Chapter 36: Gimme Some Lovin’

Labatt Guest House

7:07pm, Thursday, March 1, 1979

“ ... and realized we sounded pretty good.” Our redheaded host then stopped talking as the door of the guest house opened. I quickly let Lynette down from my arms, and all six of us oriented ourselves in that direction.

“You looked and sounded better than pretty good,” Mr. Labatt announced with his deep baritone voice. As he and his wife walked into their guest house, I noticed that Sam’s dad was also carrying two solid body guitar cases in his hands.

“I’d have to say that you sounded pretty DANG GOOD! And not just for a high school band,” Katie Labatt added as she set the two smaller, rectangular hard body cases which she carried, down on the leather sofa. Mrs. Labatt then looked to her husband who smiled at her lovingly. She said to her husband, “You go first, dear.”

“Okay,” Mr. Labatt said as he set the guitar cases down on the carpet near our mic-stands. As he stood back upright in his well-used, power-position stance, he continued, “When Katie and I watched your audition tape again Tuesday night, we had a long talk about what we saw and heard on the television and over our stereo system. Well, to give you the Reader’s Digest version of that conversation, we both think you kids have ‘IT‘ ... a unique musical gift which doesn’t occur that often. Sammy’s previous band did NOT have IT. Therefore, we want to see ... this musical, ‘IT’ ... shine from you.”

“And not just shine forth from Samantha,” Katie interjected. “Don’t think for a second that we’re doing all this because it’s our daughter. It’s ALL of you, together ... and we’re happy that Samantha is just a part of you, your band.”

“Therefore, Katie and I decided to provide you with the equipment necessary for your musical gifts to grow and excel.”

We all had astonished looks on our faces, even Sammy, whom I’m guessing wasn’t privy to her parents’ complete plan for tonight. When the five of us all peered over at Sammy, she mouthed, “I only knew about the keyboards.“

Katie Labatt glared at her step-daughter for a second, and then turned to unlatched both of the carrying cases on the sofa. With a soft smile, she looked over her shoulder at all of us, and then focused her eyes on Jennifer. Sammy’s step-mom then opened the smaller of the two cases, and lifted out a shiny, black-lacquered alto saxophone with gold-plated keys and hardware. She then softly said, “Hold this for me, Dear,” and handed the exquisite wind instrument to her husband.

We were all mesmerized by what we were witnessing. When I glanced over at Jennifer, I honestly thought she was going to explode as her fingers twitched and her whole body trembled with excitement. Her bright blue eyes were totally locked onto that beautiful instrument.

The sound of the second hard case lid hitting the sofa back refocused my attention towards Mrs. Labatt. I then saw Sam’s step-mom lift out a bright, gold-plated tenor saxophone. When she turned towards us with that exquisite instrument held gingerly in her hands, I could see and feel the pride radiating from her beautiful face.

“Jennifer,” Katie softly called, which instantly snapped all of us from our ‘La-La-Land’ location. Ms. Labatt then said, “I know you are probably enamored with your Unison saxophone, and you play it very well. However ... and please don’t take these words as criticism. But William and I know that you’ll be able to get a much more focused, and compact sound with this Yamaha Z-Tenor, and that Z-Alto saxophone.”

“These saxophones, Jennifer,” Mr. Labatt replied as he held up the alto sax and Katie Labatt did likewise with the tenor sax. “Have a quality and character to their sound which I, we love to hear. These ‘Z’ saxophones will respond quicker to your fingering and the mouth-pieces should work well with your small oral structure.” Mr. Labatt used his left hand to slightly pinch his own cheeks by his mouth when he commented on Jennifer’s facial structure.

If the girls just hadn’t of gone to the bathroom, I thought both Jennifer and Lynette would have peed their pants right then. With that thought running through my head, Jennifer suddenly looked like she may have done exactly that, after Mr. Labatt said, “Which of these two saxophones will you be using on your next song, Jennifer?”

The normally boisterous and head-strong gymnast was awestruck at hearing Sam’s dad’s question. I peered over to Sammy and she gave me a slight nod, which I interpreted as ‘help her, Mike‘. Therefore, I said, “We’re going to work on Gimme Some Lovin’, next, Sir. So uh, I think Jennifer will probably use that gold, tenor sax. Right Jennifer?”

