It seem like a fantastic dream...The Cherry Slush reformed after 33 years for a one-off with their former mentor Dick Wagner. The event, Dick Wagner & Friends, was placed in Freeland at this well-mainicured park (Titabawassee Park) right off old Midland road, now the "back door" to the city of Midland. The evening was but had a refreshing breeze. The park was accomodating and just roomy enough with a nice band shell, picnic tables, and public restrooms. I sat on the grass close to the stage...once the show began. But prior to that I was diggin' the good vibes and brotherhood with old friends like Tom "Nabber" McNab (my roommate from the MSU days)and his sister Sandy, Sue White (Saginaw News), Scott Seeburger (my partner in the 1999 Frost/Cub Coda concert), Pete Woodman, Donny Hartman, and Dick Wagner, and a few others as well. This particular show was the first of a "Summer Series" of free concerts that will also feature, in the near-future, such local heavyweights as Laurie Middlebrook and Jedi Mind Trip. But tonight it's all about reunions...with Dick Wagner reuniting with Frost colleague Donny Hartman and Bossmen cohort Pete Woodman for an all-star jam (they even performed an early Frost masterpiece, the psychedelicized - and erotic - "Sunshine". It was FANTASTIC) and the Cherry Slush reforming just this once to celebrate with family and friends. The good vibes were everywhere. People was smilin' and huggin' - Woodman was out workin' the crowd like everyone was a first cousin...well, maybe they are. Pete is truly a brother. A man of love and goodwill. And he hails from Freeland. I slid into the stage area and paid my respects to the Slush. Drummer Dick Coughlin actually remembered me!!! We were in the North Junior High School band - yep...we both played drums. Only he was good. I was...well...ah...I was..uhh...not good. The Slush appeared a bit long in tooth. But they were all there...Danny Parsons on vocals; Dick Coughlin on drums and vocals; Brian Bennett on keyboards; Art Hauffe on bass guitar; and Gene Bruce on Lead. They LOOK alot older. I guess we all aged since those halycon days of the late sixties.
Even me.
And I suppose it's a bit unsettling 'cos the Slush reminds me of my own ageism, my unfinished business, my former glory...GLORY. What the hell am I talkin' about??? Musta been a dream...
Anyway, once the Cherry Slush hit the stage, the years seemed to wash away. I was back in 1968 diggin' the grooves of these wet-behind-the-ears high school kids. They had honest-to-god hits - that were actually played on the RADIO - and they were just like me...sorta. At least I knew them...a little bit. When the Slush played their first hit, the Wagner penned, "I Cannot Stop You", it took my breath away. It remined me just how great that song is...a rockin' masterpiece. Thank you Dick Wagner & the Cherry Slush! Rumor has it that "I Cannot Stop You" sold well over 75,000 copies. But neither the author nor the band reaped any financial reward. They performed their other regional hit, "Day Don't Come", an extraordinary power ballad that should have been a MONSTER hit. The band sounded great. And Parson's vocal chops were intact. It was pure magic. The Cherry Slush was ripe and ready to take it to the limit. They also rocked on a few well chosen covers like "Gimme Some Lovin", "Birthday", and "I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better". It was truly a musical "good vibration"..a moment of truth and purity. No hype. No pretension. Just a Cherry Slush-led ode to friendship. A tip of the hat to their place in rock 'n' roll history.
For me it evoked a wistful smile and memories that at once seem like yesterday and yet feel so long ago. Innocence lost? No, it's just the natural cycle of life as it is, as it should be. But for that brief candle in time I was able to FEEL the excitement once more.
And I'm grateful...