Chronological Photos
"This page is going to try to the best of my ability put in some sort of chronological order my musical career for the last six decades. Some segments came easier than others. Feel free to contradict, correct, add to or subtract from my listing.”
A long time ago 5 guys played in a band called " The Ridgewoods"
and I was lucky enough to be one of them.
EARLIEST PHOTO
This is the earliest photo that I have. It's early 1964 at a church dance in Skaneateles.
The late Lymie Wickwire is on the left, Bobby Dean is in the center, a sax-player that looks kind of familiar is next, Johnny Dean in the back is on the drums and the late Tom Dean on the right. The second pic is from one of the old P&C block dances in Skaneateles. That’s Craig Bennett on the left, Johnny on drums, me with my mouth open and my eyes closed, Bobby and Tommy.
The rest of the history is as follows. Lymie would leave to go into the service, he would be replaced by Craig Bennett. Bobby would leave to go to college and be replaced by Barry Maturevitz. Johnny would take over lead guitar and Al Klimak would join on drums. Tommy would leave to go to college and be replaced by Holly Gregg thus completing the ‘Ridgewood Saga’ by the end of 1966.
Dig the cool drum head! Photos by Catherine Cain.
P&C BLOCK
DANCE
The second pic is from one of the old P&C block dances in Skaneateles. That’s Craig Bennett on the left, Johnny on drums, me with my mouth open and my eyes closed, Bobby and Tommy.
The rest of the history is as follows. Lymie would leave to go into the service, he would be replaced by Craig Bennett. Bobby would leave to go to college and be replaced by Barry Maturevitz. Johnny would take over lead guitar and Al Klimak would join on drums. Tommy would leave to go to college and be replaced by Holly Gregg thus completing the ‘Ridgewood Saga’ by the end of 1966.
Dig the cool drum head! Photos by Catherine Cain.
‘The New Ridgewoods’
Next in line after a brief transition from what was called ‘The New Ridgewoods’ ( Johnny Dean, Mark Doyle, me and Barry Maturevitz ) is ‘Free Will’: Mark, me , George Egosarian on bass, Bill Irvin on guitar and Tom Glaister on drums. This is what I call ‘the classic’ Free Will lineup. Mark Doyle on the left, Tom Glaister, yours truly wearing the leather jacket that my Mom bought at a rummage sale for 50 cents !, George Egosarian and John DeMaso.
‘Jukin Bone’
When the band signed to RCA in 1972 the name was changed to ‘Jukin’Bone’, here is a transition poster letting the fans know.
RCA ad promo
After the ‘Whiskey Woman’ album Tom left, after recording the ‘Way Down East’ album George left. Kevin Shwaryk and Danny Coward joined the band. This is a full page ad that RCA made promoting the last record. Danny would shortly leave the band and the 4 of us would soldier on until the bitter end in 1973.
Bobby Comstock
I literally went from the last ‘Bone’ gig in Lake Placid to rehearsing to be in Bobby Comstock’s Band the next day. We played some great gigs: Madison Square Garden, Boston Garden, The Spectrum in Philadelphia but I have no pics of any of them. I quite frankly was burned out and only lasted until the end of 1973.
Here is an old promo pic of my friend and mentor Bobby Comstock.
After getting my breath back….
"After getting my breath back for some reason I decided I should play the guitar. It might have been temporary insanity but anyway I formed a trio called ‘Sons of the Desert’ ( I’m a Laurel and Hardy fan ) Bill Irvin was on guitar, Kevin Shwaryk was on drums and I played some version of rhythm. No bass guitar, go figure ! Again, I have no photos but this is a picture of our promo poster. The horse looks as confused as I was.”
In the summer of 1974…
"In the summer of 1974 ( now things get a little cloudy ) Mark Doyle and I formed a band called ‘The East Coast All Stars ‘ as a band to play when he was around and I was able. The basic lineup consisted of Mark, myself, Gary Link on bass, Mick Walker on guitar and depending on who was available either Kevin or Frank DeFonda on drums. I know I have photos somewhere but for now here is an old poster I had to tape together. It appears by the billing that I’m opening for myself !”
This made me realize….
"This made me realize that I was not a guitar player so I believe the first version of the ‘Joe Whiting Band’ was formed consisting of Bill Irvin on guitar , Frank DeFonda on drums and John DeMaso on bass. A photo escapes me but here is our first promo poster."
"Time marches on and the next version of the band consisted of Duke Shanahan on lead guitar and pedal steel, Dick Kahl on rhythm, Joey DeMaio on bass and Kevin Shwaryk on drums".
Bobby Comstock
"In 1975 Bobby Comstock called again so I signed on again playing clubs, Rock and Roll revivals and college dates. We also were trying to get a deal with Don Kirshner of ‘Rock Concert’ fame”
In 1976
"In 1976 my old pal Dave ‘Rock’ Finestein called as he was reforming a version of ‘Elf’ now that Ronnie Dio had moved on ( to say the least ! ) so for a year Dave, Gary Driscoll, Craig Gruber and myself played a lot of gigs. No, I did not try to ‘replace’ Ronnie, no one could do that. He was truly ‘one of a kind’. We recorded a couple of tunes that would be released a bit later in my story.”
