WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.660 I was I was looking at the back cover of the 00:00:02.660 --> 00:00:04.639 Super Session album earlier today. Oh, yeah. 00:00:04.700 --> 00:00:06.599 The gold record. Right. You know, the one Al 00:00:06.599 --> 00:00:09.320 Cooper, Mike Bloomfield, Stephen Stills. It's 00:00:09.320 --> 00:00:13.199 this iconic 1968 record that basically invented 00:00:13.199 --> 00:00:15.599 the whole concept of the super group jam session. 00:00:15.939 --> 00:00:19.199 And right there. sharing equal billing with these 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:23.359 absolute titans of rock is a drummer. Eddie Hill. 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:25.960 Vast Eddie Hill. And it struck me that if you 00:00:25.960 --> 00:00:28.199 were a music fan back then, holding that LP, 00:00:28.500 --> 00:00:31.100 you would have totally assumed this guy was the 00:00:31.100 --> 00:00:32.539 future. I mean, he wasn't hidden in the liner 00:00:32.539 --> 00:00:34.880 notes or anything. He was the fourth star. He 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:36.719 really was the engine room for the heavy hitters. 00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:39.359 Exactly. And yet, if we fast forward just two 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:43.159 years to 1970, he's just, he's gone. Gone. Not 00:00:43.159 --> 00:00:45.380 just dropped from a label, but completely vanished 00:00:45.380 --> 00:00:47.380 from the industry. It's really... one of the 00:00:47.380 --> 00:00:49.679 most abrupt disappearances in rock history. It's 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:52.840 the ultimate Where's Waldo of the 1960s sunset 00:00:52.840 --> 00:00:55.479 strip scene. Up until the Vanishing Act, obviously. 00:00:55.679 --> 00:00:57.840 Right. Because we've got this stack of session 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:00.240 logs and biographies here for this deep dive. 00:01:00.359 --> 00:01:02.380 And when you line them all up, Eddie Howe is 00:01:02.380 --> 00:01:05.379 practically the Forrest Gump of the 60s rock 00:01:05.379 --> 00:01:08.159 scene. He was everywhere. He's the guy bridging 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:11.040 the gap between that polished suit and tie wrecking 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:15.519 crew era and the psychedelic let it all hang 00:01:15.519 --> 00:01:18.439 out jam band era. That is the perfect way to 00:01:18.439 --> 00:01:20.340 frame it. He's the transitional figure. I mean, 00:01:20.359 --> 00:01:22.099 he had the chops to sit in a room with Al Blaine 00:01:22.099 --> 00:01:24.939 and read charts, but he had the attitude to back 00:01:24.939 --> 00:01:27.540 up Jimmy. Hendricks or jam with Mike Bloomfield. 00:01:27.780 --> 00:01:30.680 He was a chameleon. A chameleon with a very heavy 00:01:30.680 --> 00:01:33.079 right foot. Yeah, exactly. So the mission for 00:01:33.079 --> 00:01:35.200 our deep dive today is to figure out how someone 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:37.579 that essential, you know, that talented and that 00:01:37.579 --> 00:01:40.939 visible just evaporates. And I think we really 00:01:40.939 --> 00:01:43.980 have to start by looking at his musical DNA because 00:01:43.980 --> 00:01:45.879 he didn't come out of the California surf scene. 00:01:46.019 --> 00:01:48.400 No, not at all. He was a Chicago guy born in 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:51.019 Forest Park, Illinois. Right. And that matters 00:01:51.019 --> 00:01:53.140 because his formative years weren't spent playing 00:01:53.140 --> 00:01:55.540 surf and safari. He was cutting his teeth in 00:01:55.540 --> 00:01:57.920 the Chicago blues clubs. He was hanging around 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:00.900 with guys like Michael Bloomfield and Barry Goldberg 00:02:00.900 --> 00:02:04.340 as a teenager, which is. A really gritty education. 