A Show of Hands

 

Jerry joined Rick Cutler and Jack Jacobsen, who were a duo in Northern California. They called themselves Anthrax. Jerry tells the story:

 

We signed with Elektra and they said “You can’t call yourselves Anthrax”

 

I said, “How 'bout Formerly Anthrax,” and they said you can call the album that.

 

To which I said, “All we’re looking for is a fucking show of hands.”

 

Then I said, “How about calling the band A Show of Hands?”

 

They said okay.  Ten years later Elektra signed a band from the Midwest called…

 

Wait for it …

 

Anthrax.

 January 1, 1971,

the beginning of the “plastic scene era."

Cover paintings by Rita Kuhnke

  "God Bless Those Cocktail Lounges"

  "Seaside Living"

  "Blue Plate Special"

Early on Jerry started visiting the studio with his guitar every night. He would come in during our initial midnight to 3 am forays and play on the air live. It would be acoustic guitar, most often his Mexican 12-string. He would play rambling improvisations that would mesmerize and delight us all.

 

 Sometimes these instrumental performances would end with songs like "Whiter Shade of Pale" or "A Day in the Life."  The coolest thing about this is that he had started out with an improvisation and ended with something that you knew and loved, over a period of 20 or 30 minutes. Some of these acoustic journeys were total magic.

 

As time passed and KPRI started to promote concerts, Jerry’s band Framework often was the opening act for those shows. Over those early years Jerry was a true friend of KPRI.