‘The Bandit Band’
"Mark and I continued with our endeavors whenever we could doing gigs and recording demos. We also hooked up with a band from Auburn called ‘The Bandit Band’ consisting of Tony Schimizzi, Mike Dagnesi, Jimmy Dagnesi and John Martellaro. We got a college student from O.C.C named Mike Dee to play flute on some of our demos so he joined on sax as well. We played some gigs than Mark had other commitments so I grabbed up the band and we became ‘Joe Whiting and The Bandit Band’. John would leave and so would Mike, briefly Jeff Steele would join on guitar and than Mick Walker would join the best known version of the band on guitar. We worked a lot for the next 5 years culminating in 7 week tour opening up for ‘Van Halen’ in 1983. All good things must end and so did this.”
Wheaties promo pic
"Mark helped me put together the next version of my band consisting of Dave Read on drums, Pat DeSalvo on bass, Dan ‘Cato’ Eaton on keys and sax. Here is my ‘Wheaties’ promo pic from that era. I can do without the ‘wet look’ but I’d like that waistline back !”
‘Public Eye’
"Mark and I had for the time being ‘lost our mojo’ so we formed the ill fated ‘Public Eye’ which was basically the same band but instead of doing our originals we did what we hadn’t done in years; learned whatever was popular on the radio. It was not convincing and not a success . It also was not one of our finest hours. But as I said, we had lost our ‘mojo’. Here’s a promo pic and a poster.”
‘Doyle Whiting Band’
"Next up, I believe ( hey, try to put your 50 years plus career in correct order ! ) Mark and I formed the ‘Doyle Whiting Band. Robbie Spagnaletti on drums, Pat DeSalvo on bass, Tony Schimizzi on keys and it was a pretty good concept and a pretty good band that recorded two albums that morphed into a recording unit called ‘BackBone Slip’.”
Jumpin’ Joe Revue
"Now, I needed something new with my vision and I thought up ‘Jumpin’ Joe’s Rockin’ Rhythm Revue’. Originals, party tunes and some cool obscure covers than guess what ? I had my ‘mojo’ back ! Robbie on drums, Pat on bass, Tony on keys and Ron Spencer on guitar. Now from here for a couple of years a lot of players came and went. I’ll list the ones I can remember. Loren Barrigar was a key member on guitar, Bob Sherwood as well on bass. I started playing more sax and have never stopped. Paul Barrigar on drums ( on more than one occasion ) Dan Eason on drums. Gary Macnamara on drums and some other players that I’m sure someone will remember. Here’s a fun poster that we got a lot of use out of. This band worked a lot.”
‘A La Rock’
"Dave ‘Rock’ Finestein called me about a project called ‘A La Rock’ so he, me, Micky Lee Soule, Dave Salce and ‘bob cat’ recorded an album realeased on a German label. We played a couple of gigs and made a video of a tune Dave and I wrote plus the 2 songs I mentioned earlier with Elf that we recorded were included on the disc as a tribute to our friend the late Gary Driscoll. Here is a promo pic. What a bunch of hoods “!
Early 90’s ‘Joe Whiting Band
"The Review stopped ‘rockin’ and I just went with ‘Joe Whiting’ or ‘Joe Whiting Band in the early 90’s. Tony left to take a job out of state. Cathy LaManna joined on drums Bill Weiss on bass, Duke Shanahan on guitar with Jerry Neely on keys. Cathy left and was replaced by Frank DeFonda. Duke left and Loren came back. When Jerry left we went as a 4 piece. Bill left in 1999 and Brian Barrigar joined on bass and has been with me ever since. Loren left and Terry Quill joined. This line up continued until 2009 when Terry and Frank left.
This pic from the early 90’s has Loren. me, Frank, Bill and Jerry.”
Duo with Loren…
"Around this time changes in the way people required live music ( smaller venues, smaller budgets ) led me to forming a duo with Loren Barrigar. I continue to work with Loren today and also with Terry Quill and Dave Walker in other duos. Here’s a pic of Loren and I. “
In 2009….Savoy Brown
"In 2009 my old friend Kim Simmonds asked me to join his band ‘Savoy Brown’ and for the next 3 years I traveled the country and the world with them. Since that band didn’t take all my time I put together a band consisting of Tony Schimizzi ( he was back ) John Martellaro ( also back after several decades ) Cathy LaManna ( she’s back as well ) and Brian. In 2012 I left Savoy Brown ( it was just another stop for me folks ). Cathy left in 2016 and was replaced by Rick Basha. John left in 2018 and was replaced by Dave Walker. Tony retired at the beginning of 2019 and my old pal George Rossi is now playing piano. Here’s a pic of Savoy Brown, the new band and the next line up.”
In 2012 I left
In 2012 I left Savoy Brown ( it was just another stop for me folks ). Cathy left in 2016 and was replaced by Rick Basha. John left in 2018 and was replaced by Dave Walker. Tony retired at the beginning of 2019 and my old pal George Rossi is now playing piano. Here’s a pic of Savoy Brown, the new band and the next line up.”
To sum it up….
"Of course my list isn’t complete, I have done duo work for the last 25 years, guest spots with the Mario DeSantis Orchestra, The Stan Collela Orchestra, The Apple Jazz Band , special one off events, commercials and several plays . If anyone can fill in some of the missing blanks or folks I have forgotten please let me know. That’s my story up to now but stay tuned because you never know what’s going to happen."
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