00:02:04.739 --> 00:02:06.799 It is. You learn to play behind the beat. You 00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:08.979 learn to swing. And you learn that the drums 00:02:08.979 --> 00:02:12.240 aren't just a metronome. They are a lead instrument 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:14.259 if you play them right. Absolutely. So when he 00:02:14.259 --> 00:02:17.500 relocates to Los Angeles in 1964, he brings that 00:02:17.500 --> 00:02:20.860 aggressive driving Chicago style right with him. 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:24.680 He lands in L .A. and immediately starts grinding 00:02:24.680 --> 00:02:26.659 on the club circuit. With a band called Joel 00:02:26.659 --> 00:02:29.169 Scott Hill and the Strangers. Right. And they 00:02:29.169 --> 00:02:31.909 were good enough to open for the TMI show. Which 00:02:31.909 --> 00:02:33.770 is legendary. I mean, we're talking about the 00:02:33.770 --> 00:02:35.990 concert film with the Rolling Stones, James Brown, 00:02:36.270 --> 00:02:39.349 the Beach Boys. Q -Jacks. Yeah. The Strangers 00:02:39.349 --> 00:02:41.430 didn't actually make the final cut of the film, 00:02:41.469 --> 00:02:44.509 but just being on that bill in 1964 puts Eddie 00:02:44.509 --> 00:02:46.729 in the upper echelon right away. He wasn't playing 00:02:46.729 --> 00:02:48.530 garage parties. He was playing the Santa Monica 00:02:48.530 --> 00:02:50.870 Civic Auditorium. But the real turning point, 00:02:50.949 --> 00:02:52.689 the moment where the industry machine really 00:02:52.689 --> 00:02:55.150 tries to capture him, is with the modern folk 00:02:55.150 --> 00:02:59.569 quintet. The MFQ. Yeah, this is 1965. And the 00:02:59.569 --> 00:03:01.449 producer for those sessions at Gold Star Studios 00:03:01.449 --> 00:03:04.689 is Phil Spector. And we know what a Phil Spector 00:03:04.689 --> 00:03:08.060 session meant in 1965. It wasn't a jam. It was 00:03:08.060 --> 00:03:09.939 military service. It was sonic construction. 00:03:10.659 --> 00:03:12.580 Spector would have three or four guitarists, 00:03:12.620 --> 00:03:15.680 multiple pianos, and he wanted the drums to be 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:19.419 this thundering heartbeat. For Eddie, this was 00:03:19.419 --> 00:03:22.340 a grueling masterclass in discipline. You couldn't 00:03:22.340 --> 00:03:24.560 overplay. You had to hit hard. And you had to 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:26.699 be perfectly consistent take after take after 00:03:26.699 --> 00:03:28.860 take. And the tragedy of the MFQ is that for 00:03:28.860 --> 00:03:31.300 all that endless rehearsal, for all that wall 00:03:31.300 --> 00:03:34.060 of sound treatment, they only got one track out 00:03:34.060 --> 00:03:36.419 of the entire Spectre Association. This could 00:03:36.419 --> 00:03:39.280 be the night. Yeah. Which is a fantastic track, 00:03:39.319 --> 00:03:41.159 by the way. It really is. If you listen to the 00:03:41.159 --> 00:03:43.840 drumming on that. It's compulsive. It had that 00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:46.780 classic be my baby, kick snare drive. But Eddie 00:03:46.780 --> 00:03:49.180 adds a little more snap to it. It's not quite 00:03:49.180 --> 00:03:50.979 as laid back as how Blaine might have played 00:03:50.979 --> 00:03:53.780 it. It's anxious. But the band stalls? I mean, 00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:55.699 they open for everyone. The Velvet Underground, 00:03:56.139 --> 00:03:59.400 the Byrds, Paul Butterfield. But they never get 00:03:59.400 --> 00:04:02.199 their big break. They are the nearly made it 00:04:02.199 --> 00:04:05.219 band of the strip. But while the band is stalling, 00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:08.000 Eddie's reputation is skyrocketing. People were 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:10.379 watching the drummer. Exactly. And I think one 00:04:10.379 --> 00:04:13.219 of the first big pivots into the new sound comes 00:04:13.219 --> 00:04:16.160 with Donovan. Eddie plays on the Sunshine Superman 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:20.420 album in 1966. Specifically the track, The Trip. 00:04:20.579 --> 00:04:22.759 Yes. This is where we start to hear the fast 00:04:22.759 --> 00:04:26.779 Eddie style really emerge. The Trip is psychedelic 00:04:26.779 --> 00:04:29.060 folk rock. But listen to what Eddie is doing. 