“Right, right,” Jennifer blankly repeated my words. She suddenly snapped out of her funk when she saw Katie step towards her with that exquisite instrument. “Oh, lord, Mrs. Labatt, this ... what can I say to you, to both of you for allowing me to use ... to play these absolutely amazing instruments?”

“You can say just one thing to us, Jennifer,” Mrs. Labatt said as she handed the Z-tenor sax to Jennifer. She then looked around at all six of us and stated, “And this goes for the rest of you, Time Bandits. I’ll tell you what we only want to hear from you ‘AT THE END of our presentation, okay?”

“However,” Mr. Labatt then said before anyone of us could answer his wife’s question. “You ALL HAVE to do two things for us ... with these instruments, correct, Katie?”

“Most definitely, Dear,” Katie replied to her husband.

All of us youngsters, including their daughter, appeared to be confused by the adults’ statements. Not wanting to keep us in the dark any longer, Katie softly but sternly said, “AFTER we give out all these musical instruments, William and I ONLY want to hear a simple, ‘Thanks’ or ‘Thank you’ from your lips. Nothing more! Understood?”

All six of us quickly nodded our heads affirmatively towards Sammy’s dad and step-mom.

“Good,” Sam’s dad said with a smile. In a faction of a second, his demeanor changed and he sternly said, “The TWO requirements for using these instruments are ... One. Take excellent care of them. Treasure them like you would your own child.”

“Because we are not loaning them to you; they are now YOUR instruments. Okay?” Mrs. Labatt added.

Those statements took a moment to sink into our youthful minds, but after a few seconds we all nodded at Sammy’s parents.

“And your second and most important requirement is...” Mr. Labatt authoritatively stated, “Make these beautiful instruments sing like they were created or meant to sing. Do not settle for less than your best when playing them, period.”

“Okay, William,” Katie said to her husband as he held his well-rehearsed, commanding businessman pose. “Why don’t you show Mr. Paul, his new bass guitar?”

“Step up, son,” Mr. Labatt said as he nodded at my best friend. Sammy’s dad bend down and picked up the longer than usual, royal purple guitar case and held it flat as Paul stepped up to him. “Pop the latches, Paul, and take this bad-boy out.”

After Paul flicked open the three latches, he tentatively reached and started to lift the lid from the main case. My normally carefree, all-in, best friend froze after opening the lid about six inches and peering inside the case.

“Oh, no! Mr. Laba...” Paul started to say before Sam’s dad softly said,

“Remember what and when ... you’re able to say to us.” He then smiled at my friend and said, “Go on, son, lift it out.”

Those softer words seemed to energize Paul, who quickly opened the bass case and lifted out a royal purple bodied, eight-string bass guitar. The extra-long neck of that magnificent Alembic bass guitar was jet-black, with royal purple frets. The eight tuner keys, as well as all the hardware on the bass were gleaming chrome.

“Oh, lord,” Paul softly whispered out as he noticed the custom-made strap for this bass. It was made of soft, black leather and was embroidered with stylized chrome-colored letters, outlined in royal purple. His new bass strap read, “PAUL” near the lower body connector and “TIME BANDITS” near the upper guitar body connector.

“That’s one sweet bass, my friend,” I said as Paul slowly turned his new bass around in his hands.

“That it is, Mike,” Mr. Labatt said with a smile. “I had my assistant get in touch with Tom Petersson...”

“Ta-Tom Petersson ... of Cheap Trick?” Paul uttered in utter amazement.

“Yes, that Tom Petersson,” Sammy’s dad replied and stared at Paul who was handling his new bass like it was the most fragile thing ever created. Mr. Labatt then smiled and said, “You better get a good grip on that guitar, Paul, because I’m about to send you for a real loop.”

When Paul put the strap over his head, and took a good hold of his bass guitar, Mr. Labatt surprised everyone when he said, “That bass guitar ... around your neck was played by Tom Petersson on Cheap Trick’s upcoming album, called Dream Police.”

“Get out!” Cathy shouted and rushed over to look at the bass around her twin brother’s neck. Her words and actions seemed to trigger a release valve in all of us teenagers. We all took turns looking at Paul’s new eight-string bass guitar, and Jennifer’s gorgeous saxophones.

After allowing us a little time to get that rambunctiousness out of our systems, Mr. Labatt clapped his hands and said, “We’re not done.”

