Mike Gibbins

Happy 61st to Badfinger drummer, Mike Gibbins.

Mike Gibbins

3/12/49-10/4/05

I totally love this band...







You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Mike Gibbins and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

A Deal A Day In December - Day Twelve

Here's today's deal...

The second half of the Badfinger tragedy. Seven years after Pete Ham took his own life, Tommy Evans did the same.

Tom Evans/Badfinger

11x14 Signed Open Edition Framed (approx 16x18)

Retail value: $350.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $120
+ shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day Twelve Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.


One last thing...I didn't have time to change the website, so if you still want to pick up some of the sale pieces, run don't walk. It will be coming down in the next day or two.

A Deal A Day In December - Day Seven

Oops. A little late today. Got caught up with some deadlines.

Here's today deal...

Pete Ham from Badfinger. A brilliant talent who couldn't deal with the smarmy music biz scum that killed his band. A sad story and an even sadder end to his young life. Pete Ham is forever in the 27 club.

Pete Ham/Badfinger

11x14 Signed Open Edition Framed (approx 16x18)

Retail value: $350.00

Today's A Deal A Day In December Price: $120 + shipping (free shipping in Los Angeles)

If you are interested in today's deal, email: info@cheshercat.com. Please include "Day Seven Deal" in the subject line. Include your City, State, Country, Zip in the email so we can determine shipping.

Each person who emails will be notified of their status.

If the first person doesn't submit the payment to PayPal in the allotted time, the second person will be contacted and so on and so on.

Mike Gibbins

Today is the 4th anniversary of the passing of Mike Gibbins. A sad day indeed.

In case you were born yesterday, Mike was the drummer for The Iveys who later became Badfinger.

Mike Gibbins

3/12/49-10/4/05

Most of the photographs on this blog are available to own. Please inquire via email to info@cheshercat.com. You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Mike Gibbins and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Tom Evans

Today is Tommy's 62nd birthday. For those of you not in the know, Mr. Evans was the bass player/singer/songwriter for one of the greatest bands to come out of the UK in the early '70s. In case you didn't figure it out already, the band was Badfinger.

Tom Evans
6/5/47-11/19/83

This is a very cool video that features Evans singing:



And their very poignant Ham/Evans composition, Without You:

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Tom Evans and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Pete Ham

Badfinger's Pete Ham passed away 34 years ago today, just four days before he would have turned 28. Yes, he is a member of that elite club known as Forever 27.

Pete Ham
April 27, 1947 - April 23, 1975

While his is one of the more tragic stories rock'n'roll, a story that every budding musician should know, I'd prefer to celebrate Pete Ham today. So, let's say a prayer for him and his family, then pull out your Badfinger records or CDs or MP3s and turn them up good and loud for the next five days, all the way through his 62nd birthday.

You don't have any Badfinger records? Tsk, tsk...Okay, it's never to late to turn on to Badfinger...here's are couple of great songs to get you started...and there's plenty more on youtube to keep you going...





Don't forget to check out the Singer/Songwriter's Competition...for your chance to win a $300 framed Badfinger print and me to shoot you and design your CD cover.

You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Pete Ham and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Mike Gibbins

Badfinger has possibly the most tragic story in rock'n'roll history, but today is drummer Mike Gibbins 60th birthday so I choose to celebrate.

Mike Gibbins

3/12/49-10/4/05

I finally found a video that features a decent amount of face time for Mike...



Happy Birthday, Mike!

And lots of peace and love to Ellie.



You can see lots more pictures and learn more about Mike Gibbins and the 47 other musicians in my tribute book, Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Remembering Tom Evans

25 years ago today, Tommy Evans tragically passed away at the age of 36. He was the bass player for Badfinger and co-wrote many of their hit songs with Pete Ham. The story of their rise and fall in the music industry is a truly sad and cautionary tale.

June 5, 1947 - November 19, 1983

He was a sweet and talented man...a huge loss to the music world.

This is a very cool video that features Tommy Evans on vocals:

Pete Ham Forever 27

Badfinger's Pete Ham passed away 33 years ago today, just four days before he would have turned 28. His is one of the more rock'n'roll tragic stories. But I don't want to dwell on that. I prefer to celebrate Pete Ham. His life. His music. His legacy.

Say a prayer for him and his family today. Then turn on and turn up some Badfinger tunes over the next five days.

Pete Ham
April 27, 1947 - April 23, 1975

To get the party started, here are just two of the many brilliant songs from Badfinger. Without You and No Matter What.