00:04:29.279 --> 00:04:32.160 He's not playing a standard 4 -4 rock beat. He's 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:34.529 using a jazz grip. He's throwing in these rolling, 00:04:34.730 --> 00:04:37.129 triplet -heavy fills that feel way more like 00:04:37.129 --> 00:04:39.589 Gene Krupa than Ringo Starr. It's busy, but it 00:04:39.589 --> 00:04:41.930 fits perfectly. That's the key right there. He 00:04:41.930 --> 00:04:44.230 fills every available pocket of space, but he 00:04:44.230 --> 00:04:46.850 never steps on Donovan's vocal. Critics at the 00:04:46.850 --> 00:04:48.970 time actually single out his performance in reviews, 00:04:49.170 --> 00:04:51.350 calling it fine drumming. Which is rare for a 00:04:51.350 --> 00:04:53.889 session player. Extremely rare. Usually if you 00:04:53.889 --> 00:04:55.769 notice the drummer in a folk review, it means 00:04:55.769 --> 00:04:58.550 they messed up. Right. So that brings us to 1967, 00:04:59.250 --> 00:05:02.259 the summer of love. And if you look at the timeline, 00:05:02.600 --> 00:05:06.259 Eddie Ho is arguably the busiest drummer in Los 00:05:06.259 --> 00:05:09.220 Angeles. He is just everywhere. He's a workaholic. 00:05:09.339 --> 00:05:11.800 Yeah. And he's jumping between genres wildly, 00:05:11.860 --> 00:05:14.040 realizing that he can play absolutely anything. 00:05:14.379 --> 00:05:16.399 For instance, he hooks up with Gene Clark, who 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:18.459 had just left the Birds, and the guitar player 00:05:18.459 --> 00:05:21.500 Clarence White. Now, on paper... On paper, this 00:05:21.500 --> 00:05:24.160 is a super group. Totally. But in reality, it 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:26.040 was a disaster. Oh, yeah. There's that famous 00:05:26.040 --> 00:05:28.319 anecdote from their bassist, John York. They're 00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:30.740 playing the Whiskey A Go -Go, trying to debut 00:05:30.740 --> 00:05:33.360 this new country rock sound, which was years 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:35.339 ahead of its time, by the way. Way ahead. And 00:05:35.339 --> 00:05:37.360 the audience just isn't having it. They're talking. 00:05:37.379 --> 00:05:39.899 They're ignoring the stage entirely. It shows 00:05:39.899 --> 00:05:42.680 you how fickle the Sunset Strip scene was. You 00:05:42.680 --> 00:05:44.180 have Gene Clark, one of the best songwriters 00:05:44.180 --> 00:05:46.439 in America, and Eddie Ho, a premier drummer, 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:49.019 and they are bombing. Yeah. Gene Clark actually 00:05:49.019 --> 00:05:51.579 walked off stage mid -set during a blues jam 00:05:51.579 --> 00:05:53.709 because nobody was listening. But Eddie doesn't 00:05:53.709 --> 00:05:56.920 walk off. He just pivots. At the exact same time 00:05:56.920 --> 00:05:58.620 he's bombing at the whiskey with Gene Clark, 00:05:58.839 --> 00:06:01.399 he's in the studio with a pop group called the 00:06:01.399 --> 00:06:03.980 Giant Sunflower. Playing on February sunshine. 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:08.019 What a track. Flower power, bubblegum pop perfection. 00:06:08.860 --> 00:06:11.139 And it's incredibly significant because it was 00:06:11.139 --> 00:06:13.899 the very first single released on Ode Records, 00:06:14.259 --> 00:06:16.639 Lou Adler's label. That Lou Adler connection 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:18.920 is the key to the kingdom. Adler was one of the 00:06:18.920 --> 00:06:20.879 masterminds behind the Monterey Pop Festival. 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:23.939 He knew Eddie was reliable. He knew he was flashy. 