When we had settled down some and returned our attention to Sam’s parents, Katie Labatt said, “You’ve already seen the keyboard system we got for you, Lynette. I was VERY impressed with how well you used your Mini-Moog synthesizer to create all those beautiful sounds. However, I think you’ll find that this Yamaha Stage Piano and Motif Music Production Synthesizer will be infinitely easier to use and provide a more lifelike piano sound.”

Lynette squeezed my hand so tight when Katie was talking about her new keyboard system, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to hold a guitar pic between my index finger and thumb for the next couple of days. I had to give our joined arms a shake to let her know she was killing my fingers.

“You can still use your Mini-Moog synthesizer for certain funky sounds when needed,” Katie continued with her explanation. “However, that is the same keyboard system, which Christie McVie uses. I knew that she is your favorite musician.”

“And before you ask,” Sammy’s dad chimed in, “that isn’t a used Fleetwood Mac keyboard system ... sorry.”

“It’s still a wonderful system,” Lynette replied with a small chuckle. Before she was given the chance to offer up her thanks, Mr. and Mrs. Labatt both held up their hands to hush Lynette.

“To our drummer extraordinaire, Ms. Cathy,” Mr. Labatt said with a smile. “Unfortunately, we don’t have anything that can physically top your beautiful sounding Ludwig drum-kit. However, have you heard of Jerry Mercer?”

“The big, bald drummer from April Wine?” Cathy excitedly responded.

“The one and the same,” Mr. Labatt replied. “I’ve arranged with your parents blessing, for you and your mother to head on up to Montreal in early July in order for you to spend five days learning your craft from one of rock’s best drummers.

Cathy was giddy and couldn’t stand still as she heard Mr. Labatt relate this one of a kind musical gift. She hugged Sammy’s arm into her chest when she realized she’d be spending five days with April Wine’s drummer, Jerry Mercer.

“Jerry’s a good friend of my Montreal area’s VP for Sales,” Mr. Labatt said. “When I talked with Jerry about your drumming ability, and let him listen to that audition tape over the phone, he readily agreed to give you fifteen hours of drumming lessons on my dime.”

Cathy did a little ‘Cha-Cha’ type jig as she listened to Sammy’s dad. She almost fell to her knees when Mr. Labatt finished up this portion of our ‘Christmas-in-March’ event by saying, “If you like playing on Jerry’s drum kit while you’re with him, I’ve arranged to purchase a similar set for you. He told me he doesn’t think you’ll play or sound any better on it, but that is an option for down the road.”

“Are you going to be alright, Cathy?” Katie Labatt asked as both Sam and I helped her back to her feet.

“Yes, Ma’am, thanks ... Oh, sorry, sorry,” Cathy replied and then immediately apologized for ‘thanking her before she thought she should have.

“No apology needed, Cathy. I took that as ‘Thanks for asking about my status’ instead of for your gift,” Mrs. Labatt softly said. She then looked me squarely in the eyes, and said after a couple of seconds to build upon the already peaked feelings within us, “For our lead guitarist ... William, will you get that other guitar case, please?”

“Of course, my Dear.” The tall gentlemen then turned and walked to the guest house’s inner door. After opening it, he reached and grabbed another guitar case from that small foyer area.

“As the lead guitarist, you’ll probably have need for several different guitars based on the sound needed,” Katie said as her husband set the thin, but wider bodied case flat on the carpet beside the first guitar case.

“Even though Samantha has graciously given you that Gibson Silverburst guitar, which you play incredibly well ... we felt like you’d need these two guitars to complete your band’s sound structure.” Mr. Labatt then motioned for me to come over to his position and asked, “Which one would you like to see, first?”

I had a feeling about what was in the wide bodied case, so I replied, “The one you just laid flat, please.”

“Pop the latches on it, then,” he said with a smile as I knelt on one knee alongside the case.

“Oh, Lord,” I uttered as I opened the thin, black guitar case and saw what was inside. I was correct in guessing it was a double-necked, twelve- and six-string electric guitar. However, I was floored when I recognized this beautiful instrument. “This is a Gibson EDS – 1275, Custom guitar.”

“You know your guitars, Mike,” Mr. Labatt said as he rested his hand on my crouched over back.

“Daddy, is that?” Sam started to as ask before her step-mom shushed her with her finger.

As I lifted the sleek off-white axe, I softly said to Mr. Labatt as I peered up at him over my shoulder, “This is way beyond a gift. You can’t be serious about letting me play this, let alone...” As I turned it over to look at its back, I froze up for a couple of seconds and then shouted, “No! No way! You can’t seriously GIVE this to me. I can’t accept this!”

