New York, NY
April 24, 2000
Part 2
by Steve Moore

What music do you listen to, or prefer these days?

I still like most kinds of music. My tastes always were on the "Country and Western" side and they've been fine tuned over the years to the point where my real love is the old time traditional American music of the Appalachian mountains and the hills of Kentucky. I'd love to find a real good Bluegrass or Bluegrass/Gospel band to play in, but its tough to find that in New York.

We all know that you played with John & Yoko - when they sat in at the Fillmore shows -- but are there other famous musicians who you've played with in the past that would be interesting to readers?

Maybe. Sometime in 1963 or '64, Pat Boone arranged for me to audition with the Everly Brothers. I went, not because I thought they'd hire me (I'd been playing less than two years) but because they too had been idols of mine in my earlier years, and although I couldn't play them very well, I knew all their songs. I couldn't pass up an opportunity to meet them and play with them. The three of us sat in their kitchen in Beverly Hills playing songs like "Wake Up Little Suzie", "Bye Bye Love" and "Bird Dog". It was one of the most memorable musical experiences of my life. As it turned out they were very nice and very politely told me they were going to continue looking, but I was committed to The Leaves by then anyway. A little later I got a chance to meet and work with another of my musical idols. In these early days I was still a member of my fraternity in school, and as such, served for a time as social director. I was in charge of scheduling parties. I hired Jerry Lee Lewis to play at our big school dance at Devonshire Downs. And who did I get to open for him? The Leaves. Another highlight was meeting The Beatles who came to see us (Turtles) in a little club called The Bag O' Nails somewhere in London. I sat and talked with Paul McCartney for quite a long time about the music of the day. He loved "Happy Together" and "She'd Rather Be With Me".

How did you become the video director for the New York Jets football franchise? Was your early interest in video in any way a by-product of your exposure to that medium which was used extensively in "200 Motels?"

It had nothing to do with the fact that Frank had used video for "200 Motels." When I decided to leave the music business I decided to start a whole new life by moving to New York. John Beck had moved here earlier and was a film editor waiting for an opening at ABC. During the waiting period he had accepted a temporary job mailing Joe Namath posters for The New York Jets Football Club. The day before I left L.A. he got the call from ABC. He asked me to do him a favor and take the Jets job for the last few weeks. That was October 1973. I've just left the Jets this month after a 27 year career during which I developed and ran a film department that was in charge of filming all the teams' games and practices for the coaches to study and teach with. The NFL switched over to videotape for these purposes in 1986, and is now moving into the "non linear" digital technology that will give coaches the ability to do this kind of work for themselves on their PCs. It was an amazing run while it lasted, and it lasted a long time. I was very fortunate to have arrived on the scene at just the right moment. Just like the music business, it was wonderful for a long time, but it changed over the years....

Didn't you work with the Turtles' drummer while with the New York Jets?

Yes. John Seiter (the Turtles' last drummer) worked with me at the New York Jets for the last 15 years or so. He continued in the music industry in L.A. for several years after I joined the Jets. I hired him in 1985. He's now in charge of the Jets Video department.

Did your other sports associates know of your past life as a rock 'n roll star?

Yeah, my history in the music business has always been kind of a fascination for people in the sports business. And vice versa. Its been an interesting combination of careers that doesn't happen too often. But as the years have turned into decades the fascination has dimmed. The emphasis everywhere is on youth now and people aren't as quick to remember.

Do you still find time to play bass, or do any music these days?

I play in church now. (God is making me pay him back for all the fun I had in the 60s.) I belong to the Vineyard Christian Fellowship here in Rockville Centre, New York where the ol' Fender can still be heard. Its the same bass I used with Flo and Eddie on my last tour with Alice Cooper in 1973.

What is your personal life like these days?

I'm married to a wonderful lady whom I met in church. She's a pediatrician with a busy local practice. Until recently we've had to balance our professional careers while raising two boys (age 4 and 6) which has kept us extremely active. I have an older son named Jesse who lives in Seattle who is an accomplished and highly sought after guitar player himself. Because we were always on the road so much in those days, I wasn't as involved in raising him as I would've liked to be. Now that football is finished I'm able to spend more time at home and enjoy a family for the first time.... another great blessing in my life. I'm considering options for some part time work until The David Center is fully functional at which time I will devote myself entirely to it.

Could you tell us what are the origin and goals of The David Center? How can folks learn more about it, and contribute to this cause?

The David Center is a not-for-profit organization my wife and I have recently established to help and support families with children diagnosed with Autism. It originated during our search for services for our son David who was diagnosed himself at the age of 3. He has a disorder called Asperger's Syndrome, a form of "higher functioning" Autism which we didn't know much about. Even though Pat (my wife) is a physician it took us a long time to find anyone who could direct us to the proper types of services and treatments. We had to look for answers in different places all over Long Island. Pat conceived the idea of a center where people could come for education, diagnoses, treatments and support for these kinds of disorders. People can find out more by visiting our website at www.thedavidcenter.org where they can learn how to become members, contributors, or donors for what we think is going to be a very worthwhile organization, one we hope will be a great public service to the children of this community.

Is there any message you like to leave us with?

Hmmmm... As long as I have the floor I should put my two cents in, right? Let me slow down and think a little about that.... Sometimes I worry about the speed of life. We seem to be moving faster than we're capable of thinking, and it doesn't bode well for the future. If you wonder about the truth of that consider that there's no law against talking on a telephone while driving a car. What's wrong with us? We're all plugged in to one another through communication, information, and paging devices, and we wonder why inner peace is such a difficult thing to achieve. Don Henley's right... we need to "Learn To Be Still."

We hope the David Center is a great success, and we look forward to hearing from you from time to time to let us know how it is going. Thanks again Jim for taking time to answer our questions.

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