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:27.879 When the festival comes around in June 67, Eddie 00:06:27.879 --> 00:06:30.839 gets the call for the closing act. The mamas 00:06:30.839 --> 00:06:33.379 and the papas. Yep. This is a huge visual moment. 00:06:33.500 --> 00:06:35.379 We actually have the video of this. The mamas 00:06:35.379 --> 00:06:37.300 and the papas are closing out the most important 00:06:37.300 --> 00:06:39.980 festival of the decade. And Eddie isn't just 00:06:39.980 --> 00:06:42.579 keeping time back there. He's wearing a caftan. 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:45.259 He's got this giant afro starting to grow out. 00:06:45.339 --> 00:06:47.689 And some luminous drumsticks. Yes, the glowing 00:06:47.689 --> 00:06:50.449 sticks. A fellow musician recalled seeing him 00:06:50.449 --> 00:06:52.629 at a jam session around this time. The lights 00:06:52.629 --> 00:06:55.110 went out, the black light came on, and all you 00:06:55.110 --> 00:06:57.230 could see was this blur of fluorescent light 00:06:57.230 --> 00:07:01.050 flying around the kit. Pure showmanship. He totally 00:07:01.050 --> 00:07:03.910 understood that rock and roll was visual. But 00:07:03.910 --> 00:07:07.089 musically, the Monterey set is fascinating because 00:07:07.089 --> 00:07:10.310 he is playing in tandem with Hal Blaine. Right, 00:07:10.410 --> 00:07:12.860 they had two drummers for that set. And usually 00:07:12.860 --> 00:07:14.740 when you have two drummers, it's a massive train 00:07:14.740 --> 00:07:16.779 wreck. Oh, yeah. But here you have Hal Blaine 00:07:16.779 --> 00:07:18.899 holding down the session for it, providing that 00:07:18.899 --> 00:07:22.399 steady, unwavering beat. And Eddie is coloring 00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:24.560 outside the lines. He's doing the fills, the 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:27.379 accents, the cymbal crashes. He is the chaotic 00:07:27.379 --> 00:07:29.819 energy on top of the structure. You can really 00:07:29.819 --> 00:07:32.910 hear it on his improvised. Drum intro to California 00:07:32.910 --> 00:07:35.569 Dreamin'. He does this role that just sets the 00:07:35.569 --> 00:07:38.069 tone. It's loose. It feels like a live performance, 00:07:38.250 --> 00:07:40.889 not a polished record. And that exact looseness 00:07:40.889 --> 00:07:43.209 is what the Monkees were looking for. Let's talk 00:07:43.209 --> 00:07:46.589 about the Monkees. Because in late 67, they are 00:07:46.589 --> 00:07:49.389 in full rebellion mode. They are tired of being 00:07:49.389 --> 00:07:51.649 puppets. They're tired of Don Kirshner telling 00:07:51.649 --> 00:07:54.550 them what to sing. They take total creative control 00:07:54.550 --> 00:07:57.149 for the album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and 00:07:57.149 --> 00:08:00.269 Jones LTD. And who do they hire as their studio 00:08:00.269 --> 00:08:03.779 drummer? Eddie Howe. And this is a massive endorsement. 00:08:03.860 --> 00:08:06.120 The Monkees could have hired anyone in the world. 00:08:06.180 --> 00:08:08.920 They have unlimited budgets. They chose Eddie 00:08:08.920 --> 00:08:11.399 because he represented that real rock credibility 00:08:11.399 --> 00:08:13.699 they were so desperate for. Just look at the 00:08:13.699 --> 00:08:16.019 track list he played on. Pleasant Valley Sunday. 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:19.379 Daydream Believer. Words. These are massive, 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:21.360 massive hits. Let's look at Daydream Believer 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:23.319 for a second. We have all heard it a million 00:08:23.319 --> 00:08:26.060 times. But next time you listen, pay attention 00:08:26.060 --> 00:08:28.120 to the transition from the verse to the chorus. 