When I stood the guitar upright on its body, I saw a black Sharpie notation on the back of the pearl white body. It read, ‘Love your beer, Will! Hope you enjoyed the Show, Opry House, Houston. ‘76.‘ It was signed, ‘Rock on, Don Felder, the Eagles‘.

“This is a signed by Don Felder ... the Eagles’ Don Felder!” I exclaimed as I squatted and stared at the signed guitar.

“Didn’t he play that guitar at their June, ‘76 concert, Daddy?” Sam asked.

“That’s the one, Baby,” her dad replied and then picked up the guitar by its six-string neck. “I’ve rarely played it since Don gave it to me after that concert in Houston. I think it’s time for this amazing guitar to see the light of day, Mike. I’ll keep the insurance on it, on all of your musical equipment,” he said to everyone. He then looked me square in the eyes and added, “But when you’re not playing this guitar on stage, I would love to see it propped up near you, in plain sight for safety reasons.”

“I’ll wear this baby to bed each night to keep it safe and sound, Mr. Labatt,” I exclaimed as I watched him put the leather guitar strap around his neck. “Can you play it, Sir?”

“Not like Don ... or you ... or even Samantha,” he chuckled out as he ran his fingers over the lower six-strings and looked at his daughter. “I originally offered to let her play it ... last year with that other band. But she declined my offer. It’s yours now, Mike. You can let her play it a time or two, if you want.”

“Mr. Labatt, I don’t...”

“Not yet, not yet,” he laughed as he waved his finger back and forth in the space between us. “If you would; open up that other case, please?”

“Yes, sir!” I immediately replied and lifted it up over the opened double-neck guitar’s case.

“That one won’t get the hair on the back of your neck standing up like this beauty did, however...” Mr. Labatt then paused as I popped the two latches and opened up the second guitar case, which held an absolutely gorgeous six-string acoustic guitar. I knew absolutely nothing about this unique guitar, but it felt wonderful as I picked it up out of its carrying case.

“Look at the name at the top,” Katie Labatt said as I examined this beauty. “Do you recognize that name?”

“Taylor...” I said as I struggled to put that name together with guitars.

“Look inside the body, Mike,” Sammy said as I examined every inch of the guitar.

“Sweet Baby,” I softly said as I read the information plate. “Sweet Baby ... Taylor. This is a James Taylor Acoustic? Oh! My lord!”

“That is a limited edition, Presentation Series, Grand Symphony Guitar,” Katie Labatt said.

“The body is made from Macassar Ebony and Sinker Redwoods,” Sam’s dad said as I handled this instrument with great care. “This Grand Symphony model has a big, bold sound, which we think you’ll enjoy playing.”

“Just like Lynette’s new keyboard system, this guitar hasn’t been played James Taylor,” Katie said with a smile.

“But he plays a similar one, right Daddy?” Sam commented.

“He sure does, Sugar.”

“Okay, Time Bandits,” Katie Labatt said as she motioned for everyone to move in closer. “I know you’ve been dying to say it with each of these gifts, so ... nothing more than ... three, two, one.”

“Thanks!” and “Thank you!” tagged with either, “Mr. and Mrs. Labatt!” or “Daddy and Katie!” were heard from all six of band members.

“You kids are most welcome,” Katie replied as Mr. Labatt shook both Paul’s and my hands.

After Mr. Labatt lifted the double-neck guitar from around his neck and set it back in the carrying case, he said, “You may not want to fool with these instruments tonight, if you’re hoping to get another song or two practiced. I would probably wait ‘till your next practice to tinker around and get the best sounds out of those instruments.”

“You’re probably right, Mr. Labatt,” Jennifer said as she moved over and gave him a hug. The rest of the girls stepped up and gave him a hug as well, while Paul and I took turns giving Katie a gentle hug.

“Do you mind if we stay and listen to you practice?” Katie asked.

“If it will bother you, we’ll leave,” Mr. Labatt then said.

“No, Sir, Ma’am,” I replied. “I don’t think it will bother us. Just know this is the first time we’ll be working on Gimme Some Lovin’.”

“From what we’ve heard, your practice sessions are better than most bands polished performances,” Katie replied with a smile. She then took her husband’s hand and moved the saxophone cases off the leather couch.

“Would you like a drink, dear, before they get started?” Mr. Labatt asked his wife as she sat in the middle of the couch.

