Chester, Bill, Buddy and Jeff

The beat goes on … so they say. And in 1971 I got a call from an old friend named Bill Jeric. Bill had played guitar in the original James Gang along with Glenn Schwartz. When Glenn left the Gang, Bill did too. At that point Joe Walsh replaced them in the Gang.

Bill Jeric, Joe Walsh, Glenn Schwartz

Now Bill tells me he and his brother Jeff have been rehearsing with a bass player/singer named Chet Florence. They wanted to know if I would be interested in joining them in a band. I said, “Let’s jam and see what it sounds like”.

We got together and played. It was magical. Bill’s brother, Jeff was only 16 but he played like a grown man and brought youthful fire. We decided to write music and have an all original band. We called the band MUSHROOM. It consisted of Bill and Jeff Jeric on lead and rhythm guitar, Chester “Chet” Florence on bass and vocals and myself on drums and vocals. We started rehearsing and gigging and recorded a full-length album produced by Tom Baker, recorded at Motion Picture Sound, Cleveland Ohio. One night we finished the track and lead vocal for “Jesus Knows” and went home. When we got to the studio the next day Tom Baker said, “Oh by the way, I put the background vocals on the song.” Tom had written and sung all three harmony parts and laid them into the track. We listened to it and said,”YEAH!” … next song. All lead vocals by Chet Florence except “Love Truth and Desire”, “Movin’ On”, and “Waitin’ on You” by Buddy.

1. “Jesus Knows”
2. “Flashes”
3. “Love, Truth and Desire”
4. “This is My Life”
5. “New Day”
6. “High”
7. “Movin’ On”
8. “Dawn of Music”
9. “Hard Times”
10. “Waitin’ on you”
11. “Love is the Answer”