Hello fellow keyboardians. My name is Dwight, I'm 47-years-old, born in PA, ride fast motorcycles and have been playing keyboards since I was 15-years-old. My first keyboard was a 4 octave Acetone Organ with 5 sound tabs & vibrato. (Flute, Organ, Oboe, Horn & String) I wish I still had it just for keepsake.
When I was 18, I finally acquired a Hammond L-100 (a monolith to lug around) and a Leslie and was ready to pursue my life long dream of playing music and possibly becoming famous, that is, until one fateful night in December of 1974 while playing at Tommy's Square Tavern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Kensington section of Philly)...
...Tommy's Square Tavern was packed like sardines as we played that night and it was a high energy dancing, happy crowd. Our band's name was AXE Factory (2 guitars, bass, drums & yours truly on keys) and we could count on playing there at least 2 weekends a month. It was only $20.00 per musician per night but we were playing and short of being hungry, we were happy.
Halfway through the night, a request was made by a 19-year-old guy that would change the course of my musical career forever. I was unfamiliar with the request so we put it off until the next set. The guys told me the progression of chords and they'd nod when it was about time to change chords. We'd begun playing his request when suddenly, a fight broke out. There wasn't even enough room to fight but a beer bottle was heard shatter. The band played on. Next, we saw a pyramid of arms, all trying to grab a hand with a gun. Amazingly, the hand with the gun had slipped from the pyramid and only seconds later...POP! The dance floor cleared but only by people dropping to the floor. Others close to my equipment had shuffled around my Hammond & Leslie speaker cabinet. Al, on guitar, looked over at me and said, "Keep playing". The band never lost a beat. Then POP! Another shot was fired. At this point, the music had stopped and only the bass player and myself were left standing in a stupor of shock. The first shot had hit someone in the thigh and the second shot had taken a young life. He had been shot in the back of the neck and the bullet exited his jaw. His young life had ended just as it was really only getting started. He was dead before he even hit the floor and he was only 19-years-old.
The now deceased 19-year-old was the guy who had requested the song we were playing as he parted this world. The name of his request was "I'm Going Home" and as I recollect, it was by the band "Ten Years After".
At the tender age of 18, I was haunted by the coincidence of the song's title and the loss of the requestor's life during its performance. By 2-weeks later, I knew I couldn't be part of something so horrible again. Since alcohol invites the demon in some when drinking, playing in clubs could only place me in the vicinity of future acts of violence so, at that time I made the decision to forever end my musical career.
I can still see the series of events unfold in front of me as though it were a movie I watched only yesterday. I share this story as a tribute to that young man who died innocently at such a young age.
That horrible event made me realize that as a musician, famous or not, I could become the target of any jealous drunken loony in the crowd. I no longer wanted fame, just a life of peace. Just 6 years later, shots would ring out and take the life of a world-renowned musician, John Lennon. To some, John Lennon was a songwriter, to some he was one of the Beatles, and to many of us, he was like a friend and a brother, always with us through his music as our lives unfolded throughout the years. I wrote a song in tribute to him. I'm now 7 years older than John Lennon got to be. Perhaps I made the wiser of career choices those many years ago.
Now I write music, multi-track and record in the safety and comfort of my own home. I've written and recorded about 40 songs so far but I don't wish to release any to the general public during my lifetime. They're songs I chose to share with a select few. They're songs that reflect my life as well as my creative imagination. They'll be heard one day but only after I pass. I'll leave the world a part of me that can't be intimidated by violence, my music...
