Okay Fultonites, here goes: If I had to sum up Jack Casady's teaching style in one sentence, it would be this:

THE MAN COULD TEACH SNAKES TO TAP-DANCE.

Before he got the call from Jorma to "Go West, Young Man" and replace Bob Harvey in the Airplane, Jack had been making his living in our home town of Washington DC as a guitar and bass teacher. And it still shows. Since I was only 10 when he left, and had just picked up the guitar, I did not have the privilege then of taking lessons from him. But 33 years later I did, at Fur Peace Ranch, and it was well worth the wait. Incidentally, both jack and Jorma are fellow alumni of my high school - Woodrow Wilson Sr. High in Washington, DC. Our class consisted of 8 guys (for some reason, perhaps because it was an "electric weekend", there were no female students in any of the classes) ranging in ability from absolute beginner to "professional level". The classes were held in the A-Frame Studio where Jorma does all his recording nowadays. It's the perfect Tuna studio. Jack handled us all with a perfect combination of discipline and patience. We sat in a semicircle around him; he sat on a swivel chair so he could turn and focus on each of us in turn. At first I was a skeptical about how much he could accomplish with such a large group at such a wide range of skill levels, but I was surprised. I found myself learning constantly, even when he was focusing on the absolute beginners. He would position their hands and fingers correctly, and I would see some bad habits of my own: "Put your hand there, move your finger here, now play this - that sounds alot better!" - and my own sound would improve, too. What was really amazing was to see how much the beginners improved over the course of three days. Jack really put alot into helping them out, and of course they contributed *alot* of their own sweat into the mix. One thing I am very grateful for (and this contributed much to the group format's success) was Jack's strict insistence that we not play anything - not even noodling - until specifically told to do so. Even an accidental brush across the strings would get a *look* from Jack. By contrast, I heard that Jorma's classes were more ah, chaotic; a dozen guys constantly wailing away on electric guitars!

Jack gave us what were basically studio charts for "Miracles", "Lawman", and "Somebody To Love" (the newer version with what Jack calls the "stronger than dirt" opening) and explained his ideas and playing on each one. He had a professional keyboard guy back in LA prepare keyboard and rhythm tracks for us to play against, and gave us suggestions on how to do the same to augment our own practice. And yes folks, we got homework - er, cabinwork - ah, porchwork - whatever; he gave us stuff to practice between sessions, in addition to our regular jamming.

After the last class on Sunday, he set aside 15 minutes or so for individual questions, help, etc. Of course, he'd made sure to give us all individual attention throughout the weekend, but this was time for concentrated one-on-one work. By this time he knew cold what each of us needed to work on. In my case, on "Funky #7" (a Hot tuna scorcher from the America's Choice lp), he noticed that I sometimes might drop half a beat, pushing the end of the phrase into the beginning of the next. He sat and beat time for me till I got it right!

Let me tell you all, Jack is an amazing cat, a true gentleman and a scholar. That weekend he spared *nothing* to make sure we all got whatever we needed. He even did a complete setup job on one guy's bass!

To all bass-players on the list, I conclude by telling you to sell your shoes, sell your blood, sell your car, however you get up the money (a weekend was $350 not counting travel), GO TO FUR PEACE AND LEARN FROM JACK!!!! Absolute beginner or seasoned pro, YOU WILL LEARN!!! GO!! NOW!!

John Next: Day 3 - Performances and Farewells (sob!)