A Note From Brian

The photos bring back some fun times for me. I remember the Bobby Vinton show It was just before Christmas. The promoter gave us about five Bobby Vinton albums to study. All I did for about a month was practice all his songs. I memorized them all...all of his hits. It was all worth it when Bobby Vinton was happy with my walking bass lines on songs like Blue Velvet, There I've Said it Again, Blue on Blue and Roses are Red, Mr Lonely.  He turned to me after the set with the biggest smile and said, "Keep it Up." I was only 13 or 14.

Also, jamming with the Sunrays was so much fun! They were doing a concert show up in San Luis Obispo. I liked their music so much that I took a Greyhound bus alone to see them play (too young to drive). It was really great, so exciting. I met them  after their show. They were so cool. I told them how I took a bus up just to see them, and they offered to drive me back to Santa Barbara on their way to L.A.

Well, as it happended, I told them that we did Beach Boy tunes and all the Sunray's hits. I also told them that my family was having a barbecue in Santa Barbara with plenty of food and drink. When we got there, we all ate and started playing and singing. We sang Sunray and Beach Boy tunes all night. We (the Emperors) knew all the harmonies. The Sunrays were impressed that we knew all those tunes so well, and it was just so much fun singing with them. All that harmony sounded so good. I can hear it all now...magical... It was an awesome night. Really was a fun time to remember, jamming with the Sunrays.

Brian