“A Coke, no ice, would be great, thanks.”

The six of us scrambled to either put our old instruments back on or move behind their instruments. Only Jennifer had a new instrument, her gold-plated, Yamaha Z-tenor sax ready to play. Her grin lite up the whole living room as she said, “Once I get this reed is ready (you have to moisten woodwind reeds to play), I hope to make this bad boy howl!”

“That’s not fair, Jennifer,” Paul playfully whined as he gave his eleventh grade classmate a wink.

“Uh, because I’ve already fooled around on these keyboards,” Sammy said as she looked between Lynette and me. “I’m going to play this Motif Synthesizer. That way we’ll get a better feel for how to integrate Lynette’s and my keyboard playing. Okay?”

“You’ve played my mini-Moog before, Sam?” Lynette softly asked and we watched Sam nod her head affirmatively to that question. “Would you mind letting me play the Stage Piano, and you play my ‘Moog’? That way our sound will be closer to what we want.”

“That works for me, Lynette,” Sammy said as she and my girlfriend traded positions.

“Give me a second to get a feel for keyboard pressures and the volume control,” Lynette requested. She then turned the system on and easily ran through a few piano riffs. After tinkering with the volume and adjusting the floor pedals for her stand up style of playing, Lynette nodded at Sammy and the rest of us.

After seeing Jennifer take her wireless clip-mic from her old saxophone and hook it carefully over the bell of her new sax, I held up my hand and said, “Let me get a couple of our wireless transmitters out of our carrying bag.”

I hoped Mr. and Mrs. Labatt wouldn’t question me or any of us about where these extra wireless electronics came from as I reached into our previously empty equipment bag and pulled out two of our transmitter plug-ins. I walked over to Lynette and handed her one for the Stage Piano, while I plugged the other into the output jack of her new Motif Synthesizer.

“All set,” Lynette said and Jennifer trilled out a few notes on her tenor sax to double check the sound quality and volume, as well as to let us know she was set with her new sax and mouthpiece.

“Paul, Cathy and Mike, you’ll bring in the music, first. Then, because I’m playing the organ, I’m jumping in first, right?” Sam asked as she looked at Lynette behind her new piano.

“Sounds good,” Lynette said. “Then, just before I start singing, I’ll add my piano sound.”

“The Bryanston-ites are ready,” Cathy called out as she looked over at Paul and me.

“Call us in then, Cath,” I said after putting a couple more guitar picks in Sammy mic-stand holder.

“One, two,” she called out before Lynette added, “One, two, three, four.”

Paul, Cathy and I began playing the well-known intro to this song for four measures. Jennifer fired off her new tenor sax on the fifth measure, while Sam brought in her organ sound after the eighth measure of music. Lynette smiled brightly as Sammy played her mini-Moog like a duck taking to water.

Lynette’s alto voice and her new piano sounded beautiful together as she joined in with:

“Well, the temperature’s rising and my feet are on the floor.

Gimme some lovin’ (gimme, gimme some lovin’), gimme some lovin’, every day.“

We made it through the second verse and chorus before I called a halt to the song. After that second chorus, I knew we could go several ways with this song. I asked, “Do we want to put a solo or two, right here? If yes, who is doing it, and are we going to switch out after, I don’t know ... sixteen, twenty-four measures? If we’re not, that will cut the length down from four and half minutes to ... three-forty-ish.”

As usual, everyone took their time mulling those questions. Sammy, being the only ‘seasoned’ performer than asked, “How many songs are we going to play in this Southern, Blues set, and how long do you think it will last?”

“I’m, uh ... thinking we can give them a forty-five to fifty minute set,” I replied.

“That seems about right, doesn’t it?” Lynette commented.

“That’s a typical set length,” Sam said with a head nod. “So, with this song and Shake Your Tail Feather, we’ll have seven songs. If we add another five, six songs ... that should be good.”

“I think that would work,” Cathy added.

“Okay,” I replied and then returned to my reason for stopping our rehearsal of Gimme. “So, do we want to fire in a forty-five second to minute’s worth of solos, and how should they proceed?”

“We can include them, and then, if we see we’re going way long, we’ll see about cutting something out,” Jennifer replied.”

“Obviously, if we’re patterning this after how Winwood and Clapton played the song, then we’ll have to include Mike’s guitar and Sammy’s organ in the solo,” Lynette added.