The Den - 1976
It's 1976, and my parents had a carpenter come over and build a big bookcase on the back wall of the den. The Marine Bachelor Pad was then complete and I ruled!
That's my friend Ron Strong jammin' with my '75 Fender Telecaster. The bookcase was nicely suited to all of my books, records and stereo equipment. My Kenwood receiver is seen behind Ron, the Teac 4010S reel-to-reel tape recorder I got at a yard sale for $200 sits above it, and my Philips GA-212 turntable is next to the small black and white TV. My cheap Fender Jazz Bass copy (purchased at an Air Force base PX) leans on the back wall for effect. The speakers seen at the bottom are connected to the guitar amp, a Fender Reverb amp I bought from Bob Avery. The stereo speakers are on the other side of the room. All in all, not bad for 1976!
The records that can be seen are what we liked at the time: a bootleg of Patti Smith and "Helen of Troy" by John Cale. (A song I still listen to!)
Also in this photo is something that is representative of my being twenty: above my prized reel-to-reel tape recorder are the complete Doctor Dolittle books of my childhood. I just wasn't quite prepared to store them away in a box somewhere.
Ron and I used to record music, bouncing recordings made on cassette to the reel-to-reel with added instruments or voices, which was in turn bounced back to cassette with added voices, etc. We called this operation "Hot City Studios" after a song from a rock band we liked, "the Sensational Alex Harvey Band." The recordings we made were always hissy and noisy, and rarely sensational. But it was a fun creative outlet I pursued for a few years. At one time I owned five guitars and all sorts of recording equipment - but that all got sold by the time I got to college to pursue engineering. At no time could it ever be said that I developed into a musician.