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From: Jeremy
Date: 4/19/2006
Time: 5:31:47 PM
Remote Name: 69.232.155.53
Two years ago when another dear friend of ours, Gothic Harris, passed away, I called Jeff to break the news, and told him when and where Gothic's memorial would be. Jeff's first response was fairly typical: Of course he was completely bummed out about Gothic, a beloved friend of many years, but right away he tried to get out of having to go to the service. I hassled him a little bit about it, and he finally said he would go, but would hang near the back and probably split before it was over. It wasn't always easy to get Jeff out of his apartment to do stuff, and I don't think it's too far of a stretch to say that I would have had some difficulty persuading Jeff to come here today. But of course he did show up at Gothic's memorial and stayed until the end, although I think he did sit somewhere near the back. He always did come through in the end because he was always a true friend, and when it really counted you could always count on Jeff, and he would never let you down. Just last week when he was sicker than any of us knew, he was on call to drive my dog Harris to the vet when I had solid rehearsals for 4 days, and couldn't take him myself. OK, I was gonna give him a few bucks to do it, but he would have done it in any event. Anways, Harris (the dog), who had been rather ill, made a full recovery. If only it had been so with Jeff. I met Jeff in October of 1971 when I was 15 and he was 18. At that age, the 3 year difference was quite signicant, and I admired and looked up to this "grown man" who was extremely witty and worldly-wise. I tried to emulate him too. I adopted his tastes in music, dress, and hair styles and also some of his not so positive habits. He was an exciting and fun person to be around and I too grew up and Jeff became my best friend. We went to more parties, clubs, concerts, and band rehearsals than I can ever remember. Jeff was at the center of the whole scene, and we basically did everything together. Jeff was the greatest songwriter ever known to me personally, and without being able to read a single note of music. With all of my formal training in music, including a master's degree in composition I could not touch Jeff in terms of pure songwriting genius. He had a perfect ear for melody and chords, and his lyrics were a totally unique blend of his own personal sadness, optimism, pessimism, craziness and love of life. In a word, they had a lot of swendge. One of Jeff's most beautiful and characteristic songs was I Love Life and I'd like to read an excerpt from the lyrics to that for you now: Darling you need love so badly and I do too, to take away the pain. And all my life, being so lonely that I'm going to try, try and break the chain Of tears and sorrow, of no tomorrow You know I love life and I'm living for that love It's my turn to make you smile for me With music babe, we'll dance across the floor I'm going to make a name for myself this time And share it all with you there's just so much in store But the winter's coming and I've got to stop running I love life and you know I'm living for that love. He didn't ever find that kind of love, but he always loved life and kept up the hope that he would someday find that special love. Jeff was also a very cute guy and had no problem attracting some really lovely women. I think a few of them found those dimples quite irresitable. Some of you probably remember Cathie; and there was Ase from Sweden, and others. I don't think she would mind me telling you, but my precious Terry also had quite a thing for Jeff at one time, and he wrote 3 great songs for her: the Terry Trilogy I call it. The second song How Do You Like That, She's a Brat featured these immortal lines: How do you like that, Oh how do you like that, I'm in love with a boxing glove; How do you like that, Oh how do you like that, I'm a dirty rat for that little brat! Jeff spent a few years living in a garden shed in my back yard. He would have been welcome to a room in the house, but he liked the shed. It was quiet in the backyard and he liked being greeted in the dewy mornings by my German Shepherd, Petra. He also liked the idea of being a householder. We even named the little path leading up to it the Shed Road. It's still there today, but now serves its intended function and houses my lawnmower, shovels and the like. During the last few years, we got our old band Village back together and rehearsed every Saturday in my studio. I'll always cherish this latter period when a more mature comraderie replaced the earlier and wilder rock and roll vibes. Pat, Gothic, Jeff and I had a lot of history behind us now, and we played with a sense of nostagia but also with a seriousness that had somehow escaped us in the past. We were actually a much better band then in any of the earlier incarnations. It meant a lot more to us now. Jeff had a lot of hope for the future. He put some of the old idealism behind him and started crafting songs for a younger market. He did the research; watching a lot of MTV and mastering the styles of a younger generation of songwriting, aiming even for the pre-teen market. With enthusiasm, he sent his last demo of these new songs around to publishers and producers, hoping to have a song placed with one of these young hot new artists. Jeff had to struggle a lot towards the end with bureaucracies and with poverty, and it all became very much an up-hill climb for him. He just physically wasn't up to dealing with all of the uncertainties that lay ahead. For all of Jeff's recent health problems he never had to spend so much as one night in the hospital. Even as I was driving him to Ceder's emergancy on Friday morning (and I knew he seemed worse than usual), I was sure they would somehow patch him up, and he'd be home the next day or so. I can't conceive of my life without Jeff. It is going to take more than a little getting used to be in this life without him, but I feel so privileged to be among that small group who were so intimately acquainted with his art, and much more than that, to have been able to call him one of my dearest friends. God bless you Jeff, and God bless you all.