00:08:28.300 --> 00:08:31.759 That fill. that's eddie it is crisp it's precise 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:34.000 but it has a swing to it it physically lifts 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:36.039 the song but then you have a track like star 00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:38.019 collector the closing track on the album this 00:08:38.019 --> 00:08:39.940 is the monkeys getting weird it's about groupies 00:08:39.940 --> 00:08:42.700 it features an early moog synthesizer and the 00:08:42.700 --> 00:08:45.940 drumming the drumming is ferocious the song basically 00:08:45.940 --> 00:08:49.559 devolves into this extended improvised drumming 00:08:49.559 --> 00:08:52.720 showcase at the end Eddie is just going off. 00:08:52.779 --> 00:08:55.360 He's treating a pop record like a jazz odyssey, 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:58.100 playing across the bar lines, using the tom -toms 00:08:58.100 --> 00:09:00.379 to create this rolling thunder effect. It is 00:09:00.379 --> 00:09:02.720 the sound of a drummer who has been told to just 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:05.379 break out of the standard pop mold. That freedom 00:09:05.379 --> 00:09:08.340 really peaks in 1968. This is the year of Super 00:09:08.340 --> 00:09:10.820 Session. And I want to dig into this because 00:09:10.820 --> 00:09:14.559 I feel like this album is where Eddie Howe cements 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:16.840 his legacy. It's his masterpiece, without a doubt. 00:09:16.940 --> 00:09:19.299 The concept was simple. Al Cooper books studio 00:09:19.299 --> 00:09:21.460 time, calls Mike Bloomfield, and says, let's 00:09:21.460 --> 00:09:24.000 just play. No rehearsed songs, just charts and 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:26.559 vibes. They needed a drummer who could react 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:28.799 instantly. And Stephen Stills, who comes in for 00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:30.840 the second half of the record, specifically vouched 00:09:30.840 --> 00:09:33.139 for Eddie. He agreed to the session partly because 00:09:33.139 --> 00:09:35.059 he heard Eddie was the drummer, calling him an 00:09:35.059 --> 00:09:37.080 old friend. Which implies they had been jamming 00:09:37.080 --> 00:09:39.500 in Laurel Canyon living rooms for a while. But 00:09:39.500 --> 00:09:42.720 listen to Season of the Witch. It is an 11 -minute 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:45.279 jam. 11 minutes? Do you know how hard it is to 00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:48.039 keep a groove interesting? for 11 minutes without 00:09:48.039 --> 00:09:50.720 a click track i can imagine the temptation is 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:53.679 to start overplaying or you just get bored exactly 00:09:53.679 --> 00:09:57.240 but eddie locks in he finds this pocket this 00:09:57.240 --> 00:09:59.500 slightly laid -back funk groove, and he just 00:09:59.500 --> 00:10:02.200 sits in it. He lets the guitarist take the spotlight, 00:10:02.419 --> 00:10:04.879 but he drives the intensity up and down with 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:07.399 just his hi -hat work. It became a huge staple 00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:10.480 of underground FM radio. Critics described it 00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:12.879 as flawless drumming that laid down a solid groove. 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:15.320 And for the first time, he wasn't just in the 00:10:15.320 --> 00:10:17.740 liner notes. His photo and name were featured 00:10:17.740 --> 00:10:19.879 prominently on the back cover of a gold record. 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:23.379 He was a star. And the versatility he showed 00:10:23.379 --> 00:10:27.139 in 1968 is just absurd. He does Super Session, 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:29.259 which is rock and soul. Then he simultaneously 00:10:29.259 --> 00:10:32.720 goes and plays with heavy Chicago blues musicians. 00:10:32.840 --> 00:10:35.480 Charlie Musselwhite, Harvey Mandel, Barry Goldberg. 00:10:35.659 --> 00:10:38.100 Heavy shuffles. Real gritty stuff. Right. And 00:10:38.100 --> 00:10:39.899 then, just to prove his immense versatility, 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:42.259 he plays on Tim Buckley's Goodbye and Hello. 