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there in London. LPs became the only purchases and again after a few Beatles releases, my friends
and I veered well away and into the wildly varied musical landscape of the late 1960s and early
1970s and for me, the blues based British blues boom bands became a good part of the collection
and listening. They were also the bands I wanted to see live.

My group of friends would get together every weekend and share our musical discoveries. When we
weren’t hanging together at a pub or at someone’s house we’d be at gigs. In London you were

spoiled for choice every weekend. I must have seen all the major British bands at club or college
gigs before they became well recognized worldwide.

As I became interested in the more blues-based artists of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, I would
often find my Mum, covertly standing outside my bedroom, listening to the likes of early Fleetwood
Mac, Savoy Brown, John Mayall’s Blues Breakers and the rest of my favorites. She was very hip, and
we often talked about that amid fits of laughter in later years. My Dad, however, had his armchair

positioned right underneath my
bedroom and when my stereo got
too loud, he’d bang on the ceiling
with a broom stick that he kept close
by for such occasions—which were
frequent!

I was very lucky to have grown up
through an extraordinary period of
time in the UK and in musical
growth, possibly not to be equaled in
my lifetime. The musical trails we
followed were varied and open.
Music that had feeling and explored

new horizons were devoured. The Grassy Knoll on Dealy Plaza in Dallas TX near which Pres. JF Kennedy was
shot. At the back of the picture is the Texas Book Depository from which
Kennedy was shot.
LL: When, where and why did you
move to the States?

MF: My first move to the States was in 1964 from London to Dallas, Texas. Did I say culture shock!
This was in April after the President Kennedy assassination; Dallas was incredibly segregated; Dad

was involved in the space program and The Beatles were invading! Heady times. My Father had
been head-hunted by a company in the Dallas area to design cathode-ray tubes for telemetry and
picture that would withstand the stress of space flight. They did. The first pics we saw from a moon
probe were his cameras and astronauts who landed in later missions returned them to Earth to find
them working perfectly. Yes, I’m very proud of him and his achievements.

That said, the job didn’t work out and with the Vietnam War looming the family decided to return

to the UK in late 1965.

I came back to the States in late 1973 to manage a Rock Band called Shakey Jake and indeed, they
were Shakey! We met in London through mutual friends, persuaded me to come to Chicago and the
adventure that continues began! The band broke up 5 months after I arrived, and I went from there!
During that time, I had decided to find my way alone to the famous Checkerboard Lounge but was
thwarted by two protective Chicago cops who grabbed me blocks away and drove me back to the

North side. Apparently, there was a bad situation going down close by and they were bewildered to