Mike Gibbins

Today is Mike Gibbins' 59th birthday.

I only knew Mike briefly, during the course of the Badfinger concert at the Vancouver Garden on March 8, 1974. It was a great time - the band's first tour under their new Warner Bros. contract - and everybody was happy.

Badfinger backstage: Joey Molland, Mark Wilson (WB rep), Tom Evans, Pete Ham and Mike Gibbins

In looking for footage of Mike to post so you could get to know him and his music, I was dismayed on how little is available. It doesn't help that he was a drummer - you know, the forgotten guy in the back. But I did find this - No Matter What - from what looks to be a 1971 British TV show, where they at least gave Mike a couple of close-ups. It's a great song and overall this footage is a pretty cool representation of the times.



And here's one of my photos of Mike, one of my all-time favorite pictures:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIKE!

And, thanks to those of you who put in your vote for Mike's kid's band, The Seven Sisters. They won the battle of the bands competition and as a result their music is being sent to the troops in Iraq. Mike would be thrilled.

Ellie

I want to sell lots and lots of copies of Everybody I Shot Is Dead. Probably not for the reason you might think. It's not about the money. Okay, yes, I would like to cover the six figures my little publishing company has invested to date. But it's never really been about the money. My main motivation in toiling for months on end was to do my part in keeping the memory of the 48 wonderful musicians and 5 amazing dedicatees alive. And to do that, I need lots and lots of people to read the book, and then tell a bunch more people about it...and on and on and on.

But the reason it's not about financial gain for me is because of the very unexpected rewards that I have already received. Rewards that don't pad my monetary bank account. Instead, they overflow my internal bank account. You know, the bank account that beats in the middle of your chest. The bank account I hadn't really thought about in relationship to the book until last June. That was when I got the first ker-ching. The first gigantic deposit to the Bank of My Heart. Completely unexpected. A layer to the project I had never even thought about. It went something like this...

While in New York for Book Expo, I went for dinner with the wife (widow) of one of the musicians in the book. I can't tell you the particulars of who it was or which musician because I haven't asked permission to write about her here. No matter... their identities are not important to this story. Her husband passed away a number of years after I photographed him - years that had taken their on him and quite possibly, their relationship. Anyway, we had a nice conversation about him, her and me during a glass of wine and dinner. And then she looked through the mock-up of the book. I offered to open the book to her husband's section but she chose to start at page one and look at the whole book. Even though I watched her face as she looked at every picture, I really couldn't gauge her feelings toward me or the book when she looked at 'his' photos.

It wasn't until much later...she turned to me and said, "This book is a gift. You just reminded me of the man I fell in love with." Wow. I felt like the contents of Fort Knox had been deposited in me. I knew right then I had received a reward of untold value. I knew it didn't matter if I sold one book or a million books... nothing could possibly fulfill me more than those two sentences. That was when I realized one of the more important meanings of the book. Family. The people I am honoring in the book are not only music icons...they are sons and fathers, daughters and mothers...members of a family. Your family and my family.

As if that wasn't enough reward...fast forward to the latter part of July - the first time I met Ellie Gibbins in person. I had sent her an email through Mike Gibbins' myspace on July 17th to let her know Mike was being honored in my book. In case you live in a cave, Mike Gibbins was the drummer in Badfinger. She wrote back, then I wrote back and before we knew it we were email pen pals. Then, suddenly, she was coming to L.A. on vacation with a friend and we were arranging to meet for lunch at my favorite restaurant, Lucy's El Adobe. I had just received the wet proofs and couldn't wait for her to see the pictures of Mike, especially the full page shot that remains one of my favorite photos in the book. At the same time, I wasn't sure about how she might react because her husband had only recently passed away.

No worries, though. It was a GREAT lunch. So great in fact, that it started at 1pm and we didn't leave the restaurant until 7:30pm. We ate. We drank. We laughed. We cried. And most importantly, we celebrated Mike Gibbins. Ellie's friend, Paula, took these pictures:

Mmmmm....margaritas.

Ellie's first look at the Badfinger section.

Anybody wondering why I'm bringing all of this up now? Long after any of it took place?

If you weren't, you are now. And just to be really mean, I'm going to make you wait 'til tomorrow to answer the why.

Mike Gibbins

Without realizing it was his birthday today (Monday), I did his layout today (Sunday). He would have been 58 today. Here's one of the pictures of him that I didn't put in the book.

Happy Birthday, Mike.