00:10:42.539 --> 00:10:44.980 Which is the complete opposite end of the spectrum. 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:47.519 That's delicate, psychedelic folk. It's an odd 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:50.600 time signatures. Yeah, to go from pounding out 00:10:50.600 --> 00:10:53.279 heavy blues to playing the intricate, swirling 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:56.360 rhythms of Tim Buckley, that requires a musical 00:10:56.360 --> 00:10:59.019 brain that most rock drummers just didn't have. 00:10:59.179 --> 00:11:00.919 He wasn't just a rock drummer or a blues drummer, 00:11:01.019 --> 00:11:04.330 he was a pure... Oh, and we should mention Lee 00:11:04.330 --> 00:11:06.330 Michaels, too. He played on the album Carnival 00:11:06.330 --> 00:11:08.669 of Life. The credits on that album were messy, 00:11:08.750 --> 00:11:10.970 but critics still went out of their way to note 00:11:10.970 --> 00:11:13.250 his excellent performance. He was just on fire 00:11:13.250 --> 00:11:16.809 in 68. So 1968 ends. He's on a gold record. He's 00:11:16.809 --> 00:11:21.110 the go -to guy. And then 1969 hits, and the wheels 00:11:21.110 --> 00:11:23.129 don't just come off. They come off incredibly 00:11:23.129 --> 00:11:26.490 fast. It is a swift and brutal decline. And we 00:11:26.490 --> 00:11:29.029 have to look at the context of 1969 in Los Angeles. 00:11:29.250 --> 00:11:31.289 The scene was changing. The drugs were changing. 00:11:31.490 --> 00:11:34.070 It wasn't just pot and acid anymore. It was heroin. 00:11:34.149 --> 00:11:37.029 It was heavy drinking. The peace and love veneer 00:11:37.029 --> 00:11:39.149 was really cracking. And Eddie fell right into 00:11:39.149 --> 00:11:41.210 that crack. The pivotal turning point seems to 00:11:41.210 --> 00:11:43.169 be the Flying Burrito Brothers incident. This 00:11:43.169 --> 00:11:45.210 is one of the great what -ifs of rock history. 00:11:45.730 --> 00:11:48.190 Graham Parsons invites Eddie to join this seminal 00:11:48.190 --> 00:11:50.570 country rock group. If Eddie had specced this 00:11:50.570 --> 00:11:52.450 gig, he would have been a legend for that alone. 00:11:52.730 --> 00:11:55.309 But the reality of his addiction was taking over. 00:11:55.529 --> 00:11:58.200 Yeah. Chris Hillman described the recording sessions 00:11:58.200 --> 00:12:01.059 as tragic. He said Eddie was so intoxicated he 00:12:01.059 --> 00:12:03.399 would physically fall off the drumstool. He couldn't 00:12:03.399 --> 00:12:05.879 function. And it wasn't just the physical inability 00:12:05.879 --> 00:12:09.039 to play that ruined things. He burned the bridge 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:11.919 socially and financially. There's that specific 00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:14.879 anecdote from John Corneal, another drummer in 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:18.200 that circle. That's the nail in the coffin. Corneal 00:12:18.200 --> 00:12:19.940 claimed that the record company gave the band 00:12:19.940 --> 00:12:22.720 a cash advance. Eddie allegedly took an equal 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:24.720 share of that cash, including Corneal's money, 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:26.879 and then just split. He effectively disappeared 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:28.919 with the money. In a town like Hollywood, you 00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:31.980 can be difficult, you can be late. But you cannot 00:12:31.980 --> 00:12:34.299 steal the money. No, that's the one unforgivable 00:12:34.299 --> 00:12:37.820 sin. Word gets around instantly. Do not hire 00:12:37.820 --> 00:12:40.899 Eddie Howe. He's a liability. And just like that, 00:12:41.019 --> 00:12:43.639 the phone stops ringing. He has a few final credits 00:12:43.639 --> 00:12:47.279 that trickle out in 1969 and 1970. Mostly stuff 