one of those Bob-Dylan-things that hang around your neck. He is playing an Ovation, and his Roland Jazz Chorus amp and Fender Tele can be seen behind me. The Roland amp is right now in the room I am sitting in. It still works sometimes.
• At the right in the photo is the Hammond Organ played by Grinderswitch's Steve Miller. Just before showtime, the Leslie cabinet for this organ blew up. Rick Silecchio was in the house (probably to steal some slide guitar licks from Dru Lombar) and he repaired the Leslie with a tie-wrap, duct tape and some chewing gum.
• I am playing the clarinet. I notice I am wearing work boots. I had no car at the time and traveled everywhere on my motorcycle, 12 months a year. I am also wearing a belt that today is in my closet, a full four inches short of making it around my waist.

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