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:49.259 probably recorded before the crash. He's on a 00:12:49.259 --> 00:12:51.740 Harvey Mandel record and a Screamin' Jay Hawkins 00:12:51.740 --> 00:12:55.240 track. But then, he just simply stopped. Total 00:12:55.240 --> 00:12:57.519 silence. This wasn't a slow fade. It was the 00:12:57.519 --> 00:12:59.679 cliff. And this is where the mystery part comes 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:02.299 in. Usually when a guy washes out of the big 00:13:02.299 --> 00:13:05.019 leagues, you see him pop up in bar bands or teaching 00:13:05.019 --> 00:13:07.340 drums at the local music store. And he didn't 00:13:07.340 --> 00:13:09.559 do any of that. He just ceased to exist as a 00:13:09.559 --> 00:13:12.860 public figure. It was so total that Denny Doherty 00:13:12.860 --> 00:13:14.879 from the Mamas and the Papas gave an interview 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:18.039 in 2002, decades later, where he stated he believed 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:20.460 Eddie Howe had been dead for years. But he wasn't. 00:13:20.460 --> 00:13:22.759 No, he had actually moved back to the Midwest. 00:13:22.820 --> 00:13:25.519 He lived in total obscurity, completely removed 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:27.799 from the music industry, dealing with his health 00:13:27.799 --> 00:13:30.379 and his demons in private. He actually lived 00:13:30.379 --> 00:13:32.720 until 2015. It's heartbreaking, really, when 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:34.460 you reflect on the talent versus the demons. 00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:36.620 He spent maybe four or five years in the sun. 00:13:37.100 --> 00:13:39.320 But in those few years, a musician with that 00:13:39.320 --> 00:13:42.360 kind of originality and showmanship defined the 00:13:42.360 --> 00:13:45.399 rhythm of the Sunset Strip. He defined the sound 00:13:45.399 --> 00:13:48.139 of late 60s L .A., but he just couldn't survive 00:13:48.139 --> 00:13:50.240 the lifestyle. It really makes you think about 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:53.039 the nature of the session musician. We know the 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:55.419 stars, we know stills, we know Donovan, we know 00:13:55.419 --> 00:13:58.190 the monkeys. But the guys who actually built 00:13:58.190 --> 00:14:01.049 the sound, the architects, they are so often 00:14:01.049 --> 00:14:04.009 invisible. They are. Eddie didn't have royalties 00:14:04.009 --> 00:14:06.330 to fall back on. He didn't have a massive band 00:14:06.330 --> 00:14:08.789 apparatus supporting him. When he couldn't work, 00:14:08.929 --> 00:14:11.610 there was no safety net. So when we listen to 00:14:11.610 --> 00:14:13.929 Super Session today, or we hear that perfect 00:14:13.929 --> 00:14:16.710 drum fill -in daydream believer, we're hearing 00:14:16.710 --> 00:14:19.190 a guy who poured every ounce of talent he had 00:14:19.190 --> 00:14:21.450 into the tape machine and then burned out before 00:14:21.450 --> 00:14:23.309 he could collect his due. He's the invisible 00:14:23.309 --> 00:14:27.279 man. But man, could he play. He sure could. I 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:29.299 want to leave you all with a final provocative 00:14:29.299 --> 00:14:32.460 thought as we wrap up this deep dive. How many 00:14:32.460 --> 00:14:35.039 other completely invisible figures are responsible 00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:37.899 for the music we consider classic today? And 00:14:37.899 --> 00:14:40.700 if Eddie Howe hadn't burned out so spectacularly 00:14:40.700 --> 00:14:44.320 in 1969, would he be remembered today as a household 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:46.720 name right up there with the rock stars he supported? 00:14:47.059 --> 00:14:49.799 Next time you're spinning some 60s vinyl, check 00:14:49.799 --> 00:14:51.740 those liner notes. You might be surprised who 00:14:51.740 --> 00:14:52.820 you find hiding back there.